Jean-Baptiste de Machault d\' Arnouville

Jean-Baptiste de Machault d' Arnouville , count d' Arnouville, lord of Garge and Gonesse, is a French politician born in Paris the December 13rd 1701 and died in the same city the July 12th 1794.

Wire of Louis Charles de Machault d' Arnouville, general Lieutenant of police force, Jean-Baptiste de Machault d' Arnouville are resulting from a family of members of Parliament established in Paris since the beginning of the 16th century. He married in 1737 in Paris Genevieve Louise Rouillé of Coudray (1717 - 1794). They had four wire:

Louis (1737 - 1820), bishop of Amiens;
Armand (1739 - 1827), colonel of Languedoc-Dragons;
Alexandre Jean Baptist (born in 1741);
Charles (1747 - 1830).

It was to advise with the Parlement of Paris (June 20th 1721) then main of the requests (August 7th 1728). As a rapporteur of the office of Legislation, it was closely associated with work of coding of the chancellor of Aguesseau, which held it in high regard. He was a then president with the Grand the Council (January 22nd 1738 - 1742), before being named Intendant of the Province of Hainaut to Valencian on March 1st 1743, on the recommendation of the count d' Argenson. He was dependant with the public prosecutor Guillaume-François Jolly de Fleury and close friend of Daniel-Charles Trudaine.

Louis XV on the occasion to become acquainted with Machault d' Arnouville when it placed with the intendance of Valencians in 1744 and 1745. December 6th 1745, the King named it General inspector of finances to replace Philibert Orry, whose Madam de Pompadour had obtained disgrace. The favorite one, written Michel Antoine, “ had not had any share in the general inspector nomination new, who, by certain features, was not without pointing out his predecessor. It was him also insensitive with the complaints of the private interests, a silent mood and an access difficult, suitable to discourage the beggars in spite of his extreme courtesy. ”

The four years of the War of succession of Austria having emptied the cases of the State, Machault had to resort to the loan. It tried, in 1749, a reform of the direct taxes which, if it had been able to conclude it, would have perhaps made it possible to reduce one of the causes of the revolutionary explosion of 1789. He proposed to abolish the tenth, from which the clergy and most of the nobility escaped, and to replace it by a new tax, twentieth, which would not suffer any exception. But this project caused an outcry in the privileged people and the exemption obtained by the clergy led the general inspector to give up his reform in December 1751.

November 29th 1750, Machault d' Arnouville was in parallel named Minister of Justice of France, concommittamment with the nomination of Guillaume de Lamoignon de Blancmesnil like Chancelier of France, to replace Henri François d' Aguesseau which had given its resignation.

Secretly attacked by his colleague the count d' Argenson, compromised in front of the king by the benevolence which the Parliament marked to him, blocked in the execution of its plans, it was returned in its turn of the system check of finances on July 28th 1754, but in compensation, it accepted the secretariat of State to the Navy. It remained Minister of Justice and Secretary of State to the Navy until February 1st 1757, date on which Madam de Pompadour made it return.

“ It is certain that, of all its ministers, Machault was that which Louis XV the most liked and estimated , note Michel Antoine. It saw in him the great man of State of which it dreamed, in what it was, once more, perfectly lucid. The decision and energy were the dominant features of its character, clearness and the precision those of its spirit, with an admirable conscience of the practical needs rather than a propensity with the theoretical speculations, with a respect of the traditions which did not prevent its reforms from carrying such repercussions that they engaged a recasting of the State and company. The man, with that, was deeply just and, no matter what insinuated or vociferated its enemies, a good Christian. If it had by no means desired the capacity and if he did not regret it after having lost it, it did not miss an address to be maintained there. Having in particular seized how much Madam de Pompadour could be harmful, it had care to secure its support and its sympathy, without, in its heart and conscience, it approving its connection with the King. ”

After its disgrace, during more than thirty years he lived forgotten of first of all in his ground of Arnouville-lès-Gonesse, where he had undertaken in 1750 to make build by the architects Pierre Telling of Ivry and Jean-Michel Chevotet a modern castle in a park. The unit, which was not completed, work having undoubtedly been stopped with the disgrace of Machault, was to be imposing: the building which remained, at right angles, comprises 18 windows and attic windows of frontage and the wing in return projected built forever. The marquis d' Argenson had noted in a letter of 1751: “it makes lavish expenditures with its castle of Arnouville-lès-Gonesse: it there cut down the village and makes in front of its house a large public place like the Place Vendôme; he hopes that the king will pass there while coming from Compiegne, and it made there pass the way. ”

It is said that of its advent in 1774, Louis XVI thought of pointing out Machault. But an intrigue of last minute - arrival is party of the duke of Pivot, which supported his/her cousin six times removed the count de Maurepas, that is to say clergy that Machault had upset while trying to fix it with the Twentieth - made draw aside with the profit of Maurepas.

In 1789, it settled with the Château of Thoiry, in his/her son Charles which the woman, born Angélique of Baussan, had inherited the castle. His/her son Louis, bishop of Amiens had refused to lend oath to the civil Constitution of the clergy and emigrated. Falling under the blow from the decree of September 17th 1793 (which included the parents of emigrants in the category of the suspects), Jean-Baptiste Machault d' Arnouville, old of quatre-vingt-treize years, was arrested with Rouen and was imprisoned in 1794 with the prison of Madelonnettes where he died little of time afterwards.

It was named honorary member of the Academy of Science in 1746, commander and treasurer of the orders of the King on November 16th 1747, and Minister of state on May 24th 1749.

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