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THIS Addrefs and Expoflulation. now altered and adapted to the prefent bent and pofture of affairs, were at firft in- tended to have been offered to the public conli- deration after the Eafter recefs,had no Diffolution of Parliament intervened. This is mentioned only as an apology, if any parts of them fliould be lefs applicable to the prefent ftate of things ; for, as to their great and capital objefts, I hope I do not flatter myfelf when I conclude, that the prefent (ituation promifes a much happier ifiue B to ( ^ ) to them than they could probably have met with if publlfhed when origuially hucndecl. We then had but a cefiatlon of hoflilitics : now, I reft af- fnred, we have a firm and folid peace, and that all conteft for the future will be no more than a generous rivalfhlp, by the merit of great, une- quivocal, and difintcrcflcd fcrvices,to {land fore- moll in the public favour. ?; I may therefore prcfumc with confidence, that amongll the earlieft luminous epochs of this bright sera will be found fome folid, fome efficient relief, fome prefent comfort, fome future grounds of fecurity and hope for the public creditors of this country. Bankruptcy, alas ! like Death, leveh all con- ditions as well of nations as of individuals. The public neceffities, if they have not thrown down every barrier of the Conftitution, have at leafl rendered the two great equipoifes of Privilege and Prerogative, viz. Denial of Supplies and Diffolution (^ ( 3 ) Dlflblution of Parliament, almoft ufclefs and inert. Tiic terror of anarchy arifing out of the prcflure of the demands on the Public, not con- llitutional purity, not conflitutional energy, for a long time governed the State. Under the cover of this confufion and diftrefs, each Party proceed- ed to lengths unwarrantable, and fupported bad adts by realbnings as bad. The public good, though ftill the theoretical deity of the idolatry of each, had no influence on, and did not make any part of the practical worlhip of, either party. But I mean not to inflame ; I mean not to revive pafl: violences, paft errors, which both fides, for their honour, fliould fuffer to remain buried in perpetual oblivion. They were quefliions that ought never to have been agi- tated, but. Like other niyflerics men adore, Be hid, to be revered the more. B 2 All !' ' ( 4 ; All that I propofe is, to evince that a State fo prefled with neccflities as ours is, only vainly Loads of a Conftitution ihc docs not, cannot enjoy : from which it follows of neccfTary con- fequence, that it is the duty of all Parties to join, to give or to reftore to us our Conftitution, Before this is done, it is furely a folly the moft: prepofterous to fall a-wrangling about the proper exercife and adminiftration of it. The Conftitution, like all the reft we poflefs, like every other part of our effects, falls under, and is annihilated by, the ftatute of our Public Bankruptcy ; for Bank- rupts we certainly are, to every intent, purpofe, and meaning of the word, if, in the fecond year of a Peace, good and fufficient Refourccs are not found to make our Incomes equal at leaft to our Expenditure : They ought, indeed, fo far to exceed it as to leave a reafonabic fuf- plus for prcfent or future emergencies. If-^ I cannot ( 5 ) I cannot believe that Parties would contend with fuch unrelenting ferocity for the govern- ment of a State, from the adminiftration of which, the moment it was obtained, they would be obliged to difqualify themfelves, upon account of not being able to find the Refources necefTary for the public fervice : . Nee tib'i regnandi vcniat tarn dlra cupido* ' 1 Surely nothing can be fought for with fuch un- remitting afliduity, fuch zeal and paffion, which if obtained could not be held with honour for a moment, nor long without it. I I therefore naturally fuppofe, that I have done even an acceptable fervice to the com- petitors for power by my humble, unambitious endeavours to adjuft and afcertain the Incomes and the Peace-Expenditure of the State ; the firft of which, in a former publication, I flated to ( 6 ) I' i . u to amount to about Twelve Millions annually ; and the latter, with an allowance of Five Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly for contingencies and accidental deficiencies, I eftimatcd to amount to Sixteen Millions Five Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly. And though, as to the laft, I muft beg leave to amend my account a little, on new lights and farther confideration ; yet I hope I fhall not bear too hard on the great abilities of the great men contending for power, if 1 make an Addition to the Public Unfunded Debt of Five Millions, with a coirefponding Intereft or An- nuity ; Three Millions of which I allot to the arrangement of the affairs, and to the fupport ot the credit, of our Eaft-India Company, and Two Millions as neceffary to the expcnce of a new Silver Coinage, which is indifpenfably and im- mediately required. Thefc force me now to fix the proper Income of the State at Eighteen Millions yearly, which I proportion thus :— To T I I ( 7 ) Tb the Creditors of the Public, after the above two articles arc provided for, and allowing