THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 33Z
 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 FINANCE, 
 
 <%c. S^c. 6^c.
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 FINANCE, 
 
 UNDER WHICH, 
 OF 
 
 THE BRITISH E3IPIRE 
 
 ARE ILLUSTRATED : 
 
 COMPRISING, 
 
 A Project for their Improvement ; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A NEW SCHEME FOR LIQUIDATING 
 
 THE 
 
 NATIONAL DEBT. 
 
 FBINTEO BY R. CHAPMAN, TRONGATE. 
 
 1815.
 
 TO 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 THE PRINCE REGENT, 
 
 May it please your Royal Highness, 
 
 Deeply impressed with the importance 
 of the subject-matter of the following treatise, 
 and with the inadequacy of the attempt now 
 made to do it justice, I beg leave, with the ut- 
 most humility, submission and deference, to 
 place it under your Royal Highnesses special 
 notice, under the hopes and belief, that it will 
 thereby obtain all the attention which it de- 
 serves. 
 
 At no period of the British history have the 
 means and resources of the empire been called 
 forth towards objects more stupendous in their 
 character, and more essentially important ; in 
 none have its energies been exercised with more 
 vigor, splendor and efficacy, than during the few 
 years wherein the supreme authority of the state 
 has been invested in the person of your Royal 
 Highness. Amidst exploits aiid achievements, 
 the most wonderful and the most heroic, your 
 Royal Highness, by the blessing of God, has 
 
 35b- 345
 
 VI 
 
 not only manifested your steady adherence to 
 the sage councils of your august Father, our 
 most gracious Sovereign ; and your inviolable 
 attachment to those principles, upon which 
 your most illustrious house was raised to the 
 throne ; but evinced tlie dignity and potency 
 with which the mighty sceptre of these realms 
 can be swayed. 
 
 But it is known to your Koyal Highness, 
 that the memory of these great events, together 
 with all the glory and advantage that can result 
 from them, is apt to pass away, if not resolved 
 into acquirements that are substantial ; while 
 the burdens incident to their attainment may 
 remain. The illustrations, herewith offered, 
 which take up our national affairs at this point, 
 lay open immense and invaluable fields of enter- 
 prise, wherein, by employing the disengaged 
 means of the nation, and the passing advanta- 
 ges of the state, not only may these burdens be 
 most completely met, but a vast range of ines- 
 timable attainments be permanently secured. 
 
 It has been the peculiar happiness of his pre- 
 sent Majesty, that the interests of true religion 
 have been the objects of his supreme regard. 
 How far the Divine benediction has crowned 
 his pious solicitude is manifest to the whole 
 world. Not only has the shield of the Al- 
 mighty been spread over our heads, but his 
 strength has animated our hearts. Our coun-
 
 Vll 
 
 try has not merely been delivered from the bale- 
 ful presence of its enemies, but it has, amidst 
 triumphs the most grateful, provided, for these 
 enemies, those means of reformation which had 
 been lost amidst their crimes. 
 
 Much, however, remains to be done. The 
 tyrant of Europe has been displaced ; but his 
 influence has not been removed. Our direful 
 struffffles have ceased ; but no one can tell what 
 changes may yet take place. In the meantime, 
 the claims of paramount duty are constantly 
 pressing themselves upon our notice. The 
 means, funds and population disengaged from 
 the service of war, must be set to work to 
 repair its breaches. It is the main design of 
 the following treatise to bear these towards 
 proper objects. The public debt, as British 
 wealth, realized in the hands of the national 
 creditor, it is shewn, may, according to princi- 
 ples the most fair, and upon terms the most fa- 
 vorable to all concerned, be run off into colonial 
 and other investments of essential and perma- 
 nent value ; whereby the substantial acquire- 
 ments of the nation may be at once augmented 
 and consolidated, the resources of the state be 
 relieved and reinforced, and the condition and 
 character of the people be every way ameliorated 
 and advanced. Thereby, too, it is seen, that 
 as harbingers and bearers, as well as preservers 
 and defenders, of our most holy faith, systema-
 
 VIU 
 
 tic improvement, and all the genial renovat- 
 ing principles with which this source of our 
 strength is so abundantly fraught, may be dif- 
 fused and established all the world over. 
 
 Although the subject-matter of this treatise 
 be thus essentially important, I would not have 
 presumed to have placed them so directly under 
 your Royal Highness's notice, had not a deep 
 and thorough conviction of duty, and of insu- 
 perable obligation, prevailed over every personal 
 consideration whatever, and induced me to do 
 all the justice to the general views now taken, 
 that lay within the compass of my power. 
 
 That your Koyal Highness may, amidst 
 your exalted avocations, ever enjoy the special 
 favor and protection of Almighty God, is the 
 fervent prayer of, 
 
 May it please your Royal Highness, 
 Your Royal Highness's 
 most obsequious 
 
 and devoted servant, 
 DAVID LAURIE. 
 
 Glasgow, ) 
 October, 1815. |
 
 AD VER TISEMENT. 
 
 THE first design of this Treatise was to analyze the prin- 
 ciples, on which a financial instrument, for serving those pur- 
 poses of coined money, >vhich are at present unprovided for, 
 may be obtained ; and to unfold the nature and character of 
 those advantages, that must result from that regular develope- 
 raent of our national resources which would take place, if we 
 were to avail ourselves duly of such an instrupient, and to 
 prosecute the ulterior objects of commerce and of fiiiaqce, 
 on those liberal principles, which articulate and precise views 
 of our best interests would, in such a case, suggest. But the 
 connexion that invariably subsists, betwixt our discharging 
 paramount national duties, upon those solid grounds which 
 such advantages would provide, and the attainment of those 
 ulterior objects, which to us are of all others the most im- 
 portant, constitute the prominent and principal subject of 
 those discussions and expositions which follow. 
 
 The object of this work is prosecuted in the form of a 
 project or scheme, held to be unfolded and prepared for iujf. 
 
 b
 
 mediate execution ; a method, which not only suggested to 
 the Author those views of his subject, that appeared to him 
 to be most appropriate and conclusive, but which enabled 
 him to preserve its whole materials most completely under 
 his eye, and, by avoiding a multitude of burdensome distinc- 
 tions and unnecessary definitions, to present his ideas on the 
 general subject, according to a form, that was at once more 
 dense, more perspicuous, and more forcible, than any other 
 which its complexity could otherwise have admitted of. 
 
 The plan of this work is most comprehensive ; it comprises 
 a vast range of public affairs, of the most important kind, 
 brought, perhaps for the first time, under one great leading 
 point of view ; it reaches to objects, that, of all others, about 
 w hich our schemes and designs are conversant, are the most 
 momentous and interesting to us, both in our individual and 
 in our collective capacities ; and it presents these before us, 
 under that aspect, which is necessarily most supremely im- 
 pressive. It is believed, too, that the views thus illustrated, 
 are not less new and important in themselves, than satisfac- 
 tory and irresistible in the conclusions into which they lead. 
 Although these views have been drawn out into a form, 
 that, on the whole, must appear to be theoretical ; they are 
 not to be regarded as developements of a particular system, 
 excogitated under its influences, and merely illustrative of 
 its operations. The illustrations and expositions now given, 
 are the result of experience, and of deep attention to the 
 matters of business to which they relate. They are, strictly 
 speaking, a compilement of observations, and of those views 
 into which these observations necessarily resolve themselves; 
 and the system, to which reference is so frequently made, is 
 merely the last and the most comprehensive of these resolu-
 
 xt 
 
 tlons. This system is no doubt prominently set forward, 
 and its leading principles are occasionally applied to other 
 subjects, still more comprehensive. This, however, is only 
 done in the way of illustration, and no more weight is laid 
 upon those analogous references, than, in the circumstances 
 of the case, they may fairly be held to be able to sustain. 
 The general aptness of the views illustrated to these circum- 
 stances, and the particular lineaments of the project, are 
 more jwwerfully impressed, by means of these representa- 
 tions, than they could have been without them ; but its out- 
 line, and its competency to the case in hand, are both rested 
 on matters of notorious observation, and its character is in- 
 
 ■tiy 
 
 dependent of all these illustrations. 
 
 This Treatise was begun, and partly sent to iho press 
 about five years since, at a time, when the commercial and 
 financial difficulties of the British empire were great beyond 
 any former parallel. The opportunities, which the Author 
 had of comparing these, in their leading features, with other 
 disasters of a similar, but less tremendous aspect, had im- 
 pressed his mind with a thorough conviction that these were 
 not anomalous. Tiiey, for a time, seemed to shake to the 
 centre the fabric of our national credit and responsibility, as 
 ■well as to envelop the hopes and fortunes of the whole mer- 
 cantile interests of the country. It was not, however, suffi- 
 ciently attended to, that the evils, under which we labored, 
 were prodigiously aggravated by the desperate nature of 
 that warfare in which we were then engaged ; by the cheer- 
 less and forlorn condition in which all that was dear to us 
 was placed ; and by our being, in consequ^ nee of these disad- 
 rantages in our situation, appalled by difficulties that would 
 
 b 2
 
 xu 
 
 6therwise have been but little thought of. The remem- 
 brance of this dreadful dilemma may have passed away, with 
 the poignancy of those feelings which it had excited ; but 
 the character of inanity and instability, which it has stamped 
 on all mercantile attainments, is not thus to be obliterated. 
 
 These circumstances had called forth a multitude of dis- 
 quisitions, respecting the tendency of an increased paper 
 currency, and the effect of certain restrictions on trade, 
 which were then generally held to be the proximate causes 
 of all the calamities under which we labored. The legisla- 
 ture, the attention of which had been much occupied with . 
 the prevailing distress, withstood those views ; but it substi- 
 tuted no alterative course of measures, to bear the nation 
 effectually out of its difficulties. It was these circumstances 
 which sent the Author of this treatise to the press. He had 
 not long before suggested the advantages, that our iso- 
 lated situation now afforded us, for improving and extending 
 our institutional establishments, and other departments of 
 our great polity, that were independent 6f foreign inter- 
 course, and displayed the immense value, and powerful ope- 
 ration, of the various benefits that would necessarily result 
 therefrom. His first business now was to expose the fallacy 
 of the denouement of our difficulties, that seemed almost 
 universally to be adopted. He agreed with all parties 
 in considering the coincidence of our calamities with the 
 matters complained of, as indications of the nature and cha- 
 racter of the prevailing evils ; but he could not consider this 
 coincidence, as furnishing any rule or data for determining 
 their origin, measuring their extent, or ascertaining their 
 operation. He saw that these evils had a larger arid more 
 absolute sweep over our affairs, than was generally admitted ;
 
 XIU 
 
 and that, though diversified in their appearances, tliey had 
 long had the mastery over our whole affairs. His chief 
 business, accordingly came to be, to trace these evils to their 
 source, and to seek out the means that could most complete- 
 ly raise us above the sphere of their operation. 
 
 The observations and hints, which the Author had then 
 prepared, are to be found at the beginning, and in a more 
 or less diffused form, throughout the treatise, and more par- 
 ticularly near the end. Various circumstances, however, 
 intervened, and retarded the progress of the work through 
 the press ; it became evident, too, that the importance of the 
 subject, and the powerful prejudices that would be opposed 
 to his expositions, required to be met in the fullest manner, 
 before his views could be held to be fully explicated. In 
 the meantime, various new topics presented themselves, and 
 matters, formerly held to be of primary regard, lost their im- 
 portance in the public estimation. Deeply impressed with the 
 seriousness of the task with which he had burdened himself, 
 the Author lost sight of every other consideration, but that 
 of doing all the justice to the subject, that was within the 
 compass of his power. He could not now pay much regard 
 either to plan or method ; but he made it his business, to 
 comprise the whole affairs which were deserving of attention, 
 completely under his eye. In this way, the treatise was drawn 
 out, in an undigested form, to an enormous bulk, so as in the 
 end to give a compilation of ideas, which embraces almost 
 the whole range of our public concernments, in the shape of 
 an overgrown pamphlet ; and, as many of the topics illustrat- 
 ed had lost their importance with the public, and given way to 
 others but remotely connected with the principal subject, 
 which it was now necessary to carry forward in like manner,
 
 XIV 
 
 under the same views, the treatise itself began to assume an 
 aspect that was at once uninviting and uninteresting. 
 
 Defects of method and arrangement, however, are not the 
 only, nor indeed the principal faults of this work. Certain 
 unforeseen occurrences renlered it impossible for the xVuthor 
 to bestow uniform attention to the work, proceeding under 
 his hands, whereby many flagrant mistakes escaped his no- 
 tice. At different times, it was necessary for him to inter- 
 mit his labors altogether, frequently for periods that were 
 very considerable ; and as he had made it his business to 
 carry along with him, the whole affairs and events with which 
 his subject was connected, under those views which the na- 
 ure of the case required, his resumption of his work, in 
 ha nged circumstances, was frequently not only difficult and 
 awkward, but extremely perplexing. These, and other 
 mishaps in this work the Author cannot but bitterly regret, 
 not so much on account of any disparagement they can pro- 
 duce to himself, as on that of their impairing the impressions 
 which illustrations, respecting a most important subject, ait 
 once cogent and conclusive, were calculated to produce. No- 
 thing but the firmest persuasion, that his expositions, not- 
 withstanding their blemishes, were well calculated to pro- 
 duce those general perceptions of national duty and public 
 advantage that were in view ; and a thorough conviction, that 
 the obligation laid upon him to persevere in his work was im- 
 perious, could possibly have borne him forward, amidst such 
 discouragements. While, therefore, he disclaims, most ab- 
 solutely, every literary claim whatever, he hopes that his 
 having thus manifestly sacrificed every thing personal, will 
 give him credit with the reader, in regard to the importance 
 and seriousness of the general subject-matter of his labors.
 
 XV 
 
 This work may, to many, appear to Lave a fault greater 
 than either of those abovementioned. Its object being to 
 reach to the root of the evils contemplated, and its design to 
 render the remedy proposed palpably evident, the project, 
 by means of which this design is carried forward, is extend- 
 ed to the highest and most important concerns of the state ; 
 it strikes at corruption and abuse of every kind with the most 
 unsparing hand, and it proposes alterations in most momen- 
 tous points of our public procedure, that, in some instances, 
 amount to innovations on customs and maxims the most tho* 
 roughly established. It must, however, be remembered, 
 that his project is itself no other than an illustration of the 
 subjects to which they refer. That thereby most forcible 
 illustrations are given must be admitted ; that they contain 
 precisely those views which the Author, after exercising 
 solicitude and anxiety on the subject, the most unremitted 
 and intense, ultimately preferred, is not denied ; but still, as 
 these can only be regarded as illustrations of the points to 
 which they refer, as they naturally emanated from the plan 
 of exposition that was adopted, and as they enabled him to 
 avoid every thing like reprobation and invective, such as in 
 regarding such matters he might otherwise have adopted, 
 they will, it is hoped, be regarded with as favorable an eye 
 as possible. It is his maxim, that whatever subject he touches 
 on shall have no other colouring but such as, in truth and sin- 
 cerity, \\j firmly believes to be its due. If, therefore, he has 
 given his expositions a range, that goes far beyond the limits 
 that are commonly received, it is enough for him, that he 
 has done this in a way, that is, on the whole, the least offen- 
 sive, and the most coincident with his general plan.
 
 XVI 
 
 Having made these candid, but necessary acknowledg- 
 ments, the Author proceeds to bespeak the intelHgent read- 
 er's attention, on the following grounds. First, the subjects, 
 generally illustrated, and the principles generally developed, 
 are, in themselves, of essential and unalterable importance ; 
 and the matters, introduced as connected with them, are such 
 ^s cannot be too fully apprehended, nor too earnestly insist- 
 ed on. Secondly. The same views, design and objects, that 
 were originally set out with, accompany the general eluci- 
 dation at every step, and at length completely resolve them- 
 selves into that plan and order of things, which all who wish 
 well to the state and the community, and to the principles 
 under which they profess to act, must most earnestly adhere 
 to. Thirdly. Of the matters handled, perhaps there is 
 not on? that has lost its essential importance in the great 
 scale of our national affairs, or is so absolutely superseded 
 in the public estimation, as not to be able to excite anew 
 public fervor. Fourthly. As it was of the last importance 
 to the Author to evince the absolute competency of the plan, 
 to the whole objects that were to be brought under it ; so it 
 must be of equal importance to the reader, who is impres- 
 sed with the importance of doing justice to the subject, to 
 have his perceptions of its competency equally established ; 
 which could not have been effected with less real exposi- 
 tion and discussion than are now adopted. These, and 
 other considerations that will occur to the reader, in the 
 perusal of the treatise, it is hoped, will serve as a sufficient 
 j^polpgy for the faults of this work. In order to afford 
 all the facility and assistance that can now be givep, thp 
 subjoined Argument, coiniprising it§ leading propositions 
 and illustrations in a condensed form, and a copious Index, 
 are prefixed.
 
