IE INVESTIGATION 
 
 O F 
 
 Mr. EDEN'S TREATY, 
 
 AS IT MAY AFFECT 
 
 THE COMMERCE, THE REVENUE. 
 
 O R 
 
 THE GENERAL POLICY 
 
 O F 
 
 great: BRITAIN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 tin FOR J. DEBIi.ETT, OPPOSITE BURLIKC 
 HOUSE, PICC.\DyILLV. 
 M,DCC,LXXXVI I. 
 
 " * ' -R .,.;.
 
 >- 
 < 
 eo 
 
 n33 
 
 SSP Sax 
 
 COMPLETE INVESTIGATION 
 
 O F 
 
 Mr. E den's treaty. 
 
 Z T^ H E Treaty, which it is the objeft of 
 
 ^ A thefe Remarks fairly and candidly to 
 
 *^ difcufs, will be readily allowed by every per- 
 
 fon at all intelligent in the Commercial or 
 
 Political Syflems of this country, to contain 
 
 regulations at once new and important. Their 
 
 j novelty will be an excufe for a jealous, though 
 
 t impartial inveftigation ; and the magnitude of 
 
 I their objedt will be a juftification for the mU 
 
 J^ nutenefs or elaboration of detail, in which aa 
 
 enquiry of this fort demands to be involved. 
 
 6 Som 
 
 3546 J 41 

 
 ( ^ ) 
 
 Some of the oldefl habits which have pre- 
 vailed in this country will receive a new di- 
 rection by the operation of this Treaty ; 
 many of its ufeful fuperftitions will be Ihaken, 
 and its moft fixed principles fubverted. It 
 is not meant to be contended that the opi- 
 nions of our anceftors are infallible, or that 
 innovation is always criminal : but this much 
 will furely be acceded to us, That of all the 
 fubje<3:s upon which the human judgement 
 can poffibly be exercifed, there is none which 
 fo much demands that its principles Ihould be 
 deduced from fa(ft, and be fan(^ioned by ex- 
 perience (in cafes, that is to fay, like the pre- 
 fent where faQ: and experience are pradicablc 
 jto be obtained) as commerce. It will at leaft, 
 therefore, be confidered as a firft prefump- 
 tlon againft the wifdom of a new fcheme of 
 commercial regulation, if it fhould be found 
 to militate not only againft the traditional 
 theories of our forefathers, for that would be 
 of lefs confequence, though not totally to be 
 defpifed, but the fettled habits of their prac- 
 tice. It will be held perhaps to be fomething 
 rmore than a mere prefumption againft the 
 < prudence of fuch an innovation, if it Ihould 
 further appear that upon the obfervance of that 
 particular principle, which it immediately 
 
 tends
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 tends to deflroy, has uniformly depended the 
 wealth, induftry , jJid^ commercial ^prpfperity 
 of tlie country. 
 
 - It will be the objeft therefore of a few of 
 the enfuing pages to demonftratc this pofition 
 from hiftory. That in the proportion as the 
 trade between England and France has been 
 open or Ihut, have the interefts of Englilh 
 commerce flourifhed or declined. 
 
 It was not till the reign of the Stuarus, 
 however unpropitious their principles threat- 
 ened to be to the political or conftitutional 
 government of the country, that the com-^ 
 merce of England began to prevail to any 
 confiderable degree; it flourilhed under the 
 difturbances of thefe turbulent times, becaufe 
 in the midft of internal conflidt and diforder, 
 many falutary regulations were made refpedling 
 it. Amongft thefe, a free trade with France 
 was certainly not of the number ; on the con- 
 trary, the ports of both countries were mu- 
 tually fhut to each other, and all commer- 
 cial intcrcourfe was to the full as fevcrely in- 
 terdicted as it remains at this day. 
 
 B 2 After
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 After the Reftoration, when French man- 
 ners, fafhions, and principles were introduced 
 by Charles the Second, the idea of a trade 
 with that country became the prevalent ca- 
 price of the day, and was encouraged with 
 infinite zeal, by the profound affemblage of 
 gay politicians that furrounded that prince. 
 About the year 1675, however, the attention 
 of the nation was ferioufly called to the 
 flate of its commerce by a very remark- 
 able circumflance, which alarmed all the 
 ' ftatefmen in the country, and which is taken 
 notice of by all the writers of that period, 
 viz. a univerfal fall in the landed eflates all over 
 England. After an accurate inveftigation into 
 the caufes of this event, one remarkable fadt 
 V prefented itfelf to the obfervation of fuch as 
 \> /^had taken the pains of the enquiry, that the 
 *" \y j trade with France had grown to fuch an ex- 
 travagant extent in articles of mere luxury, 
 and the balance of exports and imports fo enor- 
 moufly againft England, that the drain had 
 become more than the nation was able to fuf- 
 tain, and had proved the real fource of the 
 evil complained of, an evil which had not 
 only operated a vail diminution of our com- 
 merce, but a mofl alarming danger to the 
 more immediate and vital inteieft of the empire, 
 1 the
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 the Landed Property. Many able merchants 
 drew up a ftate of the trade between England 
 and France, as it flood in the year 1674, 
 which is flill to be found in the books of the 
 Cuftom-houfe, and which was prepared by 
 order of the Commiflioners for concluding a 
 Treaty of Commerce with France. 
 
 They ftate, that the value of all 
 
 the goods exported to France 
 
 from England amounted to 171,021 6 o 
 While the value of the imports 
 
 fromFrance amounted to the 
 
 enormous fum of 1,136,150 4 o 
 
 Balance againfl England . 965,128 18 o 
 
 Thefe Commiffioners, who appear to have 
 been men that underilood the nature of the 
 duty to which they had been delegated, and 
 were determined to execute, with virtue and 
 patriotifm, the objccft of an appointment 
 which they comprehended with perfpicuity 
 and precifion, conclude their report thus : 
 
 *' By the above account, your Lordihips 
 will perceive that the linen and filk manufac- 
 tures only, imported from France^ amount 
 
 to
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 to upwards of eight hundred thoufand pounds; 
 and the manufactures of wool and filk ex- 
 ported from England thither, do not amount 
 to eighty-five thoufand pounds. As alfo all 
 other commodities of the produdt and manu- 
 fa<flures of England exported into France, do 
 not amount to ninety thoufand pounds more. 
 Whereas the wines, brandies, and other com- 
 modities of the produift and manufacftures of 
 France imported into England, amount to up- 
 wards- of three hundred and twenty thoufand 
 pounds, befides an incredible value of toys, 
 rich apparel, point lace, &c. So that it is 
 apparent that the exports of our native com- 
 modities and manufactures to France, are lefs 
 in value by at leaft one million of pounds 
 Iterling, than the native commodities and ma- 
 nufactures of France, which we receive from 
 them." Com. Jour. vol. 17, p. 423. 
 
 Notwithllanding, however, the above alarm- 
 ing reprefentation, yet fuch was the King's 
 determined partiality towards France, to ufe a 
 phrafe, certainly not the moft defcriptive of 
 the faCt, but the leaft offenfive to the delicacy, 
 which is by fome conceived to belong to the 
 difcuffion of the regal character, that a Treaty 
 of Commerce was concluded between that 
 
 country
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 country and Engbncl, which fo far from turn- 
 ing out to the advantage of the latter, only 
 tended to increafe the evils already com- 
 plained of. Anderfon, in his valuable Hiftory 
 of Commerce, flates, that the balance againft 
 England in its trade with France, increafed 
 to the amount of 1,330,0001. exclufive of 
 600,000 1. annually run, or imuggled in upon 
 us. 
 
 Imports from France, 1,500,000 
 Exports, 170,000 
 
 I, 1,330,000 
 
 " And thus," fays he, ** all our grave laws 
 againft the exportation of fpecie, when the 
 balance of trade is againft us, is but hedging 
 in the cuckow." 
 
 Luckily for the pride of England, the par- 
 liament and the people did not entirely fym- 
 pathize in the devotion of their monarch. 
 They had no motive for refifting the influence 
 of fafts ; they beheld with a natural alarm, 
 the dangers to which they were expofed, and 
 urged their fenfe of it with a commendable 
 
 vehemence ;
 
 (8 ) 
 
 vehemence ; the voice of the multitude when 
 exerciled on the fide of truth, is not to be op- 
 pofed for ever. Accordingly, in the enfuing 
 year, after the ratification of the Treaty, 
 namely in 1678, we find the Commons unit- 
 ing in the general fenfe of the public. They 
 eame to a vote declaring, " the trade with 
 France detrimental to the kingdom ;" and 
 foon after an adl was paffed, exprefsly pro- 
 hibitory of the trade with France, to which 
 was prefixed the following preamble : 
 
 '^ Forafmuch as it hath been by long ex- 
 perience found that the importing French 
 wines, brandy, linen, filks, falts, and pa- 
 per, and other commodities of the growth, 
 product, or manufadtures of. the territories 
 and dominions of the French king, hath 
 much exhaufted the treafure of this nation, 
 leflened the value of the native commodi- 
 ties, and manufactures thereof, and caufed 
 great detriment to this kingdom in general." 
 
 That this fpirited interpofitlon on the 
 part of the parliament, fo dired:ly in hofti- 
 lity with all the views and wifhes of the court, 
 was not made before the circumftances of 
 the country made it indifpenfibly neceflary, 
 
 is
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 h eafily deducible from the concurrent tef- 
 timony of all the co-temporar}' writers. I 
 fhall content myfelf with Anderfon*s comment 
 upon this reprobated intercourfe with France, 
 who relates the refult of it in this Ihort bur 
 emphatical defcription : 
 
 " THE FOREIGN TRADE OF ENG- 
 '' LAND LANGUISHED, AND THE 
 " RENTS FELL." 
 
 From the period of the prohibition, which 
 has been juft mentioned, our trade again re- 
 vived, and that not by the flow operation of 
 time and gradual improvement, but rapidly 
 and at once. The balance became again in 
 our favour, and fo continued, with a triumphant 
 fuccefs, equally beneficial to the country, and 
 infulting ' to the corrupt ijiclinations of the 
 court, till the year 1685, ^^^ beginning of the 
 reign of James the lid. who again determined 
 to renew the whole train of experienced mif- 
 chiefs confcquent on an open trade with France. 
 In this inaufpicious year, the prohibition of 
 1677 was repealed, and the commerce be- 
 tween the countries was again laid open. 
 It is not the purpofe of thefe Remarks tg 
 comment upon the inducements which pre- 
 C vailed
 
 ( lo ) 
 
 vailed with James the lid. to refume this 
 pernicious policy. It is fufficient to relate the 
 fad:, and to repeat again the fame tale of an 
 inftantaneous influx of evils proceeding from 
 it. The raeafure was no fooner adopted than 
 the French commerce advanced, as if by en- 
 chantment, to a magnitude fuperior even to 
 what it had ever attained at any other period 
 of limilar indulgence. France had begun by 
 this time to be confcious of the advantages of 
 her own fituation, and of the immenfe obli- 
 gations which ihe owed to nature. The mi- 
 nifler of Louis had not been inattentive to 
 the cultivation of them. This policy co-ope- 
 rated with the imprudence of the government 
 of this country, in making the lafl advance 
 of her commerce not only fomewhat more 
 fudden, but more extenfive than any other 
 progrefTion which it had ever before expe- 
 rienced. The very firft year after the trade 
 was opened, as appears by accounts laid before 
 the Houfe of Commons, the imports entered 
 at the Cuftom-houfe amounted to the enormous 
 fumof - - ;C-ij284,4i9' lo 3 
 
 Goods clandeftinely import- 
 ed, - - 428,139 17 9 
 
 1.712,559 7 o 
 While
 
 ( " ) 
 
 While the exports amount- 
 ed only to the fum of 515,228 14 3 
 
 Lofs to England - 1,197,330 12 9 
 
 At a medium of three years, the importation 
 from France amounted to the fum of i ,460,0001. 
 exclufive of wine and brandy. Fortunately, 
 for this country, as well for its commerce as 
 for its internal policy, this fatal fyflem ended 
 with all the other projedts of James the lid. 
 and the fame year which reflored freedom 
 to the conftitution by feating William the 
 III. upon the throne, gave new life to com- 
 merce by a renovation of the prohibitions 
 upon the import of French goods. And 
 indeed mofl highly neceffary had it become 
 that the old and beneficial fyftem of the 
 country (hould be reverted to, for our rivals 
 had fpared no exertion of art or induftry to 
 maintain that fuperiority which their climate, 
 the cheapnefs of their labour, and the plenty of 
 their raw materials gave them. Councils of 
 Commerce, confiding of the mofl experienced 
 traders, were formed in every part of France, 
 and every encouragement which experience 
 could fuggeft, or power could give effed: to, 
 C 2 was
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 was prefented to the manufadlurers. It Is t-o 
 thefc inftitutions co-operating with their na- 
 tural advantages, that one of our moft intel-' 
 ligent authors afcribes, " the almoft furprifing 
 encreafe of the commerce, woollen manu- 
 fadlures, mercantile Ihipping, and foreign 
 colonies of France.'* 
 
 The commerce between the two countries 
 remained in this ftate of reciprocal prohibitioa 
 till the year ^713, whea in the adjuftment of 
 a treaty of peace at Utrecht, conducted un- 
 der the diredlion of that able minifler, Monf. 
 de Torcy, a new attempt was^made to introduce 
 the favourite fyftem of France, an open trad^ 
 with England. This experiment pafled upon 
 the ignorance of the Englifli negociator, but 
 was not equally fuccefsful with the parliament 
 and the people. 
 
 The reader will not complain of the length 
 of the above narrative, when he refledis upon 
 the importance of its tendency. It proves 
 J beyond all power of contradid:ion, becaufe 
 upon the bafis of actual hiftory, and the autho- 
 rity of official documents, jthe conftant alterna^ 
 tions of fuccefs or ruin to our commerce, as the 
 trade of France was ihut or open. Till a 
 better criterion can be inflituted for deter-, 
 
 mining
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 miniTig upon the probability of the futtfriy 
 than a reference to the pafi, it will not be 
 denied, that fome ufe is to be derivedTrom 
 fuch a review as that which has juft been taken. 
 
 In reply to this narrative, if it ffibuld be 
 fuggefted, that the avenues to a reciprocal 
 commerce between the two countries may 
 be faid to have been opened by the treaty 
 of Utrecht, which was never in toto annul- 
 led, let it be remembered that, though the 
 whole of that treaty was never entirely ab- 
 rogated, yet that the commercial part of 
 it never had any exiltencc at all. 
 
 That, the general body of the inhabitants 
 of this country were content with the refufal 
 given by the Houfe of Commons to the ad- 
 miflion of the 8th and 9th articles of the treaty, 
 and having triumphed in the rejeftion of the 
 parts principally objectionable, were lefs anxi- 
 ous to purfue it, through its lefs ofFcnfive detail. 
 
 That from the intervention of long and 
 bitter hoflilities between the two countries, and 
 by the negledt of the legiilature of Great Bri- 
 tain to pafs fuch laws as were neceflary for 
 giving entire efTcdl to fcvcral flipulations of 
 the treaty, it has been feldom adcd upon, 
 and in conduft often dire(ftly contravened. 
 
 Let
 
 ( H ) 
 
 Let it be remembered alfo, that it is one 
 thing to fufFer the dead letter of a treaty to 
 remain, of which the country might avail itfelf 
 in cafes of particular exigency, and another to re- 
 vive its efficient operation, and to extend its fpirit. 
 
 But above all let it not be forgotten, that many 
 .of the points which will be found to contain the 
 moil fubftantial grounds both of alarming no- 
 velty, and direct and evident injury in the 
 prefent treaty, had no exiftence at all in its 
 prefumed prototype, the treaty of Utrecht.* 
 
 That under the treaty of Utrecht there 
 was a direct and exprefs prohibition by fla- 
 
 tute 
 
 * By the treaty of Utrecht the tariff of 1664 was to 
 be eftablifhed as the tariff; payable upon Englifti goods 
 going to France, except in fo far as related to certain 
 goods which were to pay the tariff of 1699. 
 
 But when French goods came to this country, Eng- 
 land was only obliged to repeal fuch prohibition's or 
 high dutiesas were peculiarly laid upon French goods, 
 pofteriorto the year 1664. 
 
 Therefore all goods prohibited prior to that period, 
 continued to be fo under the treaty of Utrecht. 
 
 France infilled, that a tariff fhould be made in Eng- 
 land fimilar to that of 1664 in France, by which the 
 
 duties
 
 ( 'i ) 
 
 tute againft the importation of French wool- 
 lens into this country. 
 
 The 
 
 duties and prohibitions (hould have been reciprocal la 
 the two countries. Lord Bolingbrooke treated the idea 
 of a reciprocal tariff with difdain. Vide, Report of 
 the Committee of Secrefy, p. 27. 
 
 Woollen goods of all forts, harncfs and fadlery, hard- 
 ware, and cutlery are prohibited to be imported by ad* 
 pafled, 12th Edw. III. 4th Edw.IV. ift Rich. III. 
 
 5th Eliz. ifl Cha. I. i6th Cha. I. All thefe muft 
 
 be repealed under the prcfent treaty, and would all have 
 continued in force under the treaty of Utrecht. 
 
 By the tariff 1664, thefe articles paid upon their entry 
 into France the following duties : 
 
 Liv. S. 
 Hardware of copper, - 60 per Cwt. 
 
 Hardware of iron, - i iz 
 
 All forts of cutlery, turnery. Sec. 
 comprehended in French under 
 the name of mercerie, - 40 
 
 Sadlery and harnefs 5 per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 The tariff 1664 in France was calculated upon a 
 principle of 5 per cent, being the amount of the duty 
 upon every article contained in it. Mr, Eden*s tariff 
 is above double in every inflance. 
 
 Even the excepted fpecies, broad cloth, by tne 
 tariff 1699, would have had to pay only 55 livres per 
 piece of 25 aunes in length by 5 quarters wide. 
 
 The
 
 ( i6 ) 
 
 That Englilh woollens might have been 
 imported into Franceat a duty of io4 per 
 
 cent. 
 
 The French aune Is 46^ inches Englifli, which makes 
 the length of the piece 32 yards 3* inches, and the 
 breadth 57|. 
 
 This makes the piece equal nearly to a piece of 
 Englifli broad cloth of 30^ yards long, which at 17s. a 
 yard, is per piece 25I. los. od. 
 
 And valuing the livre at one fliilling, its value at the 
 figning the treaty of Utrecht, the duty upon broad cloth 
 would not have amounted to above io| per Cent. 
 
 As the French coin has undergone a variety of altera- 
 tions, it may be for the information of the reader to fub- 
 
 join a ftate of its value at different periods. 
 
 Liv. S. 
 In the year 1668 the mark of filver was 
 
 valued at - - 
 
 Colbert altered it to - 
 
 In the year 1709 it was valued at 
 In September, 17 13, it was again reduced to 
 Between September, 1713, and Auguft, I715, 
 the French coin changed its value eleven 
 times, varying between 28 and 40 livres. 
 In Jan. 1716 the value of the coin was fixed at 40 o 
 In the year 1730 the mark was valued at 49 o 
 
 At prefent it is valued at - - 48 9 
 
 Sir James Stewart informs us, that the mark is nearly 
 equal to 40 of our fhillings. 
 
 The livre was therefore, in the year 1668, s. d. 
 worth of our money, - i b-^-^^ 
 
 Colbert altered its value to - i 57^;^ 
 
 In the year 1 709, and at the time of figning 
 the treaty of Utrecht, nth of April, 
 2713* it was worth i 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 z8 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 28 
 

 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 per cent, which is only i^ lefs than the duty 
 under the prefent treaty, when the terms of 
 the importation are reciprocal. 
 
 That the duty upon French Brandy was more 
 than twelve times the amount of the internal 
 duty then impofed upon our own Diftilleries, 
 \vhereas it is now little more than in the pro- 
 portion of three to one. 
 
 That the Rum trade from our Weft India 
 iflands, which new produces a duty to this 
 country of upwards of 400,0001. was then. 
 comparatively nothing, and prefented there- 
 fore neither a fource of elTential defalcation to 
 the revenue, nor of deep injury to individuals. 
 
 That French fubjedts were not only not 
 permitted by that treaty to convert them- 
 felves into citizens of Britain by the mere ad: 
 of paflage, and to come into a participation 
 of all the privileges conferred by tht fand:ion 
 of chartered rights, but were exprefsly prohi- 
 bited fo to do. 
 
 That the Hardware and Cutlery of France 
 were pofitively prohibited coming into this 
 country, while ours were importable there on 
 a duty of one livre, 1 2 Ibus per cwt. whereas 
 the prefent duty is 10 pounds />tTT^/. ad va- 
 loretrij even though the importation is mutual. 
 D That
 
 ( is 3 
 
 That Harnefs, and every article of Hofiery 
 and Sadlery might have gone from England 
 to France, paying only a duty of 5 -per cent, 
 while their importation of limilar articles flood 
 diredly aftd pofitively forbidden with England. 
 
 That by the treaty of Utrecht, the French 
 engaged to abolifh the farm of tobacco ; or ii> 
 other words, to give to our colonies the mo- 
 nopoly of their market ; an immenfe advan- 
 tage, for which, by this latter treaty, we have 
 received no equivalent, nor feemed to exped: 
 a compenfation.- 
 
 That by the former treaty, cottons might 
 "have been fent to this country, upon a duty of 
 ^ per cent, while it refled with us to put what 
 duty we pleafed on the importation of French 
 cottons ', whereas the importation duty is now 
 12 per cent, ad valorem, and the right reciprocal. 
 That neither the letter nor the fpirit of the 
 Navigation adt were at all infringed. And 
 that the injurious diftinftton in favour of 
 France, known by the name of Droit 
 (^Aiibaine,. was fpecifically and unambigu- 
 oufly abrogated. Such are the differences: 
 between the two treaties, and fuch the increaf- 
 ed motives for alarm that belong to that ex- 
 ecuted under the prudent aufpices of Mr. 
 
 t Eden.^ -
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 Eden. Under the circiimftances^ then, 
 which accompanied the original introdudtion 
 of the treaty of Utrecht, and which have 
 followed upon' it fubfequently it will appear. 
 That it can with no juflice be confidered 
 as containing any proof of the fufpenfion of 
 that fettled and prefcriptiv,e abhorrence which 
 the inhabitants of this country have enter- 
 tained with refpedl to an open trade with 
 France. But if the inftance were permitted to 
 have an operation beyond what it can fairly 
 claim, and what is only allowed it here for 
 the fake of argument, it could only prove 
 a difpofition on the part of the Englifh for 
 fuch a degree of intercourfe with the French 
 as was permitted under the terms of that 
 treaty, and could with no propriety be addu- 
 ced as a fandtion for the fo much more 
 enlarged, expanded, liberal amity of com- 
 munication, which is extended to them un- 
 der the influence of Mr. Eden's new fyftem. 
 
 Was, it weak fuperftition, or corredt and 
 well confidered" policy, that prevailed with 
 our anceftors in this unremitting dillike to 
 too near a contad: with the French ? 
 
 What anfwer can be given to fuch a quef- 
 tion, but a reference to the events which have. 
 D 2 taken
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 taken place under it. The French have fought 
 for a century, with the exertion of every adtive 
 ' and infidious policy, to accomplifh this bro- 
 therly reciprocity of connedtion and friendfhip. 
 .The year 1787 will be the firft period of their 
 ] enjoyment of it. Have they been urging this 
 for fo long a fpace of time, and we declining 
 it, with a mutual ignorance on both parties, 
 they of their own good, and w^ of our own 
 danger ? The fadt is, nations feldom err long 
 in points that refped: their own immediate ad- 
 vantage. Cafual prejudice, or occafional in- 
 capacity in their rulers may miflead them 
 for a time; but the regular influence of 
 underftanding and intere^ will prevail at 
 la(l. That which has been anxioufly de- 
 fired by one power, and as vehemently re- 
 fufed by the other, through a variety of chan- 
 ges of government and of circumftances, 
 ' which has been lleadily purfued by every 
 defcription of minifters in the one coun- 
 try, however repugnant in their general 
 politics and as uniformly refilled by every 
 fuccefFxon of difagreeing politicians in the 
 other is evidently to the advantage of the 
 power which feeks, and to the injury of that 
 which rejedts : The uniform prevalence of 
 fuch a fentiment, is the demonllration of fex- 
 
 perience
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 perience delivered through the medium of the 
 united fenfe of both empires ; and, if any thing 
 can decide upon the dirc(ftion of their refpcc* 
 tive interefts, this muft. 
 
 TARIFF, 
 
 I fhall proceed now to the confideration of 
 that part of the treaty which is entirely com- 
 mercial. The reader will be aware, that in 
 tlie difcuffion of fuch a fubjedt, a good deal of 
 detail is neceffary and unavoidable. No flate- 
 ment will be obtruded upon him here, which 
 can be done without ; but many it will be my 
 indifpeniible duty to fubmit to him. Without 
 thefe, he can neither know with any precifion 
 the extent and nature of the advantages which 
 this country is reprefented as being likely to 
 obtain from the prefent treaty, nor the degree 
 of expence Ihe is to pay for them^ if obtained 
 at all. 
 
 One obvious idea mufl prefent itfelf to the 
 mod carelefs obferver on this department of the 
 fubjedt, namely, that the Four firft articles of the 
 tariff contain ftipulations in favour of France, [ 
 for which the moft remote appearance of a reci- 
 procal advantage is not fo much as pretended. 
 They llipulatc in thcfc articles to rcferve to 
 
 themfelveg
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 themfelves the poflefllon of our market for 
 their Wines, their Brandies, their Vinegars, and 
 their oils, which are all the ftaple produce of 
 their own country, and in which, fo far from 
 having an equivalent advantage, we cannot 
 have the moft diftant degree of competition. 
 It would have been natural,' in fuch a fitua- 
 tion, for the minifter of this country to hav^ 
 inlifted upon fome fpecific return, fome per- 
 manent benefit, in compenfation for fuch ex- 
 traordinary conceflions. The pretended prin- 
 ciple of the treaty is reciprocity how then is 
 it, that, in the very commencement of it, wc 
 fee no lefs than four diftindt and capital ad- 
 vantages conferred, for which not only not an 
 adequate return is made, but no return at all ? 
 
