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country—they found a reſource in deſpair, and nothing is more terrible than the deſpair of thoſe who have no courage. What is the condition to which we have reduced the people of our kingdom? Reduced by miſery to the ſtate of brutes, they drag out their days in a lazy ſtupidity, which one would almoſt miſtake for a total want of ſentiment: they love no art, they value themſelves on no induſtry; they labour no longer than the dread of chaſtiſement forces them; convinced that they cannot enjoy the fruit of their ingenuity, they ſtifle their talents, and make no eſſays to diſcover them.—Hence that frightful ſcarcity in which we find ourſelves of the molt common artiſans! Should we wonder that we are in want of things the moſt neceſſary, when thoſe who ought to furniſh them, cannot hope for the ſmalleſt profit from their cares to furniſh us! It is only where liberty is found, that emulation can exiſt."
It would be a pleaſure to tranſlate the whole; but it is too long. It is a pity that the whole people, whoſe miſery he deſcribes and laments, were not as ſenſible of the neceſſity of a leſs circumſcribed royal authority.