romcthing for fmallcr omiflions and demands, which I know to cxift, but on which I can put no Eftimate ;— to the Creditors of the i ublic, I fay, Ten Millions yearly, inftead of the Nine Millions Six Hundred and Thirty Thoufand Pounds I cflimatcd their demands at : NCE The Civil Lift Eflabllfliment, the Pri of Wales included, the fame with my former Eftimate, One Million One Hundred Thoufand Pounds : The current Annual Peace-Ellabllfhments, Five Millions Five Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly; b^'ng likewife the fame as in my for- mer Eftimate: To thefe I add, as the leaft proportional Sinking Fund for fmaller contingencies, for great Civil 1 1 ; ( 8 ) civil emergencies, and for future Wars, One Million Four Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly. Recapitulation* To the Creditors of the Public yearly, £. 10,000,000 To the Civil Lift, ditto, . I Prince of Wales's Eftablilliment ^ 1,100,000 included J Current Annual Peace Eftabliflimenr, 5,500,000 To a Sinking Fund, — 1,400,000 Total Demand in years of Peace, J[. 18,000,000 it ' \ Great as this fum may appear, I am very pofitive, that upon experiment a lefs one will be found inadequate ; the public fituation re- maining with regard to its Foreign Dependencies as it does at prefent, and a decent fecurity being provided for our domeftic and foreign concerns, and a very moderate and fcanty allowance being afforded r 9 ) afforded in fatlsfadllon of tliofe engagements to which the good faitli and honour of the Na- tion ftands pledged. Having mentioned a new Silver Coinage, I iliall here prefume to advife (though it is fome- thing remote from the objed: which I am pur- fuing) that whenever it takes place, the value of the Crown be raifed to five iliillings and fix- pence, which is confonant to the original Re- folution of the Committee of the Houfe of Com- mons, January 8, 1694, the year before the laft general Silver Coinage took place. I know the arguments for the prefent Standard are fully as ftrong as thofe againft it ; but all the heavy Silver Coin having been carried out of the King- dom, decides conclufively in favour of raifing the Standard. Since I wrote the above, I have received and pcrufcd the Eleventh Report of the Com- miffioners of Accounts. I fhall fet down here C all mi't c 10 ; all I have to fay on the fiibjca: of it, thono-h ' to part of it docs not fo llriclly conned: with my prcfent purfiihs. I called upon the Comnr.fHoners, and they have now come forward with proper energy. They hiive proved thcnifclvcs to he the men I ever took them ; for their matter is now as good as their manner always was. The prin- ciples they proceed on are felf-evidcnt, folid, and incontrovertible, viz. Tbnt it is the good of the State that gives exijierice to and govrns every Public Office :— That the Officer has powers dele- gated to him neceffiary for the executicn ; but he has vo other right than to tie reward of his hi our ; and that */ the good of the Canmunity requires a dimi- nution or annihilation of the bufnefs of his offilce^ or the transfetring it eljewhere^ the Officer cannot oppofe to the regulaticn the diminution or annihila- tion of his proftSy hecaufe net the emolument of the Officer hut the advantage of the Public was the cbjeoi of th: infiitution. In In compliance with a dodtrine fo found, with ii.axlms fo folid, the CommiHloners of Accounts have fuggeftcd a moft proper and unexception- able Reform, by which an Annual Saving will accrue to the Public of Twenty Thoufand Pounds, created by the exempting from the jurifdidion of the Auditor (to which they are at prefent very ufelefsly fubiefttd; the Annuities of the year 1751, and thofc that arc tranfafted at the Bank of Enorhmd. Any Minifter who does not admit the principle on which it proceeds, and docs not give imme- diate effed: to the Saving fuggeflcd, I fliall efteem, whatever his profefilons may be, a mean temporizer, a timid refpeder of perfons, who flirinks back from his trud, and from the duty he owes to the Public. The admiffion of the neceffity of indifcrimi- nate compenfation is fatal to all Reform what- ever. If you compenfate thofe who do nothing, C 2 and ( ) I I i I and pay thofc* that do the bufincfs, the ofTicial regulation and arrangement may be made bet- ter ; but the cxpence mull be greater, which the ftate of the Public Finances cannot on any ac- count allow of. Proceeding on the principles laid down, and proved conclufivcly by the Commif- fioners of Accounts, Occonomy and Regulation may go hand in hand. In the Eleventh Report I likewife find a very exaa flatement of what is paid annually by the Public, as Luereft and Charges for the Debt that is funded, amounting in whole to Eight Millions One Hundred and Six Thoufand Seven Hundred and Ninety-two Pounds. There is alfo fubjoined a ft:Uement of certain parts and to certain periods of the unfunded Debt ; I fup- pofe as far as the Commifiloners could authorita- tively proceed on this fubjed. The amount of what thefe flaremcnts contain of the Unfunded Debt is Eighteen Millions Eight Hundred and Fifty-fix Thoufand Five Hundred and Forty-one Pounds ( 13 ; ii Pounds of Principal, and Five Hundred and Seventeen Thoufand