 But it will be faid, perhaps, the counterba- - 
 lance to thefe advantages is received by us in the 
 remaining part of the Tariff. No fuch thing. 
 In every other part, the Cottons, the 
 Woollens, and every other article of trade, 
 permitted by the treaty to be reciprocally im- 
 ported, have the market of England opened to 
 themupoja the fame t^rms on which the market 
 . of France is opened to the correfponding arti- 
 J cles in England. The fuperior benefit to ei- 
 ther country, therefore, in thefe points, mufl 
 
 depend
 
 ( "-i ) 
 
 TARIfr, 
 
 depend folcly upon the advantages of their 
 internal fituation fuch as cheapnefs of labour, 
 cheapnefs of living, comparative exemption 
 from taxes, &c. 
 
 With refpe<ft to thefe Four firft articles, 
 however, this is by no means the cafe. 
 They not only contain advantages for which 
 no equivalent has been granted, but which 
 are, in their nature, certain and permanent. An 
 increafe of induftry on the part of the French, 
 their cheaper labour,' combining with a frefli 
 addition of burthen on the part of the Englilh, 
 or with other cafuakies which it is impoffible 
 to forefee, and which in all ages of the world 
 have made manufactures and commerce fliift 
 from one country to another, may, in a few 
 years, deprive England of every pretence to 
 fuperiority, which the fanguine and the partial 
 are fo fond of imputing to her now. Other 
 nations may rival her in the French market, 
 and the French may rival her in her own. 
 But the advantages granted to France in her 
 wines, brandies, and oils, are in their naturer 
 expofed to no inftability either of caprice -or f 
 competition : they are the native produce of 
 their land they demand no Ikill in preparing 
 
 and
 
 C ^4 ) 
 
 TARIFF.- 
 
 * and it is not therefore within the reach f 
 accident to deprive her of them. 
 
 Is it to be mentioned as an excufe for 
 thefe conceffions in favour of France, that we 
 have no article of native produce which we 
 could have fent into France, in return for thofe 
 of a finiilar nature fent here ? This indeed is 
 a faft ; but it is no juftification for the nego- 
 ciator of the peace, becaufe the reciprocity- 
 might have been obtained in another way. 
 He might have demanded fome advantages to 
 be extended to fome particular branch of our 
 manufadtures. He might have ftipulated that 
 cur Hardware, or our Woollen, ihould have 
 gone into their market at fuch a comparative 
 inferiority of duty, as might have been thought 
 fufficient to cover the advantage gained by the 
 Encouragement given to her wines and brandies, 
 and have made the gencralprinciple, at leafl, if 
 not the operation of the compa(5i:, reciprocal^. 
 
 No man treated the pretended reciprocity of 
 the Irifh Propolitions with more ridicule thanMr. 
 Eden. When the MinifterpropofedthatEnglifh 
 Linens fhould be admitted into Ireland upon 
 the fame duty on which Irifh Linens were admit- 
 ted into England, and that the Woollens of both 
 countries Ihould ftand precifely upon the fame 
 
 footing.
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 footing, the Negociator was loud in his repro- 
 bation of fuch a dodtrine of Reciprocity. 
 England neither does nor can manufadture Linen 
 in any degree of comparifon with the Irifh linen^ 
 Ireland can and does manufad:ure WooHens. 
 It was therefore a Mockery of England to tell 
 her, that flie might carry her Linens (which Jbe 
 could not make) to Ireland free from duty, 
 becaufe.the Irifh imported their's on the fame 
 terms into England but that Woollen, which 
 England can manufacture, lliould be fubjed: to 
 a duty of lo -^Z. per cent, becaule the Woollens 
 of Ireland (which Ireland can alfo manufac- / 
 ture) were expofed to a like duty in England. 
 
 Mr. Eden contended, and contended unan- 
 fvverably, that the only poffible idea oi equita- 
 ble Reciprocity \yas this that as England ad- 
 mitted the ftaple of Ireland free from duty, 
 Ireland Ihould admit the Staple of England 
 upon the fame terms. What a misfortune it 
 is that the Negociator had not recolled:ed his 
 own reafoning, in a cafe where the application 
 of it was fo much ftronger, and the neceffity 
 for the ufe of it fo much more preffing than in 
 the inftance of Ireland ! The ftaple produc- 
 tions of France are in future to be admitted in- 
 to England, upon duties which will cffeftually 
 E fecure
 
 ( ^6 5 
 
 TARIFF/ 
 
 fecure to her the monopoly of pur marte ir^ 
 for a counterbalance to w|3ich a4vantage, fo 
 cxtenfive in its eifedt, fo permanent in its du- 
 ration, no one benefit of any kind is ilipulated 
 in favour of England. 
 
 But thefe indulgencies to France are not only 
 to be eenfured in as much as they want fair- 
 nefs, or even as they affed: the Revenue there 
 is another point of view in which they will ap- 
 pear to be equally reprehenfible. The policy 
 which has hitherto dired:ed the Councils of this 
 country, with regard to fuch articles of con- 
 fumption as could not be produced at home, 
 r has been either to encourage the confumption 
 { of fimilar articles of her colonial produce, (as 
 ^ ^^ rum, in preference to Brandy) or to encourage 
 f V\/ ythe confumptionofthe articles in queflion, from 
 7i /^""^ that country, which, in return, either afforded 
 y , , ,i|is a Vent for our manufactured produce, or 
 ^ ^.v^"'"^ fupplied us with Raw materials, for the em- 
 ployment of our internal induftry. 
 
 It was upon this principle, that the duty has 
 been kept high on French brandy and French 
 wines. It was upon this principle, that it was- 
 low upon the wines of Spain and Portugal. 
 Thefe two countries afford the principal mar- 
 ket
 
 ^ ^7 ) \ 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 iBrt ^''6'iir%oollcns, and the produce of our 
 Newfoundland fifhdry ^ and|, ih return, they 
 fend us Wool, Cotton, Cochineal, Indigo, Ba- 
 rilha, and Dying Drugs. 
 
 In every national confideration, except par- 
 tiality of tafte, it is indifferent whether the 
 wines of France, or of Spain or Portugal, be 
 confumed in England. But, if the Spaniard 
 or Portuguefe, in return for the preference 
 given to his wine, takes his cloth from our ma-^ 
 nufadurer, and his food from our, filheries it 
 he fends us thofe articles without which our 
 manufactures cannot fubfift, and raw materials 
 for the exercife of bur national induflry there 
 becomes a ikotiv^^'MFfotiiid and judicious po- 
 licy for giving him' 6ftir^markct,a\Vd''l6P fafer 
 ficing an unimportant preference of taftej to 
 the fubftantial coniideration of a great public 
 advantage. 
 
 To have a clear and comprehenfive under- 
 (landing, therefore, of all the confequences 
 which may refult from the indulgencies extend- 
 ed to France in the four firft articles of the ta- 
 riff, it will be neceflary to take a review of the 
 trade of this country with Portugal and Spain; 
 and to examine, how far the Revenue, Com- 
 E 2 mcrce^
 
 : TARIYF. 
 
 j^piercc, or Policy cf England, will be affeft4 
 by the changes introduGediiutQiit^^bytheflew 
 arrangement* 
 
 ^1. ^ " Icffrioq 71373 nl 
 
 THE TRADE WITH PORTUGAL, 
 
 wins, 
 The obvious and neceflary effedl of reduc-. 
 ing the duty upon French wines, mull be the 
 entire lofs of the high duty upon all that qu'ah- 
 tity which is at prefent imported into this 
 country. The quantity of French wine im-; 
 ported, upon an average of the four laft yeafi, 
 as appears by an account laid before parliament 
 .:by Mr. Pitt, on the introduction of his wine 
 bill, amounts to 400 tons annually^ 
 
 The prefent French duty is 96/. 45. id, 
 which by the treaty is to be reduced to the 
 duty now exifting upon the wines of Portu- 
 gal, that is, to 45/. 195. 2d. or, in other 
 words, the prefent French duty is to be lower-. 
 ed precifely 50 /. 45. 11 d. per ton. 
 
 This fum, multiplied by the average quan- 
 tity imported, will yield no lefs an -amount 
 that; 2,0,098/. 6 s. Zd. lofs of revenue, which
 
 ( *9 ) 
 
 TARIFF. WINES, 
 
 is the firft defalcation fuftained by it under the 
 operation of this treaty. 
 
 In every poflible event this fum muft be loft 
 to the public, and will demand in fome manner 
 to be made good to the revenue. 
 
 ' if the quantity confumed of the refpedtive 
 wines of each country fliould remain prectfely 
 the fame, then it is demonftrative, that the 
 difference between the former and future duty 
 upon the prefent quantity of French wines, 
 50I. 4s. I id. per ton, upon four hundred tons, 
 js entirely loft. 
 
 If, as is evidently intended by the Treaty, 
 the quantity of French wine confumed here 
 be encreafed, ftill, as it will in future pay 
 only the Portugal duty, the fame fum is 
 equally defalcated from the revenue. In every 
 alternative, therefore, this fum is gone. 
 
 But by the eighth article of the treaty, 
 England referves a power in favour of Por- 
 tugal, of lowering the duty upon her wines to 
 the proportion fettled by the Metheun treaty; 
 that is, to two thirds of that upon the wines of 
 frauce, whijitever it maybe. If this power 
 
 fliouia
 
 
 ^'X^^' ( 30 ) 
 
 ( \ ' ^ 
 o J TARIFF. WINES. 
 
 \^ , ^Ihould not be ex'efcifed, it is eafy to perceitfe 
 iv'* ; England mufl relinquifli all fhtilpe^f a cd'rfi- 
 mercial intercourfe with Portugal.' The ftt- 
 perior pleafantnefs and lightnefs of the FtefiLcH 
 wines, the lownefs of the freight, iifady^ in 
 many inftances, the cheapncfs of the prime 90'fl: 
 of the article itfelf, will foon give a decided 
 preference to the wines of France. In this 
 event, the revenue would be a lofer to no 
 greater extent than has been already men- 
 tioned. But the effedis to the trade of the 
 country would be truly alarming. We muft 
 prepare ourfelves to expedt prohibitions in 
 Portugal upon the importation of our wool- 
 lens, and the produce of our filheries, and for 
 the various other confequences of fo important 
 3 revolution, which, though equally certain, 
 are not with equal facility to be afcertained. 
 
 If, upon the other hand, this power Ihould 
 be exercifed, and the refcrved right of dimi- 
 nifhed duty upon Portugal wines fhculd be 
 a<3:ually carried into efFedt, then a new confe- 
 quence arifes to the revenue. This, indeed^ 
 muft vary in the proportion of the quantity pf 
 Portugal wine which Ihall continue to be c<j>|ij 
 fumed in England. It is impoffible to <i^terj 
 
 mine
 
 ( 3- ) 
 
 mine at pre feW:, what the future changes in 
 that confumption may be. We know, how- 
 ever, what it is at this time, and upon the 
 fuppofition that it fhould remain the fam^ th^f 
 following will be the lofs to the revenue. . ,.rv. 
 
 The prefent duty upon the wines of Poicti^- 
 gal is 45I. 19s. 2d. per ton. One-third of this, 
 wliich, by the Methuen treaty, is the Hipulateci 
 fedudtion below the French duty, is 15I. 6s. 4d, 
 
 V. 
 
 ton. 
 
 The quantit}' of Port wine imported, amount- 
 ed, upon an average of the four lafl years, wnep 
 the" importation 'was rather falling off ffian 
 
 oth'erwife, Wib'^f'j^ tons annually. 
 
 Thi! number df tdns, multiplied Byihe 
 fum reduced upoli each' ton,' that is, by li^l^ 
 6s. 4d. will leave an amount of prccifcly 
 161,4041. I Ss. 2d. which, added to the; 
 20,0981. 6s. 8d. above-mentioned, makes the 
 whole lofs to the revenue upon this article 
 of 1^1,503!. 48. lod. 
 
 It is hardly pofiible to fuppofe, under the 
 prefent circumftances of the country, that It 
 can be deliberately the intention of ttic mi- 
 
 nifter
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 nitt luisury.'-^ It ^s'4fl^ cdtiHQuP/^ tftt'i-efrfe,^ 
 ^'A jirefumed, ihat-tK^^feifeicJecl effi^as 
 Midii are wifhed by ' the riiimfter"' %6 be pro-' 
 c&bfed by the operation of the treaty, are the 
 encouraging the confamption of French wines, 
 and the producing a confequent diminution of 
 
 thcv cbnfumption of^ ^th^ *of Portugal, h^^ 
 
 r> n vd [jjb:7;.:'-| o-'J Jixv/ ^:lo: laq 
 
 A variety afrcnrcumftanc^s concur to ttia%i 
 
 this latter fuppoiiu<V/CXt):>emeiy. probable, o/ft 
 
 >;t'i3Eb<i/\confuroptioii ii^;:'F!ortugal wines has 
 t^en encouraged in tbb country by a much 
 greater difference of duty than we were bound 
 by treaty to grant them-j for. though the fli- 
 p'uisted tiifference of duty between the French 
 aod^rpQrtugal wines is only cne-third, yet m 
 point of ai^tual praftice, the. duty of -the 
 former has always been nearly double that 
 of the latter. For example, in 1768^ wiieo, 
 the-vduty upon French wines was 6t6L pc*P 
 tCHJ/ tlit duty upon Portugal wift4,<-niigh^ 
 
 under
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 under the terms of the treaty, have flood it 
 44I. per tpn, yet it was in fadt only 29I. and 
 ia. later years, when the French duty was 
 9^1. 4Sk id. the duty upon Portugal wines, 
 \vhich might have been as high as 64I. per 
 ton, was no more than 45!. 19s. 2d, This 
 proportion of difference has continued fmce 
 the beginning of the century, and could not 
 but have a mofl powerful efFedt in encourag- 
 ing the confumption of Portugal wines. 
 How far a confumption which required to be 
 kept up by fuch a difference of duty as 50I. 
 per ton, will be proted:ed by a difference only 
 of 15I. 6s. 4d. is not eafy to conceive. If it 
 Ihould be concluded, which may be done 
 under the Urms of the prefent treaty, that 
 what has been pradtifed under the Methue% 
 treaty may ftill continue to prevail, and that 
 the Portugal duties may be ftill diminllhed in 
 the old proportion with refpedt to the wines of 
 France, then let us fee what will be the effc<ft 
 in that view of the fubje<ft to the Revenue. 
 The future duty upon French wines is to be 
 45I. 1 9s. 2d. If the Portugal duties are to be re- 
 gulated in the former proportion, that is, that 
 they may be fom^thing Ihort of being half, 
 or, in other words, that they may be onc- 
 F third,
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 TARIFF. . ', . WINES* 
 
 third, and one-iixtli, inllead of beii^ twch 
 thirds of tie l^fench duty, thjen it' wi^ Be fair 
 to ellimat^'the future duty upon Port' at 'about 
 111. per ton. This will evidently niake a de- 
 falcation of one-fixth of the who!' ;duty upon 
 Portugal wine more to the revenue than was 
 eftimated in the former inftance, (for then 
 the defalcation was calculated on a reducflion 
 of dne-third, and is now reckoned on the fup- 
 pofition of its being diminilhed one-fixth mor<>) 
 which will amount, upon the whole annual 
 importation of Port wines, to the fum of 
 So,702k 9s. id. and muft be added to the 
 other two fums I have already mentioned, to 
 make jip the whole of the annual lofs fuf- 
 tfltincd ta the public by the x)peiation of the 
 treaty. xioi isq ttoa amh? 
 
 iThere^are a great variety of pleafant and 
 flrong wines from the South of France, which 
 have been hitherto prevented fcpra making 
 their way into England by the enormous duty 
 which has been indifcriminately laid upon all 
 the wines of that country. When 15I. per 
 ton becomes the only difference of duty, wili 
 there not be great reafon to expe^fl, ifhat they 
 may be had in England much cheaper than 
 the wines of Portugal ? ,.^-, , ,. i 
 
 > Very
 
 very excellent Langgedoc wme, of a 
 (trcngrh, nearly equal to Port, and oif infinite 
 variety m its colour and flavour, may bei Dur- 
 chaied upon tne fpot at 14I. per ton. 
 
 ^^'Tht'pnme coft of a pipe of Port is dbo6\ 
 
 nsH? lot) ,^Dnflni rtti^flt 
 
 noM.we add the propofed duties to the^fe, the 
 fprfrjcr will ftill be confiderably ch^^per-thwi 
 the latter. -' :;:".^( 
 
 "New French duty - - 45 19 r^ 
 
 $r)V?coft.pertopi)yni tjHB .iji H o 
 
 NcwkPortugal duty - - 30 12 10 
 
 Prime coil per ton - - 34 o i> 
 
 ..... AZB^s^lq . 64 ifti 10 
 
 doiilw ^,90Cte'.' 59 1.9 2 
 
 ^iiic-i ^ . -TTm 
 
 iJifl^ercnce of price altogether - 4 13 g 
 
 Tp j^Jijsijh; h ftill farther to be added, the dif*- 
 fcrence r of freight and infurance between 
 Opprtp iyi|id Bourdeaux, which is confiderable *. 
 
 * Tncyrtuftft are alfo improving their advantages, Int" 
 ahoii&img: cditiin internal dutie*, which their SviwiKivi* 
 hitherto paid. ' ^ 
 
 F2 It
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 " aR1FF, "^"iPTOffES, 
 
 -^ft may however l^ai^esi^^^odvhas^fiiuifio^^ 
 
 beeh ftronglf zWMti,'^kik ^^^ Jaftcbf. this 
 
 country {i'f&^tdd^mfW&C^(m acf ^Eort wine, 
 
 that evcniW^Wefmc^^ t^lv1petmnoB.^\Lt 
 
 diity will be quite fui^Lcient to continue the 
 
 importation o it in guandties lie Wl^ equal to 
 
 what prevail at prefeiit;-''''\^^'^ ^^'^~'\^'- Py-^' 
 '. ---- .-l;..1:o^ to irAj ha^ ^3>?*rti 
 
 This reafoning neceflarily adro,\ijs ^Afd^V 
 
 j^a^PjOf .^J^e.^ yevenu^ ^r ,a, lofs of ^uty to 
 
 ^^he -utmofl extent of what has been above 
 
 flated ; i. e. ,of one-third of the prefent 
 
 duty upon the whole quantity at grefeht ina- 
 
 ported, together with the lofs upon the French 
 
 duty, to. the amount of 181,5031. />^r^>z"w. 
 
 But the princijl!^^is^ Certainly contradi<3:ory, 
 
 both to the fuppdfitJbh^^f the treaty itfelf, arid 
 
 alfo to fuch fad:s as hiftory furriifhes us with 
 
 upon the fubjear;-"^ ^^^'^'^ ^^} n^dw ,. 
 
 The^treaty clearly fuppofes the diminution 
 of the duty upon the wines to be an a^Vcintagc 
 to France, by increafing their ^xpqrtajiiqn, of 
 that article^ It would havej^eqn idl^^hi i^f.?; to 
 "haye aiked in Us, and us to have granted, a re- 
 - dudtion of duty, if her exportation^ were ftot 
 chequed by the high duty at prefeBrt fiibfift- 
 ing tipon them. As, howeveri'^fitt^^ffiflban^ 
 fpr wine is at prefent fully fupplied, "''it is 
 
 clear.
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 XAUIFF. 
 
 proportion niui]t,wrid^94ift oyriij^^ft^^ 
 fame conraio4itk5 fero >tiier,^yft^i9,.^ j^,^ 
 
 treaty is, that the French wine trade mu^^n- 
 creafe, and that of Portugal undergo a ^opor- 
 tionable diminution. ..aX 
 
 '' l^am enabled by a refort to hiftory tb-^Bi^m 
 a very tolerable eftimate of 'tlic' Sfegrfee^^of 
 rctran^ there is to be placed upon a fuppofed 
 preference of national tafte in this countjry tm 
 
 Favour of the wines,^f Portugal. 
 
 ' . -^ ' -^p , IC51/TO iniiorpB 
 
 The Journah of the Houfe of Cpmmons 
 
 - furnilh us with an account of the ini porta- 
 
 Mons of wine as they have, ilood at different 
 
 periods,- when the trade was open, when^ k 
 
 was abfolutely prohibited, or when it was 
 
 loaded with high duties;' and from thdfl it is 
 
 '^emonftrable, that national , tafte dianged 
 
 '^eJCadiy in the proportion as the ; commodity 
 
 'waf-clfeki'-^ cH<tttpr''-\^^ -''-' I :ibmr-. 
 
 ,^f tqg^,%,yeaE 1675 to the year IQ78> w . 
 if^.^j^d^Wjith France was open, and the ini- 
 hnrAS^^^9P oCF^^"^^^ w^"^ " ^" average, 
 -*^.-inqu,. .I'm ni, jjj^l 
 
 . .'5545 J r>
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 ) 
 
 .T^R.IFF. WIKES. 
 
 Fairing the fame period) the-^v^ra^nsuoi^' 
 portatioQ of Portugal' wih<4'Wa8ns Jjsrirf ^ 
 
 From the year 1679 to the year 1 6%5lj^ 'Hb^ij 
 .. clufive, the trade with France wa&p^-daiiiw 
 
 k'lchibited, and the annual importation of^ ^10: 
 Fortugal wine was 'i-no e - 6880 
 
 fjqip the year 1686 till the year 1695 nr 
 inclufive, the trade with France was mails 
 open, and the importation of French 
 wine amounted annually to -.-rr v5l;340i 
 
 During the fame period, the importation 
 of Portugal wine amounted, on aii> 
 average,,^!^,^:^. rifurfiii-t arins.n tjiifi \.vi:ri*&f' 
 
 And upon th^^tracIe^tK FfanceBefng ^gkiifi^ 
 ia King William's time, laid under prohibi-'' 
 tory duties, the importation of French wine 
 decreafed to nearly the fame quantity that has 
 been, and is now annually imported *. 
 
 * Account of French 
 and Portogal Wines 
 imported during 
 tl>e-6rlt|)eriod. 
 Fr. fort, 
 tons. 
 
 i75 
 J676 
 1677 
 1678 
 
 7495 
 9645 
 
 fiiz 
 
 tofis. 
 20 
 
 83 
 
 176 
 
 199 
 
 m^^^-Tfe 
 
 Some account during 
 the fecond period. 
 
 Fr. Port. 
 
 1679 
 1680 
 1681 
 1682 
 1683 
 1684 
 1685 
 
 tons. 
 3 
 
 tons. 
 
 1013 
 
 1003 
 
 1718 
 
 13860 
 
 16771 
 
 ii6ir 
 
 1288c 
 
 5586i 
 
 Some account durmj 
 the third period. 
 
 '"< 
 
 Fr. Port, 
 tons. tons. 
 
 1686 12670 286 
 
 1687 15518 327 
 
 1688 14Z18 448 
 168^ ^11109 .^79. 
 
 riot/m worf
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 TARIFF. WINES. 
 
 r . 
 
 Froia thefe fa<9:s, joined to the fuppofitioa 
 admitted and \j\iftified by the article of the 
 treaty itfelf, I am led to concur in the opinioA 
 which evidently prevailed with the negocia- 
 tors of it, that, the lowering the duties oit ' 
 Portugal wine one-third, will not prove, irl 
 any degree, a protedion tb the iihporters df 
 them. .rt;>J'>fa - 
 
 This, fhen, is thtii'l^tlaation ih wMc'h "w^ 
 iland, -with refped: to Portugal.-^If th^'dtjtti^ 
 parative confumptiort 'bf the Wines of that 
 country and France remain exaftfy the Tiitl^ 
 in Gsreat Britain as it ftands at prefent, th'<^ 
 revenue will be injured tojj^^.pjio^-ai, 
 uearjy 2oo,oool, per aimum,,,i ^^^ ;,83ijyh YWt 
 
 If, as is the much more probable alternl^; 
 tive, the wines of France in their ftate of re- 
 duced duty, ihould driye the inferior oiies of 
 Portugal out of our market, the conik^^sk 
 Win bfe^the lofs of the Portugal trad^ ^;;^, 
 
 ."5ro this View of^the fubjed I fhall novJ.proiw 
 ^^d^and Hate fuch fads as may convince thc^ 
 puBll^ -of its importance, and fatisfy them 
 how much wc put to hazard by the probable 
 ffc6ts of this indulgence to France. 
 
 The
 
 < 40 ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 The trade to Portugal has viiied at different 
 limes, either as the Portuguefe fucceeded in^ 
 the encouragement of their own manufaftures, 
 or as we have been rivaled in their market by 
 other nations. It confifts principally at prefent in 
 the exports of woollens, fait filh, toys, watches, 
 and other articles f luxury and convenience; 
 to thefe were formerly added, confiderable 
 quantities of hardware; but this laft article 
 has of late much fallen off, owing to our being 
 underfold in the Portugal market by the Fie* 
 mifh manufaAure of that article. This fadt, 
 which in a greaj: meafure accounts for the 
 fuppofed decay of the Portugal trade, was 
 diftindly in evidence before the Houfe of 
 Lords, by the oaths of feveral of the principal 
 manufacturers, and particularly by that of the 
 , intelligent; Mr, GMons, 
 
 The export to that country is Hill of mag- 
 nitude fufficient to awaken the fears of every 
 well-wilher to his country, under the cafualty 
 of its lofs. 
 
