| Citation |
BEP(F.746.042
8 Dec 1746:21 (591)
Extract of a letter from the Hague, Sept. the 30th.
Some persons who lately came from Paris give the following
account of affairs there, viz. That trade is entirely
ruined; that want and misery manifest themselves every
where; and that had it not been for the victories being
gained, of cities and strong places being taken, of the
death of his Catholick Majesty, and of that of the
Dauphiness, and consequently for the frequent singing of Te
Deum, for the playing off of fireworks, erecting magnificent
canopies, singing masses of requiem, and procuring funeral
orations, which have amused idle people, and taken off their
attention from their real necessities, they must, upon
viewing their miserable circumstances, have been thrown into
a deep dejection, and will many of them be soon in want of
even bread; and what still adds to their unhappiness is,
that they are not at liberty to complain of, or even mention
the cause of their distress, for fear of being clapt into
prison, or sent to the galleys. But all these publick
shews, calculated to keep up the spirits of an oppressed
people, only serve to make the unthinking forget for a while
the intolerable taxes with which they are burthen'd and in
their present bad condition. . .
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