Five Hundred and Seventy- nine Pounds of Intcrefl. But, alas ! this is not all the Unfunded Debt : I doubt whether it is much more than the Half of it. The Debt of the Navy, which at the period of the qift of Oftober laft (by Account No. III. in the Appen- dix to the Eleventh Report of the Commiflioners of Accounts) amounted only to Eleven Millions Seven-Hundred and Fifty-eight Thoufand Six Hundred and Ninety-nine Pounds of Principal, and Three Hundred and Sixty-fix Thoufand Nine Hundred and Fourteen Pounds of Interell; on the 3 1 it of the following December amount- ed. Principal and Intercft, to Fourteen Millions Seven Hundred and Twenty.one Thoufand Six Hundred and Ninety-four Pounds ; and proba- bly by this time has advanced to near to Sixteen Millions. It is a fcience to find out in the bufinefs of the Unfunded Debt the very Heads under which the the Public (lands indebted. We have Debts that arc liquidated, but not paid j Debts that arc in part liquidated, in part paid ; Debts that are neicher liquidated nor paid in whole nor in part ; Debts of probable, Debts of certain con- tingency ; Debts of anticipation ; Debts arifing from defedlive Taxes ; Debts proceeding from deficient Grants. We have Debts of Honour as well as Debts of Juflice, and we have Debts that have not much of either, yet will be paid ; Debts that can be averaged, Debts that can be cftimated. Debts that can be neither ; Debts that bear intereft in whole. Debts that bear in- tereft in part ; Debts of Intereft incurred on both, and we have Debts that bear no Intereft. We have likewife Debts of which the Amount is voted, but no Fund provided for the Payment of it ; Debts brought in. Debts to be brought in from the four quarters of the globe. This is the beft defignation of the Heads of the Unfunded Debt I can make ; and yet, am- ple ( 15 ) pie as it is, I do not doubt but that there are Omiffions in it. Upon the mofl deliberate view, and the bci. conjedural calculation I can make, I judge Twenty Millions and upwards of thefe Debts carry Interefl ; and I apprehend all thefe articles, when fully adjufted and fatisfied, will amount, Principal and Interefl, to fomcthing above Thir- ty-five Millions; and the Annuity and Charcrcs including a reafonable profit to Subfcribers to the Loans, and affuming that the Three per Cents. do not rife above 60, will amount to nearly One Minion Nine Hundred Thoufand Pounds ; which, added to the Eight Millions One Hun- dred and Six Thoufand Seven Hundred and Ninety-two Pounds now paid by the Public for the Debts already Funded, will bring the An- nual Demands on the Public from the Public Creditors to fomething above the Ten Millions I ilate them at. I tire ( i6 ; 1 tire the PLibllc and I tire myfelf with too tedious details of this biifincfsv Hill hoping, ilill wifliing, to difcovcr Ibmc great and capital Error that I have committed. Surely if I am right, or near to right, in a the motley annals of the aberrations of the human mind from right rcafon, no infatuation lb complcat., fo extenfive, fo dura- ble, both on the part of the Borrowers and on that of the Lenders, can be found. I know I am accufed of exaggeration : I fear the contrary will be found the trueft. The cur- rent Annual Peace-Eftablifhment I was thought to have overrated at Five Millions Five Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly ; yet this very year it wall, I apprehend, amount to upwards of Six Millions, even after a reafonable allowance is made for the Remains of the War ; for all of thefe Remains muft not be deduded, as Parts of them will continue to fw-ll our Peace-Eftablifli- 'nt for years to come; probably till we lliall be me] 1 -I ( '7 ) be either obliged to prepare for, or be engaged in a new war. To conHiitute a proper and permanent Syftem of Finance with abfolute fecurity lor the prefent, and good and realbnablc profpccfls for the future, there is no doubt but the ftatciiient I have made of Eighteen Millions net yearly, is a fair and juft (and I wifh I could fay practicable to be complied with) demand on the Public, things continuing in the fituacion they are in. But it being quite wild and abfurd (at lead it appearing fo to me) to imagine that fo large an addition as nearly Six Millions net yearly, over and above what they at prefent pay, can be wrung from the hands of the people of this Ifland ; there feeqis to be a neceffity of deviating from the paths of Certainty into thofe of Proba- bility, of Speculation, of Hope, and even I fear of PofTibility. In what follows of Eflimate-kind, D I do •'ii ( i8 ; I do not pledge myfelf for the pradlicability of many things propofcd, nor for the certain pro- duce of any but that which will arifc from the Duplication of the Land Tax, localled as it ar prefcnt is. I I The prefcnt Revenue having in the Year ended loth of OdVober 1782, (the latcll period I have fecn, but I believe 178J is not very mate- rially dificrent) fomcthing exceeded Twelve Millions; and the Receipt-Tax being now I hope cftabliflicd, and better things being to beexpedcd from the Ealt-India Company after their affairs Ihall be put into order ; I think the even, per- haps probable expedation of the Amount of the prefent Taxes may