 By the accounts of the Infped:ors* Books 
 the export of Great Britain to Portu- 
 gal is now higher than it has been for 
 
 fomc
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 A-ifLlAr . TARIFF; 
 
 lM#^^l#^ It amounted in the year 1785 to 
 A^afafl^ Turti than yg6iii^l? 6f which, by 
 fifllich, the greater part M^as Woollens. 
 
 m*8ut the infpei^Grs' books furttilh a mxidh 
 more fallacious account of the Portugal trade 
 it prefent than they formerly did, when it-^s 
 ''fupix>fed to have been much higher than *^t 
 ^^w is. ' "" '" -- * y 
 
 r}' 05 srti'^o tho rtalifii } 
 
 Formerly the Export to t'drtugal was pnn- 
 cipaily carried oii^ftfefe t^fe'^poit' of London; 
 bu: the high port^ld^ftf? u^8riiw!ne, and the 
 high fees of evert iort'{)ayji'ble^t^ere, tbgethier 
 with the circumfltancc of the woollen manu- 
 faflure changing" its feation, arid fettling 
 prihcipaily in Yorkihirey Hkr m^^i'^tfie ports 
 of Liverpool and Hull equal to thar""6f 
 London in this trade. However accurate 
 the account of exports and imports from the 
 -port o^ London may be, nothing cafi beliefs fo. 
 th^ti'^theaccdunt which is kept at the diit 
 ports^ where all the articles are thrown toge- 
 ther, without care or accuracy, into one gene- 
 fa! head:- -^hus, while the infpedors* books 
 ftate littic moreth'an ioo,cool. as the ^ccduht 
 dF our -expeft-t to Portugal fi-om dl the Tbtot 
 ""'^^^ G ports,
 
 ( 42 } 
 
 TARIFF.' 
 
 ports, it is a notorious fad, that the town of 
 Wakefield alone, fends woollens to the amount 
 of, double the ifom, and that from eight to ten 
 fliips are cleared out from the port of Hull 
 armuall}^, which may be fairly reckoned worth' 
 from tliirty to forty thoufand pounds each. 
 From thefe tonfiderations it is apparent, that 
 the Portugal trade is of infinitely more im- 
 .portance than is generally believed, and that 
 J the conceived decline of it arifes only from 
 the accident of its having changed its locality 
 ifom the port of London to the out ports, 
 where, as I have faid, the accounts are 
 kept with much lefs precilion and diftindt- 
 hefs. 
 
 But even thefe fad:s will not Ihow the full 
 extbnt of the benefit of the Portugal trade. 
 If any article of export can be more beneficial 
 tp Britain than theexport of her ftaple, an artl- 
 ^ >, cle of the trade to Portugal, which appears in 
 W V>\^ no cuftom-houfe account whatfoever, is that 
 \^:J' y-puQ. I mean the produce of the fifhcry, 
 which is carried on direftly from Newfound- 
 land to Portugal, and is to be found in none 
 j^f th^ eitimates of our exports anjj^impprts.
 
 ^D 
 
 ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 To thbfe who are not accuftomcd to conlider 
 tnVinfinite importance of our fifhcries, the ex- 
 tent of this article muft appear enormous, no 
 lefs than 600,000 quintals of fifii were, in the 
 y^ar 1784, fent in Britilli vcffels to foreign 
 ilates from Newfoundland ; and of this quan- 
 tity about one-third went to Portugal. 
 
 An account of the price of a ^juintal of fifli at 
 Lifbon. 
 
 J. d. 
 Prime coft at Newfoundland - 10 o 
 
 Freight - - - 5 o 
 
 Infurance on cofl, and freight at 3 per 
 
 \cent. " - - 05 
 
 I>uty * - . 39 
 
 Commiffion and charges - 10 
 
 Of this fum the whole is paid to Britifh 
 fubjedts, excepting only the fingle article of 
 port duty. The prime coft and freight arc 
 the prices of the labour of our fifliermen and 
 bailors, and the commiffion and charges are 
 paid to Britifh fadtors at Lifbon. The port 
 4uty, therefore, being deducted from the ac- 
 G % count.
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 TARIFF, 
 
 count, will leave a Tum of li^iiGi 5,<f. which 
 multiplied by the number of iquitttals, wilVi^ 
 make the whole amount of the produce of fheit> 
 fifliery fold to Portugal, 164,066/. 13 j. 6</tc^ 
 whicb, in conlidering the extent x>f the ^tratki^^ 
 f that country, is to be added to every official 
 reprefentatiqn derived from cuftom-houfe elliw.. 
 mates. ;,i V^ 
 
 With the addition, therefore, of this lafl 
 branch of lucrative intercourfe with Portugal, 
 the whole value of our exports cannot, with 
 any propriety, be eftimated at lefs than^ 
 1,200,000/. pgr (tnnumi while our impprt3'|| 
 froni thence have rarely amounted, in the fame 
 |:ime, to above 350,000 /. which leaves a ba- 
 lance of trade in our favour of 850,000/. pe^' 
 annum, arifing from the export of goods which 
 afford encouragement to our flaple manufac- 
 ture, and fupplies a moft powerful acceffion tq 
 the Itrength of our marine. 
 
 Except Wine, the only confiderable article 
 of our imports from Portugal is Cotton Woolen 
 of a quality infinitely fuperior to that of any 
 other part of the world. Of this wc kit yeat'' 
 imported two millions of pounds, 'uv^'"" ' ^^^^'^
 
 ( 4f ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 It is Impoffible to expeifk that when, by 
 tl-Ki operation of the French treaty, the Wines 
 of Fiance alfume.the place of thofe of Portu- 
 gal in the confymption of Britain, tho-Portii- 
 guefe wiH; continue to take from us any aflii ' / 
 cles of OWE manufadture. French WooileUs' 
 till lately laid under prohibitory duties. 
 Will Ihe not have grounds for doing tKfc 
 
 fame by tliofe of Britain ? 
 
 v.- 
 
 By the wifdom of the late treaty of peace 
 
 which extended the filhery ot France in New- 
 
 foundland, Portugal cai\ be at no lofs to fup- 
 
 ply herfelf with that neceflary article^ fhould 
 
 ihe lay high duties upon the Englilh trade; / 
 
 and every intcreft Ihe has to indicate the leafl: 
 
 preference to this country is at an end. the mo- 
 
 mcnt we have ceajed to Reciprocate benefits^ 
 
 by the rejection or h<^r wines. 
 
 It is demonftrative, therefore, that this is the 
 choice of evils, in this cafe, out of which the 
 minifter is compelled to make his felediion / 
 He muft either relinquifh a revenue to the 
 amount of 200,000 /. per annum, or place in 
 the utmoft hazard, if not inevitable certainty 
 of deftru(S:ion, a branch of annual export, to 
 the amount of 1,200,000/. in order to pre- 
 iervc the revenue. 
 
 BRANDY,
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 TARIFF ,- '^^r^,.- 
 
 BRANDY. ' 
 
 ^o 
 We {hall proceed now to another article of 
 the tariff, upon which fuch a redudiion of duty 
 h ftipulatcd to be made in favour of France, 
 ilfcafmot fail, in itsfirftand certain 'operation, 
 moft effentially to affedt the revenue ; and, by 
 its confequences, to produce a moil alarming 
 rinjury, not only to a very valuable and exten-r 
 live part of our colonial trade, but even (by 
 the mifchief which it muft e^^tend to a moft 
 produdiive branch of internal manufacture) 
 prove, in the end, in the higheft degree injuri- 
 ous to the agriculture and Landed Intereft of 
 the Country. 
 
 The brandies of France, inftead of nine lliil- 
 Vmgs and fixpence -^4> are in future to pay no 
 more than feven Ihillings p^er gallon. Since 
 ^be operation of the a^ of the twenty-fecond of 
 his prefent Majefty, which equalized the cuf- 
 lom duty upon all foreign brandies, little elfe 
 than French brandy has been imported into 
 this country. The fuperior quality, indeed, 
 of the article itfelf, as well as the comparative 
 advantage in the low price of freight from 
 France, over any other competitor,' would have 
 
 given
 
 TARIFF. BRANDT. 
 
 given to that country the exclufive monopoly 
 of the Britilh market for her brandies, if no 
 new encouragement had been extended to her 
 by the operation of the prefent treaty*. 
 
 The quantity of brandy, upon an ave^jigQ of 
 the two laft years, which was imported and 
 paid duty, amounted to 2857 tons, three hogf- 
 heads, two gallons or 727,615 gallons. 
 Two ihillings and iixpence, the funi taken 
 from the prefent duty upon this quantity, will 
 produce an immediate diminution of revenue 
 to the amount of 90,981/. 8^. 6 d. 
 
 This lofs of duty, it is very evident, can on- 
 ly be made good to the revenue by an immenfe 
 encreafe of the annual confumption of bran- 
 dy, or by the impofition of a new tax upon 
 ibme other article. 
 
 The quantity of brandy confumed in thi& 
 country cannot be incrcafed, without a cOhfe- 
 quent diminution in the confumption of irum 
 and home-made fpirits, or an immoderate In- 
 creafe in the ufe of fpirituous liquors an evil 
 
 The Mlnifter was fo fenfible of this, that when he, 
 two years ago, lowered the duties upon rum, he left the 
 hij^h duties upon brandy. 
 
 which
 
 ( 4S ) 
 
 TARIFF^ BRANDV^ 
 
 which it has been, and ever muft be, the con- 
 flant objedt of a wife and virtuous legiflature 
 to prevent. 
 
 We will not fuppofe that the minlfters of 
 this country mean to make good the lofs of 
 revenue by the corruption of morals ; or that 
 theymean to bring back again thofe times, when 
 the legiflature found it neceflary to declare, as 
 in the preamble to the adt known by the name of 
 the Gin Adt, " That it was of the utmoft im* 
 ^' portance to the public welfare, that fome 
 *' timely provifion Ihould be made for prevent- 
 " ing thofe mifchiefs, which mult unavoidably 
 *^ enfue, Ihould fpirituous liquors be again fuf- 
 " fered to be fold at a low rate.** 
 
 If, therefore, the total quantity of fpirits 
 confumed in the country is not intended to be 
 increafed, any increafe on the confumption of 
 brandy muft afFeCt that of rum and home-made 
 fpirits, unlefs an equivalent diminution of duty 
 takes place upon them. The minifter, indeed, 
 appears to have had this in his contemplation, 
 and feems to think it a neceflary and indifpcn- 
 fible policy, that the lowering the duty upon 
 2, branc{y
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 r\99^9^ BRANDY. 
 
 brandy" 'flion^cFt^fecufed agaibit producing^af 
 confrc|tient diminntfon^h tHeufe'df^mm. He 
 has already hinted an inclination to lower the 
 
 duty upon rum 3 ^. per gallon. 
 
 'tr . .- 
 
 The only principle upon which this decreafe 
 can be founded, is a vvifh to preferve a relative 
 proportion in the conlumption of each article. 
 If this be done, the amount of the diminifhed 
 rum duty muft be added to the amount -of the 
 ftipulated diminution of that upon brandy, 
 as a certain and further degree of injurj'-, to 
 which the public purfe is wantonly expofed. 
 
 The quantity of rum imported into this 
 kingdom, on an average of four years preceding 
 the year 1777, was 2,375, 176. gallons. During 
 the fame period the export was 655,291 gal- 
 lons. And the whole average annual confump- 
 tion was 1,719,785 gallons. 
 
 T I: have chofen to feledt thefe years, becaufe 
 in them the importations were moderate. If 
 I had been influenced by any difpofttion towards 
 an uncandid advantage, I might have taken the 
 year 1 785, when the total importation amounted 
 tO-3,<5i4,ii4 gallons; a quantity, as is very 
 H apparent.
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 TARIJF. BRANDY, 
 
 apparent, infinitely greater; but, perhaps, 
 partly to be accounted for by caufes not perma- 
 nent in their efFed;, and which, therefore, may 
 not exift equally at another period . 
 
 Now threepence per gallon on 1,719,785 
 gallons, will produce afum of 21,495/. ^9-^* !3^ 
 Such is the amount of the reduced rum 
 duty, which the miniller has even intimated 
 his confent to make, in addition to what 
 he has already given up upon brandy. But 
 fhe Weft India planter neither is, nor can be, 
 fatisfied or fecure, under this diminution. It 
 is not fuch as will fecure him again ft the in-r 
 creafed importation of brandy, which, even un- 
 der the higher duties, he found every difficulty 
 to ftruggle with. 
 
 The late war having fallen fo heavily upon 
 the Weft Indies, having increafed the price of 
 every thing in Britain with which they are fup- 
 plied, having loaded them with internal taxes 
 in their illands, having increafed both the price 
 and the difficulty of procuring lumber from 
 America, joined to the high freights and heavy 
 infurances which they are obliged to pay, has 
 fo confiderably raifed the price of their com- 
 modity^
 
 ( 5' ) 
 
 Tariff. brandy. 
 
 modity of late years, that it is quite impoffible 
 that 3 d, per gallon can bring the planter on 
 a fooring with the importer of French brandy. 
 
 The Weft India merchants, with a modera- 
 tion which does them honour, have only foll- 
 cited a redudtion of 5 d. per gallon, which, 
 upon the quantity already ftated, will amouac 
 1035,826/. 12 J. id. 
 
 DISTILLERY. 
 
 But it is not only the Weft India planter 
 who will be materially affedted by the diminu- 
 tion of the duty upon brandy. 
 
 f 
 
 The Malt Distillery will be equally hurt. * 
 It is a fadl perfectly well known, that this 
 branch of manufad:ure, fo valuable to the 
 landed intereft of this country, is already in an 
 alarming ftate of decline. It has confumed, 
 in years paft, no lefs than 500,000 quarters of 
 malted corn. Upon an average of the three 
 years preceding 1782, it confumed fcarcely 
 200,000 quarters It would be prefuming too 
 much upon a fuppofed ignorance in the rea- 
 der, to point out the immcnfe advantage it is 
 Hz ta
 
 ( 5^ ) 
 
 TARIFF. nSTlLLlRY. 
 
 to the farmer to have fuch a market for his 
 grain, or to the revenue, by what it pays in its 
 progreffion of different Itages from barley to 
 fpirits. 
 
 There was charged with duty, on an average 
 of three years preceding 1782, 2,351,534 gal- 
 lons of Britilh fpirits. During that period, 
 however, as the duty was laid upon the walh by 
 a conjediural calculation, which fuppofed that 
 lOo gallons of wafli produced 15 gallons of 
 fpirit ; and as that calculation has been lince 
 found to be erroneous, and, by an ad: pafTed in 
 the year 1784, the 100 gallons of walh arc 
 charged with duty upon a fuppoiition of pro- 
 ducing 20 gallons of fpirit, we muft add the 
 difference, to difcover the quantity really 
 m ade. 
 
 The effcdtof the regulation in 1784 was that 
 of increaiing the number of gallons of fpirits, 
 charged with duty, one third. To the 
 amount, [therefore, of the average quantity 
 upon which duty was charged the three 
 years preceding 1782, mufl: be added one third, 
 which will leave the given number of gallons 
 that would be charged with duty from the 
 
 fame
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 TARIFF. DISTILLERY, 
 
 fame quantity of wafti at this time. The third 
 of 2,351*534 is 783,844. The two fums add- 
 ed, produce 3,135,378 gallons, which is the 
 precife number upon which duty would now 
 be charged. 
 
 The duty upon Britifh fpirits is now 2S, 6i. 
 per gallon, calculating 100 gallons of wafh to 
 produce 20. of fpirits. If it Ihould be at all 
 intended to fave this ufeful manufacture, the 
 duties upon it ought, and muft be lowered, in 
 the fame proportion as thofe of rum. If rum 
 be lowered 5 d. per gallon, a proportionate re- 
 duction of the duty upon Britilh fpirits will 
 amount to 2^. />^r gallon and this fum will 
 amount, upon the quantity of fpirits above 
 Hated, to 26,128/. 35. per annum. 
 
 If this reduction of duty Ihould not take 
 place, it is not only the duty upon fpirits which 
 will be deftroyed by the ruin of the diftillery, 
 but the duty upon malt, which upon the quan- 
 tity ufed in . the diftillery amounts to above 
 100,000/. will fuffer a proportional defalcation 
 the farmer will alfo lofe his beft market for 
 his grain fo that even the revered intereft of 
 the landed property is to be, in fome degree, 
 - , . 3 * among
 
 ( i4 ) 
 
 TARIFF DISTILLERS* 
 
 among the facrifices which are to be made, for 
 the encouragement of French induftry, and the 
 confumption of French luxuries. 
 
 The above reafoning proceeds upon the fup- 
 pofition, that the confumption of the feveral ar- 
 ticles of fpirits, home and foreign, is to re- 
 main, after the operation of the prefent treaty, 
 precifely what it is at this time ; and in that 
 cafe the following defalcation will be fuftained 
 by the revenue, namely. 
 
 Upon brandy 90>95^ ^ ^ 
 
 Upon rum 35j826 12 i 
 
 Upon fpirits 26,128 8 o 
 
 Total defalcation on fpirits 152,906 8 7 
 
 If it fhould be contended, however, that this 
 decreafe of duty upon the articles will be made 
 up by a proportionate increafe upon their con- 
 fumption, let us examine, what the degree of 
 that increafe, upon fuch view of the fubjedt, 
 muft neceflarily be. Upon calculation it will 
 be found to Hand thus : 
 
 Of
 
 ( $i ) 
 
 TARIFF. DISTILLERY. 
 
 Of brandy there mufl be increafed Gallons* 
 
 in the confumption 259,860 
 
 Of rum ditto 153,522 
 
 Of home-made fpirits- 223,956 
 
 Total increafe of confumption to 
 
 make up deficiency of revenue 637,338 
 
 Thefe then are the miferable alternatives to 
 which the people of Great Britain are to be re- 
 duced. They are to fubmit, in the article of 
 fpirits alone, to a reduction of the national re- 
 venue to the amount of above 150,000 /. which 
 by fome expedient or other muft be made good 
 by new taxes for the public creditor, it is 
 prefumed, is not intended to be defrauded or 
 elfe their morals are to be corrupted, their 
 health impaired, and their induftry relaxed, by 
 the increafed ufe of a mifchievous luxury, the 
 greatefl part of which is produced in another, 
 and that a rival country. 
 
 COUNTERVAILING DUTIES. 
 
 All the articles of the tariff, except the 
 four firft, are founded at leaft upon an of- 
 
 tenfiblc
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 TARIFF. COUNTIRV AILING DUTIES. 
 
 tenfible pretence to .reci^rpcity. They j^re- 
 fume,. tixat whatever inay bg th,e , rp ladve ftate 
 of ikill, taxation, or the pric^ of labour, tl^p 
 duties from ten to fifteen per Cent, ar^^ auite 
 fufficient to proted: the manufactures of either 
 country, againft the competition of the other. 
 
 It is not however, a little remarkable, that 
 while the Irifli propofitions were in agitation, 
 the protedting duties being in that arrange- 
 ment nearly upon an equivalent with thofe 
 I of the prefent treaty, the manufadlurers were 
 then unanimoufly of opinion, that fuch du- 
 ties were perfectly inadequate to proted, them 
 againfl the manufadturers of Ireland ? 
 
 If they were really fo in that cafe, may 
 it not be aiked, how it happens that they 
 can be adequate to fuch a protedion now, 
 when the ad valorem duty is fo little higher, 
 and the danger of the rivallhip fo much 
 the greater ? Cheapnefs of labour, compa- 
 rative exemption from taxes, and the low 
 price of the raw material, which were the 
 motives pleaded for this infufficient protec- 
 tion, are more decidedly in favour of France 
 than of Irelaad. 
 
 And
 
 ( 51 ) 
 
 l-ARI^F. COUNTERVAILING DUTIES* 
 
 And fingular and extraordinary indeed will 
 It be, if thofe advantages aigainft which we 
 declared vehemently, when propofed to be 
 granted to our filler kingdom, Ihould be 
 without objection agreed to, when extended 
 to our old enemy aiid certain rival. 
 
 The want of capital in Ireland was the 
 argument principally infifted upon by tKe 
 fupportcrs of the Irifh propofitions, as deci- 
 five upon the fuperiority of advantage whick 
 would refult froni them to Great Britain. 
 
 Is it poffible to prefume upon this only 
 ground of advantage with refpedt to Ireland^ 
 when we are fpeaking of a commercial union" 
 with France ? Such an argument in favour 
 of the prefent treaty, would be tod evident- 
 ly ridiculous to demand a refutation. 
 
 Is the French cotton munufaftory in a 
 worfe ftate than the Irifli ? Is their wool- 
 len manufactory no better ? Are not their 
 hardware, their holiery, their glafs, and all 
 their millinery wares, (which owe their va- 
 lue fo much to faihion) in a ftate a thou- 
 fand times more flourilhing, than thofc of 
 I Ire-
 
 TARI^y*^ COUNTERVAILING DUTlIS* 
 
 Ireland ? Yet the manufadurersof England, 
 with regard, to thefe very points, expreffed 
 their apprehenfions of the Irifli competition, 
 and unanimoufly declared, that duties nearly 
 equivalent to thofe of the prefent French 
 treaty, were by no means adequate to pro- 
 ted: their home manufactures againft this 
 y9;Ung. and indigent rival. How then is it 
 poffible, that duties which were totally in- 
 adequate in one cafe, fliould be entirely fo 
 in another, when the circumftances of the 
 danger ^e fo much the greater ? 
 
 It has been often faid, that the cotton 
 manufadlury is the particular one which is 
 to gain moll by the opening the French mar- 
 ket. 
 
 That merchants or fpeculators may for a 
 time make money by a trade which is a 
 lofs to the country, is a propofition too 
 plain to be difputed, and till it can be proved 
 that the merchant's gain, and the nation's 
 profit are fynonimous, it will not be necef- 
 fary to conteft fo unimportant a fadl. But 
 it may be of feme ufe to take a fhort view 
 f the ftate of both countries, and to confider 
 4 for
 
 C 59 ) 
 
 TARIFF. COUNTERVAILING DITTIES. 
 
 for one moment, whether that advantage 
 which, if admitted to exift in feme articles 
 at prefent, is of a nature likely to be fecure 
 and permanent. 
 
 To this end it will be neceflary to make 
 a ihort enquiry into the ftate of compara- 
 tive taxation, and price of labour in the 
 two countries. 
 
 The principal manufactures of France 
 which are moft likely to interfere in the arti- 
 cles permitted to go from England upon cuf- 
 rom duties, are fettled in the countries of 
 
 Normandy, 
 
 Picardy, 
 
 Britanny, 
 
 Flanders, 
 
 ^he three Bijhopricks of Metz, 
 
 toul and Verden, 
 
 Alface, 
 
 Lorainney 
 
 and 
 Hainault, 
 
 1% 111
 
 ( So ) 
 
 TARIFF. COUNTERVAILING DtTtt^S. 
 
 In comparing the taxes of England wi^h 
 France, it is abfblutely neceffary chat we 
 ihould diftinguilh between the different pro- 
 vinces of that great empire, becaufe the ftate 
 burthens are in no degree like ours, general 
 and indiicriminatc-rThey differ in different 
 parts of the kingdom, and, therefore, when 
 we conlider the quantities of taxation to 
 which the manufacturer is fubjedt, it is ne- 
 ceffary to diflinguifh the diftridt in which he 
 lives. It may not neceffarily follow, that the 
 price of fubfiftence is in proportion to the 
 lownefs of taxation in each province ; but it 
 happens, however, to be true, in point of fadt, 
 that thofe diflridts which we have jufl enume- 
 rated, are not only celebrated for the extent 
 and fuccefs of their manufaftures, but alfo as 
 being thofe of a\\ France in which provifions 
 are in the greatefl abundance. 
 
 Mr. Neckar has given an elaborate table of 
 the different taxes of every fort paid by the 
 inhabitants of the different provinces of that 
 country, and an accurate calculation of the 
 ^amount which each individual pays -and from 
 his flatement the following table is taken : 
 
 I^
 
 (-61 ) 
 
 ll^ZlfF, <:OUNTERVAILING DUTIES, 
 
 .^ Liv. S. 1. 5. ^ 
 
 *Tk^the diftrift' ^vlteh comprcheodj aihi 
 
 LorainaeaadJ^t ^e taxes ^punt^ per 
 
 head, tQ - - - 12 ig~o lo ol 
 
 ' f 
 
 In that of Strasbourg comprehending Alface, 14 isrc if. 8^ 
 
 That of Lifle - - - 20 3 rr o 16 9J 
 
 That of Valenciehns * - - io 15 rr o 17 ji 
 
 Amiens, which comprehends the country 
 
 a^out Calais^ Boulogn^^ and moft of Pi- 
 
 cardy, - - - 2Sro~i39 
 
 Kormandy - - - 2.9 i6 zz i 4. iq 
 
 JJritaniiy t - - 12 10 o 10 5 
 
 If this ratp of taxation be compared with that ^a^^ 
 of England, or even with Ireland, the lownefs 
 of whofe taxes alarmed all the manufadtnrers 
 of England two years ago, the difference 
 ^ Is ilriking and remarkable. By a calculation 
 made by Mr. Walker of Mancheftcr, and pre- 
 fented to the Houfe of Peers, it a])pears that 
 the average amount of taxes paid by the Cot- 
 ton manufacturers of Lancafliire, amounted to 
 3I. per head; if the calculation be extended 
 over th whole of the kingdom, .reckoning 
 nine millions of people in Great Britain, the 
 whole amount of our tastes v.ill be equal to 
 2 1. 7s. or thereabouts, per head > a fum above 
 double the higheft ftate of taxation in any 
 manufa(5luring province of France, and above 
 
 jfour 
 Thcfc two comprehend all Flanders.
 
 ( 6z ) 
 
 TARIFF. COUNTERVAILING 0Ut|-t^" 
 
 four times the amount of the taxation ^'fcuP 
 the greateft part of them. 
 
 But it is not the lovvnefs of taxation alone 
 which the manufa6:iirers of this country- 
 have to dread. The wages of labour, and 
 the price of living are equally advantageous 
 to France, 
 
 In order to form a juil comparifon be-> 
 tween the rate of the wages of labour in 
 the two countries, we muft learn the price 
 given for that fpecies of labour to which 
 the natural faculties of man are equal and 
 applicable, and therefore in the prefent cafe 
 our enquiry Ihould be, what the farmer 
 pays upon an average for a day*s labour 
 in both countries. By the beft information 
 I can obtain, the common wages in the manu- 
 fafturing parts of France do not exceed 8 or 
 lo fous per day, that is, from 4d. to 5d, 
 whereas in England the fame fort of labour 
 cofi IS. 2d. or IS. 3d. We cannot reafon- 
 ably doubt, but there will be nearly the 
 fame proportionate difference of wages be- 
 tween the manufadiurers of the two countries 
 as there is between the day labourers ; more 
 
 efpecially
 
 I 
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 ^^iWf'r- COUNTERVAILING DUTIES. 
 
 efpecially when we conlider that this lovvnefs 
 of the wages of labour i& occafioned by low- 
 nefs of taxes, and cheapnefs of provilions; 
 caufes, which equally affe(tt all claffes of men, 
 as well the manufad:urer as the common la- 
 bourer.-r-With the joint operation of all thefe 
 caufes can it be fuppofed that any prefumed 
 degree of ikill can long countervail fuch de- 
 cided advantages ; capital will find its way to 
 that fituation where it can be employed to the 
 beft advantage, and the facility with which 
 Britilh artificers are, by the Treaty, enabled 
 to fettle in France, will, in a Ihort time, 
 give them an eafy pofleffion of our ikill, and 
 a confequent participation in our capital. 
 