 ARGUMENT, 
 
 COMrRISING 
 
 The Leading Propositions^ III udt-af ions and 
 Results in ilie following Worii, 
 
 I. Notwithstanding tlie frequent financial and commercial 
 distresses of the British Empire,it is certain, that the aggrega- 
 tions of commodities and productions of every kind, within 
 the compass of the Britisli power, are not only adequate to its 
 own supply of such productions, but adequate to that of the 
 whole world, and abundantly sufficient to command for our 
 use, whatever supply of foreign subjects our circumstances 
 may call for. For keeping up this supply, at home and abroad, 
 thoroughly provisioned establishments, and a completely or- 
 ganized population, are incessantly at work, so endowed with 
 faculties and powers for producing these resources, so stocked 
 with all the provisions and substances necessary for render- 
 ing all their developcments supremely powerful, and so re- 
 plete with facilities and advantages for making these bear 
 fully on their proper object, that this scale of profusion and 
 abundance might, as far as we can see, be maintained for 
 all time to come, not only at its present height, but in a 
 constant state of progression. It is plain, therefore, that 
 these distresses arise, not from any defect in the means and 
 subjects of wealth. 
 
 c
 
 XVlll 
 
 II. Neither do these distresses arise from any want of 
 funds. The monied interest of Great Britain comprises 
 the greatest mass of wealth this world ever saw. This 
 wealth is exhibited in the stocks, and funded debt of Great 
 Britain, and other great subjects of investment, which in the 
 aggregate constitute a mass of financial resources, that seem 
 to be equal to every demand that can be made upon them, 
 and to be equal to every purpose to which such resources 
 are requisite. 
 
 III. Although Britain is thus replenished both with 
 means and with funds — with means, comprising not only 
 subjects of wealth, fitted for use and consumption, but pro- 
 cesses and materials for keeping up the supply of means ; 
 and with funds, comprising, not only realized capital in a 
 liquid state, but debts, obligations and means, verging to re- 
 solution. — Notwithstanding these advantages, we frequently 
 svistaiu all the real calamities of dearth, sometimes even of 
 absolute want. Our means, after they have satiated our own 
 immediate wants for them, are of no use whatever, but ac- 
 cording as they can be resolved into funds, in an appropriate 
 market, and our funds, after putting us in possession of 
 our immediate supplies, ai*e of importance, only as they'^can 
 be invested in subjects that yield adequate returns. It is 
 evident, therefore, that notwithstanding all the advantages 
 lh9,t we possess, we must remain dependent on that market, 
 and on these objects, wherein these ditl^rent resolutions can 
 be effected. 
 
 IV. The ma,rket for British productions and commodities 
 comprises almost every civilized country. It is frequently 
 in the power of the sovereigns of such countries, ajid it is 
 generally held to be for their interest, to impede these resQ^ 
 lutions. This took place to a great degree at the period re- 
 ferred to. But, even when these are altogether indifferent as 
 to this object, there is generally a vast multitude of difficul-
 
 XIX 
 
 tics attendant on such resolutions ; the mai-kct must be in a 
 situation to receive our commodities, and the people to pay 
 for them ; the state of commercial intercourse must also fa- 
 vour tlie transmission of the value homewards, whicli, after 
 all, may ccrnsist of commodities, that merely supplant native 
 productionSj or of obligations that cannot be enforced ■with- 
 out producing serious mischief. 
 
 V. The funds of the British capitalist can, however, ge- 
 nerally be disposed of without much difficulty. The nation 
 has for a long time been so involved in war, and so deeply 
 engaged in enterprises which require fresh supplies of funds 
 and means, that funds can always be disposed of, much to the 
 liking of the holder, although this withdraws them so far 
 out of the range of public advantage, that they must anew 
 find their way into the circle, before they can effectuate fi- 
 nancial relief. In so far, however, as our processes of ciiri- 
 sumption and production, meet each other in the comtnon 
 market, to that extent do the means of the country obtain 
 their resolution, and meet our substantial wants. But 
 from the immensity of the range which our funds and 
 means, for the most pai't, respectively describe, before 
 they meet each other in the common market, and from the 
 power and value of our multifarious resolutions, wo know 
 that there is, and always must be, while things remain in their 
 present state, a most immense amount of valuable produc- 
 tions, throughout the vast range of our transactions, from 
 which no adequate returns can be drawn. 
 
 VI. This deficit is of much greater moment that its bare 
 amount can at any time indicate. The Avealth of the state, and 
 the value of the public funds, depend on the supplies that 
 are drawn out of the whole returns that arc realized from our 
 means, and their wants press always hardest for supplies when 
 the deficit is the greatest. This is necessary and unavoida- 
 ble, when the deficit is great ; because the burdens of the 
 
 c 2
 
 XX 
 
 state must always be discharged, out of the first and readiest 
 funds that are to be got, whatever becomes of our other af- 
 fairs. Let it now be considered, that the amount, as well as 
 the pressure of public burdens is most momentous. Is it 
 not then evident, that eveiy case of difficulty and embarrass- 
 ment, must tend to increase, unless speedy and effectual 
 relief be afforded, and that every increase of difficulty and 
 embarrassment, renders it necessary to augment the relief 
 that is thus afforded, at the same time, that the relief, thereby 
 rendered thus necessary, is made more difficult of attain- 
 ment ? 
 
 VII. The difficulty, thus produced, from the nature of the 
 case, and from the circumstances of our situation, is apt to 
 become extremely formidable and dangerous. It is utterly 
 impossible for us to obtain a stable and substantial instru- 
 ment of exchange, from the mass of financial resources which 
 we possess, until these be concentrated in some validated 
 form ; for all the precious metals in the world could not, al- 
 though they were absolutely at our disposal, expedite one 
 hundredth part of our financial transactions, and financial 
 resources, cannot, at all times, be had in this concentrated, 
 vahdated state, in sufficient quantity to serve our purposes. 
 Thence it is, that commercial credit, or that confidence 
 which individuals have in each other's capabilities to dis- 
 charge any engagements that they contract, comes to be the 
 pivot or fulcrum on which mercantile transactions turn. 
 But, from the necessity of the case, it so happens, that when 
 financial difficulties increase, comqiercial credit diminishes, 
 and validated obligations tend constantly to move off the 
 course of circulation. The difficulty, accordingly, is apt to 
 become extreme, more particularly when, as at present, 
 the precious metals are, in a manner, withdrawn from the 
 circle. 
 
 VIII. The chief, or rather the only regular way, where-
 
 XXI 
 
 by individuals, in such circumstances, can get the necessary 
 supply of thcmedium of excliange, is that of concluding mer- 
 cantile transactions, and getting the proceeds of the mercan- 
 tile obligation thence procured, from a banker or money 
 holder. But in order to be able to effect such transactions, 
 and for the purpose of maintaining our various reproduc- 
 tive energies in full play, it is necessary, to urge forward the 
 processes vherein these energies are concentrated, and to 
 keep agoing a course of reproduction, which perhaps has al- 
 ready satiated every accessible market. The evil day is by 
 these means sometimes only the farther postponed, for the 
 transactions thus concluded, and the obligations thus come 
 under, must be discharged from financial resources, to be 
 drawn out of the common market. The whole hopes of all 
 parties are centred in this point ; that general relief will, in 
 the ordinary course of things, ultimately spring up from 
 the multitude of commeicial and financial processes, that are 
 going on in circumstances more or less independent of these 
 embarrassments. It is thence, most assuredly, that financial 
 relief in extreme cases derives its impetus. 
 
 IX. There results, from the whole of those disparage- 
 ments, a disadvantage which is of the most serious kind. 
 We, as a nation, are necessitated to plod on in the same 
 course, producing the same commodities, organizing our- 
 selves under the same influences, and drawing up wealth 
 and attainments under the same form, whatever disap- 
 pointment and disasters ma^ folh'W. The factitious wants 
 of our population, the habits of thinking and of acting, 
 whicii their circumstances, thus dependent, have formed, 
 become accordingly confirmed ; and from the consequent con- 
 catenation of their aft'airs with those of foreign markets, 
 wherein the resolution of our wealth into funds takes place, 
 these wants and habits remain under impressions that are 
 alike dangerous to our established intercbts, and repugnant 
 to general improvement. Of the conmioditics which we
 
 xxu 
 
 produce, few are in themselves of sufficient value, to war- 
 rant us to make any extraordinary sacrifice for their attain- 
 ment; and of the returns, of which, exchanges of these with 
 foreign nations, put us in possession, by far the greater 
 part are of little or no intvin.sic value whatever. In the 
 meantime, our duty as a nation and as individuals remains 
 undischarged. We are occupied about the merest gewgaws, 
 and expend our immense energies and resources, in a way, 
 that at once seals down our degradation, and deprives us of 
 the price for which we have sold ourselves. 
 
 X. It is evident, however, notwithstanding all these dis- 
 paragements and disadvantages, that the general system of 
 things established in Great Britain, is most powerful, glo- 
 rious and beneficent, and that these disparagements and 
 disadvantages are interwoven with its greatest blessings. 
 The question therefore comes to be, how are we to preserve 
 the character of our system, and yet extricate it out of its 
 embarrassments.? Our system has withstood shocks, sur- 
 mounted hazards, and overwhelmed opposition, altogether 
 unparalleled, without losing any of its character or its power. 
 Shall we endanger this stately oak by cutting off shoots, 
 which, for any thing that appears to the contrary, may be 
 necessary to its strength, merely because they are inconve- 
 nient or unseemly H In order to have a thorough appre- 
 hension of the duty that lies before us, the Author took a 
 retrospect of the progress of improvement in civilized so- 
 ciety. 
 
 (1.) During the pastoral era, cattle constituted at once 
 the most useful and necessary subject of wealth, the instru- 
 ment whereby wealth was circulated, (thence called /)ec7/ma,) 
 and the ultimate resolution of wealth, constituting a process 
 incrementive or reproductive, which concentrated in itself, 
 the joint faculties of giving forth adequate returns, and 
 conferring honor on the possessor. Under such auspices, 
 property sought no extrinsic resolution^, but such as Were
 
 XXIU 
 
 most simple and necessary. The main qualities oF wealth, 
 its real utility and subserviency to the wants of man, were 
 never lost sight of. Nothing valuable perished in the course 
 of any of its resolutions. Property, proceeded as from a 
 centre of its own, to increase and accumulate; and this qua- 
 lity, like its subserviency to human wants, and its advance- 
 ment of the condition of its possessor, was inherent, and 
 went on, regularly, without difficulty, and without obstruc- 
 tion. The instrument of exchange seldom intervened ; for 
 the main agent in these processes was suasive and paternal 
 influences, emanating from uncontrovertible right and autho- 
 rity. The maxims of equity, enforced by patriarchal dio-. 
 nity, were accordingly for the most part sufficient to preserve 
 good order. 
 
 (2.) This system was subverted, and its elements ab- 
 sorbed, under that concrete domination, which, layino- its 
 hands suddenly and violently, not only on the property, but 
 on the persons of men, rendered these jointly the instru- 
 ments of preparing, and the subjects for constituting, wealth 
 of the most diversified kind. Power and violence were here 
 the chief agents, and the different processes of reproduction 
 had scarcely any other stimulant to their movements, but that 
 which these supphed. The object of these processes, was 
 the aggrandizement of those in whose favor their fruits were 
 drawn up. Cocrtion, more or less simple, exercising those 
 functions, and impressing those faculties, which are now ex- 
 ercised and impressed by funds, the condition of the great 
 bulk of mankind was thereby debased to a very extraor- 
 dinary degree. 
 
 (3.) This system was broke to pieces by the Christian 
 system, which diffused into every department of human in- 
 tercourse, the principle of coinpassionato regard and respect- 
 ful deference; and which, by exercising mankind under 
 fraternal influences, and by raising the human mind to ob- 
 jects of the highest kind, prepared them for giving to these 
 influences full effect. The feudal or Gothic system, which
 
 XXIV 
 
 was superadded to these, clotlied with importance all the 
 wants, circumstances and peculiarities of mankind, person- 
 ally and abstractedly considered, and made these the sub- 
 ject of improvement. A multitude of political and civil 
 entities, each having its own definite rights and privileges, 
 which were protected by the common arm, served each of 
 these various processes as rallying points, and shed banners 
 of protection over them. A vast expansion was given to 
 the system thus reinforced ; but it was long before the re- 
 vival and advancement of new and superseded arts and 
 sciences, the discovery of the new world, and passage round 
 the Cape of Good Hope, the invention of bills of exchange, 
 and the extension and improvement of civil and juridical 
 immunities, reinforced by those means and powers which 
 were disengaged from under clerical and feudal influences, 
 could prepare the world for the blessings with which this 
 system was fraught. Even, after these advantages were at- 
 tained, corruption and profligacy took the place of that libe- 
 ral improvement which ought to have followed, and absorbed 
 its best and most precious fruits ; while tyranny and concre- 
 tion continued to draw these up, and to dispose of them for 
 purposes of aggrandisementi^ It was clear, that these mul- 
 tiplied entities necessarily tended to resolve their power into 
 central points of domination, always preserving those separate 
 rights and privileges, which the experience of ages had ren- 
 dered beneficent ; and it was equally clear, that the aggregate 
 power, thus produced and reinforced, could only be held to 
 be thus deposited for general good. A degenerated tem- 
 perament, however, too frequently either perverted these 
 tendencies, or absorbed the blessings with which they were 
 fraught. It is most assuredly our duty as a great nation, 
 comprising a multitude of these entities, not only to keep 
 our system entire and in full vigor, but to see that its polit- 
 ical affinities were properly and fully established. That we 
 had not done this, so fully as we ought and might have 
 done, was evident. That we could seldom, a priori, deter-
 
 XXV 
 
 iaiinc, from the bearings of circumstances, the wisest class of 
 measures for us to follow out, was almost equally manifest. 
 There is one simple principle in our constitution, however, 
 which may at all times serve as a pole-star, in a national as 
 well as in a personal capacity, and that is, to ascertain our 
 proper duty at the time, in a moral light ; to follww out the 
 path •which this duly points to us ; and to leave all other con- 
 sequences to Heaven. This is the grand principle of our 
 system, which teaches belief and confidence in the most 
 High, and a determined and earnest perseverance in our 
 duty. It has so happened to us as a nation, that experience 
 and observation, the most extended, have demonstrated to us 
 the importance and the necessity of the connexion thus per- 
 ceived in our case to exist, and that in following out the course 
 of duty, nationally and individually, those mistakes, errors 
 and perversities which take place, more or less, in all general 
 procedure, have served to conduct us so much the more cer- 
 tainly to that end, which it is most for our interest to attain. 
 It is no doubt implied in such procedure, that we use pro- 
 per means, and avail ourselves of every advantage, and not 
 only acquit ourselves duly of every obligation that lies upon 
 us, but become thoroughly ^acquainted both with its bear- 
 ing, and with the established method of following it out. 
 It is understood too, that we do not wantonly or unneces- 
 sarily restrict ourselves in regard to those measures, wliich 
 the circumstances of our cause, and the difficulties that he 
 in the way, render necessary. It is indispensible, however, 
 for us at all tunes to follow out the spirit of the system, and 
 to resist most stedfastly every allurement, tliat could make 
 us swerve from under its influences. 
 
