Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Letter III
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it this autumn, for speculations of various kinds have
already almost doubled the price.
Such are the effects of war, that it saps the vitals
even of the neutral countries, who, obtaining a sudden
influx of wealth, appear to be rendered flourishing by
the destruction which ravages the hapless nations who
are sacrificed to the ambition of their governors. I
shall not, however, dwell on the vices, though they be
of the most contemptible and embruting cast, to which
a sudden accession of fortune gives birth, because I
believe it may be delivered as an axiom, that it is only
in proportion to the industry necessary to acquire
wealth that a nation is really benefited by it.
The prohibition of drinking coffee under a penalty,
and the encouragement given to public distilleries,
tend to impoverish the poor, who are not affected by
the sumptuary laws; for the regent has lately laid
very severe restraints on the articles of dress, which
the middling class of people found grievous, because it
obliged them to throw aside finery that might have
lasted them for their lives.
These may be termed vexatious; still the death of
the king, by saving them from the consequences his
ambition would naturally have entailed on them, may
be reckoned a blessing.
Besides, the French Revolution has not only
rendered all the crowned heads more cautious, but has so
decreased everywhere (excepting amongst themselves)
a respect for nobility, that the peasantry have not only
lost their blind reverence for their seigniors, but
complain in a manly style of oppressions which before they
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