be carried to the length of Thirteen Millions net yearly. The laft Parliament had before them the con- fideration of the great fums loft to the Revenue by illicit Trade : this fubjed: will undoubtedly be r 19 ) he refimicd by the next Parliament. Great and happy cffeds will, I hope, flow from their deli- berations •, and certainly fonie good will follow, if they attach themfelve? to the great and capital obje£ls by which the Revenue fuffers, and, above all, to Tea -, and do not diftrad: and fritter away their attention on trifles : though I am doubtful that the Sum pretended to be lofl: to the Revenue by Smuggling is eonfiderably exaggerated. A clamour once raifcd, without any-bodv whofe bufincfs it is to contradict it, but on the contrary, generally exceeds the truth. It is a vulgar faying. That more mifchicf than ought to be Is laid to the charge of even the Devil himfclf. The belt informations I can obtain from intelligent people of good abilities, though ill employed in this pernicious traffic, do not make the Sum fcnt out of the Kingdom for the purchafc of Commodities to be fmuggled into it, to have exceeded almoft in any year Twelve Hundred Thoufand Pounds. But taking it for granted, as it is Itated in the ^ , ^2 Report "■ r 20 ; Report to the Houfe of Commons, that the lols to the Revenue amounts to Two Millions yearly ; if )'ou double the price by fupprcfTirg illicit trade, the confumption fall<^ off in due proportion, and is brought to One Million ; and as ftiil fomc Smuggling mult take place, I think Five Hundred ThouAmd Pounds of }'carly addition to the Revenue from new parliamentary regulations is a fair concefllon. I have ftatcd my ideas on this fubjcdt in a for^ mer performance, and have allotted this fum as attainable by ncvv regulations, particularly by a proper cxtenfion of the Excife Laws, Many very fenfible, very intelligent people in fubjccfls of this kind, with whom I have fincc convcrfcd, have thought it too great an allowance : how- ever, I am Hill of opinion, that if regulations of force and elrlciency can be made with relation to Importations from Ireland, this, or even a fomewhat larger addition may be procured to the Revenue, r 21 ) Rut matters with Ire land arc in a r.LUutl-;-.; truly delicate and perilous. I fear Ireland was loll in America ! All (if lb much) that appears to mc to remain is a choice, amoiiMll didicult and dangerous expedients and hazardous alter- natives. The Navigation from Ireland can be performed during eight months of the year in open boats, in the fpacc of the continuance of the darkncfs of a finglc night, to a very long and accefliblc-to- boats tradt of the coaft of Scotland, and to Ibme parts, I believe, of that of Wales. This renders the illicit landing of goods from Ireland in thefc parts not to be prevented by any diligence or force whatever. Indeed, fliips of force cod a great deal, and fignify very little againft Smugglers; and what is once brought in finds its way and circulation fomehovv or other in tolerable fafety. The felzures on land are not very confidcrable, I muft # r 22 ; I mult here obferve, that there is one part of this fubjcd, I mean that of the high Durics on Foreign Spirits, which merits the utmolt atten- tion of Parliament;, and fome alteration and very confiderable diminution mufl, I think, be made in them ; even fuppofing the Revenue Ihould hazard to lofe fomething pretty confider- able. The confequence of the high Duties on Brandy and Rum has been a very great dccreaic of legal, and an increafe to a great 'jxtent of illi- cit importation of thefe commodities. But what ftill is infinitely of worfc confeqnence, from the decreafe- in the inland parts of the country of the ufe of foreign fpirits from thei dearnefs, the ufe of thofe diftilled from corn has increafcd, and the bread of the poor is thereby rendered dear and precarious. After a very great crop exceedingly well got in, the price of bread is not likely to be much lower thij year than it was the laft year, when the crop was both greatly deficient and ill nrefcrved. In Ireland, under the ( 23 ; the fame circumftances, the poor arc flarving, and a Bill is brought into their Parliament for prohibiting for a time Diftilling ; and I fee, by a laudable exertion of the Volunteers in the Weft of Ireland in fupprefllng illicit diftillation, oat- meal, the ftafF of life of that country, is men- tioned in the Papers to have fallen from i6s. to 13s. 6d. the hundred weight. The bread of the poor is a confidcration to which every other fliould give way. If this cannot be had in plenty, and at a reafonable price, tumult, dejedtion, and depopulation en- fue. In the prefent ftate and confumption of corn by Diftillation in this Kingdom, I appre- hend bread will not be cheap lu the moft fruitful years ; and in others it will be greatly too dear for the poor to purchafe it in a quantity adequate to their necefllty. And hence there will be a ne- cefllty often to fufpend diftilling altogether, which loads this part of our Revenues in their prefent '( ^4 ) preilnt fv.ation witli uncertainty, or with the other fa. more pernicious conlequences already- mentioned. I Ihoukl advife, therefore, to lower the Duties fo as Rum