 XI. In the course of the treatise, the foregoing subjects 
 are illustrated at full length, and earned over a n)uiritude 
 of particulars. The nature, character and operation of that 
 general system under which we are placed, as well as those 
 of our own .'ipecial department of that system, are uuiblded 
 
 d
 
 XXVI 
 
 and oxamined in their origin and causes, bearings and ten- 
 dencies. It is thence made to appear, that a necessity is 
 laid upon us to provide a new financial instrument, such as 
 will at once operate freely upon a secure, ample, substantial 
 basis, and such as may be had in sufficient plenty to supply 
 all our financial occasions. At present, we are restricted to 
 Bank emissions, which are apt to fail the most respectable 
 and independent amongst us, in the greatest need, and 
 which place us all on a common footing of subserviency to 
 Banking interests, and reliance on their capricious favors. 
 Commercial credit, widely and diffusely spread, is made to 
 perform the main functions in this business. As this is con- 
 stituted of a congeries of obligations, into which it is the 
 rule to implicate every thing that can be held to be connec- 
 ted with them ; and into which, for this reason, it is the 
 practice of monev-dealers to draw as great a representation 
 of wealth as possible, the financial prowess of the commercial 
 world is, for the most part, bound up together, and by 
 means of the variety of liguments by which this connexion 
 is maintained, all those parties are liable to be involved itt 
 one common fate — a fate, which in effect is prepared for it, 
 almost without the agency of those who are mainly inter- 
 ested in the business. 
 
 These facts, and the various views of our situation, 
 of our duties, and of our interests, that are connected there- 
 with, being considered, it was seen, that the main defi- 
 ciency in our system would be made up, by means of in- 
 stituting establishments, whercunto the roots of wealth, 
 those iricrementive principles whence wealth springs forward 
 anew after every rencountre, (that is, land and other produc- 
 tive subjects,) alone should be admitted ; and by capacitating 
 those establishments alone to emit validated impledgements, 
 such as must be held to be ultimate resolutions of every other 
 circulatory instrument; these establishments being always 
 subj'cted to the necessity of impledging to the public those 
 roots, to an extent sufficient to uphold their pledges, not
 
 XXVll 
 
 only in a circulable, but in a reproductive form. In other 
 words, a sell erne is herein unfolded, wheieby— in consequence 
 of our resting our circulatory pr<jcesses, upon the roots or 
 estabUslnnents, whence consuuieable objects are obtained, 
 ill place of on these subjects, themselves, (each of these 
 cstablisliments being necessitated to impledge property suffix 
 cient for covering their emissions, both when in circulation, 
 and when replaced to bear interest, and being exeemed 
 from all farther resolubiiity after this impledgement Avas 
 satisfactorily given,) the commercial world would be accom- 
 modated with an instrument of exchange that carried a- 
 long with it, both its real and its denominative value, arid 
 one that is every way adapted to our circumstances. 
 
 Furthermore, in order to put as complete a stop as 
 possible to every undue extension of these emissions, and 
 in order to fix each transaction to the precise circumstances 
 in which it stands, a variety of checks and rules were intto- 
 duccd into the general plan, all tending to dissever that 
 concretion into which our resources tend, aud to place indi- 
 viduals and establisimieuts in those circumstances of native 
 independence, which coincides with the general character of 
 the system. As it is perfectly manifest, that since neither 
 these financial establishments, nor any one else, could emit 
 a single impledgement or Bank note, until they had set aside 
 commensurate wealth, incrementive, and absolutely consti- 
 tuted, and recognized as importing its circulatory value; that 
 since these impledgements, from the facilities aflbrded, would 
 be emitted to the full requisite extent, and would as ofteii as 
 they exceeded this extent, pass into reproductive funds, 
 bearing interest ; and since fictitious and unsupported paper 
 (emissions and obligations) would be repressed, and forced 
 out of the circle and order of financial transactions ; so it 
 must be admitted to be equally manifest, that by these means 
 our financial intercourse, that of the state as well as that 
 of individuals, would move forward with vigor, and pro- 
 ceed on groiuids the most stable and the most secure. 
 
 (1 2
 
 XXVlll 
 
 XII. But besides providing a financial instrument, it is 
 necessary to prepare a suitable range of developement to our 
 various reproductive energies. The instrument of exchange, 
 thus prov ded, has a necessary tendency to draw forth internal 
 resources, and to increase the subjects of wealth over which 
 our whole circumstances have full control. From our situ- 
 ation, however, we must look abroad for the principal exci- 
 tation and support which our reproductive energies call for. 
 The war, in which we were then engaged, not only limited 
 our views very much in this respect, but rendered it neces- 
 sary for us to proceed, both with discriminating and with de- 
 terminate vigor, in the pursuit of this object. The illustra- 
 tions herewith given, coinciding with those circumstances, it 
 was shewn, that if our allies are in good heart, they may 
 benefit themselves, not less by giving us those retui-ns which 
 we claim, than by accepting of those bounties which we 
 place at their disposal. Although, those circumstances for the 
 most part have passed away, which had rendered these ani- 
 madversions necessary, they enter so fully and so minutely 
 into those general interests, in which all Christian nations 
 alike partake, and they open up the sequel of the project so 
 appropriately, that they cannot even now be passed over. 
 
 XIII. The Author — having, in the course of the treatise, 
 unfolded the advantages that result to Great Britain as a 
 connnercial and highly improved community, from its vast 
 colonial possessions, and means for supporting an immense 
 mass of productive energies in full play within these, as well 
 as at home ; and the consequent duty that is laid upon it, 
 to foster the interests of these colonies with as peculiar care 
 as those of the mother country, not only in the way of ac- 
 cording them requisite countenance and indulgence, but in 
 that of favoring them with the fullest and truest use 6f 
 every financial and commercial advantage, which is at pre- 
 sent enjoyed by the parent country alone — proceeds to lay 
 down various rules and schemes, for giving to these consid-
 
 XXIX 
 
 eratious full and practical effect. In particular, having 
 pointed out the benefits that must result from the faithful 
 discharge of these duties, he goes on to notice those circum- 
 stances in our situation, that render these benefits most 
 particularly valuable. What is it, that is to prince, peer 
 and peasant the main object of individual solicitude ? Is it 
 not, that those respective establishments, those processes of 
 industry or reproduction, wherein they are severally most 
 immediately interested, may unfold themselves with the most 
 perfect freedom, and bring them back the value of their fruits 
 and ])ro».luctions in the fullest and safest manner .'' Surely 
 the improvement of our colonial possessions, and enabling 
 these to receive, return, and realize their productions, or 
 tiieir results, all over the world, with the greatest advantage, 
 must expedite this object more than any other means that 
 we can think of. 
 
 Farther. What is to each of us individually, personally, 
 the main object of solicitude .'' Is it not the providing for our 
 families, connexions and dependants, and establishing them 
 in circumstances, wherein each individual of them may best 
 support his native advantages, and provide most effectually 
 for his own interest? It is evident, that our colonies, thus 
 improved and advanced, would afford an ample, a delectable, 
 and a secure field for the provision and establishment, of 
 mvriads of families, connexions and dependents, of all ranks 
 and classes, if thus set forward in a course of general im- 
 provement and liberal advancement, under these very views. 
 To conclude. What is tiie main duty of man upon 
 earth ? Is it not diffusing the blessings of improvement with 
 stedfastness, sliedding the lustre, and spreading the advan- 
 tages of our system every where around, over every nation, 
 tribe and kindred of men ? Now it is perfectly clear, that 
 this grand duty is never to be efieclually discharged, until 
 we have not only transplanted our system, with all its pecu- 
 liar blessings, attainments and institutions, into our extended 
 colonies, but have nurtured these colonies under the most
 
 XXX 
 
 jrenial influences of tliis paramount system. Tlai/ese are the 
 views that are taken u}) and illustrated in the subsequent 
 part of this treatise, and a variety of rules, maxims and 
 orders are brought Ibrward, for the purpose of giving the 
 most ample range to the developcmcnt of these blessings, 
 all of which are now held to be brought effectually withiij 
 our reach. Man himself, the exaltation of his character, 
 as well as the improvement of his condition, in every star 
 tion, rank and order of society, is set forth as the great ob- 
 ject of our concern. The various methods by which this 
 object is to be obtained, in coincidence with the leading end 
 and design of the system, are accordingly fidly and particu- 
 lai'ly considered, and the whole resolved into, and concat- 
 enated with, the enjoyment of the liighest aiid purest bles- 
 sings of improvement. 
 
 Connected with these developements of the project, a 
 scheme for proselyting and bringing under Cljristian influ- 
 ences, rude and uncivilized nations, is sot forward under a 
 plan, that must coincide with the wliole operations of the 
 project as sketched out. 
 
 XIV. Having these exalted and glorious objects before 
 us, and a plan thoroughly digested and provided for their 
 attahiment ; having means in abundance at hand, and finan- 
 cial establishments, enjanating funds in direct subserviency 
 to their leading interests, every where set down ; the author 
 goes on to draw out his project to its full length, comprising 
 under its influence all our great and leading concernments. 
 In this part of the subject, the political and belligerent in- 
 terests of the nation are illustrated at full length, under 
 views, however, which as ihey embrace, on forcible and ge- 
 neral principles, the whole outlines of our leading concern- 
 ments, so they are no less interesting and important, in peace, 
 and under fixed permanent arrangements, than amidst our 
 late tumultuous conte^ta^tions.
 
 XXXI 
 
 XV. Marking the situation, in which our reproductive 
 processes developed their force, and noting, at the same 
 time, the incompatibiHty of that enormoue load of debt and 
 taxation, with a free, full and regular adv^cement towards 
 those ends, the Author goes on to unfold a new source of 
 financial resources, which will not only carry forward his 
 whole project to its desired end, but lead to a full, iair, and 
 absolute discharge of the national debt, and ultimately to 
 an abrogation of all our public imposts ; and to propose, as 
 a concluding part of his design, to authorize Government to 
 grant, to the holders of naiional property, the option of 
 having their stock converted into authoritative impledge- 
 ments, bearing no interest, for a speciHc time, and to a limited 
 extent ; to be circulated on the same footing with validated 
 impledgements; these impledgemcnts being, after the lapseof 
 the specified tciTn, at the pleasure of the holder, reconverted 
 into stock, bearing interest as formei'ly. The result of 
 granting this permission tlie Author conceives to be, that 
 these impledgements will come to be circulated all over the 
 empire, our national debt to be speedily run off, and the 
 whole oppressive part of our public burdens, to be with 
 equal celerity, annihilated. 
 
 This is the argument, and these the results, of the project 
 laid down. The whole may be summed up in this. Money 
 is the flux or menstruum, for expediting the resolution of 
 means and advantages. It is our first and clearest interest, 
 and our bounden duty to avail ourselves fully of our plen- 
 itude of means and advantages, by proceeding thereby to 
 resolve these into the highest and purest state of improve- 
 ment. The circumstances in which we are placed are 
 made compatible with this process, by effectuating these re-
 
 xxxu 
 
 solutions in the most exalted stedfast path of duty. Funds 
 or Inoney, in our circumstances, may consist of any abso- 
 lutely realized sul»ects, that give forth adequate permanent 
 jt^ajj revenue; and tli^jCmay be fairly and fully represented, cither 
 ' in a fixed form, producing interest, or in a liquid form, com- 
 
 manding universal circulation. The value of money is not 
 determined by its plenitude, for every one husbands funds 
 which have cost him their denominative value, and which he 
 cannot make use of without divesting himself of a corres- 
 ponding proportion of substance. This value is determined 
 by the plenitude of its counterfeit, commercial credit^ which 
 an individual inconsiderately passes to his neighbour, in ex- 
 change for that which he wants, and of course parts with it, 
 with less regard to its denominative value, which at the 
 time costs him nothing, than to the assumed value of the 
 object for which he parts with it. Our maxim is, to repress 
 commercial credit within its natural bounds, and to provide 
 the community with access to a plenitude of validated im- 
 pledgements, which will render i-ecourse to this counterfeit 
 the less necessary. Having attained this instrument, our tho- 
 roughly organized system, when bent forward to its proper 
 object, will develope all those means and resources, which 
 can be the subject of our solicitude in an advancing state of 
 improvement.
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 N. B. — The Treatise onward to page 785 isoas passed through 
 the press prior to the year 1S13 ; thence to 945 prior to 
 the year now current. 
 
 Preliminary observations — The character, extent, ten- 
 dency and urgency of the financial distresses of the 
 British empire, in 1810 and 1811, 1. the necessity of ap- 
 plying effectual relief to these distresses, and the important 
 advantages that we have for so doing, 5. the stability of 
 that basis whereon our paper currency is rested, 11. dis- 
 tinctive qualities of the metallic and paper medium, 17. 
 the contingencies in which the scarcity of bullion arose, 20. 
 this scarcity not disparaging to our great national inter- 
 ests, 27. these interests depend essentially on the regular 
 developement of our productive powers, _ - 30 
 
 A parallel, in illustration of this point, drawn between cir- 
 cumstances then existing, and those of the era wherein 
 cattle constituted at once the medium of exchange, (pe- 
 cunia) the main subject of wealth, and its ultimate re- 
 solution, __--_-. 34, 
 
 The same parallel carried forward during the subsequent 
 era, when the subjects of wealth were greatly diversified, 
 and personal industry had become a main object of value; 
 but when, from the coercive influences under which the 
 reproductive processes were expedited, and from the con- 
 crete form, under which their fruits were drawn up for 
 the service of the dominant characters, the metallic medium 
 was still little resorted to, 52. iieiice the iunocuousness of 
 

 
 XXXIV 
 
 a supersaturation of the medium, and the importance of 
 incessant uninterrupted progression in improvement, are 
 disclosed, 79. and the necessity under which we are laid, 
 of taking along with us all our present advantages, in the 
 view of ameliorating our condition, 89. the bearing of the 
 established mythology on the concrete system, 106. the 
 singular case of the Jews under king Solomon, 112. the 
 general results of these illustrations, - - 121 
 
 Preface to an illustration of the Christian and feudal sys- 
 tems, 129. introduction of the Christian system, with its 
 beneficent and emulous influences, 134-. that of the feudal 
 system, with its collisive and independent influences, 137. 
 the multitude of political entities thence produced, and 
 their general circumstances, 1 44. the great political enti- 
 ties of Europe taken generally under consideration, 157. 
 the hierarchy, 159. the leading states, 161. the subordi- 
 nate authorities, 165. the system in Poland, 169. in Scot- 
 land, 173. in Spain, 180. in England, 189. in Germany, 
 194. in Italy, 215 
 
 The system in France — its general circumstances, 227. the 
 proximate causes of the revolution, 251. the principles 
 on which its government fatally proceeded at that crisis, 
 261. obvious duty vitiously neglected, 269. the advan- 
 tages thereby forfeited, 282. its consecutive flagitious con- 
 duct, 294. the general character of this eventful system 
 of things, 298. its ultimate resolution into a military go- 
 vernment, - - _ _ - - 308 
 Devolution of the general system, 313. impossibility of 
 maintaining peace in such circumstances, 319. character 
 of the war, 325. on impressment, 336. on neutral rights, 
 343. American neutrality, 351. its deflection to the in- 
 teres^ts of France, 360. the real causes of this deflection, 
 376. its subserviency to the occasions of France, 385. its 
 tendency to dilapidate our navaU prowess, 403. its cir- 
 cumduction even of American interests in favor of the 
 French system, - - - - - i» 'i ; 414
 
 XXXV 
 
 First proposed system of improvement, introduced by a libe- 
 ral and extended view of the leading interests of America, 
 since the irruption of Spain from French domination, 416. 
 the attitudes which France, America, Spain and Britain 
 thereupon maintained, 428. the interests of these three 
 last powers, might be amalgamated by a grand political 
 alliance, 445. the bearings of this association on a great 
 order of social improvement, (advantages of national spirit 
 and horrors of universal empire, 457) 454. the importance 
 of Spanish America to this grand renovating system, 467. 
 British maritime ascendancy vindicated, 477. objections 
 to the above project answered, 485. its general aptitude 
 to our whole national circumstances evinced, 495. its pe- 
 culiar excellencies, 508. the advantages thereby provided, 
 for implicating within our project the whole nations of 
 Christendom, and the necessity that is laid upon us to 
 avail ourselves fully of this advantage, 515. the expediency 
 of giving to all neutral nations free access to our colonial 
 possessions, 526. the general tendency of these concate- 
 nated measures, and the results into which they lead, 540 
 
