Advice to the Privileged 
 Orders in the Several 
 States of Europe 
 Part 2 
 
 By 
 Joel Barlow
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 f 
 
 ) /. ? J H '' t. 
 
 ADVICE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRIVILEGED ORDERS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SEVERAL STATES OF EUROPE, 
 
 RESULTING *ROM THE 
 
 NECESSITY AND PROPRIETY 
 o r 
 
 A GENERAL REVOLUTION IN THE PRINCI. 
 PLE OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 By JOEL BARLOW, 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE VISION OF COLUMBUS, A LETTER 
 THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, AND THE 
 CONSPIRACY OF KINGS. 
 
 PARIS: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE ENGLISH PRESS, RUE DE VAUGIRARD, 
 N. 1214; AND SOLD BY BARROIS, SENIOR, QUAI DE9 
 AUGUSTINS. 1793.
 
 To 
 ' 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 after the publication of the 
 Fir ft Part of this work, in February 1792, 
 my attention was called to other objects, 
 and it became impoiTible for me to finifh 
 the Second Part fo foon as I intended. 
 I left England in November laft ; and, 
 not having then completed the three laft 
 chapters propofed in the Introduction, I 
 left this chapter on Revenue and ^Expen- 
 diture in the hands of the bookfeller, de- 
 firing him to publifh it by itfelf. But the 
 violent attacks on the Liberty of the Prefs 
 in that country, which took place about 
 that time, induced him to fupprefs the 
 publication of this, and to difcontinue the 
 fale of the other. He has lately fent me 
 the Manufcript ; which I now offer, 
 without any alteration, to the Englifh 
 Prefs in Paris. 
 
 JOEL BARLOW. 
 
 Pans 2 7 Sept. 1/93.
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Revenue and Expenditure. 
 
 A Nation is furely in a wretched con- 
 dition, when the principal object of 
 its government is the increafe of its public 
 revenue. Such a ftate of things is in re- 
 ality a perpetual warfare between the 
 few individuals who govern, and the great 
 body of the people who labour* Or, to 
 call things by their proper names, and 
 ufe the only language which the moral 
 nature of the cafe will juftify, the real 
 occupation of the governors is either to 
 plunder or tofteal, as will beft anfwer their 
 purpofe ; while the bufmefs of the people 
 is to fecrete their property by fraud, or 
 to give it peaceably up, in proportion as 
 B the
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 the other party demands it ; and then, as 
 a confequence of being driven to this 
 neceffity, they flacken their induftry, and 
 become miferable through idlenefs ; in 
 order to avoid the mortification of labour- 
 ing for thofe they hate. 
 
 The art of conftru&ing governments 
 has ufually been to organize the State in 
 fuch a manner, as that this operation could 
 be carried on to the beft advantage for the 
 adminiftrators ; and the art of adminiftring 
 thofe governments has been, fo to vary 
 the means of feizing upon private pro- 
 perty, as to bring the greateft pofliblc 
 quantity into the public coffers, without 
 exciting infurredtions. Thofe govern- 
 ments which are called defpotic, deal 
 more in open plunder ; thofe that call 
 themfelves free, and ac*l under the cloak 
 of what they teach the people to reverence 
 as a conftitution, are driven to the arts 
 of ftealing. Thefe have fucceeded better 
 by theft than the others have by plunder ; 
 
 and
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 and this is the principal difference by 
 which they can be diftinguimed. Under 
 thefe con/lit utional governments the peo- 
 ple are more induftrious, and create 
 property fafter ; becaufe they are not 
 fenfible in what manner and in what 
 quantities it is taken from them. The 
 adminiftration, in this cafe, operates by 
 a compound movement ; one is to in- 
 duce the people to work, and the other 
 to take from them their earnings. 
 
 In this view of government, it is no 
 wonder that it mould be confidered as ft 
 curious and complicated machine, too 
 myfterious for vulgar contemplation, ca- 
 pable of being moved by none but ex- 
 perienced hands, and fubject to fall in 
 pieces by the flighted attempt at inno- 
 vation or improvement. It is no wonder 
 that a church and an army mould be 
 deemed neceffary for its fupport ; and 
 that the double guilt of impiety and re- 
 bellion mould follow the man who offers 
 Bz to
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 to enter its dark fanctuary with the pro- 
 fane light of reafon. It is not furprifing 
 that kings and priefts mould be fuppofed 
 to have derived their authority from God, 
 fmce it is evidently not given them by 
 men ; that they mould trace to a fuper- 
 natural fource claims which nature never 
 has recognized, and which are at war 
 with every principle of fociety. 
 
 
 
 I conftantly bear in mind, that there 
 is a refpectable clafs of men in every 
 country in Europe, who, whether im- 
 mediately interefted in the adminillration 
 of the governments or not, are con- 
 fcientioufly attached to the old eftablifhed 
 forms. I know not how much pain it 
 may give them to fee expofed to public 
 view the various combinations of iniquity 
 which appear to me to compofe the 
 iyfrem. But I mould pay a real com- 
 pliment to their fenfibility, in fuppofmg 
 that their anguim can be as great on 
 viewing the piclure, as mine has been 
 
 in
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 in attempting to draw it; or, that they 
 can fhudder as much at the profpect of a 
 change, as I have done in contemplating 
 fociety under the diftortions of its prererit 
 organization. I fee the noble nature of 
 
 o 
 
 man fo cruelly debafed, I fee the horfe 
 and the dog in fo many inftances railed 
 to a rank far fuperior to beings whom 
 I mufl acknowledge as my fellow-crea- 
 tures, and whom my heart cannot but 
 embrace w r ith a fraternal affection which 
 mud increafe with the infults I fee them 
 fuffer, I fee the pride of power and of 
 rank mounted to fb ungovernable a height 
 in thofe whom accident has called to di- 
 rect the affairs of nations, I fee the 
 faculty of realTon fo completely dormant 
 in both thefe claffes, and morality, the 
 indifpenfable bond of union among men, 
 fo effectually banifhed by the unnatural 
 combinations, which in Europe are called 
 Society, that I have been almoft de- 
 termined to relinquish the diiagreeable 
 tafk which I had prefcribed to myfblf 
 
 in
 
 in the firft part of this work, and, re- 
 turning to my country, endeavour in the 
 aew world to forget the miferies of the 
 Old. 
 
 But I reflect that the contemplation 
 of thefe mileries has already left an im- 
 preffion on my mind too deep to be eafily 
 effaced. I am likewife convinced that 
 all the moral evils under which we la-. 
 hour, may be traced without difficulty 
 to their proper fource, that the fpirit of 
 inveftigation, which the French revo- 
 lution has awakene^ in many parts of 
 Europe, is ftimulating the people to pur- 
 fue the enquiry, and will confequently 
 lead them to apply the remedy. Under 
 this profpecl, every perfon who but think? 
 ho can throw the leaft light upon the 
 lubjeft, is called upon for his afliftance ; 
 and this duty to his fellow-creatures be- 
 comes more imperious, as it is increafed 
 by the probability of fuccefs. 
 
 In
 
 In confidering the fubjecl: of Revenue 
 and Expenditure, as in other articles that 
 I have treated, I fhall confine myfelf 
 chiefly to the great outlines of the fyflem ; 
 only noticing its effect on the moral 
 habits of men; habits which muft be con- 
 iidered as the vital principles of fociety, 
 and which ought always to be kept in 
 view as the firfl object of government, 
 both in its original conflitution and in 
 every part of its adminiftration. I was 
 indeed fenfible that this fubjecl; would re- 
 quire more details ; and that it might be ' 
 ufeful to form an eftimate of the quantity 
 of contributions necefTary for any given 
 portion of mankind united in a national 
 intereft ; as we might thus be convinced 
 how fmall a revenue would be fiifTicient 
 for all the purpofes of a rational govern- 
 ment. But I find myielf happily relieved 
 from this part of my talk, by the appear- 
 ance of the fecond part of the Rights' of 
 Man, in which this branch of the fubjet 
 is treated in that peripicuous manner 
 
 which
 
 which might be expected from its author ; 
 a man whom I confider as a luminary of 
 the age, and one of the greateft bene- 
 factors of mankind. Neither my work, 
 nor any other that mall be written for 
 ages to come, will furely find a reader, 
 who will not have read the Rights of 
 Man. 
 
 \ '/ l^> j '. ; 
 
 Men are gregarious in their nature ; 
 they form together in fociety, not merely 
 from necetfity, to avoid the evils of foli- 
 tude, but from inclination and mutual at- 
 tachment. They find a pofitive pleafure 
 in yielding affiftance to each other, in 
 communicating their thoughts and im- 
 proving their faculties. This difpofition 
 in man is the fource of morals ; they have 
 their foundation in nature, and receive 
 their nourishment from fociety. The 
 different portions of this fociety, that call 
 themielves nations, have generally efta- 
 blifhed the principle of fecuring to the 
 individuals who compofe a nation, the 
 
 exclufive
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 exclufive enjoyment of the fruits of their 
 own labour ; referving however to the 
 governing power the right to reclaim 
 from time to time fo much of the pro- 
 perty and labour of individuals as (hall be 
 deemed necefiary for the public fervice. 
 This is the general bafis on which pro- 
 perty, public and private, has hitherto 
 been founded. Nations have proceeded 
 no farther. Perhaps in a more improved 
 flate of fociety, the time will come, 
 when a different fyftem may be intro- 
 duced ; when it mail be found more con- 
 genial to the focial nature of man to 
 exclude the idea of feparate property, 
 and with that the numerous evils which 
 feem to be entailed upon it. But it is 
 not my intention in this work to enter 
 upon that enquiry. 
 
 When the feudal lyftem, with all its 
 ferocities, was in full operation, the fu- 
 perior lord, who reprefented the power 
 of the flate, granted the lands to his im- 
 mediate
 
 mediate vaflals, on condition of militarjr 
 fervice. They engaged to ferve in the 
 wars of the lord paramount a certain 
 number of days in the year, at their 
 own expence. Thus they fHpulated as 
 to the quantity of fervice ; but gave up 
 the right of private judgment, as to the 
 objeEi of the war. This is the origin of 
 the revenue fyftem of modern Europe ; 
 and it began by debafing the minds of the 
 whole community ; as it hurried them 
 into actions, of which they were not to 
 enquire into the juftice or propriety. 
 Then came the focage tenures \ which, 
 were lands granted to another clafs of 
 vafTals, on condition of ploughing the 
 lords fields and performing his husbandry. 
 This was a more rational kind of fervice ; 
 though, by a mocking pervertion of 
 terms, it was called lefs honourable. 
 
 In proportion as war became lefs pro*- 
 duclive, and its profits more precarious, 
 than thofe of hufbandry, the tenures 
 
 upcj?
 
 ( '5 ) 
 
 upon knight-fervice were converted into 
 focage-tenures ; and finally it was found 
 convenient in moil cafes, efpecially in 
 England, to make a commutation of 
 the whole into money, in certain fixed 
 fums ; and this, by its fubfequent modifi- 
 cations and extenfions, has obtained the 
 name of a land-tax. Thefe feudal re- 
 venues of the crown, though they were 
 fuppoied to be fufficient for the ordinary 
 purpofes of government, were capable of 
 being increaied on any extraordinary oc- 
 caiion ; and iuch extraordinary occafions 
 were lure to happen, as often as the go- 
 vernment choie to draw more money 
 from the people. It began this operation 
 under the name of aids to the king, fub- 
 fidia regis ; and, in England (before it 
 was found necefTary to work the engine 
 by regular parliaments) various expedients 
 were uied to raiie from different clafTes of 
 the community thefe extraordinary aids. 
 In many cafes the authority of the pope 
 was brought in to the afliflance of the 
 
 king,
 
 ( 1 6 ) 
 
 king, to enable him to levy money for 
 the court. The pope, as head .of the 
 church, received a revenue from the 
 people of England through the Englifh 
 clergy ; and the king, on certain occasions, 
 agreed with him that he mould double 
 his demand ; on condition that the addi- 
 tional fum to be raifed, mould be divided 
 between themfelves.* 
 
 A perpetual pretext for thefe addi- 
 tional impofitions was always to be found 
 in foreign wars. Edward the Firft muft 
 fubdue the Welch ; a long fucceffion of 
 kings made the glory of the Britim nation 
 to confifr, in the reduction of Ireland ; 
 others, in conquering the tomb of (Thrift ; 
 and others, the crown of France. But 
 in common occurrencies, where the call 
 for money could not be predicated on any 
 national object fufficiently glaring to ex- 
 cite the enthufiafm or route the fears of 
 
 the 
 
 * Cunningham's Hiftory of Taxes, page 6.
 