could be fold at Eight Shillings a gallon, and Brandy about Nine Shillings. This would in a good meafure prevent the fmuggling of thcfc liquors ; and as they are more palatable than Malt Spirits, fuppofmg they would be dear- er yet great quantities would be confumed, by which great benefit woald be procured to, and the murmurs of our Weft India Ifiands would be filenced, and a due proportion necclTary to keep- in^ under the too great confumption of corn by diftilling would be eftabliilied. Wheat being a grain univerfally cultivated, and almoft always to be had from fome country or other, the price of it generally bears no juft proportion to that of the inferior grains, which are for common greatly dearer than proportionally they ought to be, and the price of them is more immediately affeded ( H ) ftffedtcd by diftillation : yet from thcfe, particu- larly from oats, the bread of the poor muft be made in all Scotland, and in a great meafure and extent in the Northern parts of England. Whcaten bread where there is little or nothinnj of animal food to eat with it (and that is the cafe of the poor Northern labourers) does not give the fame proper ftrength for labour that oaten bread does. I make no excufcs for this detail : it needs none ; for the poorcft parts of the Community ought to be the primary obje(5ts of the care of every juft and humane Legiflature ; for they are by far the moft numerous, and by far the moft ufcful. To make it at all poffible for the Public to go on, and to do juflice to their Creditors, a further burthen muft of neceffity be laid on the Landed Property. I mentioned in a former work a Du- plication of the Land Tax as (if univerfaily or even generally practicable) the moll eafy, the E xnoft ( *6 ; mofl afcertaiiu'd, and the lead expenfive in the collcfling of any expedient I know of; and I valued the net produce at One Million Eight Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly ; and 1 am confident it would not produce Icfs : and I ftill think there is no method of raifing fo confider- able a fum to which fewer objedlions can be made; at leaft I know of none. I wonder much, that in all the negotiations for the union of Parties in which the Landed Intcreft fo meritorioufly diftinguifhed thcmfelves laft winter at the St. Alban*s, fomething of this kind, as an induce- ment and balls to fuch an union, was not mention- ed. The allufion to the jun(ftion of rivers is a favourite and a fafhionable one with the iublic ; I ihall therefore, even in contempt of geography, make ufe of it, and fupport ajundion of the Ga> ronne, the Shannon, and my native Tweed. What would follow, but a noify, roaring, rapid, foaming, frothy torrent, corroding and confuming the fer^ tility of the land through which it flowed ? Add the ( 27 ; the mud, the flime, the fatnefs of the Landed Intereft of England, you turn the barren hungry flream into a fruitful Nile, who From his broad bofom life and verdure flings, And broods o'er Britain with his wat'ry wings. But to quit fpcaking in parables, what could have been expefted towards the providing for the Public neceffities from the junftion of the Leaders of the two adverfe Parties ? Alas ! they are the Younger Sons of Younger Brothers ; they have nothing to give towards the public fupport, but words ; and of thefc, God knows, they are not avaricious. What fignify the over-grown rent-rolls oftentatioully drawn out on the fide of each Competitor, if the poflefTors of them will not, in the Sporting language, back their favourite candidate with a fingle Ihiliing ? Whig Rigorifm might perhaps have winked at fome fympathiz- ing and illegal Benevolence given to the Public from fuch enormous difproportioned wealth : but E 2 in i . ( 28 ) ti !'■'' in this I fear both Parties will remain ftriclly conftitutional. Be that as it may, Two Millions yearly, or near-hand to it, miift be laid on the Landholders, or all is at an end. For on Tradg and Confumption, Diminutions rather, on the ge- neral balance, than Additions mufl take place, or they will dwindle into nothing. -I I'' It This new burthen on the Land, ftatcd at One Million Eight Hundred Thoufand Pounds, included, the Whole levied on the Subjedt will, according to the prcfent Schema and Specula- tion, amount to Fifteen Millions Three Hun- dred Thouland Pounds net yearly ; and, with the Expence of Management and ColledHngt cftimated at eight per cent, will make the grofs fum raifed annually on the Inhabitants of this Ifland to amount to upwards of Sixteen Millions Five Hundred Thoufand Pounds-, a greater fum than ever was known to be raifed on a po- jnilation fo fmall in numbers as that of Britain in any (. ^9 ) any country, cxcpt in part of the dominions of the Dutch Republic ; and I believe nearly equal to what every individual is fuppofcd to pay there, though there what forms the pooreft and mofl: numerous clafs of our people, viz, the Day- Labourcrs for agriculture and country purpofes, is in a manner intirely wanting -, thofe who here hcd all the other clafles ; and by a mofl ungrate- ful return, alas ! are but very poorly fed by r T them. From the fad and reafoning premifed, any Addition to our Incomes by Taxes beyond what is already