 Summary of the qualities of the project now laid down, as 
 eliciting the principles on which the financial instrument 
 which our circumstances require, is to be procured, 551. 
 elements of which this instrument is compobcd, 566. (see 
 also note in 620, and at end) principles on which its value 
 is to be drawn up and circulated, 569. (see also note in 774) 
 financial board, and other provisions for developing the 
 plan, considered, 571. objections to the plan answered, 
 577. the powerful character and operation of commercial 
 credit considered, 581. this credit ought to have re- 
 straints laid upon it, conformable to its nature, 589. by 
 giving publicity to copartnerships, 593. by circumscribing 
 the responsibility of indorsers of bills, 596, objections 
 thereto, 605, and note at end. the business and offices 
 of Bankers under the proposed plan exhibited, 612. 
 validated impledgements taxed in a way conformable to 
 
 e 2
 
 XXXVl 
 
 their form, fabric, and import, which are thereupon de- 
 lineated in a note, 618. tlie operation and results of the 
 financial plan, 624. and objections that may be started 
 against these repelled, - _ - _ _ 631 
 
 Retrospect of the general project, thus reinforced by a 
 financial plan, 640. its bearing on our political interests, 
 643. on our commercial interests, 655. on tlie East India 
 trade, 664. the extension of the financial scheme to our 
 West India settlements proposed, 667. the bearings of 
 this scheme on the landed interest, 670. the result of 
 these bearings in favor of the community, 676. promoting 
 urbanity in this class, 677. and enabling them to lower 
 the price of provisions, 682. the present high price of 
 these no proof of the depretiation of money, 683. nor the 
 advanced wages of industry, 693. these general advan- 
 tages borne home to the money-holder, 710. to the class 
 of the industrious, 713. to society at large, 719. present 
 circumstances of money-dealers considered, 737. the pro- 
 posed financial scheme supersedes the necessity of resort- 
 ing to Exchequer bills, or other such temporary expedi- 
 ents for raising money, 748 the general aptitude of our 
 financial means to our financial objects evinced, 756. the 
 competency of those hereby provided, displayed, 768 
 
 This scheme is applicable to the circumstances of every 
 Christian nation, and may be carried into effect in each 
 of them, 786. the urgent and important considerations 
 whereby it is pressed upon their notice, 800. on public 
 opinion, and other circumstances which influence the con- 
 duct of nations, 809. (see also note in 1045) the great 
 objects of national solicitude considered, 815. the distri- 
 bution of power and territory amongst the European na- 
 tions, to which a due regard to such objects point, 825. 
 (sec also note 1181) consequent improvements of the 
 general system, 841. on naval and colonial power, 846. 
 on a warlike spirit, 850. the circumstances of the nations 
 tranquillized, and their jarring spirits coalesced, consid-
 
 XXXVll 
 
 ered, 856. annotation on the Turkish empire, and the 
 Bourbons, 862. (see also note 1181) summary view of 
 these political arrangements, _ _ . g67 
 
 Influence of the general system on the character, pursuits, 
 and condition of man — these generally ameliorated and ad- 
 vanced, 873. his domestic habits improved ; animadversions 
 on the present state of these, 882. (and note at end) pro- 
 posing, amongst other things, a modification of the divorce 
 laws, 884. of the income and assessed taxes, 886 and 1 1 52. 
 of the bankrupt acts, 888. and of education, 891 and 
 1205. these influences on the higher orders of society, 894. 
 these classes to be thereby rendered instrumental in improv- 
 ing our race all over the globe, 907. whence advantages of 
 the most estimable kind accrue to them, 916. animadver- 
 sions on the rules, according to which royal and patrician 
 matrimonial connexions are formed, 922. retrospect of the 
 general operation of the superinduced principles, 930. 
 their operation on the human character, 933. on the char- 
 acter of governments, 935. in regard to taxation, 939. 
 annotation respecting the income tax, 940. (see also 886 
 and 1153) in regard to colonization, 943. and in regard 
 to subsidizing, 945. convergence of their influence on 
 personal concerns, - - _ _ . 947 
 
 Prefatory remarks on colonization, 951. the Crusades, 959. 
 Spanish system of colonization, {)65. the British, 967. 
 these taken into comparison, and the imperfections of the 
 British disclosed, 976. its peculiar advantages, 988. their 
 perversion, and the improvement and extension of the 
 general system, as the remedy of this perversion, consid- 
 ered, 991. this jwint illustrated, by considering our pre- 
 sent peculiar advantages for the prosecution of this object, 
 997. those to be prepared thereto by the project in hand, 
 999. the advantages to be yet achieved, 1001. those 
 arising from the deportations of the compressed industri- 
 ous, 1006. those arising trom the exerticms of the enter- 
 prising, 1014. those arising from vast accessions of strength
 
 XXXVlll 
 
 and of means, to be obtained from amongst the resources 
 of the leading classes, 1018. and from the exterior inter- 
 course, to be accorded to our colonies, - 10^2 
 On the means to be resorted to for colonizing CafFraria, and 
 our other African settlements, 1030. Hindostan, and other 
 East India settlements, 1039. (note on the liberty of the 
 press, 1 045) measures to be resorted to for the general 
 advantage of the colonial interest, 1047, ameliorating the 
 condition of native laborers, 1053. and of British laborers, 
 1057. the order of their respective advancement into, and 
 amalgamation with, our system, 1066. annotation on our 
 American colonies, 1075. the interestsof the leading clas- 
 ses, most peculiarly implicated in these improvements of 
 the colonial system, - - - , _ 1077 
 Scheme for proselyting the heathen to the Christian faith, 
 arising out of these circumstances, 1085 the value and 
 importance of such a scheme evinced, 1092. general ad- 
 vantages and general objections thereto considered, 1097, 
 those arising from family passions treated of, 1105. con- 
 vergence of the general scheme upon this point, 1107 
 A fresh supply of financial resources to be found, in giving 
 to the national creditors the option of repayment in authori- 
 tative impledgements, 1112. the process whereby this is to 
 be effected, 1116, and note at end. objection to govern- 
 ment agency stated, 1119. answered from a consideration 
 of the circumstances of the transaction, 1122. from its 
 advantageous coincidence with the circumstances of money 
 holders, and of the state, 1124. from the nature and char- 
 acter of the obligations subsisting betwixt the nation and 
 the state, and betwixt these and their common creditor, 
 1134. its puUic advantages, 1st, it binds the scattered 
 proviin^es of the British empire in a vast political and 
 financial ch liu, 1139. 2d, it proves a saving to the nation 
 ; suj^icimi l<- liquidate our ncUional debt ; our impledgements 
 , might (irMiif!ie in foreign countries; and ultimately oicr 
 whole taxes and pnblic burdens maj/ be discharged, 1142. the
 
 XXXlX 
 
 agency of Government necessary, in order lo give the first 
 impulse to the whole system, 1147. provincial boards to 
 be established, 1149. the whole process considered as be- 
 gun, 1151. the abolition of the house tax, and the modi- 
 fication of certain public burdens, primary steps, 1152. 
 note respecting poor's rates, &c. 1155. the key-stone of 
 the whole project obtained by these means, 1160. the 
 continued discharge of the national debt and public im- 
 posts considered, 1163. great leading and conclusive ad- 
 vantages of the system, 1 1 65. objections to the value of 
 these advantages considered and answered, 1171. the 
 remedy against corruption, and every apprehended dan- 
 ger, found in the ordinary operation of the system, 1177 
 
 Note on page 836, containing those views of the results of 
 the war, and of the territorial arrangements of Europe, 
 which naturally flow from their connexion with the pro- 
 posed project, _--___ 1181, 
 
 Various other Notes, 12f » // 
 
 MEMORANDA. 
 
 The phraseology in this work being in certain instances 
 somewhat peculiar, the following explanation seems to be 
 necessary. 
 
 Impledgements — a familiar term for bank notes — emissions^ 
 for bank paper of every kind — validated impledgevients, are 
 those proposed by the plan in page 566, whereby property 
 is impledged and set aside in security for such emissions. 
 These are said to be repledgcd, when replaced in the bank 
 that emitted them, at legal interest. Funds in this state 
 are designated relributice, because they can again be drawn 
 forth at j)leasure. Aulhoritative impledgements are those 
 proposed in the plan in page I i§6, because these are issued 
 by the authority of the slate, and secured under the pledge 
 of the nation.
 
 xl 
 
 Establishments — a familiar term for any business under- 
 taking or enterprize, that has a set of means provided for 
 its regular offices. Process refers to their operations. These 
 are termed reproductive, on account of their faculty of re- 
 turning with advantage, the means subjected to their oper- 
 ation. 
 
 The terms sj/stem, project, plan, scheme, and such like, are 
 used in a more loose sense than usual ; for they seldom em- 
 brace any objects or operations, that are not distinctly set 
 forth in the context. They are said to be developed, when 
 their powers or virtues are disclosed. Resolutions are steps 
 of these developements, or of any procedure connected with 
 them. Results, the last and most important stage of such 
 progression. 
 
 Industry and enterprize are said to be impressed by coer- 
 cive influences, when stern indiscriminating necessity urges 
 forward their operations : to tend to concretion, when those 
 virtues and advantages that ought to be diffusive, run into 
 one object and design, to the exclusion of every other con- 
 sideration. The result of these operations is familiarly 
 termed aggrandizement, as descriptive of the exaltation of 
 one individual or a few, by the depression of the rest. 
 
 On the other hand, industry and enterprize are said to be 
 impressed by emulous or beneficent injluences, when the indi- 
 viduals exercised in them derive, on collisive or indepen- 
 dent principles, the fair value of their exertions ; and to tend 
 to improvement and advancement, when their fruits and results, 
 distributed on free commercial principles, ameliorate the 
 general condition, and exalt the general character. 
 
 There are no doubt other phrases in this work, that seem 
 to require explanation: it is hoped, however, that those, 
 elucidated above will lead into the proper apprehension of 
 the whole, where the context does not lead to the meaning. 
 Perhaps the phraseology is in general objectionable. Some 
 such modes of expression, liowever, were necessary; and 
 those made use of are the best that occurred at the time.
 
 A TREATISE, 8;c. 
 
 IN attempting to meet the present financial em- 
 barrassments of the British Empire, there are two 
 great classes of exigencies, which evidently include 
 all the rest, and which, when thoroughly provided 
 for, must, of consequence, convey an abundant fi- 
 nancial supply to the whole body-politic. 
 
 The first of these great classes of exigencies may 
 be termed the exigencies of the stock exchange. 
 The"^ pressure made upon the money market by 
 stock-holders is well known, and it operates in 
 several ways. Two of those we have now directly 
 under our eye. Our present pecuniary distresses 
 originated in an over-run upon the money market, 
 by the purchasers of the last loan. And, at this 
 momdpt, such is the superior security found in the 
 funds, to any that can be obtained elsewhere, that, 
 notwithstanding, the unprecedented sacrifices daily 
 made for accommodation by the commercial world, 
 still, the floating wealth of the community seems 
 to be passing as rapidly into the stocks as it can be 
 (b awn out of those investments, in which it lias been
 
 previously deposited. Hence it is, that the present 
 high price of the funds, and the constantly accumu- 
 lating pressure upon mercantile intercourse, have 
 been severally in a progressive state. 
 
 The second of these classes of exigencies is those 
 of the commercial and manufacturing interests. 
 Besides the well known calamities that have ta- 
 ken place in foreign markets, and the absorption 
 of a great part of the floating capital of the nation 
 in the funds, in the manner above noticed ; another 
 cause of embarrassment, paramount to all the rest, 
 has arisen out of the losses thence induced. It is 
 well known that the medium w^hich upholds and cir- 
 culates our national wealth is commercial credit, as 
 represented by a paper currency, payable to the 
 bearer on demand. This currency, it is also known, 
 rests solely upon the high and unimpeachable re- 
 sponsibility of him who utters it, and gives his pledge 
 to the public for its validity. Many of these pledg- 
 ers, or bankers, have, however, forfeited their pledge. 
 Others of them, dreading a similar fate, have with- 
 drawn from the public service their impledgments. 
 Along with these, the great national pledger, the 
 bank of England, has been paralized by the very 
 terrors v/hich ought to have aroused it steadily to 
 maintain its post, in the front of public danger ; and 
 it also has withdrawn a great part of its pledges. 
 To crown the whole, the general market of consuma- 
 ble commodities, being in a great measure blocked 
 up, the holders of these are reduced to the neces- 
 sity of, either forcing them most injuriously through
 
 3 
 
 tlie narrow outlet that still remains in the market, 
 or procuring, in a circuitous manner, the requisite 
 relief from the floating medium. The demands of 
 the state still continue ; they may even greatly in- 
 crease; yet, at this moment, there does not exist a 
 single appropriate provision, for meeting these or 
 any one of the many exigencies that may arise out 
 of the present distressful state of things. 
 
 These circumstances have already produced a 
 vast stagnation in the reproductive powers of our 
 system. In those vast establishments, in which 
 these powers are concentrated, a cessation has al- 
 ready very generally taken place, and the evil pro- 
 duced is rapidly increasing. A moderated inter- 
 ruption in the wheels of our industry, is sometimes 
 not without its uses ; but such a total obstruction 
 and parahzation of their powers, as now threatens 
 us, must soon absorb that floating wealth, which is 
 necessary for their support, and terminate in dissi- 
 pating those energies, by which their movements 
 are conducted. If that population, which is ranged 
 under their protection, should in the mean time 
 be dispersed ; if those ample provisions that have 
 been secured for their service, should fritter into 
 ruins ; and if this ruin should be as complete, as it is 
 national ; we shall in vain seek to restore that noble 
 fabric which we now possess : neither our climate, 
 nor our habits, nor our circumstances, permit us 
 to hope, that we could maintain our national privi- 
 Icdges under such deprivations. Tlie expenditure 
 of the state, and tlie weighty duties wliich are im- 
 
 A 2
 
 posed upon it, it is to be feared, would proceed to 
 exhaust more and more our national means, until, 
 in the end, the chief part of our general property 
 fell directly into its hands. 
 
 These, and other considerations that might be 
 stated, lead us to perceive, that, however great 
 the exigencies of the state may be, they can never 
 be held to supercede those of the community at 
 large. The wants of the government can only be 
 supplied by the means of the people. These means 
 are chiefly invested in our establishments, which, 
 taken in the aggregate, are one vast complex, stu- 
 pendous system of reproductive powers, capable, 
 when regularly stimulated and supported, of afford- 
 ing supplies that are almost unbounded, but which, 
 when deprived of this stimulus and support for any 
 length of time, effectually fall to pieces. 
 
 Happily for us, our civil organization possesses 
 a wonderful degree of elasticity, and there are re- 
 sources almost immeasurable within our own power. 
 We must recollect, however, that the evil, which 
 at present hangs over our heads, is of no ordinary 
 kind, and that without some greater exertion than 
 has ever yet been attempted, it must, to all appear- 
 ance infallibly overtake us. This evil arises sole- 
 ly out of our own system, and it must be remedied 
 by means which it alone can produce. Incessant, 
 vehement, well-directed, regularly supported in- 
 dustry, is indispensible in our circumstances. If 
 our country should ever be deprived of these, the
 
 revenue of a dukedom would sink into nothing. 
 The fate of Venice, Genoa, and Holland, convey 
 to ,us but a feeble idea of the degradation that would 
 thence ensue. These never were so dependent 
 upon their financial system, they never built so 
 high, nor ventured so far upon their commerce and 
 industry as we have done ; yet from these we may 
 learn, that the commercial spirit, when debased, 
 can never again recover its original virtue and en- 
 ergy; and that when the powers and faculties, which 
 have been disciplined under incessant industry, are 
 thrown hopelessly loose upon the world, they are 
 above all others liable to degenerate and become cor- 
 rupted. In such circumstances, our complete de- 
 pendence on, or absolute subjection to some for- 
 eign state, could be no very distant or problematic 
 event. 
 