 ( '7 ) 
 
 the people, it was the policy of the king 
 to detach fome particular clafTes of the 
 community from the common intereft, 
 and to extort money from them, as from 
 a common enemy. Thus all ftrangers 
 were heavily taxed on coming into the 
 realm ; thus Jews, with all the wealth 
 they pofTefled, were declared to be the 
 abfolute property of the king ; * thus, 
 after the religion of the government was 
 
 o o 
 
 changed, the papifts and non-jurors were 
 taxed double to the profeflbrs of the na- 
 tional religion ; and thus the king could 
 take a favage advantage of the misfortunes 
 of individuals, and feize their property, 
 under the title of wrecks, waifs, treafure- 
 trove, Jir ays, amercements and forfeitures. 
 
 Thefe, 
 
 * In one of the laws of Edward the Confeflbr 
 (which was repeatedly enforced long after the con- 
 queft, and perhaps is not repealed to this day) the 
 claufe refpe&ing the Jews is in thefe words : Judai 
 tt omnia fua funt regis ; quod in quifpiam detinuerit eos, 
 velpecuniam eorum, perquirat rex, Ji vult, tanquamfuum 
 propriwn.
 
 Thefe, and a vaft variety of other in- 
 ventions, have been pra&ifed by the 
 Englifh government, to legalize partial 
 robberies, and take pofTeflion of the peo- 
 ple's money, without the trouble of afking 
 for it. But all thefe means were infufficicnt 
 to fupply the unlimited expences of a go- 
 vernment founded on Orders, Privileges, 
 Rank and Ignorance, The mofl effec- 
 tual way to carry on the great bnfinefs of 
 revenue was found to be through the in- 
 tervention of a parliament ; and for this 
 purpofe the farce of reprefentation has 
 been afted over in this country, to much 
 better effect than any fpecies of fraud or 
 violence has been in any other. 
 
 It would be an infult to the underftand- 
 ing of any reader at this day, to defcribe 
 to him a thing fo well known, as the 
 manner in which this game is played 
 between the different branches of the 
 government. The fecret is out ; and 
 the friends of the fyftem, who ufed to 
 
 be
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 be occupied in concealing its operation, 
 are now engaged in defending it. The 
 drift of their defence is to change the 
 mode of the deception ; and perfuade the 
 people by argument, to fuffer to pafs be- 
 fore their eyes in open day-light, fcenes 
 which have hitherto been acted only in 
 the dark. The curtain has fallen from 
 their hands ; and they now declare that 
 the play can go on without it. This 
 for England, forms a new era in cabinet 
 politics. While the fyflem remains the 
 fame, the fcheme for carrying it on is 
 totally new-modelled ; and, like other 
 novelties in the courfe of human im- 
 provement, it becomes a proper fubjecl: 
 of our inveftigation. 
 
 I have known a juggler, who, after 
 having for a long time excited wonder 
 and drawn money from the multitude, 
 by tricks which were fuppofed to be the 
 efFet of magic, would come forward 
 with an engaging franknefs, and declare 
 
 that
 
 that there was really nothing fupernatural 
 in the art ; that it was only the effect of 
 a little experience and attention to phy- 
 fical caufes, not beyond the capacity of 
 any one in the company ; that, though 
 he had deceived them thus far, he was 
 now ready to undeceive them ; and, for 
 another fee, he would go through the 
 fame courfe again, with the explanations. 
 This ingenuous confeffion redoubled their 
 curioilty ; the fpe&ators continued their 
 attention, and renewed their contribu- 
 tions. 
 
 The government of Great Britain, un- 
 der King, Lords and Boroughs, is now 
 defended, both in and out of parliament, 
 by arguments unknown to former poli- 
 ticians. As nearly as any words, except 
 the right ones, can exprefs the full force 
 of thefe arguments, they are flated by. 
 their authors in the following language : 
 " No people ever has been or ever can 
 be capable of knowing what is for their 
 
 own
 
 good, of making their own laws, or 
 of pretending to underftand them after 
 they are made : as the people of England, 
 during the time of the commonwealth, 
 imbibed a different opinion, it has been 
 thought beft, efpecially fince the laft re- 
 volution, to cherim them in their error, 
 in order to come more eafily at their 
 money. We therefore told them that 
 they were free ; that they, as Englim- 
 men, ought to be free, becaufe their 
 anceftors were fo ; that Englim liberty- 
 was the envy and admiration of the 
 world ; that the French were their na- 
 tural enemies, becaufe they were (laves ; 
 and it was neceflary to make a war once 
 in feven years, to keep up this idea ; that 
 we were forry for the increasing burthen 
 of their taxes ; but that was a circum- 
 iftance not to be regarded by a free peo- 
 ple, as they had the privilege of taxing 
 themfelveSj and their taxes were the 
 price of their freedom in church and 
 ftate ; that, we intended to lefTen their 
 
 C burthens
 
 ( ) 
 
 '-burthens as foon as the enemies to our 
 -religion- and to our happy conftitution 
 
 were deftroyed. But now, gentlemen, 
 .we ice you have discovered, and we are 
 ;' willing to acknowledge, that this was 
 
 all a deception : as to liberty it is but a 
 . name ; man gives it up on entering into 
 
 Ibciery, in order to enjoy the benefits of 
 being; governed ; it never was nor ever 
 
 o o 
 
 -will be, realized by airy nation under 
 ; heaven ; witnefs the horrors of pretended 
 
 liberty in France, the daily afiaifinations 
 and perpetual robberies which you lee in 
 
 Mr. Burke's bt>ok from beginning to end; 
 
 witnels the late infatuation of the Ameri- 
 :cans ; who, already recovering their 
 
 Icnfcs, and fick of their boafted indepen- 
 dence,* are now wifhing to return to 
 
 the protection of their mother-country, 
 -where "tlity 'could purchafe their laws 
 
 ready 
 
 * 'Hiis is a fcrioi's argument, i:fc<l by fcveral writers 
 " as well as parliamentary and cofFee-Tioufe orntors, to 
 prove rhat liberty cannot cxift in any cctiutiy. Src 
 Di . Tutbam and othcis.
 
 ready made by us, who underhand th6 
 bufmefs ; as to the church, we are con- 
 vinced it is no matter on what fort of 
 religion it is founded, provided it be 
 well connected with the flate. We fhalJ 
 fay nothing in future of the burthen of 
 taxes, as it has been falfly called, the 
 phrafe itfelf has no longer any meaning \ 
 it is now clearly known that public taxes 
 are, in themfelveSj a public benefit ; 
 every well-wifher to his country muft 
 wifh them to increafe ; and for that pur- 
 pofe he will do all in his power to mul- 
 tiply the occafions for creating them ; 
 for it is acknowledged by all good fub- . 
 jects, that a national debt is national prof- 
 perity* and that We grow rich in propor- 
 tion to the money we pay out. XVe are 
 as frank to confefs, as any caveller is to 
 aflert, that the Houfe of Commons is 
 not a representation of the people ; it has 
 'ho connection with them, and it is no 
 longer to our piirpofe to fuppofe that it 
 has ; for the people have nothing to d< 
 
 C 2 wi f
 
 f H ) 
 
 * '- / 
 
 with the government, except to be go- 
 verned ; but the Houic of Commons is 
 retained in the ffote, for the fume reajfou 
 that the other branches of d>c legiflatqre, 
 and that courts 511,14 affWQS are retained, 
 for the fake of mcreafiug tlie wealth, aid 
 happinefs of the people in the augmenta- 
 tion of the revenue." 
 
 
 Let any perfou look over the whole 
 
 chaos of writings arvd fpeeches that have 
 been published within the lafl year againft 
 innovations in the government, and I ber 
 lieve he will fcarccly find an argument 
 more or lefs than what are here com- 
 prized. Now this is clearly a different 
 ground from what has heretofore been 
 taken in this country for the fupport of 
 the old fvftem. It ufed to be thought 
 neceflary to flatter and deceive ; but here 
 every thing is open and candid. Mr. 
 Burke, in a frenzy of pallion, has drawn 
 away the veil ; and ariftocracy, like a 
 decayed prpftitute, whom painting and 
 patching
 
 patching will no longer embellifh, throws 
 oiF her covering, to ge 
 dilplaying her ugli-nefs. 
 
 oiF her covering, to get a livelihood by 
 
 It is hard to pronounce with certainty 
 on the fuccefs of a project fo new ; but 
 it appears to me extremely improbable 
 that the naked deformities of defpotifm 
 can long be pleafing to a nation fo en- 
 lightened as the one to. which thefe ar- 
 guments are addrefiTed. I cannot but 
 think they are ill addrefled, and that 
 their authors have miffed their policy 
 in fuffering the people to open their 
 eyes to their true fituation. It is certain 
 that the Cardinal de RicTielieu has given 
 them different advice. He, like moll other 
 great men, is lefs known by his writings 
 than his actions ; but he left a poflhumous 
 work, called a Political 'fejlament^. which 
 has been remarkably neglected by thofe 
 for whofe good it was intended ; and 
 by -none more than by the prefent friends' 
 of ariftocracy in England. That pro- 
 
 found
 
 found politician obferves, " That fubjefti 
 " with knowledge, fenfe or reafon, are 
 " as monftrous as a beaft with an hun- 
 " dred eyes, and that fuch a beaft would 
 *' never bear its burthen peaceably. The 
 " people mutt be hood- winked, or rather 
 * ; blinded, if you would have them tame 
 *' and patient drudges. In fhort, you 
 " muft treat tliem every way like pack- 
 " horfes or mules, not excepting the 
 " bells about their necks ; which by 
 " their perpetual jingling, may be of 
 " ufe to drown their cares.'* 
 
 It muft be obferved, however, thafe 
 in the bufmefs of taxation, which is 
 nearly all the bufmefs of a public na- 
 ture that is done by the government 
 in England ; a policy not very differ- 
 ent from that of Richelieu has been prac- 
 tifed with great fuccefs. The aggregate 
 quantity of the revenue raifed upon the- 
 people has indeed been fomewhat known ; 
 but the portion paid by each individual,
 
 and the time, manner and reafon of his 
 paying it, are circumftances enveloped in 
 total darknefs. To keep the fubjecl: ig- 
 norant of thefe things is the great fecrct 
 in the modern fcience of finance. The 
 money he pays to government being in- 
 corporated with every thing on which 
 he lives, all that he can know of the 
 matter is, that whether he eats, drinks 
 or deeps, walks or rides, fees the light 
 or breathes the air, whatever he docs, 
 drains from him a tax; and this tax is to 
 llipport the luxury of thoie who tell him 
 they are born to govern. But on which 
 
 J to 
 
 of thefe functions the tax falls the heavi- 
 eft, whether the greateil proportion 
 lies upon his bread or his beer, his fhoes 
 or his hat, his labours or his pleasures, 
 his virtues OF his vices, it is impoflible 
 for any man to know. As therefore h? 
 Cannot difpenfe with the whole of his 
 animal functions, without ceafmg to ex- 
 ift, and as this expectant is not often 
 fb eligible as fubmitting to the irapo- 
 
 fition,
 
 fition, there is no danger but the tax 
 will be colle&ed. 
 