eftabliihe^, or furmifed and ftated as poflible, muft appear totally abfurd and imprac- ticable. Oeconomy is an idle word, the flale profeffion of every Miniller ; but it goes no far- ther ; nor, indeed, if fairly and houeftly purfued, could it afford any relief that could almoft be known or felt in the prefent accumulations of our diftreffes. There is nothing therefore, I ap- prehcnd. r 30 ; prebend, remains, that can relieve this Country to any ufefui extent and purpofe, but the parting with fame of our Foreign Pofleffions which coft the moft to the Public, and bring the fmalkil returns of profit or of national confequence. In this clafs Canada (lands the moft promi- nent ; a wide world of WildernefTes, with an un- meafurable Line of Frontier, pretended to be de- fended by Fortrefles thinly fpread alongft it, weak in themfelves, too diftant to fupport each other, or to be fupported by or to fupport the Capital, ill placed at the extremity of the Line. The poffeflion of this barren Wildernefs cofts the Nation,! imagine. Six HundredThoufand Pounds yearly, and it will be an increafmg expence. New Jealoufics and new Jobs will beget new Fortrefles, and new Fortrefles will engender new Eftablifh- ments ; and 1 doubt not in a few years the ex- pence will not be Icfs than a Million yearly. It coft the French immcnfe fums, and yet the Inhabi- . tants i 31 ) rants were always murmuring that they did not get enough. The Eftabliftiments were ill-paid, and their whole tranfadtions were nothing but Complaints, Confufion, and Litigation. I remember, at the Peace before the laft, the French felt with great fenfibility the inferiority of the Terms in all other conceffions and refpeds; but when the giving up of Canada was mention- ed, the invariable anfwer was, " Grand Men leur " fajfe ! Much good may it do them !" Yet the French had a very material, very weighty objcdt and reafons for keeping it, viz. the checking the growth of our American Colonies ; at that time, ^las ! held the rifing bulwark of the llrength and profpcrity of Britain. To us I cannot fee how the holding of Ca- nada at prefent can be of the leaft confequence or credit. The profits of the part we flill poflefs of the Fur Trade, and the exports to it, can furely i ( 3* ) furcly be but a fmall compenration for the great cxpence this Country is put to by keeping pof- fcflion of this dreary wafte : I think, therefore, there can be no hcfitation as to the propriety of abandoning it. The next of our polTciTions in the line of great cxpcncc without a proportional return is Gibral- tar. The expence of it, together with the nc- celTary reparations, will, I dare fay, for many years to come coft upwards of Five Hundred Thoufand Pounds yearly. Befides, it has been often aflerted, that Spain would purchafe it at the price of Ten Millions : fo here would be a double advatagc; an Expence ceafing, and a Profit arifing; and both together would, it is prefumed, produce to the Public a benefit of One Million yearly. In point of profit, I believe Gibraltar Hands on no better footing than Canada, But though I know ( 33 ) know and admit that national point of Honour is a valuable poflcflion, and though I admire and do juflice to the gallantry with which it was de- fended ; yet I think in the prefent fituation, in the prefent great want of Refources, and great need for them, a Miniftcr would be honourably unpopular by difpoiing of Gibraltar to the beft advantage. Thefc are all the poflible Refources that I can difcovcr. Let us therefore now fee how thef^ Schemes and Speculations would make up and correfpond with the Annual National De« mands of a Peace-Eftablifhment, Re. ( 34 ; Recapitulation. The Taxes already cftablifticd fup- pofed to advance fo ^s tg produce yearly net, - • ^f. 13,000,000 Additional yearly from new Regula- tions of Cuftoms and Excifc, net, 500,000 Addition from a Duplication of the prefent Land Tax, yearly net, i,8oo,ooq Addition from the Dcrelidion of Ca- nada yearly, - * Addition from the Ceflion of Gi- braltar, the price being fuppofcd to be applied to the Extinftion of Debt yearly, Total Annual Income, Total Annual Demand, £-18,000,000 Total Annual Income, by addition of Income or Diminution of Ex- which is in effect the ismi, 16,900,000 600,000 I:,0O0,O0O 16,900,000 Balance wanting, jf. 1, 100,000 By ( 35 ) By this account there appears, that there would fllll be wanting One Million One Hundred Thou- fand Pounds to make up the Eighteen Millions ; but as One Million Four Hundred Thoufand Pounds, part of the Eighteen Millions required, is a Surplus and Sinking Fund, and the net ex- pence amounts to no more than Sixteen Millions Six Hundred Thoufand Founds ; could thefe Speculations take place, and be as produdlive as we have dated, the National Expence would be anfwered, and a fmall Annual Surplus over of Three Hundred Thoufand Pounds; and (with the benefit of a Lottery and ifluing Exchequer Bills) it might be raifed to Haifa Million ; with which, I think, we might go on, and make things no worfe than what they are. I am very fenfible how crude and undigefted thefe Speculations are ; and I doubt not many greatly better, more certain, and infinitely Ids humiliating plans are