The taxes of France at this time had been augmented far beyond heir due proportion; and this had produced many strange and contradictory phænomena; which, as we shall now see, misled the Cardinal in many respects; because his experience was not sufficient to discover the causes of them. “The augmentation of impositions on the people,” says he, “does the King _so much_ hurt by raising prices, as to compensate all he can gain.” If we suppose that the King gained by the augmentation; that is to say, that the tax, when increased, really produced more than before, and raised prices proportionally; then the King could only lose his proportional part, but never the whole. If the tax, by being augmented, produced less than before, which was the case often, then he lost by a diminution upon his income, not by the rise of prices. But this was not the case; because deficiencies of that kind could not fall upon the King, but upon his farmers. The true reason was, that the King paid most of his expences by assignments upon the taxes; and then, no doubt, the higher they were raised, and the more difficult to recover, the dearer every undertaking would cost the King. This reasoning upon the effect of taxes shews, that at that time the doctrine of them was not well understood. No wonder: theory is not sufficient to lay open political consequences, even to the greatest genius. All our information as to these matters arises from experience, and all our instruction from our attention and reflection. As a proof of this, he mentions, almost in the same place, an effect of the increase of taxes, which is quite contrary to the former. “Consumption,” says he, “diminishes, as taxes augment.” This is a contingent, but not a necessary consequence, as we have seen, and has the effect of lowering prices. I mention these particulars, only to shew how little this great man had studied the principles of taxation, or combined the causes of those phænomena which he saw arising from them. Such contrary effects could not fail to be felt, when taxes were raised in the manner usual at that time, and when no method was contrived for augmenting the currency.