 It is to be confidered alfo that the com- 
 munication between the coafts of England 
 and France is infinitely eafier, and infinitely 
 more certain than that between Britain and 
 Ireland ; - from Calais, Boulogne, or even 
 Rouen, Havre, or UOrient to London, the 
 paffage can rarely exceed a day or two's 
 navigation, in a fafe and certain channel. 
 From Ireland the pafTage is through a rough 
 and boifterous fea dangerous and uncertain 
 for above half the year, and almofl impracti- 
 cable
 
 ( 4 > 
 
 tARIFF. COUNTERVAILIVG DUTIES; 
 
 table to be performed in lefs time than eight 
 of ten days. Let iis paufe upoii this cireum^ 
 fiance of advantage, and again afk if there 
 was danger from the Irifli J)ropofitions ; and 
 if lov -^er cent, would not have been a pro- 
 te(fting deity againft the manufactures of 
 Ireland, whether it is poffible that the fame 
 duty can protedl oUr maliufa<3:ures againft 
 thofe of France ? 
 
 The principle alfo upon which counter- 
 vailing duties are cftablilhed by the treaty, 
 is narrow, and inadequate. If a counter- 
 vailing duty hate any meaning at all, it is 
 intended to equalize the burthens under 
 which the different manufadiurers labour, that 
 they may be upon even terms as to the em- 
 ployment of their refpe6:ive Ikill, and the 
 exercife of their mutual induftry. -Will the 
 countervailing the mere duty impofed upon , 
 the manufa<3:ure itfelf, in any lliape produce 
 the effe<ft which Ihould be the vital principle 
 of this fpecies of protection. It is a melan- 
 choly truth, with rcfpe(ft to England, hea- 
 vily burthened as ihe is, that in the multi- 
 plicity of her taxes many of them fall equally 
 fevere upon the manufacturer as if they were 
 
 direCtly
 
 < Ai ) 
 
 .^ CQUJ^TERV AILING DUTIES. 
 
 ;':iic<fl1y impofcd upon his mftiaj^iajfluc^itfeU'tTij- 
 Tha tax upon the houfe in whjch the mai\n- 
 fafturer lives ; tHe ibap and candles, and lea- 
 ther which he ufes; the commutation for tea, 
 wTiich, perhaps, he does not drink; the tax 
 upon his receipts, his bills, and upon the ihpp 
 itfelf where his goods are fold, mud all form 
 a part of the price of the commodity in 
 which he deals, and ultimately fall upon .th(? 
 article equally as if placed immediately upon 
 it; yet no attempt is madejto coi^ntervail 
 fuch, which are, in fa(ft, virtual ad vfllorm 
 duties, upon the importation of them . 
 
 Were the tw6 countries, in all ref^e^s, upon 
 an equal footing, the duties might be fuffi- 
 cient to afford encouragement and protection 
 to our manufajSlures ; . but unequal as they, are 
 in every refpe<fl to the difadvantage of Eng- 
 land, it requires no lone look into fliturity, 
 to'^e the period when her boafted flvill, 
 which at beft' Is but a temporary fupe.riQritj^ 
 muft give way to the influence of advantages 
 
 which are certain aricJ penpancnp. 
 ,qrjr, 
 
 ft IS not only that the prefcnt , treaty is nar- 
 row and confined in p)ie prinpiple ,of .its coui^- 
 K tervailing
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 COXTNTERVAILING DUTIES. 
 
 iCervailing duties, but that fomcsititetiiat'S^ties 
 - mre totally omitted ia the iiftf fuchiiaa flicTdaCy 
 .^upon Leather and upon Malt, while xaclrers ate 
 inferted which the minifters themfelyies.laiaw 
 it is utterly impoflible to attempt: to^carnyiit 
 into effe(^, fuch as thofe upon Iron, and Plate 
 
 31/13 zf 3I ^' tXldin^Ds afi ilf/fJB ol lo aosl oAj 
 Aw^Tkie' miited teftirriony of all the nioil f^- 
 Ipeftable and intelligent manufadturers, wh^n 
 given before Parliament upon the fubjet of 
 \the Irifh propofitions, went, with one voice, 
 \lx> this opinion. That lo^ per cent, a ivalovet]^, 
 "was totally, and out of all proportion, unequal 
 .>to their pfoted:ionagainft^he rival magHufdc- 
 ^mt&s-qi the^ ^ftcir-kingdQiri, -^ -'i-n n^nuoO 
 m jrlLbnudfi siom bos Jfijft ni bganevbfi siorn 
 If then, as is more than probable; the faille 
 fyftem of commercial intercourfe between the 
 tw.o countries Ihould be revived again ; and if 
 '-the manufa(9:urers ihould be found tOi. have 
 been in a llate of inaction as to:dJic .1 i|C- 
 -tfompliihment. of the ptefent;:, Treaty nwith 
 xfrraiiGej j, with: what appearance CiQ^zi^ft^- 
 2|iriet3r;:tS)uld they prefent themfelves ^e^e 
 yiltbcr :"HDufe of Parliament, to reneWiitii^r 
 .ll^fiftance : to the former meafure? - bsloqxo 
 *i-ri3 2 - H Would
 
 -^TTTirr ni/fl l!A7flH'O0WTER.VAlLING DUTIES. 
 
 Would theyrrdecKiit io^psjfitt^ j^ :j>latt:x>f 
 yconneftion withilrielaiid/i v^iohrrtwo' .y ears^^be- 
 aforc they hdd r^pr^ented arjr pre^ant i^ci^ii 
 wvery fort of danger, and even^ with, certain 
 ; U^&riidion; ^ their jDoit lefiential in ttrefl s i 
 ^ii''- :.m ^noii noqi.f ^lof^? e rfjJi /j:.::::^ :.-;r.' 
 
 Or would they have the courage to fi^fj'Qh 
 
 the face of fo augull an aflembly, ** It is true 
 
 we contended, that a duty o^ lo^^ per cent* 
 
 was entirely infufficient to afford us any protec- 
 
 teiou againft the competition of a poor aad 
 
 ,1intaught relation; but we are flow equally 
 
 .prepared to argue, That the very fame duty 
 
 lift an ample and fatisfacftory fecuiity againft 
 
 the hoftile rivalfhip of a direct enemy, of a 
 
 Country rich in capital, cheaper in labour, 
 
 more advanced in fkill, and more abundant ift 
 
 inaterialseldEdoTq nifj Diorr - 
 
 3d3 {I'j to rnoilvl 
 
 'Would fuch men as Mr. Wedgewdod, Mr. 
 
 Walker, or Mr. Gibbon rifque the fair and 
 
 honourable refpedl which they hold amongfl 
 
 xhcir countrymen, by being guilty of an incoa.- 
 
 gruity fo palpable and difreputable ? They 
 
 would defpifc fuch a proceeding, in words. Let 
 
 them.bQ careful, then>that they arc not equally 
 
 cxpofed to the. imputation of it, through 
 
 '>IaoW K 2 their
 
 \ 
 
 ( 68 ,) 
 
 TARIFF. IRCW. 
 
 ,^eir,,ponjdud:. If France be DRly in-the fame 
 .4egrqc of, advancement as Ireland rif ihe pof- 
 fefles labour no cheaper, fkill no more im- 
 .proved, or materials in no greater quantities, 
 but all only in the fame degree ; yet if the com- 
 n^ufiication with England be equally eafy and 
 i^fs e^xpenfive, how is it that Ihe is not i equally 
 ^"fubjed: of alarm in the formation of a con- 
 nexion, the bafis of which, with refped: to 
 the manufacturers, is precifely the fame. 
 
 The manufacturers mull explain this in 
 their own yitidication either their oppofition 
 to the Irifli propofitions was FaElion, or thqir 
 jn^rtnefs\..a$ to ; the progrefs.of the/, pre- 
 %nt ^'re^ty is.vP^r/fa; Dqfertion to the ulti- 
 mate, .interefU.x>fTtl^irrcpuntry, into which 
 ^^hey arc feduced by the influence of a little 
 prefent advantage to themfelves. 
 
 IRON. 
 
 . Thfe manufacturers of "IrCfl "arid' Hardware 
 'tiFfe flattered that their manufacture will :find 
 its way into France upon better terms than it 
 formerly did, and an idea is delufively encou- 
 raged ampngii them, that the high duty upon 
 
 the
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 SfTf^ Itriport cf foreigft l^rorr' is t6 he cbiinter- 
 *^it<5'' tipOiV^Vench goods' CtJtlVing t6 Eng- 
 land. Some high Mfhed, and' hij^h priced 
 ,aarticlei "Tnay, and probably will, for ^ t?ilSe, 
 '^o from this country to France. Thfey Xs'ill 
 ^-*do fo till Britilh workmen Ihall teach the 
 French' to avail themfelves"af the advantages 
 they poflefs of the cheapndfs of their labout, 
 <^knd xke lownefs of their taxe^. It is in vain, 
 liowever, to hope tharany of the oridinar;^ forts 
 ot wii'rqs 3111)6 exported into that country, 
 
 f! The German and -Lel^e- 'Hardware^ thoiagh 
 1 perhaps not fo highly finiihed, is infinitely 
 Cheaper thkn the Englifh. The article of airms 
 alone, v;hich It has been thought could be pur- 
 nVhafed at. a lower pride at Birmingham thitn'ih 
 any part of the world, may be had at Leige 
 2o per cent, cheaper than in England, and other 
 articles in proportion. The Flemings akeady 
 excel us in tnod articles of inferior Hardware ; 
 and can we indulge an expectation that they 
 will not have at leaft the fame advantage in the 
 French market which they have in everymher ? 
 
 .ji "vThen Mr. Gibbons, whofe authority on 
 ^fi^eTubjefts fs certainly of the ^ofl refpeda- 
 |>le nature;j.was a/ked by the Houfe of Lords, 
 
 whether
 
 < 70 ) 
 
 TAKiFF. ilir< 
 
 whether we.had not a confidetabkti<JUJti*liia- 
 iiufed:ured iron ware to Portugalj.JWbdeirSj 
 and different ports in tlie Meditcrf)aneaa ^. JMP 
 anfwered, " That we formerly.Jiadct-.bHti|lw<: 
 ^we had loftitforfome year3i"io ,'?^o ori? Ic 
 "^^And when alked to affign the reafon of that 
 Ibfs, hre replied '^ The Flemings underfell usf. 
 *Plth'ey have their laboiir and their iron cheaper** 
 
 .xirUsLYC not the Flemings the fame advantages 
 iji the French as in the I'ortugueze market J-r^ 
 Have not the French their labour and their iron 
 equally cheap as th^JFlej^iiQgsi .^^ ^^ 
 
 The 4uty iipdn'' ^Sar Voii 'Imported iht6 
 France is 1 5 iivres peir ton, or i i J. 6 d. The 
 duty upon bar iron irhported into England^ 
 atnountsto 2/. 16 Jr. i which neither can be 
 drawn l)ack upon exportation, nor countervail- 
 cd upon importation,' ,. 
 
 liiA^^P!^ France and England produce iron 
 ^jtkfir own, which enters into thjg xi^^ufac- 
 twe of the country, the power of counteryail,- 
 ing the duty upon the raw material, reiexy^d 
 by the treaty, is delufive and impra<ul:iQ^lj^,1^5^^i 
 
 * In point of fadt, we know that it is not intended to 
 be ufed j and, if it could be ufed, it would ih FVanefra- 
 Biitiint nearly to a prohibition upon our goods going there. 
 
 Whsa
 
 ( 7^^ > 
 
 TARIFF. ION 
 
 juffWhert ^ ton of manufa<flured iron is carried 
 ^kibdiSSoni-^iOufio in either couhtry, is it pof- 
 ^Icwsdiftinguifl/ whether the material is for 
 Iwi^V or Bjritilhy or French iron or how much 
 of the one, or how much of the other, enters 
 iiito the p^-ticular quantit}^ of goods manufac- 
 tiiYt^j^^^ fyph diftindion muH be mai^e, be- 
 fore any drawback can be given, oj^A<co|^efr 
 vailing duty can be raifed. If the goods are 
 bf the iron of either the one or the other coun- 
 trj', neither drawbacks nor countervailing du-- 
 ''ities can be made ufe of, becaufe no duty has, 
 in that cafe, beetyfjaid tif^on the import of the 
 raw material, and therefore there can be nothing 
 ^either to drawback or, to countervail. If, on 
 the contraay, the goods are manufad:ured oJF 
 foreign iron, a drawback ought to be given lip- 
 on exportation, and the duty ought tobe coun- 
 
 tervailed upon the import. . 
 
 lonBS-ibqnh'noq 
 The abfolute impoffibility of making thofe 
 
 ^^ftinftions, places all idea of any counter^il- 
 
 Ing duty totally out of the queftion.'^^Hdw 
 
 ntth^yTitymg for a moment evcr}^ advahfa^6 
 
 'WKic1i"Frkhce^ drives from cheap labour and 
 
 low tak-e?^ ?tttirely out of the queftion) wvll the 
 
 acmunt ftand as to this article betweea the, two 
 
 V ; 'ji/i j.a.* t-.i: J, ..-r^tlo miocj ifl 
 
 .Mad] sniojeboos-u/o ao<iu aoii'dlAonq 0) ^lifisn jMh 
 
 /
 
 TARIFF. IRON. 
 
 'Mr. Gibbons calculates, in his well-informed 
 and ingenious anfwer to Sir Lucius Obrien up- 
 on the iron trade, that upon an average it re- 
 quires a ton and half' of iron to produce a ton 
 of manufaftured wares. In fome articles it re- 
 quires more, and in others lefs*. 
 
 Let us fuppofe, that a ton thus manufadlured 
 is worth 40 /. fterling. Then, Englifh iron 
 going to France will ftand thus : 
 
 Duty upon 30 cwt. of iron, manu- 
 
 fadtured into one ton of wares, . s. d. 
 
 at 2 /. 16 J. I d. per ton '4 4 iJL 
 
 Ten per cent, upon 40 /. duty by 
 
 the treaty - - 40 
 
 o 
 
 * The following account of the value of manufadured 
 iron (excluding hardware) is taken from Lord Sheffield's 
 very ingenious and intelligent Obfervations upon the 
 American Trade ; a book which every reader, deiirous of 
 knowing the adlual ftate of Britifh commerce, ought to 
 confult : 
 
 Iron when manufaftured is worth per ton. 
 
 Bolts - j^ 24 
 Anchors - 30 
 Nails - 35 
 
 Hoes and Axes 42 
 
 Anvils - - 42 
 Tin Plates - 42 
 Steel from 24 to - 56 
 
 Let
 
 TARIFF. IRON. 
 
 Let US fuppofe, that the fame goods come 
 from France to England. Then the account 
 Will fland as follows ; 
 
 French import duty upon 30 cwt. ,. s. J. 
 
 of iron - - -0189 
 
 Ten .per cent, duty by the treaty 400 
 
 4 ^8 9 
 
 That is to fay, that French wares, manufac- 
 tured from foreign iron, will come to England 
 3/. 5 J. ^i d. cheaper than the fame goods 
 can go from England to France, and the fame 
 fum cheaper than any Englilhman can manu- 
 facture the fame goods from the fame iron. 
 Thefe fums are fully fufficient to prevent En- 
 glilh goods going to France, and probably fuf- 
 ficient, when joined to the price of labour, 
 to enable her in time to fupply England her- 
 felf; 
 
 But if we Ihould fuppofe for a moment, tha^ 
 there is little immediate practicability on th0 
 part of France to rival us in our own market, 
 let us examine, what is the probability of our* 
 
 fupplying hers. 
 
 L It
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 TARIFF. IROjr. 
 
 , It is not the Flemings and the Germans on- 
 ly whom we are to meet in the French market, 
 but the Irifli will be enabled to trade there up- 
 on terms fo infinitely preferable to us, as muft. 
 in a very fliort time give them a decided fupe- 
 riority over us in the French market, 
 
 I have already demonllrated the impoffibi- 
 lity of either drawing back or countervailing, 
 the import duties upon iron ; therefore, Irifli 
 -manufadlured iron muil go to France in the 
 fame way as iron manufaftured in Britain now 
 goes to- every part of the world, loaded only 
 with tke import duty upon the material. ^The 
 Irifh duty is gs, 'jid. per ton: 
 
 The duty therefore upon a ton of . s. d^ 
 wares will be - - o 14 5^ 
 
 Ten per cent, duty by the treaty 400 
 
 But Engllfh duties on importation 
 into France are 
 
 Therefore the advantage in favour 
 of Ireland is - 
 
 4 
 
 14 5^ 
 
 8 
 
 4 I-lr 
 
 3 
 
 9 8t 
 
 But
 
 < 75 ) 
 
 TARIFF. IRON, 
 
 But the advantages in favour of Ireland and 
 of France will be ftill greater than they arc 
 here ftated; as they pay fo much lefs duty, 
 they can, of courfe, fell their wares cheaper, 
 In the firft inftancc, by all that difference; but 
 in the fecond, they will evidently have a lefs 
 per centag duty ;to pay on the importation of 
 the fame quantity of manufadtured iron. 
 The fame ton of wares which in England cofts 
 40I. and pays a duty of 4L 4s. i^d, paying in 
 Ireland on]y 14s. ^{d. will only pay the 10 
 per cent^ upon 36L losu g^-d, that is, in- 
 Head of paying 4I. will only pay 3I. 13s. ;^d. 
 which m^kes a farther advantage to Ireland of 
 6s. 5d. and nearly of tlie fame fum in favour 
 of France in. the Englifli markets 
 
 If to thcfe advantages we add that arifing 
 from cheapnefs of labour, the comparifon wjJl 
 be ftill more againfl this country. Labour m 
 Ireland is a full third, and in France a full 
 half, cheaper than io England; and if we 
 fliould fuppofe, for the fake of calculation^ 
 what is infinitely under the mark, that a ton of 
 W^es value 40!. coft 7I. in England for the 
 L article
 
 ( 76 ) 
 
 Tariff. iron, 
 
 article of labour, the account will then ftand 
 
 thus: 
 
 . 5. d. 
 
 Duty upon the raw material faved in 
 
 Ireland - - - 3 9 ^i 
 
 Saving of duty of lo per cent, upon 
 this fum, on fending their wares 
 to France - - o ^ 5 
 
 Saving one-third in the price of la- 
 bour - - 268 
 
 Such will be the advantage which Ireland 
 will have over England in manufafturing iron 
 for the French market. The French and the 
 Irilh will be pretty nearly upon a par, as if 
 labour be fomewhat cheaper in France than 
 in Ireland, the duty upon the raw material is 
 fomewhat higher in France than in Ireland. 
 With thefe advantages, can we fuppofe that 
 France will not rapidly improve in her iron 
 manufactures ; or if Ihe fliould riot, can we 
 flatter ourfelves that we can have the remotell 
 chance of fupplying her market; or will not 
 rathei; Englifh artifts, ^ with Englilh ikill and 
 iflnglilh capital, be inclined to emigrate to 
 
 Ireland
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 TARIFF. IRON, 
 
 Ireland for the fake of availing 'themfelves of 
 fuch a market as that of France. 
 
 The idea of drawing back the duty upon 
 the raw material has been often thought of, 
 and as often has been found impradticable. 
 As it cannot be diftinguifhed, whether good? 
 were manufadtured from foreign or Britifli 
 iron, the drawing back the duty muft operate, 
 as far as exportation goes, as if no duty were 
 laid upon the import of iron ; and it is a 
 known and decided fadt, that without fucTi duty 
 the valuable iron worlds in England mufl be 
 at an end*, 
 
 An idea has prevailed with fome, that the Import of bar 
 iron into this country is much upon the decline, and there- 
 fore, that our exports in future will be from iron made in 
 England. The faft is direftly the reverfe, the importatioa 
 of late years has encreafed rather thaa diminiihed. 
 
 Bar Iron imported. 
 Tons Tons Tons 
 
 1764 46,436 1771 48,677 1783 47,914 
 
 1765 54,078 1772 51,210 1784 54,457 
 
 1766 34,910 1773 48,980 1785 45,600 
 
 i^yerage 45,141^ 49'^22| 49.323s 
 
 COTTON,
 
 ( 78 ) 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 if from the article of iron we proceed to 
 that of cotton, we Ihall fee equally little reafon 
 to pronounce a yery decided pai^egyric upon the 
 &ill and intelligence of the negocjator of this 
 
 treaty. 
 
 It is a fa(ft pretty well known, that fince the 
 |ofs of Tobago, which was ceded, perhaps, not 
 with > a fingular good policy, t)y tjie treaty of 
 peace in 1783 to France, that we have received 
 confiderable fupplies of the raw material from 
 that country, which is fubjed: to a duty of 
 ^bout idi.per lb, upon export from France. 
 
 It is one of thofe fingular derelictions of their 
 own principles which is to be found only ii> 
 minds of fo unliable a ftrudture as that of Mr. 
 Eden, that he made no fyflem for fecurin^ 
 us from th^ mifchiefs of that peace, which he 
 had been onp of the foremoft to reprobate. 
 His treaty does npt contain one fingle ftipula- 
 tion obligatory upon France, not to encreafe 
 her duties, nor even to bind her againft the en- 
 tire prohibition of the export of cotton wool. 
 This power^ therefore, is left entirely at her 
 
 optiqn.
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 TARIFF. COTTON*. 
 
 option, and may be exercifed whenever Ihc 
 thinks proper. 
 
 Britain imported ffom France laft year above 
 two millions of pounus of cotton ; Ihe got 
 from Portugal nearly the fame quantity of 
 Brazil cotton, of a quality, and of a price 
 fupcrior to any other. Thefe two quantities 
 amount to nearly one-third of the whole 
 confumption of our cotton manufa<ftures*. 
 Thus, then, the treaty of commerce which, 
 by difgufting Portugal, renders our fupply 
 from thence, to fay no worfe, extremely pre- 
 carious; and by leaving it in the power of 
 France to prohibit all fupply from her quarter, 
 leaves us at the mercy of our rivals almofl for 
 the exiftence of that manufad:ure which we 
 juftly eftimate among the moft valuable of 
 thofe our national induftry is employed in. 
 
 France alfo has her cotton at a lower price. 
 The price of the raw material of this article is 
 in general from id. to i(\,per lb. of equal qua- 
 lity, lefs in France than in England. This 
 originates partly in the fuperior cheapnefs of 
 
 lbs. 
 From France and French Flanckrs, 2,078,413 
 From Portugal, - - 1,629,41^ 
 
 which
 
 ( So ) 
 
 TARIFF. cdTTOtfo 
 
 teir navigation; and partly from the duty 
 which Ihe obliges lis to pay for what we ex- 
 port from her. 
 
 She has befides maay of dying drugs whick 
 are employed in this manufadturcj of her own 
 growth. 
 
 By fome unaccountable fuperiority alfo^ 
 of national talle, Ihe excels us in patterns. 
 Many of our prefent patterns of cottons are 
 defigned there, and when they h^ve obtained 
 a greater facility in the manufafture of this 
 article, there is furely a dangerous probability 
 that we Ihail take from France the fluff inllead 
 of the pattern. 
 
 The early and fuccefsful application of ma- 
 chinery, with the wonderful inventions of 
 Arkwright, (which have, however, been infli- 
 tutcd in France witH a capital fupplied by their 
 treafury, to the amount of 15,0001. to the? 
 perfon who condud:s them) joined to the fpi- 
 lit and adtivity of the manufacturers of Man- 
 chefler, have hitherto given us a confiderabl6 
 fuperiority in the cotton trade. It is clear, 
 however, that the manufad:ure does not ftand 
 upon fuch grounds as to be above the appro- 
 
 4 henfioik
 
 ( 8' y 
 
 TARIFF. COTTON. 
 
 henfion of cprnpetltion. Every advantage 
 wl^ich was dreaded from Ireland, (and a refer- 
 ence to the evidence given before the Houfe 
 of Lords," on the fubjed: of the Irifh propo- 
 fitions, will prove, that the dread entertained (p 
 was of the moft alarming nsture) Is poffefled ^ 
 by France ; flie has, or may Kave^ after the 
 operation of the treaty, every fpecies of ma- 
 chinery equally perfect als at Manchefter. 
 
 She has cheap labour, and a multitude of 
 hands ready to be converted into the befl fort 
 of workmen in this trade. It was ftated in ' 
 evidence upon the Irilh propofitions,, that the 
 befl: cotton weavers were bred firfl: to the 
 trade of linen weaving, and that a few weeks 
 were fufficientto qualify them for a proficiency 
 in it. 
 
 The French linen manufafture is exteniivej 
 Spain and the Spanifh flota are fupplied from 
 it ; and a very little time therefore, if the above 
 tcfl:imoriy be founded m faft, and there can 
 be no rcafon to think it is not, will mature her 
 weavers to the manufacture of cotton. When 
 that event ihall happen, we mufl: lofe at leaft one 
 market for the purchafe of the raw cotton, and 
 
 M upon
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 TARIFF. COTTOK'^ 
 
 upon what natural or permanent advantage wc 
 can flatter ourfelves with retaining a decilive 
 fuperiority over a country which will unite 
 cheaper materials and cheaper labour, with at 
 leaft equal tafte, it is not eafy to difcovcr. 
 The expectation is too weak for the undiftin- 
 guilhing fanguinenefs of infancy itfelf. 
 
 GLASS. 
 
