His exile from Paris was of brief duration, for friends intervened.  But Mirabeau returned only to renew and intensify his attacks.  He remained, however, only for a short time, for on May 24, 1787, he set out on a third journey to Prussia, in order to complete his great work on the “Prussian Monarchy.”  Returning to France, he reached Paris in September.  Five months had elapsed since the assembling of the notables.  The eloquent Leominie de Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse, had been the most brilliant figure in the conclave.  The first assembly broke up on July 27, 1787.  Though gathered by the privileged orders, patriotism had raised its voice within it, and the archbishop, as prime minister, had failed to direct the new current aright.

Mirabeau disapproved of what had taken place in his absence, and declined to be employed by the administration, but he offered to undertake any foreign mission in the exercise of the king to which he might be appointed.  The application was unsuccessful.  The crisis approached nearer and nearer.  Archbishop Brienne passed rapidly from violence to weakness.  Mirabeau refused to countenance his plans for contracting a new loan of 420 millions.  The king was resisted by an almost unanimous opposition, headed by the Duke of Orleans, and the loan was refused at a memorable sitting.

Mirabeau exhorted the government to announce in precise and solemn terms the convocation of the States-General in 1789, that bankruptcy might be averted and the national honour saved.  Said he:  “The year in which the king assembles the nation will be the finest in his life.  Everybody knows that he has been deceived, and could not help being so, and everybody will do justice to his intentions.  The assembled nation has a right to vote a tax.  In future the nation alone will raise up its political fortunes.”

Mirabeau saw that the nation ought to be trusted.  He strenuously contended for a policy in accordance with this conviction.  But he indefatigably continued his literary labours, sending forth pamphlet after pamphlet, one against the prison system in vogue, another demanding the liberty of the Press, in which he extolled the example of England.  He became increasingly impatient with the ineptitude of the government, for the affairs of the state were lapsing into desperate disorder, and the public discontent was being steadily aggravated.

The aim of Mirabeau was at one and the same time to support the monarchy and to subvert the influences by which the throne was environed.  He was solicitous of securing popular freedom, but regarded the monarchy as the only form of rule suitable for France in that age, and was led to adopt that peculiar statesmanship identifying the royal interest with the popular cause.  Though ready to give his life for the people, he did not hesitate to risk his popularity by his fidelity to the throne.

IV.—­President of the National Assembly