XUPÉRY , The Little Prince
D isaster! In March 1638, Étienne Pascal fled Paris, running for his life. Two of his friends had been put into the Bastille, while those who had evaded the cardinal’s agents were looking for some hole to crawl into. Étienne ended up back in Clermont, in his hometown, where the network of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews could hide him better than he could hide himself in Paris.
As with most things, this drama began with the cardinal. When Étienne had brought his children to Paris, he had several financial assets: his house in Clermont, on the rue des Gras, and his office in the Cour des Aides—an office, like many others in France at the time, that could be bought and sold. When Étienne sold his office, he took most of his money and invested it in French government bonds, or rentes . These paid the interest of 1 livre per year for every 18 livres invested at the time of his investment. This made Étienne’s investment worth 65,665 livres. However, within a few short years Cardinal Richelieu brought France into the Thirty Years’ War on the side of the Protestants because he feared thespread of Hapsburg power. We must remember that the Hapsburg family ruled Austria, parts of Germany, what is now the Czech Republic, a good chunk of Italy, and the entire Spanish empire. The Hapsburgs were also ultra-Catholic and were using their power to fight the increasing influence of Protestantism. Richelieu, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, worried more about infringements on French sovereignty than about the life and health of his church, and so he declared war on the Holy Roman Emperor. The problem with war, however, is that it costs a lot of money, and the cardinal had to get that money from somewhere. The cost of the war had nearly bankrupted the nation, and so Richelieu, to solve his financial problems, decided to default on his government bonds. The value of Étienne’s investment dropped from 65,665 livres to less than 7,296.
Money makes the world go round, and this was also true in the seventeenth century. The aristocracy had their privileges, granted to them by birth and family history; the poor had almost nothing; the rising bourgeoisie had money, and money was slippery. The entire story of the events leading up to the French Revolution can be summed up in this truth. The seventeenth century was not merely the time in which science began to take hold, but also the time in which money began to take hold, to affect even the aristocracy in their complacent privileges. But it was the middle class, then as now, who always felt the pinch, who, unless they secured their money, could easily fall back into the nameless masses of the poor. Understandably, then, Étienne and the other investors grew disturbed over the cardinal’s decision. That March, in 1638, Étienne Pascal, the man of good breeding, the man of science and mathematics, the enlightened teacher, the socialite and intellectual, joined the other investors in a protest, which, as protests will, got out of hand. Someone made threats, and someone acted violently, and someone was openly seditious. The cardinal, in a snit, responded in kind and ordered his agents to gather them all up and throw them in prison. If Richelieu knew anything, it was how to put down protesters.
In full flight, Étienne left his children behind to be cared for by friends and by his domestic servants. Imagine the fear of his children: they hadlost their mother when they were only babies, and now their father, their only protector, had been forced to run for his life, or at least for his freedom. But the Pascals were fortunate in their friends, especially Madame Sainctot, who gathered the children around her and began to scheme for Étienne’s return and rehabilitation. The friends had one hold card. Blaise was not the only talented Pascal; his younger sister, Jacqueline, was an accomplished poet, and had been even as a child. She was a pretty
D isaster! In March 1638, Étienne Pascal fled Paris, running for his life. Two of his friends had been put into the Bastille, while those who had evaded the cardinal’s agents were looking for some hole to crawl into. Étienne ended up back in Clermont, in his hometown, where the network of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews could hide him better than he could hide himself in Paris.
As with most things, this drama began with the cardinal. When Étienne had brought his children to Paris, he had several financial assets: his house in Clermont, on the rue des Gras, and his office in the Cour des Aides—an office, like many others in France at the time, that could be bought and sold. When Étienne sold his office, he took most of his money and invested it in French government bonds, or rentes . These paid the interest of 1 livre per year for every 18 livres invested at the time of his investment. This made Étienne’s investment worth 65,665 livres. However, within a few short years Cardinal Richelieu brought France into the Thirty Years’ War on the side of the Protestants because he feared thespread of Hapsburg power. We must remember that the Hapsburg family ruled Austria, parts of Germany, what is now the Czech Republic, a good chunk of Italy, and the entire Spanish empire. The Hapsburgs were also ultra-Catholic and were using their power to fight the increasing influence of Protestantism. Richelieu, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, worried more about infringements on French sovereignty than about the life and health of his church, and so he declared war on the Holy Roman Emperor. The problem with war, however, is that it costs a lot of money, and the cardinal had to get that money from somewhere. The cost of the war had nearly bankrupted the nation, and so Richelieu, to solve his financial problems, decided to default on his government bonds. The value of Étienne’s investment dropped from 65,665 livres to less than 7,296.
Money makes the world go round, and this was also true in the seventeenth century. The aristocracy had their privileges, granted to them by birth and family history; the poor had almost nothing; the rising bourgeoisie had money, and money was slippery. The entire story of the events leading up to the French Revolution can be summed up in this truth. The seventeenth century was not merely the time in which science began to take hold, but also the time in which money began to take hold, to affect even the aristocracy in their complacent privileges. But it was the middle class, then as now, who always felt the pinch, who, unless they secured their money, could easily fall back into the nameless masses of the poor. Understandably, then, Étienne and the other investors grew disturbed over the cardinal’s decision. That March, in 1638, Étienne Pascal, the man of good breeding, the man of science and mathematics, the enlightened teacher, the socialite and intellectual, joined the other investors in a protest, which, as protests will, got out of hand. Someone made threats, and someone acted violently, and someone was openly seditious. The cardinal, in a snit, responded in kind and ordered his agents to gather them all up and throw them in prison. If Richelieu knew anything, it was how to put down protesters.
In full flight, Étienne left his children behind to be cared for by friends and by his domestic servants. Imagine the fear of his children: they hadlost their mother when they were only babies, and now their father, their only protector, had been forced to run for his life, or at least for his freedom. But the Pascals were fortunate in their friends, especially Madame Sainctot, who gathered the children around her and began to scheme for Étienne’s return and rehabilitation. The friends had one hold card. Blaise was not the only talented Pascal; his younger sister, Jacqueline, was an accomplished poet, and had been even as a child. She was a pretty
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