Education
He was educated for the Church.
He delivered two remarkable Latin dissertations. The first sign we have of his interest in economics is a letter (1749) onpaper money, refuting the abbé Jean Terrasson's defence of John Law's system.
He was educated for the Church.
He delivered two remarkable Latin dissertations. The first sign we have of his interest in economics is a letter (1749) onpaper money, refuting the abbé Jean Terrasson's defence of John Law's system.
In 1752 he became substitut, and later conseiller in the parlement of Paris, and in 1753 maître des requêtes. In 1754 he was a member of the chambre royale which sat during an exile of the parlement. In Paris he frequented the salons, especially those of Mme de Graffigny—whose niece, Mlle de Ligniville ("Minette"), later Mme Helvétius, he is supposed at one time to have wished to marry; they remained lifelong friends—Mme Geoffrin, Mme du Deffand, Mlle de Lespinasse and the duchesse d'Enville. It was during this period that he met the leaders of the "physiocratic" school, Quesnay and Vincent de Gournay, and with them Dupont de Nemours, the abbé Morellet and other economists. In 1743 and 1756 he accompanied Gournay, the intendant of commerce, during Gournay's tours of inspection in the provinces. As minister of the navy from 1774 to 1776, he opposed financial support for the American Revolution. He believed in the virtue and inevitable success of the revolution but warned that France could neither financially nor socially afford to overtly aid it.
Quotations: On the Benefits which the Christian Religion has conferred on Mankind, and On the Historical Progress of the Human Mind