 It is altogether unnecessary, in this place, to go 
 deeply into the state of the country, in order to 
 display the importance of the duty thus devolved 
 upon our government. The ruin, which we are 
 contemplating, would take place, although no such 
 thing as war could be dreaded, though the world 
 was tranquillized, and parcelled out to our will. It 
 arises in a deficiency of public provisions, for the 
 support of general industry, and it affects us at this 
 moment, so sensibly, that if we do not feel the ob- 
 ligancy of the duties which are devolved upon us, 
 any review of the extremity of the case, would 
 only serve to augment that torpor which it is our 
 business to remove. It is enough to say, that tlie
 
 (i 
 
 mischief has aheady been set fully in motion ; al- 
 ready the corroding power of want has begun its 
 work. In consequence of the pressure and urgen- 
 cy of the wants of the state, the means for support- 
 ing our reproductive faculties have been seriously 
 abbreviated ; and those means have sustained still 
 farther diminution from the obstructions, that lie 
 in the way of the direct exercise of those faculties. 
 The wants of the state are of a kind to which no 
 exception can be made, they arise from the strong- 
 est of all claims, that of universal safety. The ob- 
 structions that oppose the regular movements of 
 our industry are produced, in consequence of its 
 dependence on the market of the enemy. These 
 wants, therefore, and these obstructions cannot be 
 controlled ; it is only by transcending the range 
 which they describe, that they can be surmounted. 
 
 Nor is the urgency of the case, less than its im- 
 portance : if by a fatal neglect, these establishments 
 should take a decided vergency towards decay, 
 calamities of no ordinary kind will advance rap- 
 idly upon us ; and with these, the difficulty of re- 
 trieving the ground lost will increase proportion- 
 ally. The exigencies of the state must be supplied ; 
 and these will increase along with the embarrass- 
 ment of our situation, and press still more heavily 
 on the remaining means of the people. Already, the 
 want of some renovating species of industry is per- 
 ceived, in order to employ the materials thrown 
 loose from the decaying establishments. The dan- 
 ger of the country may soon become extreme. The
 
 great body of our population, the hands which pro- 
 duced and aggregated our invaluable commodities, 
 although deprived of their employment, still pos- 
 sess all their natural and artificial wants and de- 
 sires, without being able to furnish means that can 
 give them a regular claim for supplies to meet them. 
 These wants, and the habits that accompany them, 
 (the great pledge possessed by the public for a con- 
 tinuation of their services,) may not only render this 
 weighty burden intolerable to the community, but 
 produce in these helpless individuals, aggravated 
 sorrow and depravity, and thus render them mere 
 gangrene in the body-politic. The superior classes 
 of the industrious, driven from their station, with 
 all the materials and provisions made for the service 
 of industry, must become gradually more and more 
 useless, and at length losing alike their estimation 
 and importance in the public eye, contribute to 
 overload tlie remaining productive faculties of the 
 nation, and to hasten that irremediable ruin, which 
 we have been contemplating. 
 
 From the preceding statements, we must perceive 
 distinctly, not only, that in order to provide effectu- 
 ally for the financial embarrassments of the state, or, 
 in other words, to meet the exigencies of the stock 
 exchange, we must begin with providing for those 
 of the people ; but farther, that in order to pro- 
 vide fully for the exigencies of the people, we 
 must speedily apply those remedies, which our 
 reproductive faculties require. That this can be
 
 8 
 
 no trifling undertaking, must appear, when the ex- 
 tent of the duty, thence inferred, is fully weigh- 
 ed. "We must not only bear up things as they 
 are seen to stand, but prepare to meet the grow- 
 ing exigencies of the state, and the increasing em- 
 barrassments of our trade ; we must institute 
 new courses of industry, to be stimulated and sup- 
 ported by new courses of commerce, an undertak- 
 ing always arduous, and one which, in our circum- 
 stances, is peculiarly so. The materials for doing 
 all this, must be found within our own resources, 
 and be prepared by our own means. It is our conso- 
 lation, however, that the powers, and faculties, and 
 resources of the nation, greatly transcend all those 
 wants ; that these are already in some measure 
 brought forward and prepared to our hand ; that 
 they are still in high exercise, and are at this mo- 
 ment pouring into our stores, a profusion of com- 
 modities and productions, which greatly anticipate 
 all our capacities of consumption. If this effort, 
 therefore, is made immediately, if it is conducted 
 with judgment and resolution, our means will be 
 found to be abundantly competent to this task, taken 
 in its utmost extent. Perhaps, there is no under- 
 taking too vast, no view of our interests and con- 
 nexions, too extensive for us to adopt, if we stren- 
 uously betake ourselves to our duty; and proceeding 
 under the influence of wise and magnanimous coun- 
 cils, adopt that course, which those principles, and 
 sentiments, that are peculiar to our organization, 
 clearly lay down before us.
 
 9 
 
 I AM hence led to remark, that the embarrass- 
 ments, under which we hibor, do not at all arise 
 from any dearth or deficiency of those substances, 
 which any one of our natural wants require. These, 
 thank God, are now, and have always been so super- 
 abundant, and so exuberant, that there is amongst 
 us a supply, which would satiate ten times over 
 every demand that could be made upon them. 
 Those substances are not only plentiful, but they 
 are in the highest order, completely fitted for pre- 
 servation, distribution, or consumption ; and they 
 are endowed with every quality that can allure the 
 eye, as well as grsLtify the appetite. On this score, 
 therefore, no individual, from the highest to the 
 lowest, can perceive either deficiency or imperfec- 
 tion. Our want lies entirely in the medium for 
 enabling us to distribute those substances in a pro- 
 per manner. 
 
 Here, we may pause for a little, and note the 
 wonderful contrast that has taken place betwixt 
 Britain and France, in the above particular. When 
 we cast our eyes over the immense population of 
 France, and observe the poverty of her means, 
 something, that may be comparatively called a 
 dearth of commodities and productions, is seen to 
 be almost universal. The means of some of Bona- 
 parte's subaltern officers do not command a supply 
 to their natural wants, which, on the whole, is supe- 
 rior to that which any of our common soldiers 
 could obtain. This dearth is indeed so sealed 
 by the penury, volubility, and al)ject bondage of
 
 10 
 
 the people, as scarcely to be heard of; and it is 
 sometimes thrown into the shade by the spolia- 
 tions, to which, in the course of warfare, it gives an 
 edge. But that it is most bitterly felt, is undeni- 
 able. Nor is this all ; in Britain, whatever wealth 
 we possess, commands to the extent of its received 
 value, a quantity of any other object to which it 
 is commensurate. It is only necessary to obtain 
 possession of the circulating medium, which repre- 
 sents that wealth, and the business can be instantly 
 and completely accomplished. In France, how- 
 ever, prescriptions, confiscations, and every species 
 of privileged robbery, hedge in, and counteract 
 the gratification of the most innocent propensities. 
 The mere possession of such means, is liable to be 
 punished as a crime, and mankind are placed at a 
 distance from each other, by a legion of spies, 
 by the terror of domiciliatory visitations, and by 
 other devices, which render even enjoyment itself 
 painful. 
 
 I HAVE said, that it is only necessary to get any 
 value in hand, exchanged for its estimation in the 
 national medium, in order to obtain means for gra- 
 tifying every legitimate propensity; this is said, 
 however, only in relation to the abundance of 
 means, for we all know, that, with us, the medium 
 into which our own value must, in the first place 
 be resolved, bears no proportion to this abundance. 
 No quantity of some descriptions of commodities, 
 that were but lately before procured at immense 
 labor and expence, and anxiously calculated for
 
 11 
 
 the service of the consumer, can, in some instances, 
 procure a proportion of the medium, sufficient to 
 preserve the most respectable individual from ruin. 
 Catastrophes of this kind take place every day un- 
 der our own eye, and they never take place with- 
 out producing a long chain of bitter consequences ; 
 consequences which affect all of us, more or less, 
 individually, and the state, more than all the rest, 
 eventually. The article that could avert those c- 
 vils is obvious; that the means of its attainment are 
 simple, efficacious, and completely w^ithin our pow- 
 er, and every way congenial to our circumstances, 
 it is hoped, will also by and by appear. 
 
 The public have been much amused of late with 
 discussions, respecting the rise and fall of the price 
 of bullion, and the consequent depreciation, it is 
 said, of the national standard of value. With those 
 discussions, I consider it altogether unnecessary 
 to burden myself My object is to procure that 
 medium, which our circumstances require in suffi- 
 cient quantity and of sufficient validity, and it is a 
 matter altogether indifferent to me, and I apprehend 
 to every one else, except mere dealers in bullion, 
 to trouble ourselves much in inquiring whether the 
 medium in which we are severally in quest, be 
 paper or gold. That its real standard value shall 
 i)c fixed, and universally received and ascertained, 
 by a determhiate, immoveable criterion, substan- 
 tiated in gold and silver, I hold to be alike admitted 
 by all parties, but that this precise sLandard shall, 
 at every turn, in every transaction, or in any vcr> 
 
 li '2
 
 12 
 
 great number of transactions, be applied to this va- 
 lue, I hold to be altogether unnecessary. It never 
 has been, and in a country, whose transactions are 
 so numerous and extensive as this, it never can be 
 done. Will any banker, at this moment, deliber- 
 ately weigh the difference betwixt a bank of Eng- 
 land note and gold, when he has payment of a bill 
 to give or receive? The idea never occurs to him, 
 till it is pressed upon his mind, by the ponderous 
 and unintelligible statements of bullion merchants, 
 and those who have become bewildered with their 
 reports. The truth is, there is no article we re- 
 ceive and pass, with less regard to its real value, 
 than money. We are anxious to obtain it, when 
 it is due to us ; we accept of it in any shape what- 
 ever, provided its received value can, in that shape, 
 be passed from us ; and we no sooner obtain the 
 desired possession, than we hasten to place it in 
 the coffers of another, where it will produce, or pre- 
 vent, the accumulation of interest. Money, pro- 
 perly speaking, is a mere idea of value, which we 
 eagerly realise in any shape whatever, wherein its 
 value can be preserved, that happens for the time to 
 suit our convenience ; but in that state, we main- 
 tain it no longer than it serves our purpose ; we pass 
 it from us without bestowing the smallest regard 
 to the object, which for the moment represents it. 
 
 The truth and certainty of the above position 
 will appear, if we attend to what actually takes 
 place in the commercial world. We every day 
 pass at the standard value, silver money, which is
 
 IS 
 
 worth one t^v'rd less, and copper money, which is 
 worth, one third more, than its received valu- 
 ation. In the West Indies, where gold is the 
 great medium, and bills on London the chief object 
 that is in request, a premium of from ten to thirty 
 per cent, is regularly given with mint gold for a 
 draft on London ; concerning the absolute validity 
 of which, from its not being previously accepted, 
 there is always some doubt. Li those instances, the 
 fluctuations in the course of exchange, (as the va- 
 cillations in the difference of the value of money in 
 different countries are denominated) are extremely 
 remarkable, for they evidently exclude the value of 
 the metallic medium separately considered ; it be- 
 ing understood on all hands, that the accredited bill 
 of exchange, though thus received as an equivalent 
 for bullion much superior to that wliich it imports, 
 can when at maturity, command no bullion; it can 
 command only that paper medium, which we hold 
 to be its representative. This takes place in a 
 more or less degree in all our ordinary transactions. 
 Do we not regularly give a premium, either in 
 time or money, for bills payable in London ? nay, 
 do we not occasionally take much pains, in getting 
 guineas of the mint standard, resolved into current 
 shillings and sixpences, the metallic value of which 
 is seldom equal to one half of that coin in lieu of 
 which they are received ? 
 
 These circumstances, in my opinion, prove in- 
 contcstably, three things ; first, that for the purpo- 
 ses of commercial and ordinary intercourse, [Ki\)cr
 
 14 
 
 money, when duly accredited, is of equal estimation 
 ^.vith coined money ; secondly, that neither paper 
 money nor metallic, can maintain invariably the 
 ideal standard of value ; and thirdly, that conveni- 
 ence is the chief regulator of these vacillations. 
 The operation of these principles may be illustra- 
 ted, by attending to what would pass in our own 
 minds in any ordinary transaction. In the first in- 
 stance, we unconsciously assume the ideal standard 
 as an immoveable mute point, concerning the value 
 of which, there can be no dispute, and we instinc- 
 tively receive, and pass, its representative, whether 
 paper or metallic, without remarking the difference. 
 In the next instance, in regulating our bargain, it 
 is not merely the mute standard of value, but the 
 situation in which that standard appears, in regard 
 to the circumstances of the transaction, that de- 
 termines the conditions of our negotiation. And, 
 in the last instance, money and paper, severally 
 vibrate above and below this standard, not on ac- 
 count of their intrinsic excellence, but on account 
 of the direct and immediate usefulness of each, 
 in the current circumstances of the market. 
 
 The efficient cause of these operations may be 
 illustrated with equal precision, by adverting to^l^e 
 object which the person has in view, who is to ac- 
 quire money. The medium of itself is of no im- 
 portance to him, but as it enables him to pass its 
 value to another. The possessor has no advantage 
 whatever, in retaining the mere medium j he there- 
 fore, hastens to throw it into the general mass in cir-
 
 15 
 
 dilation ; and in doing this, he regards every thing 
 alike that comes in the shape of money. The rea- 
 son of this is obvious, as he has no advantage from 
 money, but as it serves to pass a value from his own 
 coffers, where it is useless to its proper depot, where 
 its utility is perceived, so if this one effect can be 
 produced, he gives himself no farther trouble about 
 the matter. His money, henceforward, is placed as 
 it were, in the national mint, in that situation, in 
 which it can bear to him its full value, remain in 
 perfect security, produce that revenue which its na- 
 ture imports, and where it carries all those advan- 
 tages, which in a country wherein the value of 
 circulation is known, money can produce to any 
 individual. 
 
 The facilities and advantages possessed by the 
 money-holder in this country are, in this view, ahke 
 valuable and important. No sooner does an indi- 
 vidual become possessed of the medium, than bank- 
 ers and money dealers are seen, on all hands, ready 
 to relieve him of the amount, and to give him the 
 most irrefragable assurance of its repetition in the 
 current medium, with a fair remuneration for the 
 advantage that may have been afforded to them j 
 holding themselves bound to disburse their obliga- 
 te«, in whole or in part, at the owners pleasure, 
 in a form alike advantageous to both. Our money 
 holders are enabled to conduct themselves in this 
 manner, from the peculiar circumstances of our 
 establishments, which are severally ready to absorb, 
 reproduce, and distribute all that wealth, that is
 
 16 
 
 submitted to their operation, witli a power and ef- 
 fect, whicli is commensurate with the faculties 
 which our nation possesses of realizing it in a sub- 
 stantial accredited form. In aid of these various 
 markets, that are open to the money-holder, the na- 
 tional funds, heritable property, and various funded 
 and moveable subjects, are all in readiness, and 
 severally struggling for an interest in his good of- 
 fices. Hence it is, that the money-holder, above 
 all others, has his mind eagerly fixed on the univer- 
 sal prosperity of his country ; and that the diffi- 
 culty with him, is not regarding the shape or ap- 
 pearance of his property, but about the extent 
 and stability of its reproductive powers, which, 
 when equal to his views, at once supercede every 
 other consideration. 
 
 The peculiarity in our circumstances, formerly 
 adverted to, deserves particular notice in this place. 
 The whole country, from one end of it to another, 
 is full of invaluable commodities. Such is their a- 
 bundance, such is their profusion, such is their 
 cheapness and excellence, in comparison with 
 those of other countries, that from amongst the 
 Avhole, the person who holds the medium, can com- 
 mand an investment sufficient to ensure, not merely 
 a fair compensation, but an ultimate profit, equal, at 
 least, to both principal and a competent interest. 
 Whoever, therefore, has obtained the medium, be 
 it paper or metal, has it in his power to get quit of 
 it immediately by investing it in these subjects, of 
 which ten times the amount of the whole floating
 
 17 
 
 wealth of the community arc always in the market. 
 These circumstances evince the high ground on 
 which our general credit rests. When the bank of 
 England refused bulHon for its notes, this market 
 for resolving those into real property still remained 
 open ; as our goods had then the full sweep of the 
 European continent for their market, the want of 
 bullion was, in so far as the community at large 
 was concerned, so small as scarcely to attract no- 
 tice. This market, unhappily, is now much con- 
 tracted, and I apprehend that it is in consequence 
 of the unfavourable circumstances in which our 
 commodities are thereby placed, that so many mon- 
 ied men are clamorous about the scarcity of bullion. 
 The instant, that a market, sufficiently extended for 
 receiving and replacing the value of our commo- 
 dities, can be found, the want of bullion must in a 
 great measure sink out of view. 
 