 In this article it feems quite impoffible' to 
 fuppofe, that we Ihould either fupply France, 
 or continue to fupply ourfelves. Confiderable 
 duties are paid upon the import of fome arti- 
 cles from which it is made^ 
 
 And from the mode in which the duty is laid 
 upon glafs itfelf, it is fcarcely poffible to ad- 
 jufl a countervailing duty, or fettle a draw- 
 back. The duty is charged upon glafs in its 
 fluid Hate, and no allowance is either made, or 
 has ever been ^ound prad:icable to be made, 
 for the quantity which is ufelef? in' the firfi: 
 preparation, or v/hat is broken or damaged in 
 the making. All that quantity not only is 
 charged with duty in the firft inlftance, biit is 
 
 again
 
 ^ 83 ) 
 
 TARIFF. GLASS. 
 
 again charged, if it fliould be again thrown into 
 the melting pot. The difference between the 
 real and nominal duty, occafioned by this mode 
 of impofing k, is infinitely various in the diffe- 
 rent fpecies of glafs ware, and is in fome in- 
 flances enormous, but is, at the fame time, 
 impoffibie to be afcertained with any fafety to 
 the revenue. 
 
 The fame difficulty attends the drawback of 
 duty. In fome inftances, the difference be- 
 tween the drawback and the real duty paid, 
 will amount to 40 or 50 per cent, and the diffe- 
 rence between the nominal duty and the adtual 
 duty paid, is cquall)^ great *. 
 
 If French glafs coming to England is to pay 
 the duty upon the adhial quantity imported, 
 it will be far, indeed, fhort of the duty which 
 
 The proportion between the weight of goods made, 
 and the weight of goods charged by the excife officer, is 
 calculated to be as follows : 
 
 flint glafs as 100 to 147 
 Bottle glafs 100 to 112 
 
 Broad glafs 100 to 1574 
 
 In cut glafs the proportion is infinitely greater ; the 
 drawback is ia the inverfe proportion ; that is to fay, goods 
 which have paid 147, drawback 100.
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 TARiVe. glass. 
 
 has been paid by the Engl'ifh manufafturer 
 for the fame quantity worked here. 
 
 If, on the other hand, it lliould be at- 
 "te'mptcd to form a calculation whit the aftuaj 
 duty was which each particular fpecies of wares 
 had paid, it would prove, as all fuch calcula- 
 tions have hitherto pr6ved, a dangerous and 
 impraftic^ble attempt, 
 
 Iridependent of the known fuperiority'of the 
 French in many articles of the glafs manufac- 
 tory, therefore it is not reafonable to exped:, 
 t:hat we'fhould be enabled to fend any of thofe 
 articles, fuch as crown glafs, in which we are 
 fuppofed to excel all countries, into France, 
 The drawback of duty is Ipfs than the duty 
 paid on different articles, from 21 to 45 fer 
 icent; or. In other w'ords, glafs is exported from 
 this country, fubjedt to a duty from 21 to 45 
 per cent. Miferable indeed muft be the ftate 
 of the French manufacfture, or partial in the 
 extreme mufl be the hopes of thofe who can 
 ^xpedt to fupply France with glafs ware under 
 fuch circumflances. Ireland labours under none 
 of the above difadvantages ; Ihe pays no duty 
 upon the raw material, and is improving ra- 
 'pidly in, the manufadure of it. Drinking glaffes 
 
 niay
 
 ( 85 ) 
 
 may be had four or five {hilling /jfrdoz. cheaper 
 in Dublin than in London. If then France is 
 furnifhcd with this commodity from the do- 
 minions of his Britannic Majefty, is it to^ 
 Britain or Ireland that Ihe will dircd: herfplf 
 for her luppiy ? 
 
 MILLINERY, 
 
 This article, though apparently not amongfi: 
 the moil important of thofe affedied by the re- 
 gulations of the Tariff", will be found to in- 
 volve as much error in the principle of its 
 adjuftment, and as much impolicy as to fome^ 
 of its domeftic confequences, as any other 
 included in the operation of the Treaty^ 
 
 The duty upon this branch ^f the mutual 
 trade, now for the firft time deemed of confe- 
 quence enough to be comprehended amongfl: 
 the objcdts of a general commercial fyflem, is 
 to be in future 1 2 per cent, ad valorem upon 
 importation ipto either country. Let us exa- 
 mine then, how far this duty is likely to have 
 the cffe(ft of a real operative reciprocity. 
 One principal article of which millinery is 
 compofed, is Mujlin- Muflin bought at the 
 Eaft India Company's falcs pays a duty of 
 }%L per cent, to the Company; of which, 
 
 ho\vever.
 
 "( 86 ) 
 
 ' TARIFF, MILllNERi', 
 
 however, 12/. is allowed t o be drawn back 
 on re-exportation. 
 
 With refpe<ft to fuch articles of the millinery 
 as are compofed of the muflin imported by the 
 French Eaft India Company, this will be the cafe 
 between the two countries-r-The French manu- 
 fa3:ure will have nothing to pay on its importation 
 here, but iimply the 12/. per cent, ad valorem, 
 impofed by the treaty. But the fame manu- 
 facture of England will have the fix per cent, 
 (the difference between the original duty paid 
 to the Eaft India Company, and the quantum 
 pf the drawback) to be added to this recipro- 
 pal ad valorem duty; that is, it will pay 18/. 
 per cent, on its admiffion into the ports of 
 . J'rance. In this vie\y of, the fubjedt, there- 
 jFore, there is no reciprocity. 
 
 With refpeft to tjiat part of tlie French 
 millinery which i? compofed even of muflin 
 "fought in England, they will be found to be 
 at leaft upon a level with us in our own mar- 
 ket. They can purchafe the mufllns of the 
 Eaft India Company, drawing back all the 
 ^luty but fix per cent. They can return 
 them in their ft^te of finiftied manufacture 
 
 here,
 
 ( 87 ) 
 
 TARIFF. MILLINERV. 
 
 here, at the ftipulated duty of 12 per cefit,; 
 that is, with the difference only of freight, 
 which is infinitely overbalanced by the conli- 
 deration of their cheaper labour, they can 
 fell their prepared and made up millinery with 
 every advantage of fuperior fafhion, and every 
 recommendation of a prevailing partiality in 
 their favour, precifely for the fame duty 
 which the Engliiliman pays for his unmanu- 
 fadtured mullin at the India Houfe. 
 
 The almoft entire impoffibility, alfo, which 
 will exift againft our availing ourfelves of the 
 permitted drawback on the exportation of the 
 Company's muflins when fent out in a flate of 
 manufadture, will deferve to be confidcred. 
 An application for the drawback upon the 
 quantity of this article ufed in the forma- 
 tion of a cap or an apron, will be evidently 
 difficult to a degree of almoft total impradli- 
 cability. Upon that fuppolition, the relative 
 iituation of the two countries as to this 
 branch of their reciprocal impofls will be this. 
 That the manufa<ftured muflin fent from Eng- 
 land will pay the original 1 8 per cent. . to th 
 Company, and the 1 2 per cent, ad valorem to 
 the cuftoms of France, making altogether 30 
 
 per
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 tAR^FF. MILLINERY.' 
 
 p^r cent, ad valorem, before it can obtain ad- 
 miffion into their market. Whereas, as I be- 
 fore ftated, the fame quantity, even of muf- 
 lii) bought from our own Company, can be in- 
 troduced from France at a duty only of i81. 
 per cent, which leaves a difference of izXiper 
 cent, ad valorem in their favour ; and of i8,I* 
 per cent, if the muflin be of the importation of 
 the French Eafl India Company* 
 
 Nor does it appear eafy or pradtieable to^ 
 diftinguilh, in many inftances, fo as to adjuft 
 with precifion, the duty to be paid, on fome 
 articles atprefent prohibited from" France, and 
 . which will in future be imported under the de- 
 nomination of millinery. India muflins, 
 French crapes, and tiffanies, are at prefent in' 
 a ftate of prohibition. The former are pofi- 
 tively admitted by the treaty ; and as the latter 
 may at prefent be imported from Italy, fubje<fl 
 to a duty, they will with great facility be in- 
 future brought from France, who greatly excel 
 all nations in thofe manufactures. In a com- 
 mercial view of this fubjedl, therefore, it will 
 appear to be not lefs exceptionable than the 
 other regulations of the Tariff. It demands 
 confideration, however, upon another point of 
 
 its inevitable tendency.- 
 
 Few
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 TARIFF. MILLINERY. 
 
 Few are the employments wliich exift in this 
 "country for the exercife of female induftry, 
 and few the honeft expedients for female fub- 
 fiftence. Why thofe Ihould have been wan- 
 tonly diminilhedi as by effc&. of this article 
 they evidently mult, and that to a moft alarm- 
 ing extent, will not be ealily accounted for on 
 any principle of general policy, or with any 
 reconciliation to domeftic morals. 
 
 Was there not mifchief enough done to the 
 male poor of this country, by the operation of 
 the new arrangement, to have fatisfied the 
 moft fyfteniatic Parliament, if any fuch exift, 
 (or if it be not fairer to fuppofe ignorance 
 than barbarity) in the negociator of this treaty ? 
 Or, was it a motive of confiftency that pre- 
 vailed with him to the adoption of this perni- 
 cious ftipulation ? That having uniformly 
 refifted the leaft appearance of equitable mu- 
 tuality in the whole courfe of the negociatiou 
 with France, he determined to adt up to him- 
 felf, and to rejedt a reciprocity even in their na- 
 tional gallantry. 
 
 WTiatever was the caufe, the effeft is moft 
 
 reprehenfible. If it be true that female virtue 
 
 N be
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 TARIFF. , MILLINERY, 
 
 be a quality which deferves encouragement 
 either as a fource of donieftic happinefs, or 
 public benefit, it muft be equally fo that this 
 part of Mr. Eden's treaty demands the fevered 
 reprobation, both of the private individual 
 and the politician.. 
 
 S A D L E R Y. 
 
 IT is extremely difficult to afcertain the ex- 
 ad: extent of this term. It is known to com- 
 prehend many articles of manufactured leather 
 which by no means appear to be naturally 
 included under it. 
 
 Our leather manufacture is certainly at pre- 
 fent in a more flourifliing flate than that of the 
 French ; but it is equally true, that they are ufing 
 every exertion to arrive at a fpeedy competi- 
 tion with us : ^Thcy have all the materials as 
 good, in as great plenty, and as cheap as we 
 have ; and there is no fuch my fiery in the trade 
 itfelf, as to make it at all difficult of acqui- 
 iition, more particularly fmce the treaty places 
 them on fo advantageous a footing with re- 
 fpeCfc to. it. What appears to be a fifteen per 
 3 cent.
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SADLERY. 
 
 cmt. duty by the treaty, is, in fadl, no duty 
 at alt upon French leather coming to England ; 
 but is, at leaft, 25 or 30 per cent, upon Englilh 
 fadlery imported there. 
 
 The internal duty upon leather in England 
 is equal to about J^ per cent, upon the value. 
 
 It is impoffible to give the fliadow of 
 rcafon, why in the lift of countervailing 
 duties this is not to be found. The 15 per 
 cent, import duty being then merely equal 
 to the internal duty in this country, puts 
 French and Englilh leather upon the fame 
 footing as if the internal duty had been coun- 
 tervailed, and no duty at the port was to be 
 paid. 
 
 The cafe, however, is direftly reverfcd 
 upon Engliih leather goods going to France. 
 As the internal duty is paid upon the whole 
 hide, and as confidcrable parts of it are loft in 
 the manufacture, the real duty- upon the goods 
 is infinitely higher than it appears upon the 
 material. 
 
 Three halfpence per lb. upon the whole 
 
 quantity, may be 2 d. or more upon the ma- 
 
 N 2 nufaAurc.
 
 ( 9* ) 
 
 TAmPF, 
 
 nufature. The drav/back is only fzid upoH 
 the weight actually exportd j by whicxh means 
 a duty of 9 or more per cent, rcmaina upoii it, 
 which, added to the port duty in. firance, of 
 i^per cent, makes the whole duty upon Erg- 
 lilh leather going to France equal xoQ.^per 
 cent. Whereas I have already laid, that by 
 the operation of our internal duty, French 
 leather will come here, after paying the 15 
 per cent, ftipulated by the treaty, almoft en- 
 tirely on the fame footing with our own. 
 
 Of the article of Porcelain and Pottery I 
 fhall fay but little. The manufad:ures of 
 Worcejler and Derby will certainly be totally 
 unable to fupport themfelves againft the more 
 beautiful compolitions of this article in Seve 
 or Paris. 
 
 The beauty and elegance of Mr. Wedg- 
 wood's ware, may for a time give it a confi- 
 derable advantage in the French market ; but 
 he has himfelf declared, upon oath, that no 
 Icfs a duty than 40 or 50 per cent, was fuffici- 
 ent to protect him againft the infant manufac- 
 tures of Ireland : 
 
 That
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 TARIFF, 
 
 That it was in the power of any nation, 
 by difficulties at the cuftom-houfe, by un- 
 packing the goods, and a thoufand fuch ar- 
 tificial embarralTments, to convert a low duty 
 into an abfolute prohibition. 
 
 That little ikill was neceflary in the infe- 
 riour workmen ; 
 
 And that equally little time was neceffary, 
 in addition to natural advantages and cheap- 
 nefs of labour, to transfer the manufacture to 
 another country ; of which indeed he gave the 
 remarkable inflance in Ireland, which, within 
 three years after the trade with America was 
 laid open, had efFeftually taken from us both 
 the export of leather and of glafs. 
 
 There can be no doubt, therefore, but this 
 manufacfture, like others, will only be pro- 
 du(5tive of a temporary advantage to England. 
 
 WOOLLENS. 
 
 I come now to that part of the tariff 
 which refpedts the ftaple of Britilh manufac- 
 tures, the trade of her woollens. It has been 
 
 a pre*
 
 ( 94 ; 
 
 TARIFF. ^ .^-WOOLLENS. 
 
 a prevailing opinion fince the 'publication 
 of Mr. Eden's Treaty, that' this Is not the 
 part of his fyflem which threatens- the moft 
 injurious confequences to the manufacfturers ^ 
 of Great Britain. General opinions taken Tip 
 on ioofc grounds, and difleminated without 
 examination, are apt to have a more deciding 
 influence in this country, than in their na- 
 ture belongs to them. That this particular 
 fpecies of manufacture is more affefted by 
 the ftipulations of this treaty, or even equally 
 with feme other branches of our trade, 
 I know not, amidft fuch an accumulation of 
 daneerous innovations, that it would be fafe 
 to affirm, That it is not difmifled, how^ 
 ever, without fome participation in the ge- 
 neral defed:s of this extraordinary arrange- 
 ment, will not be very difficult to demon- 
 ftrate. 
 
 The T>rap D^Elbeuf, which is among the 
 fineft of the French cloths, fells in that coun- 
 try, as is to be afcertained upon all themoft 
 modern authorities, at 19 livres 15 fous, or 
 1 6s. 5-^d. according to the prefent rate of 
 Exchange, per aune. 
 
 I need
 
 ( 95 ) 
 
 TARIFF. WOOLLElfS. 
 
 I need not inform the intelligent reader, 
 but rtate it to facilitate the enquiries of thofc 
 who may be lefs converfant in this fort of 
 information, that the French aune is to the 
 Englilh yardy in the proportion of nine to 
 feven, that is, it coniiils of forty-lix inches 
 and two fevenths. 
 
 By the Regkmens General, four la Maiiufac- 
 ture du Drap of AuguH, 1669, and by the 
 jirret du Cotifeil, of the 19th of February, 
 1671, the moft refpedtable authority that 
 can be appealed to on this occafion, the 
 breadth of the Drap D'Elbeuf is regulated at 
 one aune and 7, or 57 inches y in breadth. 
 
 By multiplying, therefore, 467 inches, 
 the length of an aune, by 57^- inches, the 
 breadth of the Drap D^Elbeuf, we] Ihall have 
 precifely the number of fquare inches con- 
 tained in one aune of this cloth, which U|>on 
 calculation will be found to be 2677^ fquare 
 inches. 
 
 The price of the bed Engliih broad clotk 
 is 18s. per yard, and is 7 quarters or 63 
 inches in breadth. 
 
 The
 
 ( 96 ) 
 
 TARIFF. WOOLLENS. 
 
 The length, therefore, as in the former 
 cafcj multiplied with the breadth, that is, 
 36 X 63, will give the exad: number of fquard 
 inches contained in one yard of Englilh broad 
 cloth, which will be found to be 2268 fquare 
 inches, which will leave a difference of four 
 hundred and nine fquare inches more cloth 
 in the aune of Drap D^Elbeuf, which fells 
 for 1 6s. 54-di, than is in the yard of Eng- 
 Kih broad cloth, which fells for i8s. 
 
 By a farther calculation it will appear^ 
 that the fame quantity of fquare inches of 
 Englifh cloth as are in the French aune, if 
 fold at Englifh price, would make fuch aune 
 coil one pound one fhilling and feven pence, 
 and a frad:ion. But the French aune of the 
 Drap B'Elbeuf cofls only lixteen Ihillings 
 and five pence halfpenny ; in precifely the 
 fame quantity of cloth, therefore, there re- 
 mains a difference in the price to marketSj 
 in favour of France, of four (hillings and 
 lixpence halfpenny. 
 
 To take the calculation another way : 
 I have faid that a yard of Englifh broad 
 cloth cofls 1 8s. Now it will turn out by a 
 iimple operation of figures, that the fame 
 
 quantity
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 quantity of French beft cloth, or Drap 
 IfElbeUfy which is contained in an Engliih 
 )'ard, fold at the rate of i6s. 54d. per 
 aune, the French price, would coft precifely 
 13s. lo^d. per yard, a view of the fubjedt 
 which perhaps may make it clearer to the 
 underftanding of Englifhmen, becanfe more 
 familiar to the habits of meafurement in 
 pra(3:ice amongft them. By this tail calcu- 
 lation then there would remain a difFerdnce 
 per yard between the bed cloths of France 
 and England, the former indifputably not 
 inferior in quality to the latter, but diredtly 
 the contrary, df 4s. i4-d. in favour of the 
 Drap D'Elbeuf, 
 
 If it Ihould be urged in reply to the above 
 fadts, which certainly Hand upon evidence^ 
 that it will be very difficult, if at all prac- 
 ticable to ihake, that though the difference 
 of price of the fame quantity of the fame 
 fort of cloth, between the two countries, be 
 certainly material, yet it is not fo much as 
 will nbt be fufficiently covered by the duty 
 of 12I. per cerit. linited with the expence 
 of freight, &c. which may be fairly eftimated 
 at 3I. more, and which will make the whole 
 nmount of the charges upon importation heic 
 O of
 
 ( 98 ) 
 
 TARIFF- 
 
 of French woollens 1 5I. per cent, ad valorefjr. 
 This it may, and indeed has been faid will be 
 fuch an incumbrance upon the admiffion o-f 
 cloth, as to amount pretty nearly to a mu- 
 tual prohibition. How far that is likely 
 to be the cafe with refpedt to the Britilh 
 market, it will be my next bulinefs to en- 
 quire. 
 
 Suppofe it to be admitted upon the ave- 
 rage, and it cannot be far from the mark, 
 but at all events is equally fair between 
 the two countries, that two yards and a half 
 of British broad cloth are taken up in making 
 one coat. 
 
 , s. d, 
 Wehavefeen, that the fame quan- 
 tity of the Vrap D'Elbeuf which 
 is contained in an English yard, 
 colts - - - o 13 lOi- 
 
 A coat of this therefore, made on 
 the average mentioned above, will 
 oft precifely - - 1138^ 
 
 A coat made of the fame quan- 
 tity of Britilh cloth, at the market 
 jjrice, to wit, i8s. per yard, will 
 coft - - - 250 
 
 Which
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 TARIFF. WOOLLENS. 
 
 Which will leave a difference of eleven Ihil- 
 lings and three pence three farthings on each 
 coat. 
 
 Now 15/. per cent, ad valorem, upon i /. 
 185. 8|- d. the price of the coat made of the 
 Drup d'Elbeuf, will amount to 5 5. and a frac- 
 tion. This added to the price, will make the 
 whole coft upon importation into England, 
 precifely i /. 185. 8^^. that is 6 s. ^^d. lefs 
 than a coat made of our own broad cloth in the 
 metropolis of England . 
 
 It is proper to obferve here, that there i$ 
 great reafon to believe, after the operation of 
 this treaty, cloaths will be imported into this 
 country, in great quantities, ready made ; in 
 which cafe will be to be added, to the other ad- 
 vantages in favour of France, the decided fu- 
 periority they pofTefs over us, in the eflential 
 article of cheaper labour. It is well known 
 as a fadt, that a coat is made in Paris for four 
 livres 10 fous, or 35. 9 </. Englilh, which] in 
 I^ondon will coft at leaft 10 J. 6 d. 
 
 In the whole of the above argument I have 
 
 totally left out of the queftion all coniideration 
 
 O 2 of
 
 *( lOO ) 
 
 TARIFF. WOOLLENf. 
 
 of fuperior quality on the part of the French 
 fuperiines; a fact, however, which is fufficient- 
 ly attefled, and will not (particularly in their 
 Scarlets and their Blacks, in which we do not 
 coAie within the remoteft chance of competi- 
 tion) be attempted to be controverted by any 
 perfon at ail converfant in thefe concerns. 
 
 I Ihall next inquire, whether the manufac- 
 tures of our own wool are likely to be fent in 
 Jarge quantities to France ; and for that pur- 
 pofe it will be necefTary to examine, whethej: 
 the difference in the price of the raw material 
 in the two countries, is fo much in favour of 
 England, ^s as to enable her to fend her ma- 
 nufadtures of coarfe wool in competition to the 
 French market, where labour isfo ravich cheap,-. 
 cr, and under an expence of i^L per centj. 
 
 Lord Sheffield, in his Obferyations on Trade 
 with the American States, fuppofes common 
 wool 20 per cent, cheaper in England than in 
 France. This gives us an advantage of 5 h 
 per cent, at the French market ; but this ^ k 
 per cent, is not only no very great encourage- 
 ment, but it is certain that, from recent advan- 
 H^ges acquired by France, this fuperiority is not 
 4 now
 
 TARIFF. WOOLLEN*. 
 
 pow very confidently to be relied upon. France 
 has gained upon us, in this fpecies of woollen, in 
 the Levant market, for a longtime. It is equally 
 well afcei tained, that our trade to the Ibuth of 
 Europe has declined to a very large degree. 
 We confoled ourfelvcs with the hope, howe- 
 ver, that it would maintain itfelf in the north 
 of Europe* ; but it has decreafcd in that quar- 
 ter (taking an average of four years following 
 the year 1763, and of the four years ending 
 1784) from 1,331,928/. to 573,029/. A part 
 f this great deficiency mull be fupplied from 
 ibmc 'other quarter ; for all the countries which 
 we previoully furnifhcd with this article cer- 
 tainly cannot fupply themfelves. The woollen 
 manufad:ures of Spain are confidcrably im- 
 proved-j~ ; but flill Ihe does not produce fuffi- 
 cient, even for her own dominions. We there- 
 fore know of no country that can fupply what 
 
 Namely, in Holland, Germany, Rul^a, Denmark, 
 Sweden, and the aft country. 
 
 f Efpecially in bays, low cloths, and ferges, which are 
 cheap, though of an inferior kind. Some of her ferges 
 indaed are at leaft as good as ours. The fiialloons made 
 if Guadaxaro, ten leagues from Madrid, are very good, 
 thoujjh not well prcffed or finiflied. 
 
 we
 
 ( .I02 ) 
 TARIFF, WOOLLENS, 
 
 we have loft, unlefs it fhould be France. -In 
 ttie long bays, and other branches of the Bock- 
 ing manufadiure, ihe decidedly excels us. As 
 good camblets as any in the world, are now 
 made at Lille. She can alfo underfell us in a 
 manufadiure between camblet and barfagon, 
 worn by the clergy. She is enabled to carry on 
 a large manufacture of fine ferges in Norman- 
 dy and Brittany ; and alfo of fagathies at Ami- 
 ens, Abbeville, and other places. She fur- 
 pafles us at prefeut in the dreffing of beavers, 
 worn for great coats ; and they now at leaft 
 equal us in mixed colours, in which we ufed to 
 pxcel. 
 
 I fliall now proceed to fay a few words in 
 the way of calculation upon the Cloths of in- 
 ferior quality, and to avoid too particular a 
 <letail (the prolixity of which may, I fear, 
 |iave, by this time, fufliciently fatigued the 
 Reader ; but let it be always remembered, 
 however, that, in fubjedts of this kind, it is 
 upon minute points that great interefls folely 
 liinge) will content rnyfelf with confidering 
 ^nly one {on, in which both countries carry on 
 ^ very extenliye manufafture ; I mean the 
 Sikftas. 
 
 The
 
 ( >03 J 
 
 Tariff. woollens. 
 
 The French Silefiaj which is, beyond all 
 comparifon, a lighter and pleafanter, and even 
 finer Cloth than ours of the fame denomina- 
 tion, cofls 6 liv. lo fous, or 5s. and 5^. per 
 aune, in Paris, and is ^ of an aune in breadth ; 
 the Englifh Silefia cods 6s. per yard in Lon- 
 don, and is ^ of zyard in breadth. 
 
 Purfuing the fame kind of calculation that 
 was adopted in the former in (lance, it will ap- 
 pear that there is contained in one aun^ of 
 French Silefia, which is fold for 5s. and c,^^ 
 634 -14 more fquare inches than is contained 
 in the Englilh yard, which is fold for 6s. 
 
 It will appear farther, that the fame num- 
 ber of fquare inches of Englilh Cloth which 
 is contained in the French aune, if fold at the 
 Englilh price, would coft precifely 9s. lo^^d^r 
 and that the fame quantity of fquare inches of 
 French Silefia which is contained \ti one Englilli 
 yard, would^ at the French price, coft 3s. 3-^d* 
 that is to fay, the French Silefia is exadlly 
 3s. 2-id. cheaper per Englilh yard than Englilh ' 
 Silefia. 
 
 The quality of the French r$ unqueftion- 
 ably fuperior; the price is little more thai* - 
 
 half,.
 
 { I04 ) 
 
 TAtt I FF: WOOLLENS'? 
 
 half, and 5^et ail opinion is dclufively difFufed, 
 and unwarily credited, That no injury of any 
 kind is to be luflained to any departmant of 
 our Woollen manufaOures by the operation of 
 Mr. Eden's Treaty. 
 
