IN THE YEARS intervening between Turgot's dismissal and
the birth of the dauphin Louis had permitted himself to be
drawn into an adventure which was to have grave and far-
reaching consequences. The whole story fitted nicely into
the pattern of Louis XVI's destiny.

From the very beginning of the conflict between England
and her colonies on the other side of the Atlantic--the mother-
country imposing certain economic legislation and the colo-
nies objecting to it--Louis took the position that in a family
quarrel a foreigner had no business to interfere. Nevertheless,
he was disturbed by the unrest in North America and feared
that England, victorious or vengeful, might seize what was
left of France's colonial empire in the New World. ¹ One
year before the American Declaration of Independence, Louis

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