in readin«fs to be produced Fz by ( 36 ) by the contending Parties, fo foon as they arc ellablilhed in power. Indeed, this matter preflea with the force of irrefiftible neceflity ; for at prefent the fuuation of the Public Creditors is altogether deplorable : for if the prefent Annual Revenue docs not exceed Tvelve Millions, and there is no grounds or authority to (late it at any thing that fignifies more ; and if the Annual Demand for the Debt Funded and Unfunded, and fovefeen with certainty, Ihall amount to Ten Millions yearly (and from what I have fubftan- tiated, it cannot amount, to materially lefsj ; and if the Civil Lift and current Peace-Eftablilh- ment arc nearly as I have ftated them (and I ap- prehend the probability is, that they, particularly the laft, will rather amount to more than lefs than I have eftimated them at) ; thefe matters being fo, the Public Account will ftand as fol- lows : To ( 37 ) To. the Creditors of the Public at los. in the pound - £. 5,000,000 To the Civil Lift, Prince of Wales's EftaMiihment included 1,100,000 To the current Annual Expence of the Pcace-Eftablilhment 5,500,000 Total Annual Expence £. 11,600,000 By this it appears, thst the prefent Annual Income of the Nation, paying the Public Creditors only 1'en Shillings in the Pound, exceeds in no more the Annual Expenditure than in Four Hundred Thoufard Pounds; a furpUis neceflary to fecure the punftual and regular pay- ment of the Eleven Millions Six Hundred Thou- fand Pounds. Hence it follows, that in the pre- fent ftate of things, in time of Peace the Credi- tors of the Public can only be paid Ten Shillings in the Pcund; and in time of War, when the Ex- traordinary Expcnces of the Vv ar ihall amount to Five Millions Annually, or upwards, (and few Wars I iiiwii*ii>v'i,'/^uvi| h';i I ir ( 38 ; Wars are carried on it fo moderate an expencc) they can receive nothing at all. But fairer hopes, brighter profpeAs rife to view ! The Public have now got a Minifter the Offspring of their Addrefles,. the Child of their Prayers. •1. Te duce, 11 qua mancnt fceleris veftigia noftii, Irrita perpctua folvent formidlne terras. Omnls feret omnia tellus, Noa rallros patietur humus, non vinea falcem. Till thefe poetical prophecies are accomplifh- ed, from Addreffes fo many and fo warm, cer- tainly fomething more will be expeded ; for cer- tainly fomething more is meant than a few poliih- cd periods on the abftrad points of Privilege and Prerogative, and a few hackneyed profeflions of Love and Loyalty to fill and figure away with in the Newfpapers. When Richard Cromwell, once Lord Pro- iei^or of fhe three Kingdoms of England, Scot- land^ ( 39 ) Ian J, and Ireland, on the Revolution found him* felf under the neceffity of leaving Britain, he ihewed a particular anxiety for the fafety of a little box he carried with him. Befng alked what its contents were, he faid, it contained the Lives and Fortunes of all the good People of England. Yet not a Shilling was fpcnt, not a Sword was drawn in fupport of his caufe. Now, the cafe will be very diff(?rent, indeed ; and I fhall under-rate the gratuitous contribu- tion, in fupport of their favourite Minifter, of the City of London, in eftimating it at no more than Ten Millions. To London, the great emporium, the great center and repofitory of the wealth of the World, Ten Millions will never be miffed out of its great and boundlefs circula- tion ; —a fingle ream of paper more than fup- plies the want ;— to the City of Wfstminster I affign Five Millions; to Westminster,' that City of Palaces, the ^cat and Temple of refined J-uxjury, where Ple^tfure is pulhed to the very confines r 40 ) confines of its oppofitc. Pain. Something taken from their profufions will do no more than rellore the zcfl of nature and fimplicity to their enjoy- ments : by becoming lefs expcnfive they will become more pleafing. I let off the reft of the great and opulent Addrefling Counties, Cities, Burghs, and Corporations, too cheaply for Fifteen Millior ' more. u Thij done, our young Minifter will ftand on fomething ofa firm bafis. With this aid, joined to a calm and firm refolution in the People to bear with patience and temper the heavy loads that ftill muft be laid upon them, the public aflfairs may go on with fomc fmall degree of eclat, and with even a probability of redeeming and faving the State. But without fomething of this kind, fome great fpontaneous exertiop, general and de- cifive on the part of the Public, the Minifteri^l life of our young Favourite muft be as ftiort as the natural one of his prototype the young Marcellus was : Often- ( 4« ) Oftendent terrls hunc tantum fata, neque ultra fcfle finent, Niniium vobls Romana propago Vifa potens, fupcri, propiia hxc fi dona tuiffcnt. Quis ftrepitus circa Comitum ! quantum inftar in ipfo eft! Sed nox atra caput trifti circumvolut umbra. Believe me, without the Public fupport him by fome great, decided, unprecedented ads of generofity, this all-praifed Youth can no more continue Minifter than I could ; even I, who here rcfign the prize, and offer (if he will receive it from hands fo mean) the Civic Crown of Finan- cial Pre-eminence to any perfon who in the pre- fent ftate of things will on folid