 It is difficult to dpfcribe, perhaps im- 
 poifible to conceive, the quantity of evils 
 wrought in fociety from this mode of 
 collecting revenue by deception; or lay- 
 ing the duty in fuch a manner, that the 
 people (hall not be fenfible when or how 
 it is paid. This is extremely unlike that, 
 manly principle of mutual confidence on 
 which men unite in fociety. It is the 
 reverfe of that conducl, which, arifing 
 from the open integrity of our own; 
 hearts, is the guarantee of integrity ini 
 others. It is a policy that muft have> 
 originated from two contending interefts 
 in the nation, from a jealoufy of their 
 own power in the legidative body, from 
 a knowledge that fomething was wrong 
 in themfelves or in the fyftem, and from* 
 a confcioufnefs that one or the other, or 
 bothy were unworthy of the cciifidenee 
 of the people by whom they were fup- 
 |>ort;ed. j
 
 I am aware that in the do&rine which 
 I fhall lahour to efbblim on this iub- 
 jet, I fhall have to encounter the whole 
 weight of opinion of modern times. Men 
 of all parties, and of all defcriptions, both 
 the friends, and the enemies of equal 
 liberty, feem to be agreed in one point 
 relative to public contributions : That 
 tie tax Jhculd be fo far difguifed, as to 
 render the payment imperceptible at the 
 time of paying it. This is almoft the 
 only point in which the old and new 
 fyflems agree, in thofe countries where 
 a change of principle has taken place ; 
 it is one of thole rare petitions, on 
 which theorifts themfelves have formed 
 but one opinion. It is therefore not 
 without much reflection, and as great a 
 degree of caution as a ferious advocate 
 for truth ought ever to obferve, that 
 I fhall proceed to examine a pofition, 
 which, refling on the accumulated ex- 
 perience of mankind, has not yet been 
 fhakeri by enquiry* 
 
 I will
 
 I will begin by acknowledging the 
 force of two obfervations, which go to- 
 the liipport of the prefent fyftem, as it 
 applies to moft of the exifting govern- 
 ments and to the prefent ftate of fociety 
 in Europe : I . As long as public revenues 
 muft remain as great as they now are, 
 and as difproportioned to the abilities of 
 the people, it is abfolutely neceiTary to 
 difguife the taxes on which they depend ; 
 other wife they cannot be collected. 2. As 
 long as theie revenues are applied to the 
 purpofcs to which they now are, it is im- 
 poffible to collect them but by fraud or 
 violence ; and violence has been found 
 by repeated trials, efpecially in England, 
 not to anfwer the purpole fo well as 
 fraud. While fociety remains divided 
 into two parties, which are conftitu- 
 titma-ly oppofed to each other, it i&im- 
 poflible but that they muft regard each 
 other r.s enemies, and their conduct muft 
 be the diftate of mutual averfion. When 
 the people fee that paying money to their 
 
 governors,
 
 ( 3' ) 
 
 governors, is paying it to their enemies, 
 they certainly never can give it with a 
 good will ; and when they know that 
 this money lerves only to 'ftrenglhen the 
 hands of their oppreffors in forging new 
 weapons of oppreffion againft themfelves, 
 they muff, feel an obligation lying upon 
 them to withhold it, rather than to pay 
 it. In this cafe,, defrauding the revenue 
 is con fide red not only as juftice to them- 
 felves, but as a duty to their children. 
 A tax under thefe circumftances is more 
 naturally objectionable than the Dane-gelt \ 
 which was formerly paid in England : 
 that contribution was made by the people, 
 to hire a foreign enemy to leave them 
 in peace ; and it always had a temporary 
 good effect. But a contribution paid to 
 the people's enemies at home, who being 
 few in number, muft foon, if unfup- 
 ported, fall of themfelves, cannot pro- 
 mife even a temporary benefit ; the hand 
 of the enemy that receives -it, does not 
 fb much as lay down its ; weapon while 
 
 if
 
 ( V ) j 
 
 it grafps the money. As long therefore 
 as ibciety continues in its prefent difor- 
 dered condition, any arguments drawn 
 from moral propriety mud be over- 
 powered by tht ftrong voice of neceifity ; 
 for reafons of nature generally fall in a 
 conflict with reafons of ftate. 
 
 V -r* 
 
 But as a new order of things besrins, 
 
 o o 
 
 to make its appearance, and principle is 
 no longer to be borrowed from prece- 
 dent, we will endeavour to difcover the 
 ground of the received doctrine relative 
 
 G> 
 
 to taxation ; and enquire how far that 
 doctrine is, in itfelf, an object of reform. 
 Out of the feventeen millions fterling 
 which are annually paid into the ex- 
 chequer in England, but about two mil- 
 lions and a half are levied in direct 
 taxes ; that is, in taxes laid in fuch a 
 manner as to be paid directly to the fifcal 
 officers by the perfons on whom the 
 burthen falls. Thefe are chiefly com-> 
 prehended in the taxes, on lartds and 
 * houfes.
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 houfes. In France, before the revolution, 
 .the proportion of direct taxes was much 
 greater. According to the ftatement of 
 M. Necker, it was near eight 
 fterling, out of about twenty-four rnilli 
 and a. half, of which th? public 
 confined. This is fomething lefs than a 
 thir4 ; while the proportion in England 
 is little more than a fsventh. Thefe pro- 
 portions are fuppofed by fome of t}ip 
 moil approved reafoners on the fubjet, 
 in each country, particularly M. Neckex 
 and Sir John Sinclair, to be as high as 
 it would be prudent to go with direct 
 taxation. The remaining portion of the 
 immenfe revenues in thefe two king- 
 doms, about fixteen millions and a half 
 for France, and fourteen and a half for 
 England, was railed in the former, and is 
 ftill raifed in the latter, by indirect taxa- 
 tion ; by cuftams, excife, and inland 
 duties of various kinds, called taxes on 
 confumption. The art of imposing theft, 
 fo^as to infure their cc!le<5Hcn, is to in- 
 corporate
 
 Corporate the fum to be raifed for govern^ 
 ment with the price of every thing for 
 which men pay their money in the cpurfc 
 of life. It is the hook within the bait 
 of all our plcafurcs, of all our conve- 
 niences, and of all our necefTaries. The 
 hook cannot be feparated from the bait, 
 nor the bait from our exiftence. With 
 regard to individuals, the queftidn is 
 not, fhall we pay the tax ? but, mall we 
 exift ? The continuance of life is a con- 
 tinuance of the tax ; and the language of* 
 the fyftem is, pay the debt to gdvfcrii- 
 ment, or pay the debt to nature. 
 
 . It is faid in Ethics, on the fiibjeft of 
 necejpty, that, fuppofmg there is no 
 choice of a&ion, there can be no moral 
 agency, and no virtue. We will not 
 enquire into the propriety of the fnp- 
 pofition or of the confeqiienccs drawn 
 from it, as it refpefts our f elation to the 
 Deity, and our fubjeftion to the great 
 laws of nature; tut there can bt' ; fro 
 
 *
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 (ioubt that the reafoning is juft, when 
 applied to the laws of fociety. Perhaps 
 it is true, that, where I am prompted by 
 the invifible defliny of nature, to do an 
 aclion for the good of my fellow- 
 creatures, this a&ion is virtuous ; but 
 when the necerlity for this action arifes 
 directly from the pofitive laws of fociety, 
 in whofe favour it is to be performed, 
 when the argument derives its force 
 from the ax held over my neck, no idea 
 of virtue -can be annexed to the action ; 
 it is merely mechanical. On this grouixl 
 we may eflablim a pofition, which I be- 
 lieve will not be controverted : that 
 the exercife of private judgment is the 
 foundation of moral virtue ; and confe- 
 quently, that all operations of govern- 
 ment carry deilruclion to the latter, in 
 proportion as they deprive us of the 
 former. An arbitrary order impofed by a 
 mafter, whether it be upon a nation or a 
 fimple dorneftic fcrvant, tends to debafe 
 the mind, and crufli that native dignity 
 
 which
 
 which is abfolutely necefTary to the efc* 
 iftence of merit, or of felf-approbation. 
 And the effect that fuch an order pro- 
 duces on the mind is nearly the fame, 
 "whether the aclion enforced be right or 
 
 wrong. 
 
 The true object of* the focial compact 
 is to improve our moral faculties, as well 
 las to fupply our phyfical wants ; and 
 "Where it fails in the firft of thefe, it 
 certainly will fail in the laft. But where 
 the moral purpofe is attained, there can 
 be no fear but that the phyfical one will 
 be the infeparable confequence ; place 
 fociety on this footir, and there will 
 be no aid or duty that the general in- 
 terefl can require from individuals, but 
 what every individual will underftand. 
 His duties, when firft propofed, will all 
 be voluntary, and being clearly under- 
 flood to be founded on the good of the 
 \ihole community, he will find a greater 
 perfonal intcrefl in the performance than 
 
 he
 
 he would in the violation. There is no 
 petition more undeniable in my appre- 
 henfion, than that this would always be 
 the cafe with a great majority of any 
 people ; and if we fuppofe a fmall por- 
 tion of refractory perfonSj who, from 
 want of original confent, or from a fub- 
 fequent change of opinion, mould refute 
 to perform their duties ; in this cafe, the 
 opinions of the great majority affume the 
 fhape of government, and procure a com- 
 pliance by compulfion and reftraint. This 
 is the only fure foundation on which we 
 can ever build the real dignity of fociety 
 or the correfponding energy of govern- 
 ment. It is eftablifhing the moral rela- 
 tions of men on the moral fenfe of men ; 
 and it is this union alone that cail cherilh 
 our efheem or command our refpect. 
 
 On this plan, it is of the utmofl im- 
 portance that the wants of the rtate mould 
 never be difguifed, and that the duty of 
 the individual, in fupplying thofe wants, 
 
 D mould
 
 /hould never be performed by decep- 
 tion. If the itate be properly organized, 
 iiich dilguile and deception will be un- 
 aegefiary ; and if we wifh to preierve 
 it from degeneration, they will be ex- 
 tremely dangerous ; as, by attacking the 
 moral lenfe of the people, they fa p the 
 foundation of the (late. 
 
 
 When a company of merchants, or 
 other private men, engage in an enter- 
 pi tie that requires contributions in money, 
 we hear of no difficulties in railing the 
 ilipulated turns among the different part- 
 ners in the company. Every partner 
 makes it his bufmefs to underftand the 
 nature of the concern ; he expects an ad- 
 vantage from the enterprite, and pays his 
 money with the fame willingnefs, as he 
 would pay it in his private bufineis. He 
 \\ould feel himiclf infulted, if any dif- 
 guifc were thrown upon the lubject, to 
 cheat him into his duty. Indeed, when 
 the enterprlfo has come to an end, or 
 
 when
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 when there is an apprehenfion of lofs, 
 or a fufpicion of mifmanagement in the 
 agents, it is natural to expect a re- 
 luctance in payment, which is only to 
 be overcome by the arts of deception or 
 the compulfion of law. But this is not 
 the cafe while the company is in a prof- 
 perous condition, and while its members 
 are united by mutual confidence in pur- 
 fuit of a common intereft. A nation, 
 whofe government mould be habitually 
 in the hands of the whole community, 
 would always be a company in this prof- 
 perous condition ; its concerns would be 
 a perpetual and promifing enterprife, in 
 which every individual would find his 
 intereft and repofe his confidence* Per- 
 fonal protection and public happinefs 
 would be the objects aimed at in the 
 adminiftration ; and thefe would be in- 
 fallibly attained, becaufe no human acci- 
 dents could prevent it. There could be 
 no fufpicion of mifmanagement in the 
 agents, they being perpetually under the 
 D 2 contronj
 
 ( <* ) 
 
 .controul of the whole people. Every 
 reafoii, therefore, which could induce 
 individuals :to with-hold itheir pecuniary 
 contributions, would-be entirely removed; 
 and the fame motives twhich .influence a 
 jnan to give his attention and pay his 
 money in his own pcrlbual concerns, 
 would engage him to do die lame things 
 in the concerns of the public. 
 