 Altuough, however, it is evident, that in general 
 the operation and effects of the metallic and pa- 
 per medium, especially since the bank of Ejigland 
 ceased to give out bullion, are, on the whole, near- 
 ly the same ; yet there are, certain characteris- 
 tic distinctions, which it is proper in this place 
 to take notice of, because, from the want of a due 
 attention to them, the nature of our present com- 
 mercial embarrassments are much misapprehended. 
 
 CoiNKD money possesses some advantages, which 
 being extremely palpable, as well as important, 
 arc apt to give its claims a weight on our nunds, to 
 
 c
 
 18 
 
 which, on farther consideration, we find they are not 
 entitled. Coined money is more histrous, and it 
 can be told out with a much better grace than a 
 piece of half- worn dirty paper. This circumstance 
 is not unimportant, for it gives it a substantial su- 
 periority in the eyes of the gay and fashionable, who 
 grudge no sacrifice that can maintain the splendor 
 of tlieir appearance. Coined money of the smaller 
 denominations is indispensably necessary for the 
 business of life. In its more collective forms, it 
 sometimes serves to meet, with great national and 
 individual advantage, the demands of foreign states. 
 These, and every quality necessarily inherent in 
 the metallic medium, as a peculiar species of pro- 
 perty, are characteristic advantages, which for the 
 public good, ought not to be unnecessarily bur- 
 dened ; they have raised the metallic medium to 
 its present importance in our system, they are ne- 
 cessary to maintain that importance, and we can- 
 not traverse their operation without creating a 
 degree of confusion which no ordinary advantage 
 can compensate. 
 
 The advantages of paper money chiefly appear 
 in the facility and accommodation, which it ac- 
 cords to commerce. Perhaps, the whole precious 
 metals in the world could not serve to expedite 
 one hundredth part of our commercial transactions, 
 without the intervention of paper. And, though 
 it were conceivable, that the amount necessary 
 could be obtained, its purity and value could not be 
 ascertained and regularly transmitted to its des-
 
 19 
 
 tined repository, without inferring a degree of trou- 
 ble and expence, that would far exceed uny advan- 
 tage that could attend this acquisition. In our 
 circumstances, the paper medium to a greater or 
 less extent is indispensible ; we may diihv as to 
 this extent ; but we must admit, that by far the 
 greater part of our money transactions, must ne- 
 cessarily be transacted by the mediation of paper. 
 And as in the general course of lousiness, paper 
 money is regarded and received tantamount to 
 coin ; and as bullion draws from the national capital 
 its full current value, while paper costs, next to 
 nothing ; so it is adviseable for the purpose of hus- 
 banding the national capital as much as possible, 
 that as much paper, and as little bullion as possible, 
 should be made use of. 
 
 It must be noticed, in judging, respecting the 
 grounds on which the respective claims of the paper 
 and metal current on our regard arc rested, that coin 
 is not only the accredited standard of value ; but 
 it is itself a substance intrinsically worth that va- 
 lue ; nay, what is more, it is certain, that the paper 
 medium possesses no value whatever, unless as it 
 is held to be convertible without difficulty, into 
 this medium ; the validity of paper being rested on 
 the responsibility of the individuals who are pledg- 
 ed to this eficct ; and the pledge being only valua- 
 ble when this responsibility is known to be adequate 
 to the assurance given. It is well known, that the 
 value of paper is so completely rested on this cir- 
 cumstance, that when it is said, that the paper of 
 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 the bank of England, which is supported by a cap- 
 ital, and placed in circumstances that sets all 
 doubt as to its ultimate responsibility at defiance, is 
 already discredited — that is, that its impledgments 
 are not at par with bullion ; it is strenuously con- 
 tended that this arises from those circumstances that 
 oppose the immediate rcsoiubility of that paper in- 
 to bullion. 
 
 I Hx^vE already said, that I consider all questions 
 betwixt bullion merchants, and those who utter ac- 
 credited paper, as foreign to our present business; 
 that the public does not complain of a wantof bul- 
 lion, but of accredited paper; that though paper, 
 duly accredited cannot be resolved into bullion, it 
 can be resolved into a thousand other things, many 
 of which are of equal value with bullion ; and that 
 while no one refuses to sell land, stock, goods, &c. 
 for accredited paper, and to take this paper at its 
 former denomination and standard value, I con- 
 sider myself as warranted to dismiss this question. 
 I now notice, however, farther, that bullion is a 
 foreign commodity, dependent on various circum- 
 stances for its plenty, and that it is an article that 
 it would be wonderful, if, in our days, it was not un- 
 commonly scarce. This will appear more manifest 
 if we attend, seriously, to two of many other contin- 
 gences, which have a tendency to produce this effect. 
 
 In the first place it will be noticed, that over the 
 whole continent of Europe, the system of spolia- 
 tion and trepanning, has been so throughly adopted,
 
 21 
 
 that perhaps no resoluble property, but ])ullion, can 
 be pre-erved with safety. When a few thousand 
 pounds of small money are withdrawn from our cir- 
 culation, we can easily perceive it, for the effect 
 is NO strong, and so sudden, that there is not one of 
 us who would not be arrested in his most ordinary 
 transactions. It is well known, however, that at this 
 moment, many million pounds sterling value of bul- 
 lion, remain locked up and concealed in different 
 countries, over which Bonaparte's influence is ex- 
 tended, and that to this, some constant additions 
 are daily making. In this country, bullion is not 
 very needful ; as every one possessed of money, 
 may, with advantage, deposit it in the stocks, land, 
 goods, &c. no one, is, or can be solicitous about a 
 substance, wliich can only incite the avidity of 
 nightly depredators. 
 
 In the next place, it will be noticed, that the 
 state of the civilized part of the world is such, as 
 to render the absorption of the metallic medium, 
 thus discharged from our circulation, a necessary 
 part of the policy of princes. In order to provide 
 effectually for the exigencies of the state, and to 
 guard against those evils, which a bad harvest, a 
 defalcation in naval and military stores, and other 
 great national aflairs bring directly under their 
 cognizance, princes and potentates of every de- 
 scription, have found it necessary to preserve an am- 
 ple provision of the grand accredited medium of 
 the world, constantly under their control. Besides 
 this, such is the state of things abroad, that gran-
 
 22 
 
 dees and every one who can command any consider- 
 able portion of floating wealth, are induced from 
 motives of necessity, to secure for their own purpo- 
 ses, as great a proportion of the metallic medium 
 as possible, and to retain it in their private recesses. 
 Thus it is that the precious metals are aggregated 
 in the hands of a few, that they circulate but slowly, 
 and are frequently withdrawn from Iheir obvious 
 destination. Our paper medium, and the rapidity 
 with which it is circulated, has not only contributed 
 to alleviate the pressure that is thence produced on 
 our own bullion market, but it has afforded relief 
 out of its excesses, to that of the continent. 
 
 When in such circumstances, some great and un- 
 expected stagnation in trade takes place, when our 
 current paper is partly invalidated, and partly also 
 withdrawn from the circle, when the medium in any 
 substantial shape has become the great object to- 
 wards which the minds of all monied men are direct- 
 ed ; is it surprising, that the supply of those valuable 
 substances should remain beneath the demand, and 
 produce a sensible augmentation in their compa- 
 rative value ? The surprise, I think, is, that the 
 disproportion is not greater. Every one sees and 
 knows the intrinsic and irrefragable value that is ab- 
 solutely inherent in the precious metals, and he can- 
 not avoid comparing it with the assumed value of 
 paper, which is daily becoming incompetent in his 
 own hands. There is, therefore, in the nature of 
 things, a decided tendency to give to the precious 
 metal a radical preference. The difficulty of attain-
 
 23 
 
 ing the desired possession occasioned by its acciden- 
 tal defalcation above-noticed, gives to this preference 
 a double keenness. The reports and discussions, 
 therefore, which are now so widely circulated, that 
 assume the incompetency of our paper currency as a 
 medium of exchange, can have no other effect but 
 one, that of giving an irresistible efficacy to this 
 protrusion, and of creating in the minds of the na- 
 tion, that same spirit, which in a speculative form, 
 has so lately ruined so many of the Wiltshire clo- 
 thiers. Let all such, however, reflect — that though 
 bullion, like Spanish wool, may not appear in the 
 market to answer all the finical terrors of the ante- 
 provident, yet that bullion, like Spanish wool, may 
 not disappear equally rapidly with the terrors in 
 which its unnatural value arose — least the opposite 
 terror of its superabundance should, in like manner, 
 bring those visionaries, also, but too seriously to 
 their senses. 
 
 There are two incidental remarks that arise from 
 the preceding views, which, in this place, may, with 
 much propriety, be distinctly stated. 
 
 The first of these, is, that if the British govern- 
 ment had, during this war, maintained with a high 
 hand, that line of conduct, which its circumstances, 
 and those of its subsidiary allies, obviously pointed 
 out, a great part of all our financial embarrassments 
 might have been prevented. Here, however, as 
 in other things, we have most magnanimously sunk 
 our own interests in those of the common cause,
 
 24 
 
 in which we were embarked. Our merchants have 
 always had many million pounds sterling of money 
 due them, within the territories of our allies ; every 
 farthing of which might have been drawn for, at 
 dates corresponding to the exigencies of these for- 
 eign subsidiaries, and with manifest advantage to 
 them, as well as to us, if any thing like sound policy* 
 had regulated their procedure to our nation. Nay, 
 what is more; if those sovereigns had consented to 
 have permitted the unrestrained circulation of our 
 commodities throughout their dominions, the sum 
 which could thus have become due to us within 
 their own power, might have amounted to double 
 the amount of all those subsidies, with decided ad- 
 vantage to all parties ; for it would not only have 
 replaced to us a value, equal in all respects to that 
 of which we divested ourselves on their account, 
 but have stimulated, supported, and advanced their 
 internal industry. Our continental allies, however, 
 who all along appear to have been actuated more 
 by contempt towards our industry, and jealousy 
 respecting our greatness, than by a steady regard 
 to their own highest interests, kept up without a- 
 batement their farcical prohibitions and imposts, 
 and eagerly anticipated our bullion remittances. 
 Thence originated our stoppage of bullion disburse- 
 ments at the bank ; thence too, I strongly suspect^ 
 partly originated our Spanish w^ar. The issue has 
 been such as might have been expected. Our 
 blind devotion to their morbid selfishness, could 
 only administer to the degeneracy of their system, 
 our supplies of gold, as well as of commodities, in
 
 ^ 
 
 j)lace of infusing life and vigor into tliclr body-po- 
 litic, only accelerated its corrupting tendency. In 
 the end, we have been subjected, not merely to 
 the sorrow of witnessing the loss and destruction 
 of our propert}^, but to that of finding our allies 
 bent down most despairingly, under a yoke, which 
 they only pretended to reprobate, and, through a 
 durance of the most humiliating nature, exhausting 
 those vital stamina, which they so unworthily spar- 
 ed, in the service of a tyrant, who is alike hostile 
 to their welfare and ours. What must those cold 
 blooded statesmen now fee], who could trace our 
 gold from its landing upon our shores, until it fell 
 through their master's fingers, into the hands of 
 Bonaparte, when they perceive that the system, 
 which they internally venerated, cannot injure our 
 interests, without outraging theirs beyond all 
 bounds, and that the gold, which they writhed, 
 and the property which they entrapped, from their 
 best ally, have only served to pamper and infuriate 
 their oppressors against themselves, and to seal 
 their own more complete subjugation? 
 
 I AM here led to remark further, that gold, and 
 indeed property of every description, may pass 
 through a country, which is not possessed of regu- 
 lar and well organized industry, and leave it as poor 
 and helpless as ever. Spain and Portugal are no- 
 fable proofs of this ; though possessed of riches of 
 every description, these pass over their territory, 
 without either animating or befriending their po- 
 pulation. Holland, defrauded, and most violently
 
 26 
 
 plundered and degraded by its new governors, 
 who under new names, and under a new form, are 
 carrying on the same system tliat Attila and liis 
 Huns did, about fourteen hundred years ago, seems 
 at length, to be brought to the same kind of lethar- 
 gic inaction. On the other hand, it appears that gold 
 and property may be withdrawn from the service 
 of a country, the industry of which is fully estab- 
 lished and most completely organized and sup- 
 ported, without any real and permanent disadvan- 
 tage. The gold and property, thus lost by our na- 
 tion, never very sensibly affected us ; they were soon 
 made up by our incessant, well-supported, well-di- 
 rected industry. And v/e now perceive, that gold 
 itself, the representative of wealth and power, in a 
 civilized country, may be represented, and may 
 perform its operations as effectually, in an accre- 
 dited, as in a substantial form. Gold, indeed, as a 
 substance, is as useless to nine-tenths of those who 
 are in quest of it, as any other metal. Though in- 
 trinsically worth its received value, this value like 
 that of paper, arises intirely from its validated accep- 
 tation. Its scarcity, its indestructibility, its lustre, 
 and other high metallic properties, which fit it for 
 universal currency, and which have ensured to this 
 currency, amongst civilized nations, a reception 
 no less universal, could not, without this validated 
 acceptation, have rendered the metal of any impor- 
 tance to one in a thousand. Indeed, it is evident, 
 that although our faculties seem to be bent down 
 to those services, which its attainment requires, 
 it is the power which gold and silver have in com-
 
 27 
 
 manding the objects which we desire, and their 
 possessing almost exclusively this power, that have 
 thus exalted them in our estimation ; and that it is 
 this exaltation which has not only drawn them from 
 their dark abodes, but scattered them universally, 
 and thus increased their scarcity and value. These 
 prominent advantages of the metallic medium, esti- 
 mable as they are, may be held to be surmounted 
 by that radical advantage, which it possesses of be- 
 ing not only that value, into which all others are 
 resoluble, but of being in this capacity, fitted for 
 representation by paper, which, of itself, has no va- 
 lue whatever. It is inferred, indeed, that paper, 
 as their recognized representative, must ultimately 
 be resolved into the metals ; but so long as this 
 representative exercises with full effect the pow- 
 ers of its principal, so long as this resolution into 
 a metallic value, can be deferred without mani- 
 fest detriment, we must admit the competency 
 of the paper medium, and its efficacy as a fit 
 instrument of exchange. Its currency or accept- 
 ed value, may occasionally vibrate above and be- 
 low, that of coined money, and its prevalence may 
 be attended with certain inconveniencies. These, 
 however, must be regarded more as characteristic 
 circumstances of the times in which we live, than 
 as indicating any real imperfection in our accepta- 
 tion of the medium itself. 
 
 These statements and remarks, I think, sufficient- 
 ly illustrate two facts, which it is necessary that 
 we carry fully along with us. First, that coined 
 
 D 2
 
 28 
 
 money, though invaluable as a standard for ascer- 
 taining and determining the value of the circulat- 
 ing medium, may, without any peculiar disadvan- 
 tage, be subtracted from our circulation, almost to 
 an indefinite extent, provided only, that an amount 
 be left circulable, sufficient to give force and effi- 
 cacy to the abstract principle, by which its ultimate 
 acquisition is maintainable. And secondly, that 
 all the advantages connected with the paper medi- 
 um, may be fully preserved in our circumstances, 
 under any extension of its powers, so long as those 
 principles, in which its adoption as a medium of 
 exchange have their foundation, can be maintained. 
 Paper never was, and it never could be received 
 as a medium of exchange, otherwise than as an idea 
 of value, clearly fixed, and resoluble into absolute 
 value, and therefore, it is only while those inherent 
 characteristics of the medium can be supported in 
 their full extent, that its real value can remain irre- 
 fragable, like that of the metal which it is held to 
 represent. 
 