grounds of pro- bability ihew how he is to pay ^en Shillings in the pound to the Creditors of the Public in Years of Peace and in Years of War. I come now to the fcrious moral of my tale, and will deviate no more into folly, if I can help it. G Addrcfles r- } ( 42 ) AddrcfTes at all thnes of an abfur •d exag gcra. tion, if they mean nothing, are pernicious as well as foolifh deceits ; are falfe fires , that mif. lead to ruin the \ •ery Miniller and Syftem they pretend to fupport • Without a generous, a great, and voluntary Contribution from the Public, Government cannot go on, at leafl: with honour, and to any good cffc<5t and purpofe, though Miniftcrs may de- ceive, may procraftinate, may fwindle a few r ' " ■ . • Millions more from a deku' ' People. It is therefore wifdom, as well as virtue, to fupport the State, at the hazard of every inconvenience to ourfelves as individuals. In its fecurity, that of every thing we poflefs is involved. The poor, even the middling, claffes of our Peoi>le can bear but little more. All that can be expefted from Taxes on them is difcontcnt. It is from the infinite multitude of rich individuals ' - -- ■ that ( 43 ) that relief muft come. They cannot diflindivc- ly be fuiHcicntly reached by Taxes, and propor- tionally not at all. If they do any thing to purpofe, it muft be by the fpontancous effufions of true wifdom, true patriotifm. One- twentieth of all they pofTcfs, given fairly to the ufe of the Public, would, I apprehend, go far to fecure the remaining nineteen parts. Though I fcarce rank amongft the cMs of rich individuals, yet my contribution fhall be paid at fight. The cold hand of negled laid on me and mine does not chill the ardour of my more than empty proteftations, my more than unavailing profeffions towards the fupport of the State. Yet I hope I do not prelume too much (I flatter myfelf I do not) when I fay, that a little attention ihewn to me would have been fome fmall pledge, fome flight aflurance to the Public^ that all that was intended was fair, was honour- * G 2 " able. IM i ( 44 ) able, ar J within the bounds of rational pradica ( 46 ) the fclcdion of the firft was certainly infinitely preferable to that of the fecond Coalition. The Reform in Parliamentary Reprefentation docs not appear to be the ruling paffion of any Party when in power. Creating new Peerages to fecure or pro- mote influence in the Lower houfc of Parliament, fcems reprobated only in theory. Thefe are prc- fumptions that give paufe, but not proofs. n . The objed of this work, at Icaft the principal one, is to lay before the Public the naked and undifguifed ftate of the Public Situation and Dilbefs ; and to evince that general profefllons, if not fubftantiatcd by great and generous adts of be- nevolence towards the State, do no good, but, on the contrary, much harm. The idle exaggerations (which I have here endeavoured to reprefs) al- ready publiihed have done much hurt to the pre- fent Miniflcr ; for they have raifed the public cxpedations far (I imagine) beyond his powers of gratifying them ; far beyond the limits that truih and poflibility admit of in our prefent diffi- cult C 47 ) cult and cmbairaiTccl circumflanccs. For my parr, if a proper attention is paid to the Liberty of the Subjccft, and if the Prerogatives of the Crown are not now attempted to be elevated too high, in proportion as they were before attempted to be too much deprcffcd ; if a will and power is manifefted to do all pradicable good, and if a plan of government is concerted and followed out by which we can go on, and in matters of Finance make things rather better than worfe ; — thefe events taking place, I (hall, as f think myfejf in duty bound, give my warm aflent and approba- tion to the prtfent Minifter. If he does more my fong of triumph, my fhout of applaufe, fliall attend on him. I mofl fmcerely wiih to be his friend ; hut I lliall never become enough his enemy to be his flatterer. In the mean time, I will not condemn an en- thufiafm which I have felt, and of which I flill feel a little. I will pafs no cenfure on the public joy, on the public tranfports. I will not call them rafh ; I will not call them precipitate ; I will not even call them premature. No ;~they are the ( 48 ) the juft prcfentlmcnts, the precious forctaftcs of the happincls that is to follow from the great, cf- fcntial, and clccifivc Icrviccs that arc to be ren- dered to the Public. J,,. In the political fcalc of jufticc and fucccfs, I am furely a man more finned againft than finning ; yet I conjure all to follow the example I mean to fet. I intreat and implore All to facrifice even their jufteft refcntm .its to the Love of their Country. In this great principle let all meaner pafllons be abfoibed and loft. Let us join, all of us, heart and hand to eftablifli on a folid and permanent bafis the Solvency of the State. Without Re- fources for Offence, without Refources for De- fence ; without Incomes adequate, or ai»y thing near to adequate to even a Peace-Eftablilhmcnt ; Conftitution, Liberty, even Property itfelf, arc but empty names. Wc are a Blank amongft the Nations of the Earth ; we ceafe to be a People, '- * .. ■ CyLHORN, -^/>r// 28, 1784. ' ^.^ FINIS, ■A i