the _mandats_ had refuted his entire argument.[73]

The old plan of penal measures was again pressed. Monot led off by
proposing penalties against those who shall speak publicly against the
_mandats_; Talot thought the penalties ought to be made especially
severe; and finally it was enacted that any persons "who by their
discourse or writing shall decry the _mandats_ shall be condemned to a
fine of not less than one thousand _francs_ or more than ten thousand;
and in case of a repetition of the offence, to four years in irons."
It was also decreed that those who refused to receive the _mandats_
should be fined,--the first time, the exact sum which they refuse; the
second time, ten times as much; and the third time, punished with two
years in prison. But here, too, came in the action of those natural
laws which are alike inexorable in all countries. This attempt proved
futile in France just as it had proved futile less than twenty years
before in America. No enactments could stop the downward tendency of
this new paper "fully secured," "as good as gold"; the laws that
finally govern finance are not made in conventions or congresses.[74]

From time to time various new financial juggles were tried, some of
them ingenious, most of them drastic. It was decreed that all
_assignats_ above the value of one hundred _francs_ should cease to
circulate after the beginning of June, 1796. But this only served to
destroy the last vestige of, confidence in government notes of any
kind. Another expedient was seen in the decree that paper money
should be made to accord with a natural and immutable standard of
value and that one franc in paper should thenceforth be worth ten
pounds of wheat. This also failed. On July 16th another decree
seemed to show that the authorities despaired of regulating the
existing currency and it was decreed that all paper, whether _mandats_