 I cannot, however, adrnit the fuppofitioii 
 that there is fo fixed a fyflem of irrational 
 credulity in my fellow-fubjedts, or fo criminal 
 a negligence in the Woollen manufacturers, 
 both as to their country's intereft and their 
 own, as to think it poffible after the above re- 
 prefentation, unlefs the fadts, on which it 
 fiands, can be fubverted, that the one will 
 continue to indulge, or that the other will 
 perfevere in a paffive acquie-fcence, in fo perni- 
 cious a mifconception *. 
 
 THE TRADE WITH SPAIN. 
 
 The difcufiion of this part of the Tariff* 
 naturally leads us into aft examination of what 
 will be the probable operation of the Treaty- 
 upon our Commerce with Spain, the country 
 
 *The reader will End the general agrument on Woollens 
 yevry intelligently fiated, in a plain, but well-informed 
 prouuflion, entitled Tht Woolhri Draper's Letter, publifli- 
 e4 by Debre:t. 
 
 froiVi
 
 ( 'OS ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADE. 
 
 from x^'hence, we need not inform the Reader 
 who has followed us thus far in our Remarks, 
 that fpccies of Wool is imported, of which 
 the whole of our fuperfine Cloths are en- 
 tirely fabricated. 
 
 The Trade between this country and Spain, 
 unhappily for us, has been, for fome years, 
 moft alarmingly on the decline. The fol- 
 lowing is an eftimate of its exports and im- 
 ports in the years 
 
 I775> ^11^* iiH 1784 
 
 1,205,415 29 1,191^477193 589,887 .13 '8 802,246 3 o 
 
 564,386 60 561,071 119 4i9>46i 41 637,337 911 
 
 ^.640,928 i6 9 630,406 7 6 170,4*5 9 7 164,908 13 r 
 
 . n I 't 
 
 To which is to be added the produce of the 
 Fifti trade from Newfoundland, which be- 
 ing in the number of what are called the 
 enumerated articles, is exported from that 
 Ifland without coming into the ports of 
 Great Britain, and therefore is not included 
 in the eftimates of our Cuftoms, and which 
 in fome years has amounted to 337,028 
 quintals. The price of this in the ports of 
 ^pilftin, inclulive only of their own duty upon 
 importation, is iS s. per quintal, which will 
 P which
 
 ( "6 ) 
 
 t 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADE. 
 
 leave a fum 05303,3271. to be added with the 
 reduftion, as we have faid, of their internal 
 duty, to the amount of our exports. 
 
 This diminution is to be accounted for 
 from the combined influence of the follow- 
 ing caufes : 
 
 ift. From the encreafed falhion of French 
 and Portugal wines, which has leflened the im 
 portation of thofe of Spain into this country, in 
 acomparifon between the year 1700 and 1785, 
 in the proportion of more than five to one, 
 
 2d. From the operation of the regulation 
 of 1782^ which equalized the duty upon all 
 foreign brandies from wherefoever imported. 
 '= Previous to this period, the brandies of 
 Spain came into this country at a confiderably 
 lower duty than thofe of France ; but being 
 inferior in quality, as well as being attended 
 with a much heavier expence of freightage, 
 they could not ftand a competition, when placed 
 on a footing of equalized duty, and are now 
 in a ftate of virtual prohibition.* 
 
 3d. 
 
 Per Ton. 
 ^. s. <f. 
 Before the year 1782 the cuftom-houfe duty 
 
 upon French brandy was - - S $ 6 
 That upon Spanlfh - - 486 
 
 By
 
 ( 107 ) 
 
 TARIFF, SPANISH TRADE. 
 
 3d. Fr^m the participation and preference ^ 
 
 cf Fr^tice in their market for woollens, And 
 
 4thly, From the inftitution of fevcral manu- 
 
 ladbures in that article, in their own country. 
 
 <x> 
 This decreafe is the more to be lamented, / 
 
 as our trade with Spain, both as to the im- 
 jXMTts and exports, was condud:cd on a footing 
 the moft advantageous which can poflibly fubfift 
 between two diftindt empires. We took no-/ 
 thing from them but raw materials or articles 
 of native produce ; fuch as their wines or 
 brandies, upon which no labour could be em- 
 ployed. They took from us various defcrip- 
 tions of our made-up articles, and even large 
 quantities of their own raw materials returned 
 to them in a (late of complete and finiflied 
 manufacture. Wc had their wool, cochi- 
 neal, indigo, and barilla, which we fent back 
 again to the country of their original produce 
 in bales of cloth of different denominations. 
 By a double operation of advantage, there- 
 fore, we made them pay the price of our la- 
 bour, and had their market for the falc of a 
 Britiih manufa<9:ure, the conftituent materials 
 
 By an ai paHed in 1782, the cuftom duty upon ail 
 brandy is 81. 8s. per ton, which with the 5 per cents, is 
 liAW 9I. 4s. 6d. 
 
 P 2 of
 
 ( o8 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADE. 
 
 of which were produced in their own country. 
 
 The balance of this trade, therefore, was always 
 to the advantage of England ; and the furplus, 
 amounting generally to near a million annu- 
 ally, was conftantly remitted to us in aftual 
 fpecie. To fay nothing that the materials 
 which are imported from them were fuch as 
 we could not poflibly do without fome of 
 ^hich we could get no where elfe, and others 
 from no other country except Portugal, in 
 limilar perfed;ion or with equal advantage ; 
 and all of which were fo indifpenfibly effentiai 
 to us, that without them the whole of our {la- 
 ple manufadure, our national trade of wool- 
 lens, muft have flagnated or ceafed. 
 
 It is difficult to afcertain, what may be the 
 future revolutions in the talte or charafter of 
 a coui^itry. It is not, therefore, out of the 
 number of poffible events, that Spain might 
 herfelf become a great manufacturing king-: 
 dom, and might employ her own fubjedls in 
 the working her own materials. But till fuch 
 a difpofition had began to prevail with them 
 till intereft had infpired induftry, and till in- 
 duftry had been matured by experience, it^is 
 clear to demonftration_, that Spain was, of all the 
 countries in Europe, that with whom it was
 
 ( 10^ >. 
 
 TARIF3f SPANISH TRJVDE. 
 
 mod particularly the advantage of England, 
 and moft preflingly the duty of her Rulers to 
 have cultivated an intercourfe, and to have 
 cemented a friendfliip. 
 
 A very different policy, however, has evi- 
 dently influenced the negociator of the prefent 
 Treaty. A finking trade demands to be pro- 
 ted:ed and fuflained. It is much to be feared, 
 and infinite will be the caufe of regret, if the 
 event fhould turn out fo to be, that tjie effedl 
 of this new fyftem can terminate only in giv- 
 ing the laft blow of decifive ruin, to a branch 
 of commerce already weak and languifhing, 
 yet Hill important and advantageous. 
 
 The brandies of Spain are already in a flate, 
 as has been before faid, of virtual prohibition 
 from this country. Their wines, by the ope- 
 ration of the Treaty, will be preftty nearlv 
 in a fimilar fituation. Even the circumftancc 
 of a more prevailing degree of falhion in the 
 French wines, has been fufficlent to diminilh 
 the confumption of thofe of Spain, in the pro- 
 portion of at lead five to one, in the courfc of 
 little more than eighty years, as may be fcen 
 by the computation taken from the Infpedtor- 
 Gcneral's books at the Cuflom-houfe. 
 
 Spanlfl\
 
 ( 110 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADE, 
 
 Spanifh wines imported into England froi:H 
 Chriflmas 1699, to Chriftmas 1701. 
 
 Tons. Hog. Gall. 
 
 3699 ii>7oi 3 60 
 
 1700 13*649 7 
 
 - 1701 11,184 ^ ^7 
 
 Ditto imported into England from Chriflmas 
 1783, to Chriftmas 1785. 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Hog. 
 
 Gall. 
 
 '783 
 
 
 
 2,149 
 
 I 
 
 ^3 
 
 1784 
 
 
 
 ^^553 
 
 n 
 J 
 
 41 
 
 178^ 
 
 - 
 
 ^5S^ 
 
 I 
 
 34 
 
 At each of thefe periods, and during the 
 whole of the interval which took place between 
 them, the import duty upon Spanifli wines was 
 about 18 {hillings />fr ton rnore than that upon 
 the wines of Portugal ; that is to fay, foine- 
 what lefs than half of that which exifted upon 
 the wines of France. If then, by the mere ad- 
 vantage of preferable quality, or more conge- 
 nial tafte and flavour, the wines of France 
 eould occalion fo material a diminution in the 
 co-ufumption of thofe of Spain as has been 
 proved above, is it auguring either raihly or 
 
 faftioufly
 
 (Ill ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADE. 
 
 fadiioufly to fuppofe, that when the duty upon 
 the French wines Ihall become only one-half of 
 what it was formerly, and th? duty upon 
 the wines of Spain fhall remain the fame, it 
 will produce an almoft entire abolition of the % 
 
 ufeofthem ? A fmaller advantage, than this, j^*y 
 when extended to French brandies by the aft f* , '** 
 of the equalization of duties in the year 1782, * 
 totally deftroyed the confumption of Spanifli 
 brandies in this country. On what ground, 
 then, either of general argument or analogy, 
 can we pollibly prefume that a fimilar cfFeft 
 will not follow from a regulation, which, 
 though not exadtly of the fame kind, is cer- 
 tainly more injurious to the importation of 
 their wines. 
 
 If that event Ihould take place, aad the 
 wines of Spain Ihould ceafe to be ufed in Eng- 
 land, this then would be precifely the fituation f 
 of the commerce between the two countries. 
 Every article and iota of it, both as to impor- 
 tation and exportation, will be totally and ex- 
 clufively in favour of Great Britain. We 
 Ihall receive nothing from them but what wc 
 cannot poffibly do without, and they will con- 
 tinue to take from us without the mod remote 
 
 pretenfions
 
 < 112 ) 
 
 TAR1.FF. SPANISH TR ADfi. 
 
 pretenfions to a reciprocity, or the fliadow of 
 an inducement, what they can very well con- 
 tinue to import from other countries. Is it to 
 hi feeonciled to any principle of common 
 fenfe, or any experience of the pra<5tice of 
 States, to fuppofe that things ftiould remain 
 long in fuch a fituation. They have a fevere 
 power of retaliation in their own hands, and 
 will certainly have eYeiry motive for the exer- 
 'cifeofit. 
 
 Indeed a review of the circumftances under 
 which we have enjoyed the free importation 
 of the wool of Spain down to this time, will 
 Abundantly prove that Ihe has never granted 
 us that indulgence without a fiifficient and 
 adequate inducement, and that, therefore, Ihe 
 is not likely to perfevete in fo doing when that 
 inducement no longer exifls. The firft com- 
 mercial treaty of any extent that we had with 
 that kingdom was executed in the year 1667, 
 and is generally known by the name of Lord 
 SandwicFs treaty, though principally negociated 
 Under the dirediion of Sir fF. Godolphin, Secretary 
 to the embafly. Sir W. was fo confcious of its 
 importance to this country, that in his letter 
 to the minifter, containing the intimation of 
 % its
 
 ( i3 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADS. 
 
 ks ratification, he thus exprefles himlelf with 
 an honefl triumph : " The treaty of com- 
 *' merce, I dare promife your Lordlhip, com- 
 " prehends not only all the privileges and ad- 
 ** vantages which this crown hath ever granted 
 *' to any other (late or people, but likewife 
 ** fome conveniencies which it hath never yet 
 ** permitted to any other," Alluding point- 
 edly to the unimpeded exportation of the Spa- 
 nilh wool. The fervlce performed by Sir 
 William, in obtaining this advantage, was 
 deemed of confequcnce enough to incline the 
 miniftry three years afterwards, in 1670, toap- 
 point him ambaflador plenipotentiary to the 
 court of Madrid, with a view of renewing this 
 fame treaty, for the value of it began to be 
 very fenfibly perceived This was accordingly 
 done. Now it is to be obferved, in the firft 
 place, upon this event, that at that time the 
 manufa<fturc of French woollens was entirely 
 in its infancy, and therefore Spain had no 
 market for that part of her produce in that 
 country. Indeed no other vent exifted for it 
 in Europe at that period but England; and 
 though the importation of it, therefore, was 
 an evident advantage to us, it was hardly Icfs 
 fo to her. It is to be attended to alfo as a co- 
 Q^ operating
 
 ( "4 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRAIJE; 
 
 operating motive for this indulgence, that 
 our imports of her wine and brandy, were at 
 that period immenfe. So far, therefore, her 
 Ij:indnefs was not without an adequate induce- 
 ment. The next revival of this treaty took 
 place in the year 17 13, the sera of the famous 
 treaty of Utrecht, for even the defpifed and 
 perfecuted negociators of that reprobated en- 
 gagement were not either weak or wicked 
 enough to confign a participation of our trade 
 to France, without taking care that a fecurity 
 for the importation of the material upon which 
 our woollen manufacture totally depended, 
 was firft provided. The circumftances, how- 
 ever, between England and Spain had not 
 much changed, and, therefore, the fame mo- 
 tives were applicable to this extenfion of her 
 indulgence with refped: to the wool, that 
 were mentioned in the former inftance. 
 
 The treaty of 1667 was again renewed in 
 1750*. By this time, however, our importion 
 of Spanifh wines and brandy had very confi- 
 derably diminifhed ; indeed between the years 
 
 The three articles of the treaty of Utrecht, generally 
 called explanatory, were revoked by Mr. Keen*s treaty, 
 and that of 1667, renewed in totg. 
 
 1740
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADE. 
 
 1740 and 1748 they, had been much lefs than 
 at prefent, and another market for her wool 
 had began to prefent itfelf in France. She^ 
 became confcious, therefore, of the favour Ihe 
 had fhewn us, and determined to make an ade- 
 quate advantage of it. By the treaty of Aix la 
 Chapelle, concluded the year before, we were in 
 polleflion of the Afiento contrad: for Negroes, 
 amiferable traffick, of which we made a ufe per- 
 feftly congenial to the principle of the trade it- 
 felf. It was highly important to Spain to gec 
 this contraft out of our pofleffion, and flie 
 fent over a propofition, in which flie agreed to 
 allow us one hundred thoufand pounds in 
 money, and as a farther inducement, to renezu 
 the commercial treaty of 1667, as a price for 
 relinquifhing the injurious intercourfe with her 
 colonies. The terms were accepted, and the 
 treaty was accordingly ratified at Madrid, 
 under the diredtion of Mr. Keene. This is the 
 lad inllance of any fpecific or formal rcnova* 
 tion of the treaty in queftion, although it has 
 been twice revived fince by 21 fweeping claufe 
 in each of the treaties of peace that have taken 
 place fubfequently. 
 
 Qjz It
 
 ( 6 ^) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADB; 
 
 It is as clear therefore as hiflorical evi- 
 dence can make it, that Spain never granted 
 the free importation of her wool into this 
 country, but under the influence of fome 
 \ equivalent advantage ; either dired: or col- 
 lateral. Is ftie likely to be equally indul- 
 gent to us in a flate of provocation and 
 injury^ as in a fituation of reciprocal bene- 
 fit and conciliation ? Is there any one fo 
 weak in his devotion to the politics of Mr. 
 Eden, as to admit a luppolition fo revolt- 
 ing to the underftanding, and fo repugnant 
 to the known conduct of States ? 
 
 If then, actuated by a natural and juflifi- 
 able refentment towards this country, inclined 
 by the tie of family amity towards France, 
 and urged by the refledtion that Ihe has no 
 longer an advantage in a commercial inter- 
 courfe with Great Britain, Spain Ihould im- 
 pofe a prohibition, or a prohibitory duty 
 on the importation of her wool into Eng- 
 land, what would be the confequence .> 
 
 It would require all the induflry of Mr. 
 
 Eden to make out the detail of fo comprehen- 
 
 ve a mifchief, and much more than his 
 
 judg
 
 ( I7 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SPANISH TRADB, 
 
 judgment or talents to produce a compen* 
 fation for it. It almoft exceeds belief, and 
 tranfcends perhaps all recorded precedent of 
 inattention or incapacity, that a man Ihould 
 make an alliance with a natural enemy, to 
 the difadvantage of a natural friend ; that 
 that friend Ihould be in the pofleffion of 
 an article without which the perfon making 
 fuch alliance could not live nor fubfift, and 
 yet that he Ihould never folicit the pofleffion 
 of it before the intention of his new en- 
 gagement was openly announced, nor make 
 any provifion to deprecate a refcntment, the 
 cffedis of which would be fatal to his neareft 
 interefls, till he had given every provocation 
 of the moll pointed negleft, and fupplied 
 every motive of the moft defencible recri- 
 mination, for the fulleft and moft unqualified 
 exertion of it. 
 
 Such has been the conduct of Mr. Eden 
 with refped: to England, France, and Spain. 
 If the confequence of his management 
 be any thing lefs than the entire deftruc- 
 tion of the manufacture of our fineft and moft 
 valuable woollens, the Country muft owe to ac- 
 cident or felicity what it has failed of fe- 
 3 curing
 
 m8 ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 curing, by the intervention of his care and 
 fagacity.* 
 
 C A M B R I C K. 
 
 The duties by the treaty impofcd upon 
 French cambricks are another proof of the in- 
 attention of the Negociator to what has been 
 the policy of this country in times paft. For- 
 merly, while they were allowed to be Imported 
 under a confiderable duty, the manufacture was 
 utterly unknown in Britain. Since the prohi- 
 
 That the reader may judge of the nature of our im* 
 ports from Spain, and how much they confift in raw ma* 
 terialsj I fhall fubjoin one year's imports from thence. 
 
 Spanilh Wool - 1,861,231 
 
 Indigo - - 396,400 , jj^^^ 
 
 
 Cochineal - - 147,845 
 
 Cortex Peru - 33>969 
 
 Fruit - - 11,618,500 "No. 
 
 Wine - - 2,534 Tons, 
 
 Raifins - * 60,423 Cwt 
 
 Our exports confifl entirely of woollen goods ; pilch* 
 ards, falmon, tin, butter, beef and pork from Ireland. 
 Of Woollens alone England, in the year 1768, ex- 
 ported to Spain to the value of 952^438!. and in the 
 y^W 1775 to that of 862,0001. 
 
 bitory
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 TARIFF. CAMBRICK. 
 
 bitory aft i8 Geo. II. c. 36. it has been by 
 flow degrees increafing in Scotland and in Ire- 
 land ; and lately the progrefs it has made has 
 been confiderable. There were flamped for 
 fale, in Scotland, in the year 1783, 56,304 
 yards; in 1784, 83,438; in 1785, 106,755. 
 Under the prefent duty, this rifing manufadlure / 
 muft be utterly ruined ; whereas it might have ^ 
 been protected, and a confiderable revenue fe- 
 cured, by laying higher import duties upon 
 French cambricks, at the fame time that they 
 need not have been fo high, as either to pre- 
 vent the importation, or encourage fmuggling. 
 
 As the manufafture of the inferior forts of 
 cambrick is that which is mofl likely to fuc- 
 ceed in Scotland, and as the chief view of 
 France is to fecure the market of England for 
 her fine cambrics, the objedt of both countries 
 would have been fecured, by laying the duty in 
 fueh a manner as to exclude the coarfer, at the 
 fame time that it admitted the importation of 
 the finer. 
 
 It has been fuggcftcd that a duty of 8 s. per 
 demi-piece would cffed:ually anfwer this pur- 
 pofe, have protected the Scotch and the Irifli 
 
 manufactures,
 
 ( 11.0 ) 
 TARIFF. CAMBHICR. 
 
 manufacflures, and have afforded a confidexa- 
 ble revenue to the public. 
 
 Though the linen manufad:ure of France is 
 in fo flourifhing a flare as completely to fupply 
 both Spain and Portugal with the immenfc 
 quantities of coarfe linens they confume, yet it 
 is not very probable, under the prefent duties, 
 that either the Irifh or the Britilh linen manu- 
 fafture have any thing to apprehend from the 
 importation of French linen : though it may 
 be probable that Britain, in future, will take 
 from France confiderable quantities of fomc 
 forts of linen which fhe now imports from the 
 north of Europe ; a circumftance which conli- 
 derably increafes one of the worft tendencies of 
 the prefent treaty, the throwing all the com- 
 merce of England into one channel, and the 
 difobliging every natipn with whom we now 
 carry on trade, in order to encourage the ma- 
 Hufadtures of France. 
 
 There Is at prefent in France a demand 
 for fome forts of Irifli linen, and confiderable 
 quantities are now fmuggled there. It might 
 have been thought a fair advantage for our lif- 
 ter kingdom, while we ruined her riiing manu- 
 facture of cambrics, that fome fort of advan- 
 tage
 
 ( " ) 
 
 TARIFf. 
 
 tage Ihould have been {lipulated in her favour 
 for thole fpecies of her linens which are in re- 
 queft in France. All forts of Linens howevre 
 are virtually prohibited going from Ireland 
 to France by the treaty ; for it is well known, 
 that the Irilh duties upon Dutch linens are in 
 their nature prohibitory ; and therefore, the 
 duties upon Irifli Linens going to France will be 
 alfo prohibitory. And thus, by the terms of the 
 treaty, while the Irifh are taught to exped: a 
 benefit, the fubftance of the article is a moc- 
 kery to them, and an exclufion to their ftaple 
 manufad:ure. 
 
 Having gone through the principal articles 
 of the tariff, it is necefTary to inform the reader 
 of one objection which pervades the whole ; 
 which is, that although the duties impofed up- 
 on articles carried from the one country to 
 another, appear upon the face of them to be 
 reciprocal in amount ; and although French 
 goods comii'ig to Britain, and paying the im 
 port duty, are from that moment free from any- 
 farther charge whatfoever-^ytt the cafe is di- 
 redly the reverfe with Britilh goods going to 
 France ; which jn many inllances will have to 
 pay additional duties to thofc impofed by the 
 R " tariff.
 
 ( 122 ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 tariff, and higher ones than fimilar goods of the 
 manufadture of France. -t 
 
 When any commodity is imported into 
 France, and pays a fpecific duty of entre^ at 
 whatever part of the kingdom it may be im- 
 ported, this is called a Droit uniforme, the ef- 
 feft of which is to protect the goods from all 
 internal duties, or, as they are called in France, 
 Droits du drcidation, till they arrive at the place 
 of their original deftination : but once arrived 
 there, if they are again to be carried from one 
 part of the kingdom to another, they become 
 fubjecft to all the different loeal duties which 
 prevail in different parts of that great king- 
 dom, and thefe duties are in almoft every in- 
 llance higher upon foreign, than upon French 
 manufadures. Thus, if. a bale of Englifh 
 woollens be fent from London to Lyons, the 
 twelve per cent, paid at importation will pro- 
 ted: it from all duties till it arrives at the place 
 to which it is addreffed. But if the merchant 
 at Lyons has occafion to tranfportthe fame bale 
 of goods to Aix or to Marfeilles, it will become 
 fubjedl to frefh duties, confiderably higher than 
 a French bale of the fame goods would pay. 
 
 Thefe
 
 ( 123 ) 
 
 TARIFF. 
 
 Thcfe are Ihackles impofed upon the com- 
 merce of England to France, in which there 
 is- no reciprocity. If the French merchant 
 miffes his market in one place, he may move 
 his goods to another, and fo on through eveiy 
 town in Britain, without being fubjed to -any 
 dytyjW impofition whatfoever. 
 
 REVENUE. 
 
 I have now gone through the principal ar- 
 ticles in the Tariff; and from the review of 
 it, the reader wiH already have anticipated mc 
 in concluding, That there is fcarcely a manu- / 
 fadiure which is not endangered ; an impor- 
 tant foreign tracje which is not placed in the 
 hazard of ruin, nor many branches of the Re- 
 venue which can efcape its deftruftive influence. 
 It is difficult to calculate all the loffes to the 
 public purfc from fo complicated and exten- 
 five an innovation; all which, however, can 
 be pofitively afccrtained are alone fuch as I 
 ihall ftate here, and they will appear as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 R 2 loC%
 
 ( 1^4 ) 
 
 REVENUZ, 
 
 ' J. ^. 
 
 Lofs of tfOl.per ton on French 
 
 wine - - 20,098 6 8 
 
 Lofs 4 prefent duty on Por- 
 tugal wine - - . 161,404 18 z 
 
 Lofs of 25. dd. per gallon on 
 
 Brandy imported - - 90,951 8 6 
 
 Lofs of 5 5. ;i(fr gallon on Rum 35,826 12 i 
 
 Lofs of id. per gallon on malt 
 
 fpirits - - - 26,128 3 2 
 
 I' 334^400 8 7 
 
 Ithas, indeed, been faid, that the duties efla- 
 blilhedby the TarifFwill be fufficiently produc- 
 tive to compenfate for this enormous lofs ; but I 
 have already proved that they cannot be pro- 
 \ dud:ive in the articles in which the lofs arifes 
 without involving the ruin of the Portugal 
 trade, and the deflrudtion of the Weft India 
 ^ planter, and Home Diftillers, and giving rife to 
 confeqyences, both to trade and revenue, far 
 more extenfive than it is poffible to form an 
 cilimate of, at this time. If the duties upon 
 the other articles are to be produ<5tive, it can 
 qnly refult from the iprqenfe importation of 
 
 French
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 REVENUE. 
 
 French Woollens, Cottons, Hardware, Sad- 
 Icry, or other manufa(flured articles which di- 
 re<flly and immediately interfere with fimilar 
 articles of our own, and by fo doing, affe<ft 
 every cxcifeable commodity in the kingdom, to 
 an extent far beyond what any port duty can 
 make good. 
 
 SMUGGLING. 
 
 It has alio been fuggellcd that the duties 
 eflablifhed by the .Treaty will eifedtually put 
 an end to the fmuggling of foreign articles, 
 and by that means produce a compcnfatlon for 
 all the apparent defalcation to the Revenue. * 
 How far that expeftation is likely to be reaU 
 i^cd by the event, it ihall be my next fubjeft 
 to enquire. 
 
