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At _Ham_ the prisoners for debt are quite separated from the state
prisoners; the latter are in the castle, the former in the tower.
The death of _Lewis_ the XVth gave liberty to an infinite number of
unhappy people, and to many who would have been enlarged before, but had
been forgotten. When one of these unhappy people (a woman of fashion)
was told she might go out; then, (said she) I am sure _Lewis_ the XVth
is dead; an event she knew nothing of, tho' it was a full year after the
King's death.--Things are otherwise conducted now than in his reign; a
wicked vain woman then commanded with unlimited power, both in war and
domestic concerns. In this reign, there are able, and I believe virtuous
ministers.
I suppose you think as I did, that Madame _Pompadour_ governed by her
own powerful charms; but that was not the case; she governed as many
other women do, by borrowed charms; she had a correspondence all over
the kingdom, and offices of intelligence, where _youth_, _beauty_, and
_innocence_, were registered, which were sent to her according to order;
upon the arrival of the _goods_, they were dressed, and trained for
_use_, under her inspection, till they were fit to be _shewn up_.
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