 If tihefe portions are not true, then 
 have 1 miiconceived the character of the 
 human hearty and the Teal effects to be 
 wrought on ibcioty by .a rational iyftein 
 of government ; but if they are acknow- 
 ledged to be true, it ought to be an in- 
 (lifpenfable maxim to abolilh and avoid 
 every vefbige of indirect taxation. It 
 muft appear evident, that to raile money 
 from the people by any other method, 
 than by openly aligning to every one 
 his portion, and then demanding that 
 portion as a direct contribution, is un- 
 neceflary to the object of revenue, and 
 
 deflructive
 
 deftructive to the firft principles of fo- 
 ciety. It has long been complained of 
 m England (fo long that the complaint 
 has almoft ceafed to make any imprerlioii 
 even on the minds of thofe who repeat 
 it) that the Excife is an odious tax. The 
 pe'afon on which the complaint is founded 
 is what the principle of government, and 
 of the oppofitioa to the government, 
 would naturally fuggeft ; but it is not 
 
 ' OO 
 
 the reafon which I mould aflten. The 
 
 o 
 
 tax is faid to bs odious, chiefly becaufe^ 
 it throws a vexatious power into the 
 hands of the revenue officers, to fearch 
 the houfes and infpecl the affairs. of indi- 
 viduals. As long as the government and 
 the people are two oppolite parties in the 
 jftate, at continual enmity with each other, 
 it is natural that each party mould wifh 
 to conceal its operations, the better to 
 fucceed in their mutual hoftility and de- 
 fence ; for fecrecy is one of the weapons 
 of war. But if the ft'ate coniifted of 
 nothing . more than one great fociey 
 
 com*
 
 compofed of all the people, if the go- 
 vernment was their will, and its object 
 their happinefs, the reafons for fecrecy 
 would ceafe, the .inteftine war would 
 ceafe, the parties would ceafe. 
 
 The bufinefs of the ftate and the bufi- 
 nefs of individuals might be fafely ex- 
 pofed to all the world. An open ge- 
 nerofity of conduct, the reciprocal fign 
 and guarantee of integrity, would mark 
 the character of every member of fociety, 
 whether adding as a public agent, or as a 
 private citizen. 
 
 But the great objection which ought to 
 be made againft the Excife, is the fame 
 as will apply to Cuftoms, Duties, and 
 all other tricks of a fimilar kind, by which 
 the money is drained from the people 
 without their knowledge or content. The 
 
 o 
 
 whole fyftem of indirect taxation, fo uni-> 
 verfal in Europe, fa -much extolled by the 
 ableft financiers, as neceflary in compofmg 
 
 their
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 their enormous rnaffes of extorted revenue, 
 is wrong from its foundation, and muft 
 be vicious in its practice. It is built on the 
 great ariftocratical principle, that men 
 muft be governed by fraud ; and it can 
 be only neceffary to that fyftem of ma- 
 nagement which divides the nation into 
 two permanent parties, the party that re- 
 eeives and the party that pays. 
 
 The wretched refburce that govern- 
 ments have found in Lotteries, * Ton- 
 tines, and Annuities upon feparate lives, 
 
 merits 
 
 . 
 
 * It was my intention in this place to have noticed, 
 fomewhat more at large, the pernicious tendency of 
 Public Lotteries. But the late cri(is in the government 
 of France, when the people found it neccffary to re- 
 vile their Conftitution, offered an occafion for making 
 fonie- remarks which I thought might be ufeful to 
 thep} on the bufmefs then lying before them. I there- 
 fore published a flaort Treatife on the Defects of "their 
 Conftitution in "A Letter to the National Convention," 
 in which are particularly treatetl the fubjecl: of- Lotteries, 
 that of public Salaries, and feveral other matters, which 
 otherwife would have come into this Efiay on Revenue.
 
 ( 44 > 
 
 merits the fevereft cenfure, and ought tq 
 be held up to the execration of mankind, 
 the moment we are ready to refort to the 
 real principles of our nature, in managing 
 the affairs of nations. A tontine partakes 
 at once of the nature of lotteries and of 
 fimple life-annuities, and involves in itfelf 
 the principal vices of both. Like a lot- 
 tery it is founded in the fpirit of gam-^ 
 bling ; and like a life-annuity, it detaches 
 a man from the feelings and interefts of 
 his friends, of fociety and of all man- 
 kind, except thofe of the particular clafs 
 of the tontine to which he belongs ; ,and 
 to them he is rendered, in a literal fenfe, 
 a mortal enemy, 
 
 Borrowing Money upon life-annuities^ 
 as an operation of government, has beeix 
 much more prac"tifed in France than in 
 England. The reafon of this is well 
 explained by Adam Smith.* It waa 
 owing to the fuperior influence, in that 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, Book V. Cbap. III. 
 
 country,
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 country, of thofe unnatural diftin&ions 
 among families, which prevent them 
 from aflbckting with each other on the 
 principles of mutual attachment ; prin- 
 ciples congenial to the human heart, and 
 no J-efs necefTary to individual happinefs, 
 than to the good order of focietv and the 
 
 Q * 
 
 profperity of the ftate. The pride of 
 birth and the jealoufy of rank operate* 
 011 fociety like congelation- and con- 
 euffion on a body of water : they freeze 
 up the whole mafs, and break it into a 
 thouiand pieces ; which refufe to unite 
 among themfelves, or to anfwer the pur- 
 pofes which nature has afligned to the 
 element. The genius of ariftocracy, by 
 the difHnftions of birth, 'had eftablifhed 
 in France almofl as many ranks as there 
 were families. Thefe were perpetually 
 repelling and repelled, tormented by jea- 
 loufies, and kept afunder by artificial 
 averfions, which filenced the voice of 
 nature, and counteracted every objedl: of 
 Society. A man in this frozen, ifolated 
 
 and
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 and repulfive ftate of things, becomes a 
 proper object for the government to fe^ 
 duce into a felfim hoflility againft the 
 generous duties of life, by the tempta- 
 tion of life-annuities. An elegant French 
 author defcribes the annuitant as having 
 fubdued every fentiment moft dear to the 
 human heart : "He amaffes his whole, 
 capital upon his own head, makes the 
 king his univerfal legatee, fells his owa 
 pofterity at the rate of ten per cent,, 
 clifmherits his brothers, nephews, friends,, 
 and fbmetimes his own children. He 
 never marries ; he vegetates, till the re- 
 turn of the quarter day, and enquires 
 with eagernefs in the morning, whether 
 he is ftill alive; his whole exercife of 
 body and mind confifts in going once in 
 three .months to the notary at the corner 
 of the ftreet, to fign his receipt, aad ob- 
 tain a certificate, that he is not yet 
 dead." The officers of government know 
 very well the advantages derived from 
 long humid winters and epidemical dif-< 
 
 eafes ;
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 eafes ; and they muft delight in the 
 winnings of the game thus played by 
 the public treafury in partnerfhip with 
 
 death.* 
 
 I am 
 
 * For a more lively and affe&ing picture than I 
 fhould be able to give, of the evils arifing from this 
 fyflem, the reader is referred to the original of the 
 fhort {ketch, drawn by the above author, Mr. Mercier, 
 n his Tableau de Paris, ch. 76. The following is a 
 part of it, 
 
 *' Mais comment un gouvernement fage a-t-il pu 
 ouvrir la portc aux nombreux & incroyables defor- 
 dres qui naiflent des rentes viageres ? Les liens de 
 la parent^ romp us, 1'oifivete' penfionne'e, le ce"Iibat 
 autorise, IVgoifme triomphant, la durete reduite en 
 fyfteme & en pratique ; voila les moindres inconve- 
 niens qui en refultent. N'eft ce point cet appat, 
 donne trop facilement a Tamour de foi-meme & aux 
 jouiffances perfonnelles & exclufives, qui fait qu'il 
 n'y a plus de parens, plus d'amis, plus de citoyens ? 
 Tout a fonds-perdu, amitie, amour, parente, ten- 
 drefle, vous etes auffi a fonds-perdu ! Neuf, dix pour 
 cent ; & apres moi le deluge. Voila I'axiome meurtrier 
 & triomphant ! 
 
 Le nombre des filles qui ont pafle 1'age de fe marier 
 eft innombrable 4 Paris : elles ont figne des contrats
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 1 am fennble that all thefe 
 which go to a change of fyftem in the 
 collection of revenue, are deftined to 
 reft merely in fpeculation, in all countries 
 fr.il! afHifted with unnatural plans of go- 
 vernment ; for fo they muft reft, till 
 a total change of principle (hall have 
 taken place. But let it not be faid that, 
 on this account, the hints here given, 
 are ufele(s. 'If they are founded in 
 truth and reafon, the French Republic 
 will foon be able to adopt them. By 
 the time that its government -mall be 
 permanently fettled, its public debt will 
 doubtlefs be very confiderably reduced. 
 Its necefTary revenue will then be fo 
 fmall, compared with what it hitherto 
 has been, the people will he fo far ele- 
 
 de rente viagere, ce qui les empeche de figner un con- 
 tratde manage; car la premiere rejexion que Ton 
 fait, roule fur 1'in^vitable misere des enfans (jui feront 
 jflus d'un tel noeud. 
 
 Un contrat viager ifole toujours un particulier, 6c 
 rcmpeche d remplir les devoir* de citoyen." 
 
 vatecj- 
 
 i
 
 < 49 ) 
 
 vated to the dignity of. freemen, and 
 accuflomed to- the duties >f citizens, 
 that they will, find a fenfible pleafure, 
 rather than a ferviLe talk, in paying 
 their, contributions to the Hate. This 
 <reaibiiing may likewiie be thought wor- 
 thy of coniideration in the United States 
 of America; where perhaps it may be 
 followed by the fame effects. With 
 refpecl: to other countries, we muft 
 wait. A reformation of fo deep a na- 
 ture muft be preceded by a perfect 
 regeneration of fociety ; fuch as can " 
 only be expected from a radical change 
 of principle in the government. 
 
 I am lenfible that men, whofe ex- 
 perience in the management of public 
 affairs has taught them to judge with 
 feverity oil the various perveriities of 
 human nature, will find many obvious 
 objections to a theory fo different from 
 that on which their pra6tife has been 
 founded- If I do not anticipate all 
 
 their
 
 their arguments in form, I certainly 
 mean to do it in fubftance ; for I am 
 hot unapprifed of their weight. Where 
 the revenue is to be railed only for 
 honeji purpofes, and where it is to be 
 kept within a moderate compafs, fo 
 that the taxes are to be lio more than 
 what a well-organized community would 
 be willing to lay upon itfelf, all argu- 
 ments agairtft raifing the whole by 
 direct taxation are reducible to thcfe 
 two points : the improvident temper of 
 one clafs of meil, and the unreasonable 
 felfijhnefs of others, have always render- 
 ed it difficult to obtain from them 
 their contributions by direct and open 
 means. The firil of thefe claifes com- 
 prehends many of the poor labouring 
 people in the great towns. Thefe 
 people are in the habit of {pending all 
 thcy can earn, if not for the neceflaries 
 of life, at Icaft for Superfluous or vi* 
 cious gratifications. They never pro- 
 vide for a future want, even their 
 
 own
 
 ( 5' ) 
 
 town 5 much lefs would they think of 
 providing for the wants of the {rate. 
 As it is vain to aik for money where it does 
 notexift, no tax can be collected by apply- 
 ing' dire ctly to that clafs of men. It is 
 therefore thought beft to minsrle the tax 
 
 o o 
 
 with their meat and drink ; and, fmce 
 they will fpend all their money for thefc, 
 let a part of it go to the ftate. 
 
 To this argument feveral anfwers may 
 be offered : firft^ it is in a great mea- 
 lure owino; to the inherent defers of the 
 
 o 
 
 government, that fuclv a clafs of im- 
 provident men is found in any fbciety. 
 That men of good intellects and found 
 conftitittioiis fliould be inattentive to the 
 means of procuring happinefs, is certainly 
 Contrary to the analogy of nature. Indeed 
 we overlook the caufe when we go back to 
 nature for it ; there is no doubt but it is 
 
 alwavs to be found in their relative fitua- 
 
 j 
 
 tion in the focial ftate. It is the want of 
 early inflruction, or the want of proper ob* 
 jccls of emulation to ftimulate the mind to 
 a fenfe of its own dignity, as relative to
 
 the fociety in which it has to act. When 
 the man is taught to know and feel that 
 he never can rife above the condition of 
 a beaft of burthen, he acts at leaft a con- 
 fident part, perhaps even a wife part, in 
 Hunting his feelings, and beating down 
 
 his mind to the level of his deftination. 
 