 The fadt Is, indeed, that it is not only from 
 thofe goods, whicli may be lawfully imported 
 under the prefent Treaty, that the trade of 
 England has reafon to be alarmed ; the eafc 
 and fafcty which it extends to fmuggling, is 
 fufficiewt to render, almoft nugatory, every 
 fecurity which the fair trader poflTeffes, from 
 
 prohibitions.
 
 ( 1^.6 ) 
 
 TARIFF. SMUGGLING, 
 
 prohibitions, and every advantage which the rc^ 
 venue derives from high duties. 
 
 The prohibited articles of &\ks, gold and 
 iilver (luffs, lace of every fort, are fp fmall 
 in bulk and fo valuable in themfelyes, that if 
 there was nothing more than an increafcd 
 intercourfe between the two countries, the 
 preventing their being fmuggled in great 
 quantities would be totally inipradticable. 
 The only rifk of feizure is on the landing ^ ber 
 caufe, 4S fimilar fabrics are produced by pur 
 own manufadiurers, it is impoffible for the 
 officers of the revenue to diftinguifh the pne 
 from the other ; and if a conftant and confi- 
 liderable trade is carried on between the two 
 \ countries, thofe articles, in fuch eftimationwith 
 the rich and the fafliionable, will eal^ly find 
 their way amongft us, to the ruin of our owr^ 
 manufactures, of the fame fpecies. 
 
 There are, however, in the Treaty, feme 
 
 I regulations which totally annihilate moftof our 
 
 ufeful Laws againft fmuggling, and which 
 
 more particularly militate againfl that a<ft 
 
 which Mr. ^^den himfelf had a principal 
 
 fliare-
 
 ( 127 ) 
 
 SMUGGLING, 
 
 f}ia?e in propofing, and in procuring to .be 
 paled. 
 
 By the nineteenth Article of the prefent 
 -Treaty it is ftipulated, That 
 
 The Ihips of either party beiivj laden, failing along the coafls of 
 tie other, and being forced by ftorm into the havens or ports, or 
 MAKING LAND THERE IN ANY OTHER MANNER 
 WHATEVER, fliall not be obliged to unlade their goods, or 
 any part thereof, or to pay any duty, unlefs they, of their own accord, 
 wnlade their goods there, and fell fome part thereof. 
 
 By the tenth Article they are not to be. 
 fubjeft to any forfeiture for any defcd: or 
 omiffion in the entries of their goods ; 
 and by the twenty-fifth. 
 
 The ftiips belonging to the fubjet3s and inliabitants ofthe'rtfjl^iv* 
 kingdoms coming to any of the coaitb of either of them, but without 
 being willing to enter into port, or being entered, yet not willing to 
 land their cargoes or break, bulk, fhall not be obliged to give an ac- 
 count of their lading, unlefs they are fufpe^led, upon fure evidence, 
 of cvrying prphibited goods^ called contraband, to the enemies 
 of either of the two high contra^ing parties. 
 
 How can any of thefe articles be carried 
 into effedt without a repeal of our prefent laws / 
 which have been found abfolutely ncccflary 
 for the proteftion of the revenue ? 
 
 By
 
 C 128 ) 
 
 SMUCGLIWG* 
 
 By tKe 24th Geo. III. 47. every veffet 
 hovering, (that is not prodeedirig directly up'on 
 her voyage) and having on board any iTan- 
 dy in cafks under 60 gallons, or any oiher 
 goods whitfoever fubjedl to. forfeiture^ may 
 be feized if found within four leagues of the 
 coaft. 
 
 And every veflel of a particular conflrucfVion^ 
 which are fuppofed favourable to fmuggling, 
 are prohibited to be ufed by any Britifh fub- 
 jed:, unlefs by licence. 
 
 By other laws, every veffet is obliged Co make 
 an entry of her cargo, if it be of a nature which 
 is enterable ; and it has been found neceilary 
 to enaft, that they Ihould be fubjeft to for- 
 feiture, in cafe fuch entry Ihould be found to 
 be defective or erroneous. 
 
 It is fclf-evident that, at Icaft fo far as re- 
 gards French fhips, all thefe laws cnuft be re- 
 pealed. 
 
 In future they may make lariif" in any man- 
 ner they pleafe. 
 
 They are not obliged to enter their cargoeso 
 
 They
 
 SMUGGLING. 
 
 They may come upon the coalts, and either 
 come into port or not, as they chufe. 
 
 They are not obliged to give an account of 
 their lading, except in the lingle cafe of their 
 being fufpeBed upon fure evidence of carrying 
 prohibited goods to the enemy. 
 
 And they may ufe vefTels of any conflruc- 
 tion, however adapted to fmuggling, and how- 
 ever prohibited to be ufed by Britilh fubjedts. 
 The defcription in the twenty-fifth article, 
 viz. of Ihips coming upon the coafts without 
 being willing to enter into port, is the precife 
 and accurate definition of hovering, and is by 
 the treaty permitted. 
 
 The alarming heighth to which fmuggling 
 has arrived, has made it necefTary to enadt, that 
 the merely bein^ within certain limits, with ^ 
 certain goods on board, Ihall be of itfelf a caufe j 
 of forfeiture ; but in future, as th6 cargoes are 
 not permitted to be examined, a French fmug- 
 gler, lying at the back of Dover harbour, laden 
 with brandy in fmall caiks, is not liable to be 
 feized, unlefs taken in the very adt of landing 
 her cargo. 
 
 S Can
 
 ( I30 ) 
 
 SMFGGLlKGf* 
 
 Can we entertain a doubt, that under fuch 
 circumftances, the fmuggling of not only fuch 
 articles as are prohibited, but of fuch articles 
 as are admiffible under high duties, muft in- 
 creafe to an enormous amount ? Our filk ma- 
 nufacture, which has been often injured by the 
 clandeftine importation of French lilks, muft 
 be totally ruined ; and the flipulated diminu- 
 tion of the duties upon brandy, can have but 
 little efFedtin preventing its being fmugglcd. 
 
 The duty of 7^. per gallon is about ^00 per 
 cent^ upon, the priiiiecoft, which is about is.^d. 
 in France; and, under ail the reftrid:ions of 
 hovering adts, and reftraints of cuftom-houfe 
 laws, we have the authority of the Gommittee 
 on Smuggling for faying, that it could be af- 
 forded upon the coafts of Britain for 3 s. per 
 gallon. When fuch a price left profit fuffi- 
 cientto the fmugglers, under all the rifks which 
 he was. formerly expofed to, he will undoubt- 
 edly be able to fell it flill cheaper, when thofe 
 impediments are removed; and whether the 
 duty be 75. or 95. 6d. will make little dif- 
 ference,.as there is flill a fufficient profit to en- 
 courage him in the practice, and to fecure him 
 againft rilks, which are now hardly to be con- 
 
 fidered as any longer dangerous. 
 
 In
 
 SMUGGLING. 
 
 In future, indeed, all the contraband trade 
 will be carried on in French veflels ; for it is / 
 they only who will be free from all the re- 
 ftraints of the various laws we have mentioned. 
 
 There is another fpecies of fninggling which 
 has of late been much pradlifed, and which 
 alfo in future may be carried on with confider- 
 able advantage I mean that of drawback and 
 certificate goods. 
 
 If a French veflel fails from the Thames 
 Jaden with goods, upon which Ihe fecures the 
 drawback, Ihe may fail round the ifland, come 
 upon the coall as Ihe pleafes, is not liable even 
 to be examined, and may fettle her plans of 
 operation with the fmugglers on fhore, till Ihe 
 finds the convenient opportunity of landing 
 her cargo ; and is not feizable, except in the 
 very adl of fmuggling. " 
 
 Under thefe advantages, joined to the mo;*e 
 extenfive communication between the two coun- 
 tries, it is utterly impofiible to fuppofc, that 
 the revenue can be at all produdlive in any ar- 
 ticle under high duties ; or that any of thofe 
 manufadtures which we have found it neccf- 
 fary to protedl, either by prohibitions or by 
 high duties, can continue even to cxift.
 
 DROIT d'aUBAINS. 
 
 Such is the foundation of the hope which 
 has be.;n fo induftriouily encouraged, and (q 
 precipitately entertained, that all the future 
 injuries to the revenue, and many more befides 
 thofe immediately refulting from this treaty, 
 were to be made good by the entire extermina- 
 tion of fmugglers from the borders of the em- 
 pire. 
 
 DROIT P*AUBAINE. 
 
 It is not meant to be here contended, 
 that this is one of thofe Articles of the Treaty 
 which tends equally with feveral others of it, 
 to the radical fubverfion of the national inte- 
 refts. In as much, however, as the nature of 
 fuch a regulation will permit the poflible exifl- 
 (6nce of injury, fo far precifely it is the ten- 
 dency of the prefent modification of it to er^- 
 courage every difadvantage. 
 
 I need not Inform, but may be Indulged iq 
 reminding the intelligent reader, that the Droit 
 D'Aubaine is a privilege exifling in France, by 
 which the King of that country claims a right 
 to all the perfonal property of an alien who 
 ihall die in his dominions. It will be much 
 iefs neceflary for me to obferve to any 
 
 perfon
 
 ( H ) 
 
 DROIT d'aCBAINS, 
 
 perfon at all converfant tn the laws or lifage* 
 pf this country, that no privilege at all corref* 
 ponding to the above, prevails in England. 
 
 If this right were rigidly carried into cfr . 
 fedt in France, it would be rather to be confi- 
 dered as an advantage than an injury to Great 
 Britain, as in that cafe it would have the falu- 
 tary operation of preventing emigration. If it 
 were totally abrogated, as is recommended by 
 Mr. Neckar, this confolation (which though 
 evidently inadequate, is the belt which the cir- 
 cumftances admit) would refult from that ar- 
 rangement of it. That an inhabitant of Eng- 
 land who h^d taken up his reiidencc in France, 
 might enjoy the fatisfadlion at laft, and his 
 country the benefit, of reftoring the whole of 
 his property by his will to his heir, or other obr 
 jeft of his preference in his native land. 
 
 The worft poffible fituation in which this 
 privilege can be placed, is that of doubt or 
 ambiguity, and in that Mr. Eden has com- 
 pletely left it ; fo left it, that every injury 
 irefulting from the firft hypothecs I have laid 
 down, remains in its full extent, while the be- 
 nefit fecurcd by the latter, is at bcft precarious 
 
 and
 
 C '34 ) 
 
 DROIT d'aUBAINE, 
 
 find (loubtf'ul. The temptation to emigration 
 remains in full force, but the reftoration of 
 property is expofed to the uncertain juiliqe 
 of a French Judge, deciding againft the irti- 
 mediate interefls of the French Monarch. 
 
 Jf it be faid that Mr. Eden has fecured to 
 the inhabitants of this country as complete an 
 exemption from the operation of the Droit 
 D'Aiibatne, as was obtained under the Treaty of 
 Uirechtm the year J713, (anaffertion which is 
 by no means to be maintained, but which is not 
 worth the detail of a regular refutation) let it 
 be remembered, that events have taken place 
 fince that period, which ought to have made it 
 peculiarly the duty of a negociator of the pre- 
 fent day, to have demanded a plain, unambigu- 
 ous, decifive arrangement upon the fubjedl. 
 
 I refer the reader to a narrative in my Appen- 
 dix, which may prove interefling to him as an 
 event of modern politics not generally known, 
 and cannot fail to have a decjfive influence upon 
 his judgment, in convincing him of the abfo- 
 lute neceffity which exifts for a clear and une- 
 quivocal underftanding between the two coun- 
 tries, as to the operatipn of this celebrated pri^ 
 vilege.
 
 ( '35 ) 
 
 DROIT D*AUBAINE. 
 
 He will there perceive of what milerable 
 fubterfuges the French tribunals will avail 
 themfelves, when deciding upon the ojperation 
 of engagemenis that militate againft the im- 
 mediate pecuniary interefls of their fovereign. 
 If Mr. Eden knew of this inftance, he was 
 guilty of a total defertion of his duty as a 
 negociator, ftipulating for the perfonal pri- 
 vileges of his countrymen, not to have in- 
 lifted upon the entire removal of an ambigu- 
 ity, which experience had proved fo elTen- 
 tially to interfere with them ; if he did not, 
 he was hardly fufficiently Ikilled in the mo- 
 dern hiftory between the two countries, for 
 an advantageous execution of the important 
 duty he had affiimed. 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 It would be unpardonable in a general in- 
 veftigation pf this fort, to omit a detailed 
 mention of fo alarming an innovation as that 
 which is produced by the operation of this 
 part of the Treaty. There are fome men 
 whofe very convi(tlion of the magnitude of 
 the danger in this cafe, has inclined them to 
 refift an opinion of its being really dcduciblc 
 
 from
 
 C 36 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RliSHTS* 
 
 from the fpirit of the Treaty itfelf ; and there 
 are others who are difpofed to difmifs the fub* 
 jed: negligently, as being too immedia^ely de- 
 monftrative to require the formality of a re* 
 giilar enquiry^ 
 
 Thofe whoconliderthe extent of the injuries 
 re fulling from this commercial fyilem as a pre- 
 fumption in favour of the negociatorof it, muft 
 think very highly of him indeed ; and if I 
 could be induced ta look upon that as a de- 
 fenfible ground of partiality, I fhould unite 
 cordially in their good opinion* This is a no- 
 velty in defence, however, which I am not 
 entirely difpofed to acquiefce in ; and am 
 equally averfe to a carelefs rcfignation of a 
 great point, merely becaufc much ingenuity 
 may not be" demanded in the difcufllon of it. 
 I would rather be expofed to the imputation 
 of tedioufnefs in the way of over folicitude, 
 than be cenfured for a culpable negled:. 
 
 The Charter of the city of London, which 
 was held of confequence enough, to be ex- 
 preflly confirmed,, even by Magna Charta it- 
 felf, aad afterwards by a particular ad: of the 
 legiilature (in 2. W. and M. c. 8.) has expli- 
 citly (lipulated. That no perfon Ihall be per- 
 z ' mitt:e<i
 
 ( '37 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 mitted to cxpofe Goods to Sale in Shops, as 
 artifts or retail dealers of anj; denomination 
 except fiich perfoii Ihall firfl h^vc been ad- 
 mitted a Freeman of t^i^ faid Corporation, by 
 fcrvice^^ birth- right, or r^emption. 
 
 The prcclfe terms, in wKich this in,vaiuable 
 privilege has been hitherto fecured, are cx- 
 acflly thcfe, " No pcrfon, not being a Freeman 
 of London^ fhall keep any fhop, or other 
 place, to put to fale, by retail, any goods, oy 
 wares, or -ufe any handicr^'t trade for hire, 
 gain, or fale, within the city, upon penalty of 
 forfeiting live pounds for every fuch offence." 
 
 Let us then enquire, what are the new pri- 
 vileges, in dircd: violation'of this facrrd corn- 
 padt^ conferred upon the inhabitants of France, 
 by the prefent Treaty. The following ex- 
 ira6t is copied from the 
 
 Fifth Articj^e, 
 
 " The fubjcjfts of each of their iaid Majef- 
 
 ties may have leave and" licence to come with 
 
 their ihips, as alfo with the merchandizes and,, 
 
 ^oods on board the fame, the trade and im- 
 
 T ' portation
 
 ( ijs ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 portat'ion whereof are not prohibited by the, 
 laws of either kingdom, and to enter into the- 
 countries, dominions, cities, ports, places, 
 and rivers of either party, Ctuated in Europe, 
 to refort thereto, and to rernain and reiide 
 there, without any limitation ; aljo to hire 
 houfes, or to lodge with other perfons, and to 
 huy all lawful kinds of merchandizes, where 
 they think fit, cither froni the firft maker or 
 the feller, or in any other manner, whether 
 in the public market for the fale of merchan- 
 dizes, or in fairs, or wherever fuch merchan- 
 dizes are inanufadtured or fold. They may 
 likewife depofit and keep in their magazines and 
 warehoufes, the mrchandizes brought from other 
 parts, and afterwards exppfe the fame to fale, 
 without being in any wile obliged, unlefs wil- 
 lingly and of their own accord, to bring the. 
 faid merchandi^ics to the marts and faira. Nei- 
 ther are they to be burthened with any impo- 
 fitions or duties on account of the fa,id free- 
 dom of trade, or for any other caufe whatfo- 
 ever, except thofe which are to be paid for 
 their iliips and r^erchandi2;es conformably to 
 the regulations 9f the prefent Treaty, or thofe 
 to which the fubjedls of the two contra(51:ing 
 parties Ihallthemfelves be liable.'* 
 
 ' Left
 
 ( ^39 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 Left, however, the privileges included in 
 the above cxtrad: ih<>uld be fufpedtcd of hav- 
 ing been conveyed in terms of lefs clearnefs 
 and preciiion, than fuited the wilhes and in- 
 terefts of at I'eaft one of the coiltrad:ing par- 
 ties, Mr. Eden has confcnted to go a ftcp fur- 
 ther, and to confirm the inhabitants of the ri- 
 val empire in the pofTeflion of thefe new 
 rights', in words aS unambiguous as the effedt 
 of them is deflrudtive and unconftitutionaJ. 
 He adds, " and they fhall have right to re- 
 move themfelves, as alfo their wives, children, 
 and fervants, together with their merchandi- 
 dizes, property, goods or efTedts, whether 
 bought or imported, wherever they Ihall think: 
 fit, out of either kingdom, by land and by 
 fca, on the irivers and frelh watery after dif- 
 charging the ufual duties, any lazu; privilege, 
 gravity immunities, or cujloms, to the contrary 
 thereof in any wife notwithftanding." 
 
 Now> to what in the preceding paflages, 
 can the term imthunity have any poflible appli- 
 cation ? Not to the removal of the citizens, 
 their wives, &c. bccaufe that being hithertd 
 a penal prohibition, would have been revoked 
 by a repeal of the ftatute enjoining it, and 
 not by the grant of an immunifj, 
 
 T z To
 
 ( HO ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 To what eUe, then, in thefe quoted paflages 
 can it extend ? To nothing, clearly, but to 
 
 ' the privileges contained in tTie firft extrad:, au- 
 thorifing the future eftablijfhment of French 
 
 \ ihops in the metropolis ; for nothiii^g elfe is ex- 
 prefled in this part of the article,- to which, 
 by any conftrudiion of fenfe, or grammatici?! 
 arrangement it can have the fmalleft re^ierence. 
 The fadl indeed is, that in all legal accep- 
 tation, the term immunity fignifies not the do 
 natioh of a privilege, but fpecifically the ex- 
 emption from a cuftom or duty ; and in this 
 lignification it is accurately employed by Mr. 
 Eden, when he informs us, as by the refult 
 of this article, we are to" our coft informed,, 
 that in difregard Of paft ufsLgQ, in contempt of 
 any pre-eftablilkcd cuftom, in defiance of ex- 
 iftins: charters. Frenchmen, ffom the date of 
 T the prefent treaty, are legitimate freemen of 
 the city of London-,- without the labour of- ap- 
 prenticelhip, or expence of purchafe, and' 
 are entitled to a full and equal, participation 
 of their beft and deareft privileges. 
 
 It may perhaps be fuggefted to this, that in 
 the'condud: of a greut ftate meafure, exten- 
 tenfive in its fubjed:, and complex in its arj 
 
 / rangemeiit
 
 ( '41 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHT?, 
 
 rangement, a cafual inaccuracy of cxpreffion 
 (for fuch, to be defended, tfiis muft be main- 
 tained to be) is not much to be infifted upon. 
 How far this explanation will be accepted by 
 Mr. Eden, a gentleman at leaft as convcrfant 
 in the meaning of words, aS experienced in 
 the arts of political negociation, it is not for 
 tis to determine. Whether he has a juft right, 
 however, to avail himfelf, even of this ami- 
 cable fubterfuge, will be befl feen by an atten- 
 tion to the following confideration : 
 
 Mr. Eden, in the formation of the treaty of 
 which we fpeak, and for the fuccefsful adjufl- 
 ment of which, he is to receive the future 
 rewards of his country, has made it an almoft 
 undeviating principle with himfelf to traftf- 
 cribe accurately and implicitly from the 
 Treaty of Utrecht, in the year 1713. 
 The queftion then arilcs, docs the Treaty 
 of Utrecht contain any claufc of the kind 
 
 and tendency now complained of? 1$ 
 
 there any thing in it that can have the effedt 
 of admitting French citizens into a full parti- 
 cipation of the advantages and privileges of 
 the citizens of London ? To this we anfwcr 
 NO, not a word. Is there any thing in it on 
 
 the
 
 < H2 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTSo 
 
 "tiie contrary, that goes to the pofitive inter- 
 diftion of any fuch participation ? To this 
 we anfwer YES_; and that in tertns as direct 
 and intelligibly pointl to the prclervation of 
 Britifli rights, as Mr. Ederi*s are flrong and 
 explicit in the violation of theirii Iri the 
 fifth article of the Treaty of Utrecht, which 
 correfponds with the fifth article in the treaty 
 of Mr. Eden, after having admitted, as li 
 alfo done in th^ modern counterpart of it, that 
 the fubjedis of the two countries may be reci- 
 procally permitted to refort to the citiesjj 
 potts, &c. of the rcfpeftive kingdoms^ and 
 to lay up, and keep in their magazines, and 
 vvarehoufes, all kinds of lawful merchandizes^ 
 yie find thefe exprefs words, '^ on this condi- 
 tion, however, /i^^/ they Jhall not fell the fame 
 b^ retail infjjops, or any where elfei!" Can there 
 be found in the Englifh language, terms more 
 diredt, and unequivocal ? Did Mr. Eden de- 
 viate then from fo intelligible a precedent, by 
 mere accident or inattention ? Did he intro- 
 duce words deftrudtive to the very efTence of 
 his avowed original, and abrogatory of its 
 mod important prohibitions without a purpofc 
 or defign ? If there be a man fo devoted to a 
 blind and dangerous credulity, fo abandoned 
 4 to
 
 i 
 
 ( m ) 
 
 CQUPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 to the piirpofcs of a particular partv, as tq 
 believe this, wc muft refign him to the quiet 
 pofleffiqii of opinions, that arc evidently not 
 to be rtirred by fad:, or fhakcn by the plaincft 
 deductions of reafon. 
 
 Two points in this extraordinary tranfa(flion 
 are eftablifhed, beyond all power of contro- 
 verfy. That by the terms of Mr. Eden's trea- 
 ty, the boafted excluiion claimed under the 
 Chartered Rights of the City of London, is 
 abrogated and dellroyed. 
 
 That by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, 
 which in all other cafes, he has copied wgh fo 
 fervile, and obedient an accuracy, thofe re- 
 vered privileges are left, as every Englilhman 
 muft wilh them for ever to have remained, fa- 
 cred and fecure. 
 
 We have two reafons, therefore for believ- 
 ing, that the claufe complained of, was vo- 
 luntarily introduced, and deliberately intended _, 
 to bear the interpretation now imputed to it, I 
 Firft, That we find the actual terms of it cal- 
 culated to convey no meaning at all ; if not 
 that, which wc anrtex to it. Secondly, That 
 
 we
 
 ' ( H4 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 \f c find the cxprefs, and fpecific reverfe of this 
 meaning In the aclcQOwledged precedent from 
 which it was tranfcribed, in every other part. 
 By avoiding tp adopt words, that were obtruded 
 upon his obfervatioiij which he cooid not avoid 
 attending to, and by which, (if adopted) the 
 corporate rights of his coiintrymerr would have 
 been completely fecured, we can be at no lofs 
 to determine, what could be his real and deli- 
 berate intentioft^ when he made ufe of lan- 
 guage, the obvious meaning, and literal 
 conftrudtioii of which, goes diretl5''to the in- 
 invaiion of thoie fam& privileges. Fs it at all 
 necellary to enlarge on fo evident a principle ? 
 ' In y^e whole, progrefs and conduft of this- 
 Treaty, Mr. Eden had affwmed one uniform 
 line of proceeding, from v/hich he has never 
 fubftantially deviated -j that where it was the 
 intention of the parties to introduce the fame 
 regulation into the modern treaty which ex- 
 ift^sd previoufly in that of tftiecht, he has not 
 only adopted the , reg;ulation itfelf, but the 
 words aifo in which it was conveyed. If it 
 had been his intention then to imitate the vir- 
 tuous rejection of this dangerous innovation, 
 which he found in the precedent before him ;" 
 why did he n6t, in conformity to his conftant 
 
 ufage.
 
 ( H5 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 ufage, imitate alfo the teris in which that in- 
 tention was exprefled ? But the rcverfe of this 
 was the new principle that he and his coadju- 
 tors in ojffiice meditated to eftablifh, and they 
 have accordingly made ufe of language moft 
 clearly and unequivocally calculated to ex- 
 prefs their meaning. Our judgments are 
 equally fatisfied in this cafe, from the words 
 which Mr. Eden has avoided to ufe, and thofc 
 which he has ufed. We are equally convinced 
 from both, that the real, true, and fyftematic 
 purpofe of himfelf, and the other members of 
 the Cabinet, with whom he co-operated in the 
 arrangement of this important negociation, was J 
 diredtly artd unambiguoufly this : " To ad- 
 mit all the fubjedts of France, without excep- 
 tion or diftindlion into a full, free, and indif- 
 criminate participation of all the privileges 
 of the City of London, which have been hi- 
 therto deemed exclufively their own, under 
 the claim and fandtion of their charter." 
 
 What has t)een faid of the charter of the city 
 of London, is equally applicable to all the 
 Other corporate bodies in the kingdom. 
 
 fo extend this confideration a little further : 
 U Though
 
 i: 146 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 Though any EngUlhman may fet up a Ihop 
 in any town which is not a corporate town, yet, 
 as the law now {lands, no foreigner can do fo. 
 He'may hire a houfe, it is true, but he is cir- 
 cumlcribed in the ufe to which he ihall appro- 
 priate it for habitation is the exprefs limita-i 
 tion put on it by Blackftone, p. 372, vol. i. ; 
 By 32 Hen. VIII. c. 16. 13. No alien can 
 take any ihop, under a penalty of 5/. nor can 
 any one let a ilaop to ^n alien under the fame 
 penalty. 
 
