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purchase national land, the assignats having, for this purpose, the preference over other forms of money. If the creditor did not care to purchase land, it was supposed that he could obtain the See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face-value for them from those who desired land. Those assignats which were re-turned to the state as purchase-money were to be cancelled, and the whole issue, it was argued, would consequently disappear as the national lands were distributed. A first issue was made of 400,000,000 francs' See also:

worth of assignats, each See also:

note being of See also:

LOO (formerly called " Lanterloo," Fr. lanturlu, the refrain of a popular 17th-century song)

loo francs' value and bearing See also:

INTEREST

interest daily at a See also:

RATE

rate of 5%.

They were to be redeemed by the product of the sales, and from certain other See also:

SOURCES

sources, at the rate of 120,000,000 francs in 1791, 100,000,000 francs in 1792, 8o,000,000 francs in 1793 and 1794, and the surplus in 1795. The success of the issue was undoubted, and, possibly, if the assignats had been restricted, as Mirabeau at first desired, to the extent of one-See also:

HALF

half the value of the lands sold, they would not have shared the usual See also:

FATE

fate of inconvertible paper money. Mirabeau was a strenuous See also:

ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in law to call in the aid of a counsel or witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance)

advocate of the assignats. " They represent," he said, " real property,, the most secure of all possessions, the See also:

SOIL

soil on which we tread." " There cannot be a greater See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error than the fear so generally prevalent as to the over-issue of assignats . . . reabsorbed progressively in the purchase of the national domains, this paper-money can never become redundant." In 1790 the interest was reduced to 3 %, and as the See also:

TREASURY

treasury had again become exhausted, a further issue was decided upon; it was also decreed that the assignats were to be accepted as legal See also:

TENDER

tender, all public departments being instructed to receive them as the -See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent of metallic money. This second issue amounted to 800,000,000 francs and carried no interest. It was solemnly declared inthe See also:

DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat. decernere)

decree authorizing the issue that the maximum issue was never to exceed twelve See also:

HUNDRED

hundred millions. This See also:

PLEDGE

pledge, however, was soon broken, and further issues brought the See also:

TOTAL

total up to 3,750,000,000 francs. The consequence of these further issues was instant depreciation, and the note of 100 francs nominal value sank to less than 20 francs coin. Recourse was then had to protective legislation. The first step was to decree the See also:

PENALTY (Lat. poena, punishment)

penalty of six years' imprisonment against any See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person who should sell specie for -a more considerable quantity of assignats, or who should stipulate a different See also:

price for commodities according as- the See also:

PAYMENT (Fr. paiement, from payer, to pay; Lat. pacare, to appease, pax, peace)

payment was to be made in specie or in assignats. For the second offence the penalty was to be twenty years' imprisonment (See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1, 1793), for which the See also:

DEATH

death penalty was ultimately substituted (May to, 1794).

This severe See also:

PROVISION (Lat. provisio)

provision was, however, repealed after the fall of See also:

ROBESPIERRE, MAXIMILIEN FRANCOIS MARIE ISIDORE DE (175$-1794)

Robespierre. Notwithstanding these precautions, the value of assignats still declined, till the proportion to specie had become that of six to one. Then came the passing by the See also:

Convention on the 3rd of May 1793 of the absurd " maximum." The decree required all farmers and See also:

corn-dealers to declare the quantity of corn in their See also:

possession and to sell it only in recognized markets. No person was to be allowed to See also:

lay in More than one See also:

month's See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply. A maximum price was fixed, above which no one was to buy or sell under severe penalties. These See also:

MEASURES

measures were soon stultified by further issues, and by See also:

JUNE

June 1794 the total number of assignats aggregated nearly 8,000,0oo,000, of which only 2,464,000,000 had returned to the treasury and been destroyed. The See also:

EXTENSION (Lat. ex, out ; tendere, to stretch)

extension of the " maximum " to all commodities only increased the confusion. See also:

Trade was paralysed and all manufacturing establishments were closed down. Attempts by the Convention to increase the value of the assignats were of no avail. Too many causes operated in favour of their depreciation: the enormous issue, the uncertainty as to their value if the Revolution should fail, the relation they See also:

BORE

bore to -both specie and commodities, which retained their value and refused to be exchanged for a money of constantly diminishing purchasing See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power. Even between the assignats themselves there were See also:

DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF (Theory of Finite Differences)

differences. The royal assignats, which had been issued under See also:

Louis XVI., had depreciated less than the republican ones.

They were worth from 8 to 15% more, a fact due to the See also:

hope that in See also:

case of a See also:

COUNTER

counter-revolution they would be less likely to be discredited. The See also:

DIRECTORY

Directory was guilty of even greater abuses in dealing with the assignats. By 1796 the issues had reached the enormous figure of 45,500,000,000 francs, and even this gigantic total was swollen still more by the numerous counterfeits introduced into France from the neighbouring countries. The assignats had now become totally valueless—the abolition of the " maximum " the previous See also:

YEAR

year (1795) had produced no effect, and, though, by various payments into the treasury, the total number had been reduced to about 24,000,000,000 francs, their face-value was about 30 to I of coin. At this value they were converted into 800,000,000 francs of land-warrants, or mandats territoriaux, which were to constitute a mortgage on all the lands of the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic. These mandals were no more successful than the assignats, and even on the See also:

day of their issue were at a See also:

DISCOUNT

discount of 82 %. They had an existence of six months, and were finally received back by the state at about the seventieth See also:

PART

part of their face-value in coin. gives a full and graphic See also:

account of the assignats, the causes of their depreciation, &c. ; J. See also:

Garnier, Traite See also:

des Finances (1862) ; J. Bresson, Histoire financiere de la France (1829); R. Stourm, See also:

Les Finances de l'ancien regime et de la revolution (1885); F.

A. See also:

Walker, Money (1891) ; See also:

Henry Higgs, in the See also:

Cambridge See also:

MODERN

Modern See also:

HISTORY

History, vol. viii. (1904). (T. A.

End of Article: ASSIGNATS (from Lat. assignatus, assigned)

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