 ' t 
 
 But it is not nece'flary to fuppofe that 
 
 * 
 
 perfons in general, who are found in the 
 clafs above defcribed, have to go through 
 the fame proceis of reafoning, and then 
 of killing their reafon, in order to arrive 
 at this condition. Such indeed muft have 
 beeri the origin of the bunnefs in the nrft 
 mftance ; but afterwards, the greater part 
 are born in this element of apathy ; they 
 are furrounded all their lives by no other 
 examples but beings of this fort ; and they 
 never have a thought of a .wim beyond 
 their prefent fituation. Their only object 
 is to banilh all thought and fHfle every 
 with ; and whether they perim under the 
 walls of an ale-houfe, or in a king's fhip, 
 or on the king's gallows, is to them a mat- 
 ter of perfect indifference. Such
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 i 
 
 Such is the deplorable condition of a nu- 
 merous clafs of beings whom monarchs and 
 minifters mutt recognize as their fellow- 
 creatures ; and if they are called more 
 vitious than their rulers, it is becaufe we 
 have perverted the meaning of the word. 
 But I am not finding fault with men of any 
 particular defcription whatever. In this 
 drama of human mifery, in which fo many 
 diftorted characters are adled, our moral 
 faculties are warped and fitted to the part 
 affigned us ; and we perform it without 
 fcruple or enquiry. The judge upon the 
 berich is fcarcely more to blame, than the 
 fhupid felon he condemns. The oppreffors 
 and the opprefTed, of every denomination, 
 are, in general, juil as wicked and juft as 
 abiurd as the fyftem of government re- 
 quires. In mercy to them all, let the 
 fyilem be changed, let fbciety be reftored, 
 and human nature retrieved. 
 
 Thofe who compofe th'e middle claffes 
 
 of mankind, the cla/Tes in which the iem- 
 
 blance of nature mod refides, are called 
 
 E upon
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 upon to perform this tafk. It is 
 as reafon is (low in returning to the mind 
 from which it has been fo fatally banimed, 
 it will require fome time to bring the men, 
 who now fill the two extremes in the 
 wretched fqale of rank, to a proper view 
 of their new ftation of citizens. Minds 
 that have long been crufhed under the 
 weight of privilege and pride, or of 
 miiery and defpair, are equally diftant 
 from all rational ideas of the {dignity of 
 man. But even thefe claiTes may be 
 brought back by degrees to be ufeful mem- 
 bers of the ftate ; and there would foon 
 be no individual, but would find himfelf 
 happier for the change. Place govern- 
 ment on the wifdom of the whole people, 
 and they will always have wifdom enough 
 to conduct it. 
 
 Second^ under this natural organization 
 of the (late, mould there remain a fmall 
 number of improvident men, unable to 
 perform trie duties of active citizens, 
 
 there
 
 ( 55 
 
 there would be many reafons for excuiing 
 them from any part of the public burthen* 
 It is probable that very few inftances 
 would be found, where the inability did 
 not arife from mental or bodily defeats ; 
 in which cafe, their claim on fociety for 
 a fupport, would take place of any claim 
 that fociety could have upon them for the 
 payment of a tax. In addition to thefe, 
 we may fuppofe a few others, who, from 
 accidental lofles, or other misfortunes to 
 which feparate property is liable, might 
 be unable to anfwer the demand of the 
 collector ; thefe the government would 
 naturally excufe. If, after thefe, there 
 mould remain another clafs, who, wan- 
 tonly regardlefs of their own happinefs 
 and of their focial duties, mould be found 
 without the means of payment, (which is 
 a fuppofition I admit only for the fake 
 of argument) the lofs to the ftate Would 
 be very trifling in omitting to collect 
 from them. It would bear no com- 
 parifon to the infinite mifchiefs that 
 E proceed
 
 ( 56 ) ; _ .. ; 
 
 proceed from the iyftem of dilgtiifc. 
 
 
 As to the Other point of obje&ion, 
 anting -from the unreafpnable filjifl^nej^ 
 of. fomc forts of people, which makes it 
 difficult to come at their money by any 
 dire& application to their perfbns, it de- 
 M a farther conlideration. But to 
 give it a full difcuMIon would lead to a 
 new range of fpeculation into human 
 nature, extending to a length which I 
 fear would be difpraportjoaate to the li- 
 mits ailigned to tliis chapter, I cannot 
 be iatisfted with the common opinions 
 we have entertained in regard to the 
 effecl that property would naturally have 
 upon the human mind. I fay naturally \ 
 not in ccntradiiKuclion to thefocia/ ftate, 
 but in contradiftinclion to the unnatural 
 {rate, in \vhich government, founded on 
 conqucil: or accident, has hitherto placed 
 mankind. A natural flatc of fi>cietv, or 
 
 ^ 7 
 
 a nation organized as human roafon would 
 dictate, for the purpofc of fi.ipplying the 
 
 greatefl
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 greatest quantity of our phyfical wants, 
 with the corresponding improvement of 
 our moral faculties, has never yet beea 
 thoroughly tried. It mutt be confefled 
 therefore that the opinions we have 
 formed of the human heart ftand a 
 chance of being erroneous ; as t)iey have 
 been formed under the difguife of im- 
 preffions which do not belong to its 
 nature. The picture of man could not 
 have been fairly drawn while he fat 
 with a veil upon his face. Thefe fact's 
 being premifed, if we wifh to come at 
 his genuine character, the hiftory of his 
 actions mud be received with particular 
 caution ; as but little reliance can be had 
 upon their teftimony. The labyrinths of 
 error in which he has been forced to 
 wander, the delufive tapers with which 
 he has been conducted, and the load of 
 abufea under which he has had to flruggle', 
 
 muft have dimmed his underftandins; and 
 
 o 
 
 debafed his moral powers, to a degree 
 that cannot yet be accurately known. He 
 
 rifes
 
 rifes into light, aftonimed at what he is, 
 afhamed of what he has been, and un- 
 able to conjecture at what he may arrive. 
 Some general traits, however, may be 
 difcovered in his character, and recog- 
 nized as the genuine ftamp of nature. 
 Among thefe may be reckoned a certain 
 deiire in every individual of obtaining 
 the good opinion of his fellow-creatures. 
 Some degree of diftintion, at leaft fb 
 far as to acquire an individuality of cha- 
 racter among his equals, and merit their 
 relpecl: and confidence, is doubtlefs na- 
 tural to man ; and whatever, in a true 
 fenfe, is natural, is, in the fame fenie 
 laudable. A man, without the artificial 
 aid that fociety gives him, has but two 
 resources on which he can rely for ob- 
 taining this refpect ; thefe are his pbyjical 
 and his moral powers. By the cultivation 
 of one or both of thefe, he renders him- 
 felf ufeful, and merits the diftinclion that 
 he wifhes. Property, which is called, 
 perhaps with fufficient accuracy, the crea,- 
 ture of fociety, is fecured to individuals*,
 
 ( 59 ) 
 
 only for their private benefit ; or at moft 
 as a pledge of their attachment to the 
 community, by which it is guaranteed. 
 It is not expected, on the true principles 
 of fociety, that an individual fliould dif- 
 pole of any part of his own property to 
 the benefit of the public. So much of 
 it as the public requires in contributions, 
 is demanded as a right ; it belongs to 
 the flate by the nature of the focial con- 
 trac"l, in return for the guarantee of the 
 reft. It cannot be intended therefore that 
 this mould be the way in which a man 
 mould ufe his property, to procure to 
 himfelf refpecl: ; neither is it fb in fact. 
 The reliance he has upon it, for the pur- 
 pole of refpect, is founded on a different 
 principle. Except fuch proportion as is 
 neceflary in fupplying his perfonal wants, 
 the poflefTor makes ufe of his property . 
 as a fign, or as a'fubftitute, of perfonal 
 merit. Indeed fo far as his property is 
 the fruit of his own exertions, it is not 
 an unnatural indication of abilities ; and 
 
 even
 
 even where it has defcended to him from 
 his anceftors, it is not a more unrea- 
 fonable ground of pretenfion, than here- 
 ilitary titles of any other defcription. 
 
 On this principle, it is eafy to trace the 
 beginnings of a deviation from a rational^ 
 eftimate of things, in our attachment to 
 property. A government which had been 
 founded in, violence, and was to be car- 
 ried on for the exclufive benefit of a 
 fmall proportion of the community, muft 
 have been under the neceffity, at all 
 times, of fupporting itfelf by impofitioai. 
 This circumftance goes at once to the 
 difcouragement and difufe of the moral 
 powers of individuals ; as they muft ceafe 
 to be/cultivated, the moment thev ceafe 
 
 J 
 
 to be re fper.ed. As the nation, at the 
 fame time, grew more.numerous, and the 
 fuccefs of war and other great operations 
 were found to depend lefs on bodily 
 Jlrength) this too began to lofe its efti^ 
 mation, 'and could no longer be relied on, 
 
 as
 
 ( 6' ) 
 
 as a title to refpe&. A natural refource 
 therefore, by which to efcape from thcfe 
 unnatural reftrictions, was found in a 
 veneration for external and fallacious 
 figns of merit, appropriated to indivi- 
 duals. This was the origin of all he- 
 reditary titles of honour ; and it mufl 
 likewife have been the origin, at leaft in 
 a great meafure, of our e^ceilive attach- 
 ment to property. 
 
 There is another point of view in 
 which this theory may be placed, that 
 . will (how it to be ftill more probable. In 
 the fame proportion as this veneration 
 for property offered a refource to indi- 
 viduals, on their giving up the natural 
 right of cultivating their perfonal talents, 
 it alfo became a necefTary engine in the 
 hands of the government. It is eafy to 
 perceive, that, in a iyflem where every 
 thing depends on hereditary, rank, the 
 perfon placed at the head ought always 
 to be entitled to the greateft mare of 
 
 refpecl.
 
 ( 6* ) 
 
 reipe. And where mould a king feek 
 for this, but in exterior pomp ? Neither 
 wifdom nor ftrength can be made he- 
 reditary, but titles and property may. 
 It was abfolutely requifite that thofe qua- 
 lities, in which the king might be ri- 
 valled or furpafled by his fubjects, mould 
 be brought into difrepute ; and that all 
 mankind mould fix their admiration on 
 thofe in which he could excel. Govern- 
 ments of this kind are fure to be admi- 
 niftered in fuch a manner, that the king 
 fhall always be the richeft man in the 
 nation ; and they generally go farther, 
 and make other men rich in proportion 
 to their fervility to him. It is thus that 
 the order of nature is inverted, and names 
 are fubftituted for things. The fimple 
 ufes of property are converted into the t 
 fplendid magnificence of wealth. This 
 becomes the great and almofl uniycrfaj 
 object of human ambition ; it excites the 
 gaze and veneration of all clafles of men. 
 
 Individuals arc really not to be blamed, 
 
 
 
 nor
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 nor their judgment to be called in quef- 
 tion, for this manner of eftimating things. 
 Exterior pomp is, in fact, more ufeful to 
 them, than perfonal qualifications. It 
 indeed often takes place of all the folid 
 enjoyments of life ; and it never can be 
 ftrange that it mould do fo, as long as 
 it procures that refpeft, the deiire of 
 which is doubtlefs among the ftrongeft 
 paffions of our nature. We never hear 
 of a man committing fuicide for the want 
 of a loaf of bread, but it is often done 
 for the want of a coach. 
 
 Such is the paffion, and fuch, I be- 
 lieve, is the origin of the inordinate 
 paffion for property, in the prefent ftate 
 of manners. The greater part of ra- 
 tional men agree that thefe things are 
 wrong ; they agree that the general tafte 
 and fentiments of mankind, on this fub- 
 jecl, are erroneous ; and they wifh they 
 could be changed. The only point in 
 which I differ from thefe men in opinion 
 
 is,
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 is, that I have no doubt but thefe things. 
 will be changed. I think we difcem the 
 radical caufe of the evil ; I think that 
 caufe will foon be removed ; and the re- 
 medy will inevitably follow ; becaufe it is 
 nothing more than a fimple operation of 
 nature, recovering herfelf from reftraint. 
 I am not preaching a moral lecture oa 
 the ufe of riches, or the duty of charity ; I 
 am endeavouring to point out the means 
 by which the neceffity for fuch lectures 
 may be fuperceded. A duty that runs con- 
 trary to habit, -is hard to be enforced, 
 cither by pci fuafion or by law. Rectify 
 our habits, and our duties will rarely be 
 omitted. 
 