 Thus, not only corporate bodies have been 
 hitherto fecured in the exclufive poffeflion of 
 their internal trade, in the way of retail, by the 
 operation of their particular charter ; but by 
 this ftatute an equal privilege has been enjoyed 
 by every other town in the kingdom. 
 
 It has been faid, that Blackftone hlmfelf 
 has exprefled an opinion, that the ftatute allud- 
 ed to has been in efFed: Superceded by the re- 
 gulations of pofterior laws. This is an evi- 
 dent mifconception of his meaning He faysj, 
 indeed, that the ^th Eliz. c. 7. virtually re- 
 pealed thofe ftatutes of Henry VIII. which 
 prohibited alien artificers from working for 
 themfelves^ or othervvife than as feryants to 
 
 Englilhmen.,
 
 ( '47 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS. 
 
 Kngliflimen ; but there Is ho pretence for fay- 
 ing that it repealed the penalties upon taking 
 fliops* 
 
 But what puts the matter out of all doubt 
 is, that many adtions have been brought 
 upon that flatute, long iince the ftatute of 
 Elizabeth, which are collefted and abridged 
 even in every Law DId:ionary; and to them 
 1 refer the reader who may be defirous of 
 j^urfuing this important fubjei^ to Its lafi ftagb 
 of prccifibm 
 
 I Ihall only fubjolii, by wdy of anticipated 
 reply to thofe who may be of opinion, that 
 it cannbt be the intention of the prefent 
 treaty to diflblve thefe corporate rights, be- 
 caufe they are fo demonftratively proted:ed by 
 the direct law of the land ; that there is a 
 fweeping claufe towards the conclufion of 
 the treaty, which ftipulates that the King of 
 England Ihall endeavour to prevail with his 
 Parliament to refcind all fuch laws as may 
 impede the due execution of any of the agree- 
 ments contained in it. Some laws therefore 
 were known to be infringed and why not thefe 
 among the number ? If it be fuggcfted, that 
 though all this be admitted, yet that the right 
 U 2 between
 
 ( '48 ) 
 
 CORPORATE RIGHTS^ 
 
 between the two countries is reciprocal, I 
 fliall leave it to the fenfe and feeling of my 
 fellow-citizens to determine, how far an obvi- 
 ous inducement to emigration is to be conli- 
 dered as an adequate compenfation for the par- 
 ticipation of their retail market with the inha- 
 bitants of the rival kingdom. 
 
 The PRINCIPLE of FREE BOTTOMS 
 making FREE GOODS. 
 
 The article contains the admiffion 
 
 of this long-refifted principle on the part of 
 England ; but as the fad: is not attempted to 
 be denied, that the right fo frequently claimed 
 by other powers, and fo perfeveringly oppofed 
 by us, is now conceded fully and unequivo- 
 cally, there is no particular neceffity for quot- 
 ing the exprefs words of the treaty, nor of ar- 
 guing upon their conftrud:ion. 
 
 1 feel myfelf relieved from all neceffity of 
 reforting to any perfonal argument on this fub- 
 jedl, by an appeal to the opinion of a writer, 
 who, whatever may be his other claims to the 
 favour or difcfleem of his country, has unquef- 
 tionably contended this point with equal in- 
 
 formatiort
 
 ( H9 ) 
 
 FREE BOTTOMS, FREE GOODS. 
 
 formation and ability. I mean Mr. Charles 
 Jenkinfon, who, in a pamphlet publiflied by 
 him, in the year 1757, entitled " A Difcourfc 
 on the Conduct of Great Britain, in Refped: to 
 Neutral Nations," has moft completely ella- 
 blifhed the impolicy and injuftice of this cele- 
 brated claim, and the almoft unremitting per- 
 tiijacity of Great Britain in refuling the admif- 
 fion of it. 
 
 1 can advance nothing that would be in any 
 degree either fo entertaining or fo inftrudting 
 as Mr. Jenkinfon* s authority, upon this fubje(^, 
 and therefore I Ihall quote a paflage from his 
 book, which appears to me to contain the mofl: 
 decifive and unanfwerable obje<flion to this 
 part of the treaty. 
 
 ** Let us now look on what has been faid ; 
 " the deducflion which I have made, hath I 
 '* fear been tedious, but the importance of 
 *' the fubjcdt of force led me into it. I flatter 
 ** myfelf however that it has appeared, that 
 ** reafon, authority, and practice, all join to 
 ** fupport the caufc I defend. By reafon, I 
 *' have endeavoured to trace out thofe princi- 
 ** pics on which this right of capture is ground- 
 
 4 ''d.
 
 ( I^o ) 
 
 FREE BOTTOMS, FREE GOODS. 
 
 " ed, and to give that weight to my own fenti- 
 *' mentSj which of themfelves they would not 
 " deferve, I had added the authorities of the 
 " ableft writers on this fuBjedt ; and laftly, I 
 *^ have entered largely into the condudt of 
 *^ nations, that I might not only lay thereby a 
 " broader foundation for this right, but that 1 
 *' might the more fully illuflrate, by the ex^ 
 " travagant pretentions of other ftates in this 
 *' refpedl, the prefent moderation of England; 
 " no age or country ever gave a greater extent 
 *^ to the commerce of neutral nations, and we 
 "have feen, that moll in the fame circum- 
 *' fiances have CQnfined it within much nar- 
 *' rower bounds. 
 
 '' The liberty of navigation in fair con- 
 *' ftruftion can mean no mote thari the right 
 *' of carrying to any port unmolelled, the pro- 
 '' diice of one's own country or labour, and 
 *' bringing back the emoluments of it. But 
 *' can it be lawful, that you fhquld extend 
 '^ this right to my detriment, and when it 
 *' was meant only for your advantage, that you 
 '^ fhould exert it in the caufe of my enemy ? 
 *' Each man hath a right to perform certain 
 *' adlions, but if the deltru<ftion of another 
 " Ihould follow from them, would not this, be 
 
 " ajufi
 
 ( 151 ) 
 
 FREE BOTTOMS, FREE GOODl 
 
 " a juft reafon of reftraint? The rights of 
 ** mankind admit of different degrees, and 
 *' whenever two of thefe come into competi- 
 *' tion, the loweft in the fcale mufl always 
 ^' give place to the higher. But. you will fay, 
 *' that you have a profit in doing this ; if, how- 
 ** ever, it is otherwife unjufl, will that confi- 
 ^' deration convert it into a right? If you 
 *' mean, that your own commerce ought to be 
 ** free, that right is not in the leaft denied 
 *' you ; but if under this difguife you intend 
 " to convey freedom to the commerce of the 
 ** enemy, what policy or what juftice can re- 
 '' quire it ? What can neutral nations defire 
 ^' more than to remain amidft the ravages of 
 ** war in the fame happy circumflances which 
 *' the tranquility of peace would have afforded 
 " them ? But can any right from hence avife 
 " that you ihould take occaiion of the war 
 " itfclf to conllitute a new fpecies of traffick, 
 ** which in peace you never enjoyed, and which 
 ^' the necefEty of one party is obliged to grant 
 *' you, to the detriment, perhaps the deftruc- 
 f* tion, of the other? If this right was ad- 
 f* mitted, it would become the intereft of all 
 *' commercial ftates to promote diffention 
 f' among their neighbours ; the quarrels of 
 ** others would be a harveft to thcmfclvcs, 
 
 ** and
 
 ( '5^ ) 
 
 FREE BOTTOMS, FREE GOODS- 
 
 ** and from the contentions of others they 
 " would gather wealth and power.** 
 
 Having at an eafy expence fatisfied the mind 
 of my reader, of the danger and injuftice at- 
 tending the admiffion of this right, (or if he 
 retains a doubt on the fubjeft, having no ex- 
 pedient for removing it nearly fo efficacious as 
 a reference to the equally irrcfiflable arguments 
 contained in the whole of Mr. Jenkinfon's 
 pamphlet) I find myfelf in falrnefs compelled 
 to paufe here, and to reiifl with all the energy 
 of truth, contending on the lide of innocence, 
 an obloquy which has gone abroad with re- 
 fpcdt to Mr. Jenkinfon, that he was the ad- 
 vifer or fabricator of the prefent treaty. This 
 is amongft the idle rumours which difgrace 
 politieal attachments. Here you behold an 
 inftance where zeal outflrips information, and 
 where the regard for a party fubdues the fu- 
 perior obligation which belongs to candour. 
 In thefe violences I have no fympathy let me 
 avoid, therefore, the reproach of them. 
 
 Is it to be believed, that a man bearing a 
 high lead in the political govcrment of the 
 ftate in which he lives, claiming, and havini^ 
 received the diitlnguilhed renumeratio^is which 
 
 a demo-
 
 ( -53 ) 
 
 a democratic conftitution laudably extends to 
 prcfumed virtue, or to attefted induflry, where- 
 evcr found, or in whatever fhape of original 
 depreflion they prefent thcmfelves, that he 
 Ihould take a part in th6 formation oJPa great 
 national contra^ j that he Ihould bind the? 
 country to which he owes fuch obligation, to 
 the adoption of principles which he himfelf has 
 proved beyond controverfy, inequitable, and 
 out of all queftion injurious, and even vitally 
 dangerous, is a fuppofition of monftrous and 
 unprecedented depravity, which will not be be- 
 lieved even of the torturous politics of Mr^ 
 Jenkinfon, but on much better authority thaii 
 that which at prefent fuftains it. Let the 
 reader examine the prefent treaty, and confult 
 Mr. Jenkinlbn's pamphlet, and then let him 
 be afked, if both be the fabrication of one 
 hand, why the author of both was made a 
 peer? Was it for uniform talents, or for con- 
 liftency of uniform principle ?^ My anfwer is, 
 the whole report is a calumny, and that he 
 was totally without any participation in the 
 difgraceful tranfadlion of the prefent ti'eaty; * 
 Mr. J. proves farther, (to ufe his own words) 
 " That the law? of France univeffally contra- 
 " di(ft her treaties ; and that it was wile in 
 ** her toeftablilh it as a general maxim ofna- 
 ** tional law among other countries, and that 
 X ^'expe-
 
 ( 154 ) 
 
 '^ experience had proved to her the ufe of it 
 ** in time of war.'* Let Englilhmen think of 
 this, and determine the propriety of Great Bri- 
 tain's eftabiilhlng this principle*. 
 
 It cannot but be apparent to the reader, 
 that independent of the immediate difadvan- 
 tagcs which refult from this treaty to diflinft 
 and fpeeific interefts, there may be others 
 which^ though kfs practicable to be clalTed 
 under any particular denomination, yet in their 
 nature are not therefore of lefs eonfequence to 
 the community. Of each of thefe I Ihall pro- 
 ceedto fay a few words, with a brevity injurious 
 to the importance of the fubjett, but demand- 
 ed from me by the almoft unavoidable length 
 to which this difeuffion has already extended. 
 
 It is to be obferved, then, that though it 
 Ihould be admitted, in dired; contradidtion to 
 the internal evidence of the cafe, that the pre- 
 fent ad valorem duties are not in an equal degree 
 a[ protedlion to the feveral branches of the 
 mutual trade affedted by the treaty, but that 
 England is in a ftate of decided advantage, rc- 
 fulting from the fuperiority of her flcill, yet it 
 is clear, that the moment (and no one can 
 jrretend that fuch a period may not fome time 
 or another arrive) that France attains an equa- 
 
 * Vide the CoUeftion of Treaties, publifKed by Debrett. 
 
 iity
 
 lity to us in the make of her nianufaiflures, 
 from that period there is an end to all pretence 
 of reciprocity in the Treaty. Becaufe in all , 
 articles of manufafture both Countries will 
 then ftand in a fituation of fimilar advantage, 
 and France will have the exportation of her 
 wines and brandies into England, for which we 
 have no articles of native produce to recipro- 
 cate a balance in return. 
 
 That our trade with Spain and Portugal 
 was carried on folely in Britlfh ihipping^, which 
 from the fuperior cheapnefs of French freight- 
 age, cannot poffibly in the very fame articles, 
 continue to be the cafe in future. 
 
 That even the fmuggling between the two / 
 countries will be hereafter condudted in French 
 veflels, a circumftance hitherto new and more 
 mifchlevous in its confequences than fome 
 readers may be inclined to fuppofe it. There 
 w^as this wretched folace even in the illegiti- 
 mate traffick of this country, that if it injured 
 the honeft and diredt trader, yet it involved in / 
 it a fource of flrength to our marine, an advan- 
 tage no longer probable to refult from it, 
 though the praftice itfelf be likely to prevail 
 to a much larger, and certainly not lefs injuri- 
 ous extent. 
 
 X z That
 
 ( F56 ) 
 
 That we have chofen the hour of weaknef^ 
 and deprefEoii for the introdudiion of innova- 
 tions, ruinous to the finance^ and therefore 
 alarming to the credit of the country, at leaft 
 dangerous to our commerce, and unafcertain- 
 able as to the extent of their influence upon oui: 
 general policy. 
 
 That we have totally deprived ourfelves of 
 the poffible faculty of makingafingle friend of 
 any fort of confequence arnongft all the States 
 of Europe, becaufe by ftipulating to extend 
 every favourable conceflion to France, which 
 we niay agree to beftow upon any other power, 
 we can retain nothing in our power to give, 
 which it can be at all worth their while to ac- 
 cept. 
 
 That we have treated Ireland in this new 
 , fyltem, in fome inftance with an illiberal and 
 unfifterly negledt, and in others with an undif- 
 tingujfhing and reprehenfible indulgence. 
 Sometimes Ihe is ufed with the weak fondnefs 
 of a. fpoUt; child, and at others with unnatu- 
 ral rigour, as if Ihe were an alien to our blood. 
 We enable her to annihilate our iTjanufad:ures 
 of iron, which are eflential to us, and compara- 
 tively indiiferent to l^er,, apd abfolutely fliqtup 
 her exportation of linen which v^p, cannot 
 
 make.
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 make, and which is above all points of trade 
 the which is not only moft congenial to Ireland, 
 but that in which Ihe mod excels. 
 
 That the inhabitants -of France are much 
 more likely, from various caufes not neceflary 
 here to enumerate, to incur large debts in Eng- 
 land, than the inhabitants of this country in 
 that. 
 
 That by the general conftitution of the 
 French Courts of Judicature, and by the par- 
 ticular embarraffments refulting from certain 
 recent cdifls, it is difficult almoft to a degree of 
 impradticability, for a foreigner of any deno- 
 mination, to recover a debt there through the 
 medium of any legal procefs. 
 
 That by an Arret, the French King can dif- 
 folve the obligations of juftice, and not only re- 
 leafe his fubjedts from the neceffity of paying 
 their debts, but make it even penal fo to do. 
 
 That the operations of the law of England 
 are fteady and uniform, unyielding to influ- 
 ence, unbending to authority ,-^not to be im- 
 peded even by the powerful temptation of po- 
 litical advantage, but difpenfing equal juftice 
 tathe fubjcdts of all countries. 
 
 That 
 
 X
 
 < 158 ) 
 
 That if a war therefore fhould take place 
 between France and England, and furely it is 
 not yet the fafhion to deprecate the poffibility 
 of fuch a contingency, the former will have to 
 affift them in the commencement of their hofti- 
 lity, the whole of that part of our capital which 
 is invelted in their hands, under the dcfcription 
 of debts, while England muft difcharge her de- 
 mands to them to the uttermofl exadtnefs. 
 
 That in pafl wars with France and with 
 Spain, our European commerce was but little 
 interrupted, as we could flill fupply the Por- 
 tuguefe, and through their medium had the 
 avenues preferved to us to Spain. 
 
 That by the treaty of Friendly Alliance 
 formed between France, Spain, and Portugal, 
 fo late as the year 1733-, aided by. the co-ope- 
 ration of the injuries offered to the latter powej: 
 \ by the ftipulations of the prefent treaty, Por- 
 tugal is always likely in future to confpire in 
 the views of France, and to be a party in her 
 hof^ilities. 
 
 That by this means, a war with France 
 will not only involve in it a total annihilation 
 of our invaluable trade with Spain and Por-^ 
 tugal ; but not leave us a fingle port from 
 
 thQ
 
 ( H9 ) 
 
 tne Baltic to St. Helena, in which our fliip- 
 ping can take refuge either from the enemy 
 or from diftrcfs. 
 
 But, above all, let it adhere about the minds 
 of Englilhmen, and (ink deep in their hours 
 of ferious reflection, that after efteCt fliall be 
 given to the prefent treaty, almoft the whole 
 of Our European commerce will be confined to 
 ONE CHANNEL. If a War fhould arife, there- 
 fore, we iliall have that to accomplifh in a mo- 
 ment of diftradtion, alarm, and confufion, 
 which is always difficult in times of the mo{b 
 compofcd tranquility, to difcover new avenue? 
 for our trade, zx\d new refources for our re- 
 venue. 
 
 I prom i fed to the reader on this part of my 
 undertaking, that I fhould not prefume fo far 
 on the liberality of a patience which I mull 
 already have expofed to a fufficient trial as to 
 purfue the great fubjedts which I have here 
 juft touched upon, through all the detail of 
 elaborate enquiry which fo juftly belongs to 
 them I Ihall leave it to the richer foil of his 
 own mind, to mature thefe embryo fketches 
 tothe (ize and vigour which, with the ieafl 
 culture, they cannot fail to attain, content 
 
 and 
 1
 
 ( i6o > 
 
 arid happy, if, after much labour, much dry 
 calculation, and much confultation of unen- 
 tertaining, but authentic and neceffary docu- 
 ment, I lliall have fucceeded in faving one 
 branch of manufafture, or one point of the 
 perfonal privileges of my countrymen from 
 the devaftation of a meafure which I fincerely 
 look upon as uniting all the poflible deprava- 
 tions of the human intellect, as having been 
 conceived in Madnefs, born in Folly, and fent 
 out into the world in Ignorance ! 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 ^ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Memorial of Charles Howard, (afterwards Duks 
 of Norfolk,) Efq. of Greyftock, and Mifs Fran^ 
 ces Howard, of the family of Norfolk, in, Etig- 
 land', prefented to the Britijh ambajfador at 
 Paris, concerning a claim of theirs to the effeSls 
 of a relation who died in France, 'I'ranjlated 
 from the French* 
 
 MR. and Mifs Howard, and with them 
 all the Englilh nation, do, by the good 
 offices of the ambaflador, claim the execution 
 of the Xlllth Article of the Treaty of 
 Utrecht, and of the declaration of 1739, by 
 both which the fubjefts of Great Britain are 
 allowed to fucceed to the perfonal eftates of 
 their relations deceafed in France ; in the fam^ 
 manner as the fubjed:s of the moft Chriftia^ 
 King are authorifed to inherit the like eftates 
 of their relations dying in England* 
 
 Y Thcfc
 
 ( l62 ) 
 
 Thefe laws have been executed in this par- 
 ticular, with the utmoft exadnefs on the part 
 of the Englifh. 
 
 They can bring the moil authentic proofs, 
 and are are able to maintain by a number of 
 examples, which have happened even during 
 the late war, that this execution has been to- 
 tally in favour of the French ; infomuch, that 
 even when there was no precife law upon this 
 point, the ufage alone, which was pradtifed in 
 England, Was fufficient to give this nation a 
 right to eXadt from France a reciprocality which 
 is founded on the right of nature and nations. 
 It is by the favour of thefe different titles, 
 that Mr. and Mifs Howard prefume to demand 
 their part of a fucceffion to the perfonal eflate 
 of their uncl6, who died in France : and yet 
 the Judges of the Chatelet, before whom their 
 claim was at firll carried, have not judged pro- 
 per to admit it ; and their fentence has been 
 confirmed by an arret. 
 
 It was difficult tg^conceive what could be the 
 motives for fuch lingular d^cifions ; efpecially 
 if it be confidered, that the fucceffion in quef- 
 tion was opeu before the late war. 
 
 Mr.
 
 ( '63 > 
 
 Mr. and Mifs Howard were in Engiand at 
 the time they received the news, by a letter 
 from their attorney. If they can believe this 
 letter, the judges were determined .againfl 
 them for two powerful reafons, which were 
 propofed by the King's advocate to the Chatc- 
 let : the one, that the treaty of Utrecht, on 
 which they founded their claim, had not been 
 regiftered in parliament ; the other, that the 
 argument does not hold good, of tl>e French 
 being admitted to fucceed to the perfonal 
 eftates of their relations who die in England ; 
 becaufe that admiliion is not founded, fay 
 they, on the treaty of Utrecht, but on the 
 conftitution of that kingdom,, which admits 
 tp thgt kind of fucceffion other foreigners, 
 equally with French ; whereas, a^ifording to 
 the conftitution of France, they cannot be al- 
 lowed there but by virtue of a naturalization, 
 or of a particular treaty, duly regiftered. 
 
 Although this was fufficiently refuted by 
 the words of the treaty of Utrecht, and the 
 declaration of 1739, which makes no diftinc- 
 tion in the reputed quality of relations, ac- 
 cording to which they ought to fucceed ; never- 
 thelfs, to fet it more effedually afide, the lat^ 
 Mr. Simort de Mofart, who was charged with 
 Y2 tht
 
 ( 164 ) 
 
 the defence of Mr. and Mifs Howard, thought 
 I proper to have it confulted in England, in or- 
 der to know what Wais the cuftom there in this 
 cafe. The cafe was at firlt flated in this man- 
 ner : 
 
 If aii Englilhman born happens to die in 
 England, without children, and inteftate, and 
 having relations born, and always refiding in 
 France, it is afked. Will they be intitled to 
 partake the fucceffion to the perfonal eftate of 
 the defundt, equally with his relations in the 
 fame degree of kindred, born and educated ii^ 
 England ? 
 
 The anfwer given to this queftion was conr 
 ceived in the following manner : 
 
 The Council having confidered, is of opi- 
 nion, that in confequence of the ftatutes of dif- 
 tribution, the relations born in France have 
 the fame right to perfonal eflates as thofe born 
 in England. 
 
 This anfwer not having entirely fatisfied the 
 French advocate, in that it only fpoke of the 
 Statute of Diftribution, and not of the Treaty 
 of Utrecht, the execution of which was the 
 
 principal
 
 ( i6i ) 
 
 principal debate in this caufe ; he refumed the 
 enquiry, and defired that the Englilh Council 
 would give his opinion upon the following 
 queftion : it is afked, 
 
 * 
 
 How do they in England underftand and 
 
 execute the Xlllth article of the treaty of 
 Utrecht ? and if, in confequence of this treaty, 
 a Frenchman living in France, could fucceed 
 to an Englilhman, his relation, dying in Eng- 
 land, being equally related with the Englifh 
 heirs of the deceafed refiding in England ? and 
 what are the reafons upon which the Englilh 
 ground their admiffion of the Frenchman to 
 fucceed with the others ? 
 
 The following is the next anfwer, which was 
 fent from England. 
 
 The ufage of England is exatly agreeable 
 to the Xlllth article of the treaty of Utrecht ; 
 the French relations being admitted to fuc- 
 ceed, equally with Englilh relations in the 
 fame degree of kindred, to the perfonal ellate 
 of an inteftate dying in England. The law of 
 England does not, in this refpedt, make any 
 diftinftion between foreigners and natural- 
 bom fubjcfts, and is conformed to the confti- 
 
 tution
 
 ( i66 ) 
 
 tutlan of the Emperor Frederic II. tit. i. fed:, 
 lo. and is founded as well on natural jufticc, 
 as commercial reafons* 
 
 It is to be obferved, that this clear and ex- 
 prefs opinion is figned by the lord chief juftice 
 of England, by the King's advocate and attor^ 
 ney-general, and confequently that it has all 
 the marks of authority that any one can defire 
 in matters of this kind* 
 
 In fhort, independently of the proofs which 
 refulted from thefe pieces, Mr. and Mifs 
 Howard offered farther to juftify, by the re- 
 gifters of the courts of juftice in England, a 
 crowd of examples of fucceffions of perfonal 
 eftates, which have been recovered by French 
 people of their EnglilhVelations. They cited, 
 am.ong others, that of Mrs. Cantillon, a French 
 woman, a(5lually refiding at the Nouvelles Ca- 
 tholiques, in Paris, who having claimed, dur- 
 ing the laft war, the perfonal eftate of Mr, 
 John Cantillon, her nephew, who died in Ire- 
 land, in 1754, being a captain in one of his 
 Britannic Majefly's regiments, was put intQ 
 pofleflion of the efFefts of this fucceffion, by 
 the Court of Doctors Commons, tq the pre- 
 judice of his other relations ; and Ihe has rcr 
 3 ceived
 
 < 176 ) 
 
 celved^ in confequence, 650/. fteiTing, and 
 the remainder to be remitted to her imme-, 
 diately. 
 
 So many proofs accumulated, left no re- 
 j fource for the pretended argument of incapa- 
 city, which they had at firft oppofed to 
 Mr. and Mifs Howard : they waited patiently 
 the fuccefs of their demand, till they under- 
 {\ood, with an c:!^treme furprifc, that it had 
 f been rejeifted by a fentence of the Chatelct. 
 
 And the affair being afterwards carried before 
 Parliament, an arret was pafled, which con- 
 firmed that fentence. 
 
 THE END.
 
 ^
 
 EATA in tlie follomng Page*. 
 
 Page 18 Inftead of Cottons might have been fent this Coutitrfi 
 
 read, //(> this Country. 
 P. 36*>Inftead of, it would have been idle tn bet to have a(ked in cr, 
 
 and us to have granted, read, and in us to have granted, &c. 
 p. 45" Inftead of, French Woollens, till lately laid under pro 
 
 hibitory duties, read, were till lately, iec. 
 P- SooJnilead of, fhe has befides many of Dying Drugs, read, ina 
 
 ny Dying Drugs. 
 P. 89 Inftead of, to have fatisfied the moft fyftemadc parliamenCf 
 
 read, the moll fyftematic cruelty. 
 p. 148 Inftead of the Article contains, Sec. read, the zoth Af' 
 
 tide contains, &c. 
 P. 73>From the fame iron in the 8th line, add, for tixe French 
 
 market. 
 P. 9z<Inftead of 25 per cent, read, 14. 
 
 p. 96 >Makes a difference in price to markets^ dele to markets. 
 P. 130 For fmugglers, read, imusgler. 
 P. 1 24 For 5s. read, fd.
 
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