258 
again by, force, who, no, longer.lis- . 
ten.to,its, gentle voice; and strike 
with salutary terror those whom.an 
unaccountable delirium renders.in- 
sensible to the calamities. they, are 
suffering. . ba 
Who is. there that would not be 
aifected to see that once so flourish- 
ing kingdom, to which nature has 
been lavish.in the means of making 
it such: that kingdom jso.rich in 
population, so, fruitful in. its pro- 
ductions, and which once abound- 
ed in moneys, so opulent, from its 
resources, and its. commerce; from 
the industry, of its inhabitants, and 
the advantages of its colonies: that 
kingdom, provided. with so many 
useful institutions, and whose happy 
abodes have been universally court- 
ed, presenting at this moment no- 
thing but the appearance of a bar- 
barous country, given up to rapine, 
stained with bloody ruins, and de- 
serted by its principal inhabitants ; 
an unorganized empire, torn with 
intestine distraction, stripped of all 
its riches, threatened with. every 
species of scarcity, enervated from 
three years internal disorders, , and 
on the brink of dissolution through 
anarchy :, a nation without man- 
ners, police, or government; as 
little to be known again by its mo- 
ral character, as by its political situ- 
ation,—having neither circulation 
of money, public revenue, credit, 
commerce, urmy, or justice, or any 
energy in the public strength! Mad 
wickedness hasswept them allaway! 
How is it possible that the sad 
impression of so many ills should 
not have altered opinions, even 
those of the people themselves! Is 
there a person who can still shut his 
eyes against the disastrous effects of 
the revolution; or one who does 
not feel, and in some measure suf- 
fer, more or less from it? 
ANNUAL; REGISTER, 1702. 
-The husbandman, whom they had 
intoxicated with the deceitful hope 
of.paying no more taxes, .beholds 
himself averwhelmed with .contri- 
butions, and. pays double, what he 
did before:—The artificer groans 
under the languor,, of labour.and 
the dearness of | provisions.—The 
tradesman is ruined; by the removal 
of his. best .customers :+-the mer- 
chant by the devastation,of our best 
colonies ; and both by the.evil of 
paper,currency, and a general /want 
‘of credit :—-The proprietor, of _pro- 
perty sacrificed to a multitude des- 
titute. of property, jand, stripped 
with impunity, by authorised rapine, 
is continually exposed to the fury 
of that mob of plunderers,,whom 
the factious have made their tools, 
their allies, and their. protectors:— 
‘The stockholder, although: less, to 
be pitied than others, shares in like 
manner the public misfortunes :— 
he trembles for his stock, and that 
bankruptcy which the, authors of 
our, troubles ‘have so. perfidiously 
and slanderously imputed the inten- 
tion of to the, King and, the govern+ 
‘ment; that bankruptcy which. ina 
kingdom like France cao, never be 
a matter of necessity, and which an 
enlightened administration will al- 
ways consider as a false resource. 
He perceives. it operating since the 
revolution. by the suspension of le- 
gal exactions ; by the breach of a 
multitude of public engagements; 
by the delays and formalities to 
which the acquittal of rents is. sub- 
ject; by the great depreciation of 
assignats;. finally, from the impossi- 
bility of fulfilling engagements so — 
iong as France shall be without a 
government, and taxes demanded 
of armed contributors in the name 
of a despicable administration. 
Thus has a general calamity ex~- 
tended for three years past over all 
ranks 
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