 Good men in all civilized nations, have 
 taken unwearied pains, and given them- 
 felves real grief of heart, in cenfuring the 
 
 vices and recommending the duties of 
 
 
 
 mankind, relative to the ufe and abule of 
 property. Their labours have doubtleis 
 done fome good ; for we may readily 
 
 conceive
 
 conceive that the quantity of mifery hi 
 the world is not fo great as it might have 
 been without them. But thefe men have 
 not penetrated to the root of the evil 
 or rather, they have overlooked it ; and 
 the remedies they have propofed have al- 
 ways been partial, unpromising, and with- 
 out fuccefs. They lay the blame to the 
 natural propenfities of the human heart, 
 and call upon individuals for reformation. 
 \Vhereas, the fault lies not fo deep, nor 
 is the cure to be looked for from in- 
 dividuals, even with refpecl to them- 
 felves. Habit is the ape of nature ; it 
 affumes her appearance, and palms its 
 vices upon her. And as the universal 
 habit with refpect to the fubject now in 
 
 queftion has arifen out of unnatural and 
 . ^> 
 
 degrading fyflems of government, a re- 
 formation caii be expedled, only from 
 referring back to nature for a chancre 
 
 o o 
 
 of thofe fvftems ; and there is no doubt 
 
 j 
 
 but this remedy will be effectual. 
 
 ;r '>- 
 
 Eftablift
 
 C 66 ) 
 
 Eftablifh government univerfally oil 
 the individual wifhes and colle&ed wif- 
 dom of the people, and it will give a 
 fpring to the moral faculties of every 
 human creature ; becaufe every human 
 creature mufl find an intereft in its wel- 
 fare. It mufl afford an ample fubjedl 
 for contemplation and exertion ; which 
 cannot fail to give a perpetual improve- 
 ment to the mind, and elevate the man 
 to a more exalted view of himfelf, as 
 an active member of that focial flate, 
 where virtue has a fcope for expanfion, 
 and merit is fure to be rewarded. Being 
 thus reftored to nature, every thing is 
 eafy and progrciTive ; the individual looks 
 to himfelf for his title to refpect, the 
 moment he becomes habituated to believe 
 and know that this is the only title fhat 
 will anfwer his purpofe. The idea of 
 relying on the glare of exterior pomp, 
 whether it be of wealth or hereditary 
 rank, mufl be regarded as what it re* 
 ally is in fact, the effort of a weak mind 
 
 to
 
 to cover its own weaknefs. Such efforts 
 being refented by the people, as attempts 
 to impofe upon their understanding, they 
 muft fall into drfrepute and be laid afide. 
 They cannot be ufeful, they cannot be 
 kept in countenance, in a fociety founded 
 on the bans of human reafon. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive to what an 
 extent this circumftance would operate 
 on the chara&er of the human mind, 
 with relpet to its attachment to pro- 
 perty. If the prefent fyflems of govern- 
 ment are unnatural, I am convinced that 
 this part of the human chara6ter is un- 
 natural ; and a change in the former mufl 
 produce a change in the latter. One of 
 the ufes of property, that of procuring re- 
 fpe6l, would be entirely cut off". And 
 it mull be confidered that this is the uie 
 that has generally had the moil power- 
 ful effect upon the mind ; becaufe it is 
 immoderate and unbounded. It is well 
 known that rivals in the difplay of wealth 
 
 are
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 are among the moil jealous rivals iii the 
 world ; and that there is ufually no limit 
 to the defires of a man on this fubjeft, 
 when they once pals the limit of his 
 real or expected wants. 
 
 One fimpla.. fed,., with refpeft to the 
 French nation, is almoft fufficient of it- 
 felf to fupport. the opinion I here ad- 
 vance. But I thought it neceflfary, be- 
 fore adducing that fact, to recur to 
 theoretical principles; in order to mew 
 that both the fail and the opinion are 
 founded in nature, and therefore may 
 be trufted, fb far as they go, as the 
 foundation of a practical iyftem. It j> 
 Well known that the national character 
 of that people within four years has 
 undergone dlraoft a total change, with 
 regard to the cftimationof exterior marks 
 of diftin&ioii, of every kind. What is 
 called Rank, ariiing from hereditary ti- 
 tles, had formerly as great an influence 
 in the country, as at court ; it was held 
 
 as
 
 as facred in the mofl fequeftered walks of 
 life, where actions obey the impulfes of 
 the heart, as in the mofl brilliant af- 
 fembly, where they are regulated by a 
 Matter of Ceremonies. It is impoflible 
 for wealth itfelf in any nation to be 
 more reflected than titles were in France 
 among all clafTes and defcriptions of 
 people. Their veneration for King was 
 proverbial through the world ; and this 
 was only a fample of their universal re- 
 ipe6t for every thing that bore the name 
 of hereditary tokens of rank. Their ado- 
 ration for thefe distinctions could fcarcely 
 be confidered as the effect of habit ; it 
 had ib far wound itfelf into the native 
 character and foul of a Frenchman, 
 that it could not be diftinguifhed from 
 an element of his' nature. But the change 
 of government, like a chymical analyfis, 
 has feparated the drofs of habit from the 
 gold of nature ; it has melted off the 
 courtier and (hewed us the man. 
 
 &3O **-_ 
 
 -F Thi*
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 This is not all. T'/M brilliance of wealth 
 has likewile in that country loft its former 
 value ; it being no longer confidered, 
 either by the proprietors or by others, 
 as capable of commanding refpech I 
 know it will be, faid, in aiifwer to this, 
 That it is owing to a temporary cir- 
 cumftance ; that the great body of t;he 
 people, who have taken the government 
 into their own hands, are envious to- 
 wards the rich, and are aiming to re- 
 duce all men to a level in regard to 
 property. The plaineft reply to this 
 'afTertion which has often been repeated 
 is, what a.ndour itielf would make, 
 that it is not true. No people ever 
 fh-Wed a rrore facred regard to private 
 p/opeity than the French have uni- 
 formly done, during the whole revo- 
 lu i n. And, as if to put calumny to 
 the blufh, and baffle all theories of fo- 
 phif ry againft a popular reclamation of 
 r ghts, this regard to private property 
 h.i een in proportion to the irregu- 
 larity
 
 t \ 
 
 ( 7 1 ) 
 
 lafity of their movements, and the 
 opportunity for pillage. It is to be 
 wifhed that governments themfclves 
 would learn a lelfon of honour from 
 thefe examples of anarchy, inilead of 
 employing venal writers to abufe them. 
 
 It cannot be denied, that in all other 
 parts of Europe there are two diftincl: 
 purpofes to which property is applied, 
 a reiburce agailift phyficai wants, and 
 a reiburce for perfonal refpecl. It can- 
 not be denied, that in France it has al- 
 ready ceafed, in a great meaiure, to 
 anfwer the laft of thefe purpofes. The 
 caufe of this is perfectly natural, and I 
 have no doubt that it muft be perma- 
 nent. The lame effect will be produced 
 in other countries, by placing the go- 
 vernment on the folid bafis of reafon, 
 inftead of propping it up on the totter- 
 ing foot-ftool of impofition. 
 
 :U>*-, 4^;%^ 
 
 J am aware that my argument is ftill 
 F 2 expofed
 
 cxpofed to one objection, from thole 
 readers who are acquainted with the pre- 
 fent ftate of fociety in America. It will 
 be faid, that the people of the United 
 States manifeft a great attachment to 
 propertv, coniidered as wealth ^ and mere- 
 ly for the purpole of parade ; that, 
 though their government is American, 
 .their manners are European. To this 
 I reply, in the firft place, that the charge 
 is true only in a limited Ibnfe. The in- 
 fluence of riches in that country, even 
 on the minds of thofe who pofTcfs them, 
 is by no means fo great as it is in 
 Kurope. But this anfwer will not be 
 completely fatisraclory to the obje&or, 
 neither is it fo to me. We muit acknow- 
 ledge the facl to exift, at lead in a confi* 
 derable degree, and endeavour to fearch 
 out the caufe. The people of that coun- 
 try have been always accuftomed to 
 borrow their maxims, as well as their 
 manners, from the various nations of 
 Kuropc, from which they emigrated :. in 
 
 the
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 the trading towns, many of the prefcnt 
 inhabitants are really Europeans, having 
 been in the country but a ihort time ; 
 and emigration is perpetually fupplying 
 all parts of the States with new adven- 
 tures : fafhions, and a tafte for expenlive 
 modes of living, are imported with other 
 merchandife. In the article of Public 
 Salaries^ the governments themfelves 
 have been too much guided by European 
 ideas ; which iuppofe it neceiTary that 
 public officers mould envelope themielves 
 in pomp and iplendor, in order to inlpire 
 a veneration for the laws. For though 
 talaries in general were fixed at the revo- 
 lutioii on a fcale fo low as to bear little 
 proportion to what was common in Eu- 
 r&pe, and though in fome inftances they 
 have been mice reduced, yet they are 
 ftill fo high as to bear little proportion 
 to what they ought to be. Thefe things 
 
 have a great effect on the General maxims 
 o o 
 
 of life in that country. But thefe things 
 -can never apply to Europe ; and, on a 
 
 change
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 change of government and manners in 
 the old world, they will ceafe to apply 
 to the new. 
 
 The Americans cannot be iaid as yet 
 to have formed a national character. The 
 political part of their revolution, afide 
 from the military, was not of that vio- 
 lent and convulfive nature that makes 
 the whole fabric of human opinions, and 
 enables men to decide which are to be 
 retained as congenial to their fituation, 
 au<! which mould be rejected as the off- 
 fpring of unnatural connections. Hap- 
 pily, the weight of oppreilion there had 
 never been ib great, nor of fo long a 
 duration, as to have diftorted in any ex- 
 travagant degree the moral features 'of 
 man. He recognized himfelf as the lame 
 being, under the netv iyftem as the old ; 
 for tl e ch ing ; of form Jiad not been fo 
 perceptible as to require a great change 
 of principle. Under thefe circumftances, 
 the people continued moft of their an- 
 cient
 
 ( 75 ) 
 
 eient maxims, though they were a mix- 
 
 ' 
 ture of foreign and domefKc ; and, as 
 
 habit' is a coin current in all countries, it 
 is not furprifing that whatever had re- 
 ceived the {lamp of authority in the po- 
 lifhed nations of Europe, fhould be adopted 
 without fcruple by the offspring of thofe 
 nations in America. 
 
 The circumftance of their not being 
 invefted with what is called national cha- 
 rafter, though hitherto a fubjecl: of re- 
 gret, will in future be much in their 
 favour. The public mind being open 
 to receive impreffions from abroad, they 
 will be able to profit by the practical 
 lefTons which will now be afforded them 
 from the change of fyftem in this quarter 
 of the world. It will be found there, as 
 it is now found in France, that the dff- 
 play of wealth will ceafe to be challenged 
 as an emblem or fubftitute for perfonal 
 talents ; and it will be coveted every 
 where, in a lefs degree than, at prefent; 
 
 as
 
 as it will fail to gratify the pailion for 
 
 rcfpeft. It may be farther remarked, 
 J 
 
 that this is not the, only circumilance in 
 which the {late of iociety in America 
 will be efientialiy benefited by. a change 
 of manners in Europe. 
 