 These considerations are of high avail to us, and 
 it becomes us to be fully certiorated of the grounds 
 on which they rest. The depreciation of every pa- 
 per medium, that has heretofore been adopted, ex- 
 cepting only our own, together with the dreadful 
 consequences which have universally attended this 
 depreciation, arj well known. That gold and sil- 
 ver, the real substantial and universally accredited 
 representatives and standards of value, should be 
 irrcfragably connected in their operation and con-
 
 29 
 
 sequences, with that imbecil emblem of power, 
 which may be vested in tlie hands of the meanest, 
 as well as in those of the highest individual in the 
 community, appears to be a proposition at once hy- 
 pothetical and insecure. The uniform experience 
 of every other nation, has shewn, that it is doubtful 
 and precarious ; but that amidst contortions of va- 
 lue, in every other commodity, a circumstance 
 which in its substantial extent has taken place a- 
 mongst us to a degree, which, perhaps, has no par- 
 allel, the value of gold and paper should uniformly 
 remain substantially the same, presents to the view 
 of the political speculator, an object which chal- 
 lenges alike his surprise, and deepest regard. To 
 those high considerations, however, an augmented 
 force is given by a contingency, which is para- 
 mount to all the rest. The connection betwixt 
 gold and paper as a tantamount value, is most vio- 
 lently split asunder, by the declared irresolubility 
 of the paper medium into the metallic. In the 
 bearing and import of this declaration, it is so- 
 lemnly announced, that paper must not now be inde- 
 finitely resoluble into coined money, but must find 
 its resolubility in other commodities. Still, how- 
 ever, after the lapse of half an age, this value of 
 paper remains conjoined, and in a general view, 
 tantamount, to that of the metals. The medium of 
 exchange has preserved its value, alike in its accre- 
 dited, and in its substantial form. A bare statement 
 of these well known circumstances, evinces most 
 unequivocally, the importance of the discussion 
 )mw before ns, and the ncccssitv under which we
 
 so 
 
 are laid of expounding, most completely, those prin- 
 ciples on which it proceeds. 
 
 It is impossible to make these remarks without 
 adverting to those systems of finance, which have 
 been so often frustrated in France, and other coun- 
 tries. The statements already given, in some mea- 
 sure gives us the characteristic distinction betwixt 
 our own system, and every other. We perceive 
 plainly, that there is an exuberance of valuable ar- 
 ticles, existing amongst us, into which our medium 
 can be instantly and at all times resolved, generally 
 with decided advantage. It is here, and not in the 
 received resolubiHty of our medium into the metals, 
 that the strength of our financial system resides. 
 Neither France, nor any state that ever existed, 
 possessed a basis of this kind, so broad, so fixed, so 
 substantial. This is, therefore, our strongest hold, 
 and we must prize those establishments, those pro- 
 ductive, accumulative processes, and all the means 
 that are necessary for their support and maintain- 
 ance, as we w^ould prize the radical stamina of our 
 animal frame. It is upon this general basis, that 
 our financial system rests for its support ; and that 
 the stability obtained is sufficient, we may infer, 
 from this circumstance, that for a dozen of years, 
 every other real support has been withdrawn : in so 
 much, that though specie has in some instances 
 been withdrawn almost absolutely ; many immense 
 establishments, and no small proportion of our ge- 
 neral business, having been conducted, under pri- 
 vations of this kind, that are nearly complete, yet
 
 31 
 
 no general disadvantage has been produced. These 
 rest on the general system around them, and beyond 
 them ; there, their standard value is tixed and as- 
 certainable, and the fact has shewn, that they have 
 not thus rested it in vain. 
 
 There is a peculiarity in our social and civil or- 
 ganization, which favors this stability in our finan- 
 cial system. This may be said to have arisen in 
 the substantial security of our government, and in 
 that respectability which is annexed to all its func- 
 tions, by the assemblage of high characters who 
 compose its senate. Every man with us, is held 
 to enjoy in perfect safety every right that can be 
 consistently claimed ; with full power, to avail him- 
 self of this right, to its utmost extent. Hence every 
 individual betakes himself in good earnest to those 
 exercises, which befit his condition, and resolutely 
 pushes his interest that way, which is most corres- 
 pondent to liis circumstances. This gives rise to 
 another advantage ; the British government, poised 
 on the centre of a system so vast, so stable, so well 
 organized, is borne up in power and in importance. 
 The profusion of means thus produced, is not un- 
 profitable wasted. The state withdraws from the 
 ordinary course of circulation a sufficiency of means 
 to enable it to extend the range, and augment the 
 power of the system. The means thus wisely 
 applied, are drawn from the connn unity in a way 
 so regular, so equitable, and so judicious, that in 
 place of impairing, they add strength to the nation- 
 al fabric; ihey serve to accelerate and augment the
 
 32 
 
 reproductive process. Upon this basis, the nation- 
 al funded interest is rested. This subtraction from 
 the means of the people is not absolute ; for these 
 funds again introduce themselves into the system, 
 their subsequent diffusion through which, (though in 
 a circuitous manner,) re-animates that industry 
 whence they were drawn. No political speculator, 
 has ever yet been able satisfactorily to account for 
 these inherent advantages, or to say to what extreme 
 point they may be carried. The truth is, our sys- 
 tem is like a stately oak, developements and shoots 
 of which, passed over by the mere surveyor, are 
 constantly springing up for its service ; and so long 
 as the radical moisture can be diffused through its 
 texture, these will send forth renovated strength 
 to its support. Its advantages may be held to 
 consist in its complete organization, and animated 
 identity ; while one congenial spirit permeates the 
 whole, and vivifies every root and branch, while 
 our social and civil organization remains entire, 
 w^e may set the calculations of any mere speculative 
 projector at defiance. 
 
 The question, therefore, comes to be, by what 
 means and measures are this identity, and this 
 organization to be maintained, how is this spirit, 
 this system exposed to an infinity of dangers to be 
 preserved ? Let us not attempt, to attach to our 
 own prudence, more than is its due, we know that 
 of all the advantages which we possess, for this pur- 
 pose, there is scarcely one which in its origin, has 
 not distinctly marked the folly and imbecility of
 
 33 
 
 human sagacity, and the real wisdom of keeping 
 steadily in the regular discharge of our duty. In 
 such a country as this, where wealth may be said 
 to be universal, each of us has an establishment, 
 from whence our means are drawn, and one in 
 which they are consumed. There is scarcely one 
 who lives on the mere offals of nature, and whose 
 existence does not develope some benefit to those 
 around him. These establishments stimulate and 
 support others of a higher nature, they are either 
 connected or dependent, or somehow resolved into 
 other establishments ; by discharging his duty faith- 
 fully in his own department, therefore, every man 
 contributes to the stability of the whole. The states- 
 man who presides, and the mechanic who subserves 
 his views, can neither of them execute any of their 
 ordinary functions, without setting in motion ac- 
 quirements, that have been previously prepared, 
 and which are of importance in the system. In 
 fine, it is by following out in a regular and steady 
 manner, these connexions, which so thoroughly 
 pervade our system, that its essence and its power 
 must be maintained. 
 
 Thk value and extent of these advantages, how- 
 ever, are only perceived, when they are fully deve- 
 loped in those grand reproducmg establishments, 
 in which our high character is seen. It is in tlie 
 power v.hicli these have acquired, under the influ- 
 ence of our general system, of producing almost im- 
 measurable provisions for human wants, that our 
 national strength consists. Whatever losses we sus- 
 
 E
 
 34 
 
 tail), whatever calamities befal us, the renovating 
 power of our industry is at hand for our service. 
 Such is our social organization, so closely are we 
 concatenated together, and so highly buoyed up in- 
 di\ idually, by our general circumstances, that those 
 impulses, which, as already noticed, are so univer- 
 sal, acquire a power that is constaaitly augment- 
 ing. Every article that we use, every movement 
 that we make, serves to bring forward some of those 
 commodities, that are so valuable and so abundant. 
 If we even set agoing some inferior art, it sub- 
 serves others, that are either directly or indirectly 
 employed under more extensive establishments. 
 Tf we prepare our sons for the navy, for the church, 
 or for any civil employment, it is in support of 
 these vast reproductive processes, that his services 
 are resolved, and from^those, that his remuneration 
 must be drawn. It is thus, that provisions the 
 most ample, and connexions the most advantageous, 
 have been acquired, and universally maintained. 
 No community is, or has been more closely conca- 
 tenated, than that of Britain ; in none, has this con- 
 catenation been more advantageously employed. 
 
 The nature and operation of these establishments 
 thus supported, and thus connected, may be illus- 
 trated by attending to the early developements 
 of the commercial spirit in society. In the pasto- 
 ral state, that propensity so natural to man, and so 
 congenial to his circumstances, perhaps, least of 
 all exists, and it displays itself, chiefly in the way 
 of bartering one commodity for another. From
 
 35 
 
 this simple barter, the transition is easy to that of 
 converting the article which we possess, into another 
 with which we are more famihar, for which we 
 know that we can obtain every otlier object in which 
 we may be in qnest. For this reason, the flocks 
 and herds, which constituted the chief subjects of 
 wealth, came m also in some degree to represent 
 general wealth. Perhaps it is in this very circum- 
 stance, that the project of adopting a general me- 
 dium of exchange originated. Herds and flocks, 
 then not only constituted the wealth, but they re- 
 presented the value of wealth to a great part of the 
 human race. The interchange of commodities of 
 every kind, and of the industry which produced 
 them, had, in these days, only vague ideas of value 
 annexed to them, which could not, without difficul- 
 ty, be connected with any &sti other object. In this 
 rude state of society, the interchanges of commo- 
 dities, and of the industry which produced them, 
 being few and simple, cattle, the great object of pa- 
 triarchal solicitude, became the medium for resolv- 
 ing every value. Sheep and oxen, asses and ca- 
 mels, could easily serve the purposes of that com- 
 merce, which, like the creation of a barony, or the 
 infeudation of a baron, took place but seldom, and 
 after much consultation and serious deliberation ; 
 where the servant, domestic, and assistant, were all 
 sunk under one name, when the appellation of 
 tradesmen and dependent were unknown, neither 
 pride nor chicanery could derange such 9olemi> 
 transactions. 
 
 R 2
 
 S6 
 
 It is very true, that cattle was regarded chiefly 
 as a species of valuable property, and that it was 
 on account of its peculiarly productive nature, and 
 of its coincidence with the state of mankind in 
 those early ages, that it was held to be thus valua- 
 ble ; but it is equally true, that transmissions of 
 property were then mere matters of necessity, and 
 that these very qualities were essential, in order 
 to render cattle, or any such object, a medium of 
 exchange. Although the advantages attached to 
 the metals, as a medium of exchange, were self-evi- 
 dent, it was long before these became the direct 
 object of pursuit. That they were resorted to 
 only occasionally, as the medium of exchange, and 
 that they also, as a species of possessable property, 
 received their value from their intrinsic qualities, 
 appears from the lavish use that was made of them 
 in jewels and personal ornaments, in household 
 gods, and articles of furniture. The mode of in- 
 tercourse then prevalent, as well as the subjects of 
 this intercourse, were of that palpable determinate 
 character, that cattle was as naturally attached 
 to the idea of value in those days, as the metals are 
 with us. Then, possession and property were so 
 nearly tantamount terms, that some obligation of 
 a nature as obvious as possession, was generally 
 needful to mark the distinction, when these were 
 not conjoined. That property might exist in a 
 multitude of indcfmite shapes in the hands of others, 
 in whose affairs, no direct interference could be 
 maintained, and that wealth of the most stupen- 
 dous magnitude could be represented by factitious
 
 37 
 
 obligations, regarding subjects that remained mi- 
 produced, were ideas, that never occurred to the 
 unsophisticated minds of the ancient patriarchs. 
 
 The cattle of the patriarchs, however, not only 
 represented their wealth, their power, and their per- 
 sonal estimation, but they effected this object, in 
 consequence of their being useful and desirable 
 objects of property. Herds and flocks, therefore, 
 not only were convenient instruments of com- 
 merce, necessary means of human subsistence, but 
 convenient receptacles for the resolution of every 
 other species of wealth. These were alike the ob- 
 jects of solicitude to princes, patriarchs, priests, 
 and great men of every denomination. Cattle were 
 the emblems of power and wealth, at the very time 
 that they constituted its real substance. 
 
 It is very evident, however, that this state of 
 things could continue no longer, than till the qual- 
 ities and properties of gold had become generally 
 received. When its portability and duration had 
 been ascertained and estimated, it gradually entered 
 into the detail of transactions, and at length became 
 the received instrument of exchange. Gold, be- 
 sides these qualities, was that medium alone, which 
 suited the circumstances of the fabricator of com- 
 modities, and the tender of the flock ; it abridged 
 labor, and it shortened the process of intercourse. 
 Cattle were subject to mortality and disease, they 
 were exposed to depredation and destruction, and 
 they were liable to become burdensome, as well as
 
 38 
 
 profitable. Gold, however, was alike secure a- 
 gainst both fatalities. Gold, from its universal ap- 
 plicability to the objects of commerce, can abbre- 
 viate the process of human labor, so as to insure 
 a similar, and to procure an adequate return. Gold 
 could be preserved, transferred, and commuted, 
 with a precision peculiar to itself; gold, therefore, 
 superceded the use of cattle as a medium of ex- 
 change. 
 
 Cattle possess in themselves, the faculties of 
 increment and midtiplication, and they can give 
 forth fruits sufficient to render them a property real- 
 ly and necessarily valuable. Let it be supposed, 
 therefore, that in some of the latter days of the su- 
 premacy of the cattle medium, it had been required 
 by some sages and kings of the old school, that all 
 the accredited metallic inert medium, then acquir- 
 ing the ascendancy, should instantly become reso- 
 luble to cattle, the ancient representative of wealth, 
 the only real subject which could identically pro- 
 duce a substantial aggregation of value. Thus 
 following out that same abstract principle, of re- 
 solving a new into an old medium, which in our days 
 has created such confusion. Society would have 
 made but little progress if the whole cattle of a 
 kingdom could have supplied the complement of 
 medium, which one of its smallest cantons necessa- 
 nly required. Cattle then, like gold now, might 
 have risen in price, so as to throw their native u- 
 tility into the shade, and so as to deprive the com- 
 munity of their real essential utility, as an article
 
 39 
 
 of consumpt, and public utility ; but in so doing, 
 the absolute fallacy of the ground assumed, would 
 only have been the more completely exposed. Coin, 
 though intrinsically less valuable, would be seen 
 from its universal reception, as the medium of com- 
 mercial intercourse, to have acquired that factitious 
 reproductive power, which we term interest. That 
 medium, which can command the use of every ob- 
 ject, which is universally respected for its accredi- 
 ted value, though in itself unproductive, yet pos- 
 sessing from its acceptation, as the instrument of 
 commerce, powers of the most invaluable nature, 
 would from these very circumstances, at once have 
 reached that fixed estimation, which is now its char- 
 acteristic. 
 
 The frame of human society in our tijues, is so 
 very different from what it then was, that we can 
 scarcely, even by analogy, trace the forms that 
 have been handed down from these rude ages. 
 When perception, not disquisition, indisputable 
 rights, not abstract claims, determined the division 
 of property, mankind troubled themselves little a- 
 bout any consequences, or inferences that were 
 not obvious. Now-a-days, however, neither land 
 nor stock of any kind, can exist as the property of 
 an individual, but as it is liedged in by writs and 
 evidences, sometimes of a very complex nature. 
 These writs and evidences, when expressed in a di- 
 rect form, have a value that is equal tu the identi- 
 cal property which they represent ; and this value 
 we instinctively subsume by a necessary and in-
 
 40 
 
 voluntary act of our mind, whenever we have oc* 
 casion to refer to them as property ; and in doing 
 so, we fix its extent, by that metaUic standard to 
 which we are accustomed. Assuming their im- 
 portance to others, from their general importance 
 to the community, when we have brought our 
 minds to the determination of converting them into 
 another species of property, we carry along with us 
 this assumed current value. There can be no 
 doubt, but many circumstances, analogous to these 
 existed in the early ages of the world, and that 
 mankind became gradually habituated, not only 
 to the metals, but to their representative, carrying 
 on their intercourse, both on the one basis, and on 
 the other, under the direct influence of that receiv- 
 ed standard of value, to which all parties had be- 
 come accustomed. The metallic standard thus 
 enabled them to meet a general market, and ex- 
 change their commodities with a precision that 
 was formerly unattainable. In this way, mankind 
 for many ages, no doubt, continued to transact 
 their affairs ; the proprietor of the metallic stand- 
 ard held in his power, as well as in his hands, the 
 price of every commodity ; he was possessed of the 
 value, and of the criterion of value of every mar- 
 ketable object ; and perhaps, while commerce re- 
 mained in its simple state, mankind needed no 
 other facilities, except those which obviously re- 
 sulted from those circumstances, to render these 
 direct exchanges of value, at once simple and com- 
 plete. That rapidity of circulation, and that over- 
 weaning preponderancy of mercantile credit, which
 
 41 
 
 characterize our times, were alike unknown and 
 unnecessary. 
 
