"My people, when they know the authors of the trouble, will regard them with horror," said the royal circular.
The authors of the trouble have remained unknown; to his last day M.
Turgot believed in the existence of a plot concocted by the Prince of Conti, with the design of overthrowing him.
Severities were hateful to the king; he had misjudged his own character, when, at the outset of his reign, he had desired the appellation of Louis le Severe.

"Have we nothing to reproach ourselves with in these measures ?" he was incessantly asking M.Turgot, who was as conscientious but more resolute than his master.

An amnesty preceded the coronation, which was to take place at Rheims on the 11th of June, 1775.
A grave question presented itself as regarded the king's oath: should he swear, as the majority of his predecessors had sworn, to exterminate heretics?
M.Turgot had aroused Louis XVI.'s scruples upon this subject.
"Tolerance ought to appear expedient in point of policy for even an infidel prince," he said; "but it ought to be regarded as a sacred duty for a religious prince." His opinion had been warmly supported by M.de Malesherbes, premier president of the Court of Aids.

The king in his perplexity consulted M.de Maurepas.

"M.