 
 But it mnir, be confefied, after all, 
 
 that this is a theory to which it is hard 
 to gain..profelytes ; efpe.cialiy among that 
 clafs of men, whole .knowledge of the 
 world has taught them a caution which 
 muns the allurements of audacious fpe- 
 culation. And, fince it muft be referred 
 to expe/ience, to tliat I truft the argu- 
 ment. I profefs nothing, more in this 
 work, than to contemplate the ejfcffs 
 that .a' general revolution will produce 
 on the affairs of. nations. Bat in con- 
 templating thefe, it is efTential that we 
 mould be apprifed of the correfponding 
 change that will neceffarily be wrought 
 on the character of man ; in order that, 
 being prepared for the event, he may 
 
 think
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 think of fuch arrangements as (hall be 
 Jikely to prevent his relapiing into the er- 
 rors which have coft him ib much mifery, 
 A chapter which treats on the iyftem. 
 of abufes ib generally adopted in raifing 
 a revenue, can fcarcely be clofed with 
 fatisfadiion to the reader, without fome 
 reflections on the correfponding abufes 
 which are found in the application. I 
 mall fay nothing of high falaries, civil 
 lift, peace efrablifhment, and the other 
 enormities on which privileged orders 
 and fenfelefs places depend, Thefe will 
 fo fbon fa.ll, with the wretched plans 
 of government they fupport, that it really 
 feems like an ungenerous triumph., to 
 wifh to haften their fate. When the bu- 
 
 finefs of crovernment m'all be. conducted, 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 like other bufmefs, on the principles of 
 common fenfej it will be paid for, like 
 other buiinefs, in proportion to the 
 fervice performed. And unlefs this pro- 
 portion be ftri&ly obferved in the pay- 
 ment, thefe principles will not long be 
 
 obferved
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 observed in the fervice. But our obfer- 
 vntions in this place, on the application 
 of revenue, will chiefly be confined to 
 the fubjeft of Public Debts. This fubjeft 
 becomes more important at this time, 
 not merely on account of the prefent 
 magnitude of thofe debts in moft of the 
 ftates of Europe, but as relative to the 
 principle on which they are contracted 
 and fupported. Should this principle be 
 found to be dangerous to liberty, and 
 fuitablc only to a vitious form of govern- 
 ment, it will furnim matter of deep re- 
 fleftion to a nation that wishes to efta- 
 blifh its affairs on the bafis of reafon and 
 nature. 
 
 Here we muft take a review of that 
 mode of anticipation, which is common 
 to moft of the modern governments of 
 Europe, and known by the name of the 
 funding Jvftcrft. This invention (for fo 
 the art of funding is ibmetimes called) 
 has received from the hands of different 
 
 writers,
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 writers, a confiderable degree of cenfure, 
 as well as much unqualified and injudi- 
 cious praiie. Indeed, when confidered 
 with reference to its wide fweep of at- 
 tending circumftances, it prefents itfelf 
 to the mind under a variety of afpects, 
 and 'forms altogether a ftupeiidous object 
 of meditation ; having produced effects 
 that have far furpaffed the limits of 
 previous calculation or belief. In politics 
 and war, it has changed the face of Eu- 
 rope. With regard to other concerns, 
 both of nations and individuals, its effects 
 have been various, contradictory, delu- 
 five, and incapable of accurate eftima- 
 tion. It 'has -aftonimingly multiplied the 
 force and activity of trade ; but it has 
 increafed in an equal degree the quantity 
 of ufelefs and deftructive fpeculation. It 
 has converted commerce into a weapon 
 of war ; and it has made of that tremen- 
 dpus calamity an alluring imtrument of 
 commerce. It has brought thefe two 
 occupations, fo extremely oppofite in their 
 
 nature,
 
 nature, to a cordial coalition and mutual 
 fupport ; and thus by the aid of both, it 
 Facilitates every project of ambition in 
 the government ; till it familiariies the 
 public mind to a feriouS acquiescence in 
 a paradox, which muft have excited the 
 ridicule of any age accufiomed only to 
 common calculation, That the more a 
 nation is debilitated and exhaufted, the 
 , more fplfendid and powerful it grows. 
 Indeed the fyftem is replete with ib much 
 apparent good, attended with its folid 
 weight of evils, that we may be thought 
 to incur the guilt of partiality or inat- 
 tention, mould we fail to qualify our 
 cenfure with ibme degree ~<d* approba- 
 tion. 
 
 But the queftion, Whether the fvilem 
 of funding ought to be admitted in all 
 its latitude, can be decided only by ftrik- 
 ing the balance of good and evil in the 
 'effects that it muft from its nature pro- 
 duce. And I think, on confidering the 
 
 fub-
 
 4ubje& as relative to a free republic, the 
 balance will be found much more on the 
 fu!e of the evil, than it is when applied 
 to the old plans of government.. 
 
 The benefits, to be derived from the 
 lyfte;n, are of two kinds: commercial, 
 as it facilitates the bufinefs of individu- 
 als, and politic ali as it aids the govern- 
 ment in the great operations of war. 
 It is well known, or at leafl it is uni- 
 verfally believed, that the public debt 
 in England, being funded on the bafis 
 of mortgaging trie national revenue for 
 its intereft, has created a prodigious 
 mafs of capital in the hands of trade. 
 By furniming men with a kind qf 
 flock, which they are fure of turning 
 into money at any moment they chooie^ 
 it enables them to vary their operations 
 with fuch facility, as to feize many ad- 
 vantages in domeftic and foreign mar- 
 kets, which muft otherwile pafs without 
 effect. It is in a great meafure to this 
 
 circumilance,
 
 . 
 
 circumftance, that many perfons (perhaps 
 without a due confidcration of cauies) 
 have attributed the flourifhius: ftate of 
 
 o 
 commerce in this kingdom. Indeed, 
 
 fince it is found that commerce has in- 
 creafed with the augmentation of taxes, 
 the argument in favour of unlimited 
 funding has become fo (educing, that 
 the paradox has arilen almoft to a 
 folecifm ; it is laid that public infolvency 
 is public wealth, and the national debt 
 is itfelf a national benefit. 
 
 The advantages of a political nature, 
 "which are derived from the principle 
 of funding, confift in eftablilhing fuch 
 an unqueftionable credit, that the go- 
 vernment can at all times borrow, 
 without the means or the intention, or 
 even the promife of payment. This 
 credit anfwers all the purpofe of an in- 
 exhauflible treafury, on which the go- 
 vernment may draw at any moment, 
 and to any amount. It is eaiy to con- 
 ceive
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 ceive the immenfe facility thus given 
 to the meafures of adminiftration. It 
 enables them to begin, on the morteft 
 notice and with the greateft fecrecy, the 
 moft expenlive operations, and then to 
 purfue them to any extent ; and this 
 without consulting the wimes of the 
 nation. It precludes the neceflity of 
 accumulating a national treafure by pre- 
 vious taxation and oeconomy ; a meafure 
 which muft always be attended with 
 
 the difadvantasre of lofinsr the ufe of 
 o .o 
 
 the money, from the time it is hoard- 
 ed, until it is expended. It likewile 
 avoids the neceffity of another operation- 
 no lefs to be dreaded by officers of 
 government in general ; I mean a fud- 
 den augmentation of taxes, by which 
 the people mould be called upon to 
 fupport the expences of the year, 
 within the year. A meafure which, 
 if not fometimes impoffible, would often 
 be hazardous to the reputation of mi- 
 
 nifters, and to the fuccefs of cxtraordi- 
 
 
 
 nary enterprifes. Such
 
 I 84 ) 
 
 ' Such is the general fummary of the 
 advantages derived from the Funding 
 Syftem ; and this opens to our view the 
 train of evils with which they are con- 
 trafted. Thefe I fear will be too nu- 
 merous to be particularly noticed, and 
 too great to be readily conceived. In the 
 hands of an administration, I will not lay 
 corrupt, but an adminiftration whofe in- 
 tereft is in anv meaiure different from 
 
 J 
 
 that of the nation at large, this fyftem 
 is the moft dangerous inftrument that 
 can be imagined ; as it is an inftrument 
 of incalculable force, and may be always 
 wielded without oppol'rion. This from 
 the nature of the fubjcct mail be the cafe ; 
 becaufe the expences of any projected en- 
 terprife being charged on pollerity, the 
 party moft interefted in making the op- 
 .pofition, is not in being at the time, and 
 ctinnot be heard in its remonfrrancc. 
 Thus, in the bufmefs of war, which 1$ 
 the principal object in the Funding 
 Syftem, it enables governments to hire 
 
 men
 
 feo (laughter each other with more 
 than their own fwords. They wring 
 out of the hard earnings of future ge- 
 nerations the means of deflroying the 
 prefent. Here is a double violence which 
 the generation, that goes to war by the 
 aid of funding, commits on the age that 
 is to follow. It precludes the exigence 
 of one part of fociety, by deftroying 
 thofe who mould have been their pro- 
 genitors s and it charges ths portion of 
 pofterity, that efcapes into exigence, 
 with the expences of killing the fellows 
 of their anceflors. And thefe expences 
 they muft pay under the cruel difad- 
 vantage of being deprived of half their 
 uatural refources, by a diminution of 
 their natural numbers. 
 
 As military operations are now con- 
 ducted, every man killed or dsftroyed 
 in war, cofts to the nation upwards of 
 a thoufend pounds fterling. This cal- 
 culation is taken from a view of the 
 G - laft
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 laft war in which England was en- 
 gaged. The nation expended in that 
 war, as dated by. Sir John Sinclair,* 
 ibmething more than 139 millions. 
 No financier has calculated with any 
 accuracy the number of lives that it coft 
 on th? part of Great Britain, in battles, 
 hofpitals, and priibns ; probably it did 
 not exceed 139 thoufand. So that the 
 people of this country are now confol- 
 in>< themfelves- for the lofs -of their 
 
 O 
 
 friends and relations, by paying for their 
 execution at the rate of a thoufand 
 pounds a head. Other jobbs performed 
 in. fuch a wholesale manner are gene- 
 rally charged at a cheaper rate ; but 
 this is more expenlive than the bufmels 
 of" a like nature, which is done in the 
 formality of detail, at the Old Bailey 
 Newate. 
 
 It -equircs but a flight oblervation on 
 
 ' * Hift. of the Revenue, Part. III. page 95. 
 
 1 
 
 the 
 
 \ 
 -'
 
 ( 8? 1 
 
 the character of the times in different 
 ages, to mow that the object of war, 
 and the {pint with which it is con- 
 du<ted, have been altogether different, 
 within the prefent century, from what 
 they were in more remote periods of 
 modern hiftory. In the maritime nations 
 of Europe, the objedt of war has changed 
 from religion to commerce ; from a 
 point of honour among kings, "to a point 
 of profit among merchants, minifters and 
 generals. Thefe fubje&s have nothing 
 in their nature fufficiently animating to 
 roufe the enthufiafm of a whole nation 
 to fnch a degree, as to render it fafe 
 for the projector of a war to apply to 
 the people for their immediate fupport. 
 Therefore, to find the means of carry- 
 ing it on, they refort to a principle con- 
 genial to the object, of the war ; and it 
 becomes fupported, as it is projected, in 
 the fpirit of commerce. But, as all offen- 
 five wars, in every poffible circumftance, 
 can cvnly be maintained by deceiving 
 
 G 2 the
 
 . ;. c 
 
 the people, the government in this cafe 
 recurs to a commerical deception, and 
 induces them to undertake ths burthen, 
 on condition that the weight of it be 
 Shifted off to a future period. Such is the 
 origin of funding ; and it has evidently 
 rifen out of the neceffity that govern- 
 ments were under, of changiwg the prin- 
 ciple of deception, in order to conform 
 
 to the fpirit of the times. 
 
 i 
 
 As an engine of ftate, the funding 
 Aftem has completely taken place of 
 religious enthufiafm ; and mankind have 
 been hurried on to their own deftru&ion 
 by the former, within the two laft ages, 
 with as little prudence and as much 
 delufion, a5 they were by the latter, m 
 t'ic twelfth century. Indeed, I fee no 
 reafbn why a genuine crufade could 
 not have been undertaken, even by the 
 povernment -of Great Britain within the 
 lift fifty years, and carried on to any 
 extent,- by the aid of the fj tiding fyftem- 
 
 For
 
 < 89 ) 
 
 For the principle of the fyftem is fach 
 as to prevent men from enquiring into 
 the object of the war ; as every induce- 
 ment to fuch enquiry is almoll com- 
 pletely taken away, with refpecl: to every 
 trials of fociety. One ciafs, by the 
 previous operation of the fame fyftem in 
 the. increaie of taxes, are rendered fo 
 wretched in their domeftic condition, 
 that they are glad to engage as ioldiers 
 in gny caufe, for the (ake of the pay, 
 fo pitifully fmall as the pay of a foldier 
 is ; another clais, and one that has great 
 influence on the public opinion, is com- 
 pofed of generals, contractors, minifters 
 and fecretaries, with all their dependants, 
 who are fure to make a profitable jobb 
 of any war, however it be conducted, 
 and whatever be its object ; another clafs 
 confifts of idle fpeculators in the funds, 
 whofe chance of ain increafes with the 
 
 c 
 
 joftling of public affairs, and efpecially 
 with the augmentation of the debt ; 
 while the reft of the community, who 
 
 cannot
 
 ( 9 o ) 
 
 cannot be rendered aclive by the allure- 
 ments of private profit, are rendered 
 paifive by deferring the payment of 
 the lofs. 
 
