you are, inform yourself minutely of, and attend particularly to the affairs of France; they grow serious, and in my opinion will grow more and more so every day.  The King is despised and I do not wonder at it; but he has brought it about to be hated at the same time, which seldom happens to the same man.  His ministers are known to be as disunited as incapable; he hesitates between the Church and the parliaments, like the ass in the fable, that starved between two hampers of hay:  too much in love with his mistress to part with her, and too much afraid of his soul to enjoy her; jealous of the parliaments, who would support his authority; and a devoted bigot to the Church, that would destroy it.  The people are poor, consequently discontented; those who have religion, are divided in their notions of it; which is saying that they hate one another.  The clergy never do forgive; much less will they forgive the parliament; the parliament never will forgive them.  The army must, without doubt, take, in their own minds at last, different parts in all these disputes, which upon occasion would break out.  Armies, though always the supporters and tools of absolute power for the time being, are always the destroyers of it, too, by frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it.  This was the case of the Praetorian bands, who deposed and murdered the monsters they had raised to oppress mankind.  The Janissaries in turkey, and the regiments of guards in Russia, do the same now.  The French nation reasons freely, which they never did before, upon matters of religion and government, and begin to be ‘sprejiudicati’; the officers do so too; in short, all the symptoms, which I have ever met with in history previous to great changes and revolutions in government, now exist, and daily increase, in France.  I am glad of it; the rest of Europe will be the quieter, and have time to recover.  England, I am sure, wants rest, for it wants men and money; the Republic of the United Provinces wants both still more; the other Powers cannot well dance, when neither France, nor the maritime powers, can, as they used to do, pay the piper.  The first squabble in Europe, that I foresee, will be about the Crown of Poland, should the present King die:  and therefore I wish his Majesty a long life and a merry Christmas.  So much for foreign politics; but ‘a propos’ of them, pray take care, while you are in those parts of Germany, to inform yourself correctly of all the details, discussions, and agreements, which the several wars, confiscations, bans, and treaties, occasioned between the Bavarian and Palatine Electorates; they are interesting and curious.

I shall not, upon the occasion of the approaching new year, repeat to you the wishes which I continue to form for you; you know them all already, and you know that it is absolutely in your power to satisfy most of them.  Among many other wishes, this is my most earnest one:  That you would open the new year with a most solemn and devout sacrifice to the Graces; who never reject those that supplicate them with fervor; without them, let me tell you, that your friend Dame Fortune will stand you in little stead; may they all be your friends!  Adieu.