The notes concern European vital statistics and are followed by anecdotes about individuals including Cardinal Mazarin and the Duke of Buckingham.

The earlier songs are of the “Mazarinade” variety, with a large portion of the later 17th-century examples directed against the court of young Louis XIV, presided over by Cardinal Mazarin. Later songs include satires on John Law and his disastrous speculation in the Mississippi project, on the religious cult of the Convulsionnaires in Paris, on the morality of the clergy and of the women of the Paris theatre, and one on Voltaire, condemned for his Lettres philosophiques.

The notes provide some statistics on Europe, before turning to anecdotes concerning, amongst others, Cardinal Mazarin and the Duke of Buckingham.