 From the time when the predatory 
 fpirit, which led the northern Barbarians 
 to ravage the ibuth of Europe, had lub- 
 iided, and given place to its natural ofF- 
 ipring, in the eftabliihment of feudal 
 monarchy, the hiftory of this quarty of 
 the world begins to afTume a confiftent 
 fhape ; and it offers itfelf to our contem- 
 plation, as relative to the fpirit of nations, 
 un'<fcr three fucceffrve afpecls. Thefe arc 
 the fpirit of Hierarchy, the fpirit of 
 Chivalry, and the fpirit of Commerce. 
 Out of thefe different materials the genius 
 of the government has forged inftruments 
 of opprelfion almoft equally deftru&ive. 
 It has never failed to cloud the minds 
 of the nation with fome kind of luper- 
 Aition, conformable to the temper of the 
 times. In one age it is the fuperflition 
 
 of
 
 ( 9' ) 
 
 of religion, in another the fuperftftion 
 of honour, in another the iiiperibtion of 
 public credit. 
 
 . 
 
 The deplorable ufe that has been made 
 of the laft of thele, during the preienfc 
 century in Enghnd, and for a much 
 longer period in tome other governments, 
 has induced many perfbns to 'regret that 
 the fpirit of commerce has ever become 
 predominant over that of chivalry and 
 that of the church. They fee a con- 
 tracted meannefs in the one, which ill 
 compares with the open enthufiafm of 
 the other two. But, before we find fault 
 with what feems to be the order of na- 
 ture in thele events, we ought to con- 
 fider the effects that it has and will 
 produce, in the progrefs of fociety and 
 morals. Chivalry and hierarchy taught 
 us to believe that all men who did not 
 pay homage to the fame monarch, or 
 ufe the fame mode of worfhip with our- 
 felves, were our natural enemies, and 
 w- ought
 
 ought to be extirpated. The fpirit 6f 
 commerce has brought us acquainted with 
 thofe people ; we find them to be like 
 other men, and that they are really ufeful 
 to us in iiipplying our wants. As their 
 exiftence and their profperity are round 
 to be advantageous to us in a commerical 
 point of view, we ceafe to regard then! 
 as enemies ; and refufe to go and kill 
 them, unlefs we are hired to do it. But 
 as commerce may deal in human (laughter 
 as well as in other things, when ever 
 the government will oner us more money 
 for deftroying our neighbours than we 
 can get by other bufiricfs, we are ready 
 to make enemies of our beft friends, and 
 go to war, as we go to market, on a 
 
 calculation of profit. 
 
 
 
 This is the true fpirit of commerce, 
 as relative to war. But as this fpirit haii 
 made us better acquainted with all foreign 
 nations, and with ourfelves, it has excited 
 a difpofition for enquiry into the moral 
 
 relations
 
 relation's of fflen, wi& a vie\i* t6 political 
 happmefs. The refult of this enquiry is 
 iiow beginning to appear. It has already 
 convinced us that there can be no poflible 
 fcafe in which oile nation can be the 
 natural enemy of andthef ; and this leads 
 vis to difcover tlrc tau'ffe why they have 
 been factious enemies. The whole is 
 found to have been a fatal deception 
 perpetually impofed upon each nation 
 by its own government, for- the private 
 beiiefit of its adminiftrat'drs. The fame 
 fpiri't of enquiry is now leading the 'people 
 to change the fortn of their p-ov'erhfnents, 
 
 o o 
 
 that fociety itiay bte i'eftored to its proper 
 foundation, the general ha'ppiiiefs of the 
 
 great communi'ty of ttien. 
 
 - 
 
 On examining the fncc'eflieh of prin- 
 ciples which mark the dlafa'&ef of the 
 times through thefe different periods, it 
 appears that, when the ipirit of commerce 
 had become predominant, the only engine 
 of ftate, whi-ch could be relied upo"n to 
 
 excite
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 excite the people tft war, was the efta- 
 blifhment of a national credit by funding 
 the national debis. And we fhould not 
 be wide from the truth in afTerting, that 
 to the funding f) ftcm alone the principal 
 commerical nations of Europe are to 
 attribute the wars of the prefent century, 
 
 as well as the enormous debts under 
 
 ' 
 
 which they have learned to ftruggle. 
 
 Such have been the effe&s of fund- 
 ing, under the old forms of government ; 
 and having afcertained the principles 
 on which it has operated in producing 
 thefe effe&s, we (hall be better able to 
 determine whether it be admiifible in 
 the policy of a free republic. In this 
 great crifis of human affairs, it behoves 
 mankind to probe the wounds of nature 
 to the bottom, and remove every ex- 
 crefcence which might prevent a perfect 
 cure. 
 
 Men of contemplative minds, as well 
 as thoie of practical knowledge, have 
 
 now
 
 ( 95 ) 
 
 now become ib generally agreed in the 
 necellity of the funding iyftem, that, 
 though they difcern the evils to which 
 it muft expofe a nation, I fear it is one 
 of the laft of their eftablifhed maxims 
 that they will be willing to fubject to 
 the feverity of difcuffion. The univerfal 
 opinion is that a ftate cannot exift 
 without a national credit ; unlefs it put 
 itfelf to the difadvantage of hoarding 
 up money, and keeping a treafure in 
 referve. And this latter meafure, be- 
 fides the inconvenience above-mention- 
 . ed, of lofing the ufe of the capital while 
 it lies inactive, would throw into the 
 hands of the executive government, 
 the fame dangerous power which is 
 entrufted to them by the means of 
 credit. In this reipecl: their reafoning 
 is juft ; and perhaps a full treafury would 
 be the greateft evil of the two. 
 
 . '*/ 
 
 But after all, what is the advantage 
 of a national credit ? I mean, in the 
 
 ienfe
 
 ) 
 
 ienfe in which it is generally under* 
 flood, the facility of railing a capital on 
 long annuities, by a mortgage of re- 
 venue. Shall we not find on an^ in- 
 vtftigation of this very fimple queftion, 
 that the advantage derived from fuch 
 n credit (even fuppofmg it never to 
 be abiifed) can only be applicable to 
 the old fyftems of government r Will 
 it not appear that it is an advantage 
 totally unneceflary to a rational and 
 manly adminiflfation, conducted by 
 the wimes of a free and enlightened 
 people ? I am fuppofmg, and it is but 
 fail 1 to fuppofe, that iuch a people will 
 always underiland their own intereft. 
 Or, at leaft, if they make a miftake, 
 it will be the miftake of the nation, 
 not of the mihifters ; they will never 
 fuffer an enterprife to be undertaken, 
 but what is agreeable to the majority 
 of the active citizens. This people 
 will never engage in any offenfive War. 
 Indeed, as foon as the furrounding 
 
 nations
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 nations adopt the fame change of 
 vernment, the buimefs of war will be. 
 forgotten ; but in the interval, previous 
 to this event, a real republic cannot 
 ftand in need of funds, as a prspara-* 
 tive for war, urilefs it be invaded. It 
 is even fafer without funds ; becaufe 
 they might be a temptation to the 01^ 
 ficers of government to comteraft the 
 {pint of the republic. In cafe ' fuch a 
 people be really attacked -by an enemy, 
 then it is th^5 the fates of -fociety 
 may be feen and calculated. But the 
 calculation does not turn on the cabi- 
 net-rules of' royal arithmetic: j the power 
 of the republic for the pu-pofe of de- 
 fence does not depend on a national 
 credit, in the fenfe above-mentioned/ 
 or the facility of borrowing money ; 
 the government, in making up its ef- 
 timate of jefiftance, never sfks, how' 
 many foldiefs have we in pay ? And 
 how many recruits can we inlift or 
 imprefs ? But of how nuny .men dyes-'
 
 the nation confift ? Armies flart into 
 being by a fpontaneous impulfe ; every 
 citizen feels the caufe to be his own, 
 and prefents his perfon, or his provifions 
 and his arms, not as an offering to a 
 tyrannical matter, of whofe intentions 
 he would be fufpicious, but as a defence 
 of his own family and property. The 
 enemy being repulfed, whatever ine- 
 qualities may be found to have arifen 
 in this emulous contribution, are liqui- 
 dated and fettled on a general fcale of 
 juiHce. 
 
 Even fuppofmg the war to be of long 
 continuance, and to require fums of mo- 
 ney beyond the voluntary contributions, 
 and beyond the power of prudent tax- 
 ation for the time ; (which indeed, in 
 a wealthy and well-regulated republic, 
 would be an extraordinary thing, and 
 I believe never would *occur) in fuch a 
 cafe, the juftice of the canfe, and the 
 natural magnanimity which habitual free- 
 dom
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 dom infpires, would be a fufficient gua- 
 rantee for loans, at home or abroad. 
 It is true in nature, and the truth murf 
 prove itfelf beyond contradiction to the 
 world, as foon as it mall have oppor- 
 tunity to judge, that a great people ac- 
 cuftomed to exercife their rights, would 
 never violate their duties. 
 
 Injuftice may be expected from go- 
 vernments founded in ufurpation ; it is 
 their natural character, the tenure on 
 which they hold their authority. They 
 never can be juft, unlefs they deviate 
 from their principle. What is called 
 their penal juftice y as well as their pe-> 
 cuniary juftice, is only the fruit of their 
 fears ; and ought to be regarded only 
 as an evidence of their conftitutional 
 weaknefs. As every thing they do, muft 
 be done by the force of money, it is 
 neceffary that they ihould eftabliih a 
 character for mercantile punctuality, 
 to ferve as a fubftitute for the quality 
 
 of
 
 of juftice, which quality t;he nature o* 
 tjieir exiftence denies them. The re- 
 yerfe of this is the cafe, with govern* 
 ments. founded in reafon and nature, 
 wh~re a.U the people have an active 
 intersft. Tuftice there is the firft article 
 
 *" 
 
 in the focial compact ; and as neither 
 
 4 
 
 policy nor principle, can ever admit of 
 a deviation from this, the event is not 
 tJ be expected. 
 
 This is the kind of national credit that 
 is proper for a free republic. It is in- 
 volvec} in the nature of their iyftem, 
 r^nd fpurns thofe extraneous aids which 
 artificial credits have required. I fhould 
 confider it as a cireumftance dangerous 
 to the progrefs of fociety, if the n w 
 r. publics, which are to rife out of the 
 ru'ns of thefe antiquated mafTes of error, 
 ihould retain the two great prnciples 
 q c finance, on which much of that error 
 has be? 211 fupported. To raife the FJ venue 
 by difeuifin.* the taxes, and to force a 
 
 public
 
 ( 101 ) 
 
 public credit by dint of funding, have 
 been equally neceflary to the ancient 
 fyftem ; and it appears to me that they 
 would be equally deftruclive to the new. 
 
 How the national debts that now exift 
 in feveral countries, are to be difpofed 
 of, under a change of government, is 
 indeed a queftion of ferious magnitude. 
 Probably that of France will be nearly 
 extinguished by the (ale of the national 
 domains. That of Spain, and thoie of 
 moft other Catholic countries, may be 
 balanced in the fame way. In fome 
 Proteftant nations, where the debts and 
 the domains have loft their relative pro- 
 portion, the cafe will be widely different. 
 But, whatever may be the fate of the 
 debts, I am as clear that they ought not, 
 as I am that they will not, impede the 
 progress of liberty. 
 
 END OF PART IT,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 t
 
 UNIVtKSIIY <Jf UALII-UKINIA Al I_(JB> Ani*K.L.Ji 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
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 JUN3 1959 
 
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