 Although, however, the received value and the 
 intrinsic excellence of the metallic medium, thus 
 rendered its intervention useful and commodious, 
 it could not be procured at all times with sufficient 
 facility, by those who had properties at market, 
 which they were alike disposed to exchange. Bare 
 transmission might serve the purpose, in so far, as 
 the value of both could be held to be commensu- 
 rate ; but some medium to adjust the difference 
 would be needful, in order to conclude the transac- 
 tion. An obligation from an individual, holding 
 himself bound to deliver the amount of the stand- 
 ard medium at a certain time, was, no doubt, occa- 
 sionally substituted, and the corroborating obliga- 
 tion of a security, not unfrequently superadded : is 
 it not evident, therefore, that this obligation, this 
 personal right, which represented to the holder a 
 portion of the current medium, corresponding to 
 part value of his former property, became a species 
 of property in his hands, which he would, in some 
 circumstances, find it convenient to pass into the 
 hands of another ? Here, therefore, we trace the 
 existence of the paper medium. The paucity of 
 transactions of this kind, no doubt, left its nature 
 and operations, in a very loose and unsettled state. 
 Ages, perhaps, passed over without affording any 
 instance that rendered positive regulations for its 
 advantage needful. That the obligations, how- 
 ever, which were thence inferred, were really val- 
 
 F
 
 42 
 
 uable to the possessor, and were secured to him, by 
 the general circumstances of society, is sufficiently 
 evident. Thus, though a species of property was 
 created, which as yet wanted a real substance to 
 uphold it, an obligation existed, which represent- 
 ed to the possessor, a substantial value, secured by 
 absolute penalties, sometimes of the most extreme 
 nature. 
 
 These statements lead us to perceive, that paper 
 currency, or in other words, current personal ob- 
 ligations, which enabled the holder to distrain a fix- 
 ed value from certain persons, had an early civil 
 existence, and must have been resorted to in the 
 first stages of social life. As assuredly as we de- 
 pend on each other for the supply of our natural 
 wants, so assuredly must we exchange the value of 
 the supplies, that are for this purpose mutually ne- 
 cessary. As certainly as those exchanges require 
 the intervention not only of a standard, but of a 
 medium, so certainly, will both a standard and a 
 medium be provided. Since the standard and the 
 medium, however, may not happen always to be 
 conjoinable, we necessarily and instinctively accept 
 of that equivalent, which best befits our circumstan- 
 ces. In very early times, an obligation to deliver 
 this equivalent, at a convenient time, generally in 
 the standard medium, was resorted to for this pur- 
 pose. In our days, this obligation has been held 
 to be tantamount to possession. 
 
 Although these statements appear to be, in some
 
 43 
 
 respects, more hypothetical than real, they serve 
 to convey to our minds a just idea of that ground, 
 whereon our financial system is rested. It is from 
 this ancient source, that many of our ideas of pro- 
 perty, and of its obligations, are drawn. Amidst 
 the complexity and intricacy of our general sys- 
 tem, these primary conceptions still appear, and 
 on many occasions, we cannot more assuredly ar- 
 rive at a true and certain knowledge of our circum- 
 stances and duty, than by a calm and deliberate 
 attention to the first unfoldings of the social body. 
 The reason of this is obvious ; we are ourselves in- 
 volved in the system which we contemplate. Ow- 
 ing to the multiplicity and diversity of our great 
 concernments, each of which have a peculiar orbit, 
 and a peculiar centre, a tortuous species of move- 
 ment takes place in our affairs, which envelopes the 
 true cause and consequences of those movements 
 in obscurity. In such circumstances, those grand 
 leading principles, which govern all those move- 
 ments, which alone are universally powerful, and 
 by regulating which all the rest may be controlled, 
 are too frequently lost sight of. As it is by begin- 
 ning at the root, that we find out the true stem, so 
 it is by ascertaining the primary leading principles, 
 and by following out these in their consequences, 
 fliat the nature of our situation is perceived. Our 
 present investigation is of a nature peculiarly diffi- 
 cult and intricate, whatever, therefore, can relieve 
 our mind from its previous misconceptions, or un- 
 ravel those perplexities, in which it is bewildered, 
 must be of service. For which reason, I shall at-
 
 44 
 
 tempt to follow out the analogies and parallels, 
 which subsist betwixt the early stages of society, 
 and our own, wherever these can serve for illus- 
 tration. 
 
 In the first place, it must be remarked, that though 
 in the pastoral ages, mankind admitted, without re- 
 serve, the value acquired from the metallic medium, 
 and made the necessary sacrifices for its attainment 
 when it was wanted, they never regarded this as 
 their wealth. Their substance was held to con- 
 sist in those flocks and herds, and in those means 
 and resources, whence the natural wants of these 
 could be supplied. That object, which of all others 
 engaged their attention, was the reproductive fa- 
 culties of those animals, and the capabilities within 
 their own power, for augmenting in a natural way, 
 that wealth, which could be thus substantiated. 
 The precious metals they enjoyed as a species of 
 property in every way, that corresponded to their 
 nature ; but they were not more soHcitous about 
 these as instruments of exchange, than their occa- 
 sions for this use of them required. Their proper 
 wealth, they knew, consisted not in these sterile 
 commodities, but in these reproductive means, with 
 which their attention was constantly employed ; 
 for this reason they never over-burdened them- 
 selves w^ith these metals. Their cattle they could 
 possess and enjoy, without the intervention of a 
 current medium ; it increased in their hands, with- 
 out the use of this medium ; their occasions for re- 
 presenting and circulating their wealth in a mer-
 
 45 
 
 cantile form, seldom occurred, and they never at- 
 tempted to convert their productive property into 
 an unproductive, unless some peculiar motive urged 
 them to do so. Their wealth and their substance, 
 under this species of management, increased with 
 a rapidity, proportioned to the correspondence be- 
 twixt their productive property, and the means 
 which they possessed for maintaining and support- 
 ing it. These means being seldom in any degree 
 deficient, direct recourse to the medium of ex- 
 change was seldom necessary for this purpose. 
 
 In like manner our wealth is concentrated in our 
 fabricating, manufacturing, and other productive 
 establishments ; it is in those, that our power of com- 
 manding the wealth of the world is contained. It 
 is here, that it is unfolded and brought to maturity. 
 Those establishments, alike contain the power of 
 creating, and that of giving currency to our wealth. 
 It is the superiority, immensity, and high estima- 
 tion of the productions of these establishments, 
 which bring into our hands all those means, which 
 give to this commanding power its high consequen- 
 ces. These establishments, however, like the flocks 
 and herds of the pastoral fathers, must be regularly 
 supported by means suited to their nature. As 
 these last required brooks and pasture ground, so 
 our reproductive powers, require every thing need- 
 ful for the support of the establishments themselves, 
 and of all those who are exercised under them. 
 When those means are thus administered, tlie value 
 of those powers is unfolded, their productions are
 
 46 
 
 increased both in number and value, and our wealth, 
 and our means, for giving to this wealth its full 
 weight and estimation, are proportionally augment- 
 ed : like the ancient patriarchs, we have in our hands 
 the means which we require : our strongest propen- 
 sities induce us to give to these means their proper 
 place in our estimation ; and the operations of our 
 system, have been alike powerful and efficacious, 
 when thus supported. Hence, the profusion of 
 means, of establishments, and of wealth, of every 
 description, with which we are encumbered. Tlie 
 power of maintaining these operations has hence 
 reached its present high estimation. Like the flocks 
 and herds of the favoured patriarchs, our produce 
 is not only vast, but valuable, our productive pow- 
 ers have been not only great, but happily employ- 
 ed. 
 
 There is a want, however, peculiar to our sys- 
 tem, to which these circumstances afford no paral- 
 lel. This want arises from the complete concate- 
 nation of our social system. Men, the subjects of 
 our establishments, may not like cattle, wander at 
 large, and supply their wants from that profusion, 
 with which they are surrounded. These supplies 
 must be measured out to them, according to the 
 value of their several claims ; those claims must be 
 resolved into the standard measure of value, and the 
 person who cannot produce this current medium, 
 can acquire no right to any supplies whatever. 
 Means may be amongst his hands to the most un- 
 measured extent ; they may be even perishing un-
 
 47 
 
 (ler his eye, from the want of a consumer, but he 
 must not attempt to appropriate tliem to his own 
 use, until his legal claim can be admitted. At pre- 
 sent there is a deficiency of the medium of exchange, 
 and though all put forth claims, and produce pro- 
 perty to obtain this medium, which but shortly be'- 
 fore, would have been held to be competent to this 
 effect, those claims cannot now be admitted, the 
 medium is not to be found in sufficient quantities 
 to meet their demands ; and, in the mean time, those 
 who are able to procure the medium, may not only 
 acquire a portion of the general stock, far beyond 
 its recent value, but they may retain in their cus- 
 tody, for an improper length of time, the instru- 
 ment of exchange, in which all are most earnestly 
 in quest ; on which thousands are dependent for 
 their support; and which, accordingly, ought to be 
 pushed forward in circulation, with the utmost ra- 
 pidity. 
 
 Although we can find no parallel to the above 
 circumstances in the days of primitive simplicity, 
 we can, by comparison, trace out those particular 
 things, in which the distinction consists. In those 
 days, the productive establishments represented 
 their own value without any farther resolution. In 
 our days, however, a general standard of absolute 
 value is fixed, and a medium into which every mar- 
 ketable article must, in the first place, be resolved, 
 is determined and universally received. Our pri- 
 mary object, therefore, is to find tliis medium, be- 
 eause it is by it, and by it alone, tliat we can attain
 
 48 
 
 to the possession of every other, of which we may 
 be in quest. Unlike the pastoral fathers, who in 
 their flocks and herds, saw at once the medium of 
 exchange, and the standard of universal value, our 
 main solicitude is to resolve our substance, all or 
 any of it, in any form, almost on any terms into 
 this standard medium ; by which means, and by 
 which alone, we can meet the demands that exist 
 against us. In our circumstances, the demand for 
 the medium, is so pressing, is so universal, that it 
 is frequently unattainable on any terms. Yet the 
 attainment of it is necessary to the possession of 
 every other object. Indeed, it is impossible with- 
 out a competent portion of it, for any individual 
 of extensive transactions to preserve any one civil 
 right or possession. The advantage of holding in 
 our hands that instrument, which can command 
 every desirable object, is so congenial to our na- 
 tural love of novelty, and of indefinite power, that 
 a new species of passion has been conjoined with 
 it : and however much we may reprobate avarice 
 in the abstract, it is evident, that that commodity 
 which can represent to us its full measure of value, 
 in any other marketable commodity, must, on the 
 whole, be regarded as incomparably more estima- 
 ble than a particular resolution of it, in any market- 
 able article whatsoever. 
 
 Direct proof to this effect is now under our 
 eye. In our circumstances, the medium of ex- 
 change, the universal instrument for resolving the 
 value, and determining the possession of marketa-
 
 49 
 
 ble commodities, and of course, the direct means 
 for procuring supplies of those, of that kind, of that 
 measure, and to that extent, which suits the views 
 of each individual, represents to us that pabulum, 
 that means of support, wliich our reproductive es- 
 tablishments require. Our country is so over- 
 stocked with commodities and productions of every 
 kind, and the occasions of individuals, render the 
 possession of the medium so desirable, that the 
 mere holding of it may be regarded as tantamount 
 to the possession of a commensurate supply of every 
 marketable property whatever. As every want, 
 therefore, which our establishments, our reproduc- 
 tive faculties induce, may hence be supplied, and 
 may all hence be anticipated, the medium itself, 
 though neither the pabulum, nor at all fitted for 
 meeting any of the wants of these establishments, 
 yet possessing an absolute command over every ob- 
 ject, that can supply those wants, comes plainly in 
 the place of that food, or means of support to their 
 cattle, their reproductive faculties, which to the 
 pastoral fathers were so invaluable. That it is c- 
 qually efficient in our hands, may appear from this, 
 that the possessor of a sufficiency of the medium, 
 can no more doubt his being able to procure the 
 support, which his establishments require, than the 
 proprietor of extensive flocks could, in the posses- 
 sion of a competency of pasture land. 
 
 And let it again be noticed, that in the pastoral 
 ages, cattle not only constituted wealth, as identi- 
 fied with power and personal honor ; a property,
 
 50 
 
 valuable, from its intrinsic applicability to their 
 circumstances, and from its tendency to increase ; 
 it constituted also the medium of exchange, the 
 instrument of direct command over every other 
 commodity. No accredited standard of value, no 
 metallic, or paper currency, intervened betwixt it 
 and the subject, into which it was necessary to have 
 it resolved ; it was itself competent to every other 
 marketable acquisition, and it was the measure and 
 medium for determining the possession of that ac- 
 quisition. This circumstance evidently forms a 
 characteristic distinction, betwixt the proprietors of 
 productive estabHshments in that age and ours, of 
 very great magnitude and importance. And we 
 perceive, that it is in the want of some analogous 
 accommodation, that our present embarrassments 
 arise. The value of the advantage possessed by 
 those ancient fathers, may be perceived in this cir- 
 cumstance, that unlike the proprietors of manufac- 
 turing, and other great establishments amongst us, 
 who must sist progress, whenever their commodities 
 cannot be resolved into the medium ; and whose oc- 
 casions thence so often protrude them to destruc- 
 tion, in those mutual struggles to obtain possession 
 of the medium into which they are necessarily led — 
 these ancients could preserve their flocks, so long as 
 their pastures remained, and proceeding in a steady 
 course of advancement, without stoppage or inter- 
 ruption, find the full value and amount of their 
 acquirements, always resolved in the numerical in- 
 crease of their establislnnents. What losses, what 
 calamities, worse than those of earthquakes, and
 
 ^1 
 
 volcanoes, in the natural world, would not society 
 escape, if some acquisition, similar to that, to which 
 we have alluded, could be obtained for our produc- 
 tive establishments ! 
 
 There is in the constitution of civil society, a 
 tendency to work out its own deliverance from op- 
 pression, and to throw off those morbid excrescen- 
 cies, which were attached to it in a rude state. When 
 society becomes at length improved, it farther ac- 
 quires an elasticity in its movements, which gradu- 
 ally disencumbers it from fo-rms and habits, which 
 prejudice and misconception, at one time prepared 
 for it. No doubt, luxury, corruption, and the in- 
 nate depravity of the human mind are severally 
 struggling to overpower this ameliorating tenden- 
 cy -, and in consequence of the predominance of vice 
 and folly, their operations are at times too pow erful 
 for its gentle movements. The stupendous efforts 
 of genius and talent, and the slow but irrcsistable 
 exercitations of the general principle of improve- 
 ment, are therefore not only necessary to maintain 
 the advantae^es secured, but to give full effect to 
 these advantages, and to meet those numerous con- 
 tingencies, to which no previous measures can be 
 adapted. It is by such means, that the imperfec- 
 tions, necessarily attendant on human affaii-s must 
 be remedied. The proneness of our best aggrega- 
 tions of improvement to vitiation, and the constant 
 dcvelo{)cment of spurious, as well as of useful in- 
 novations, in a system so vast, so complex, and so 
 rapidly progressive as ours is, renders some farther
 
 52 
 
 attention to those fundamental principles needful. 
 We will now, therefore, turn our regard to that state 
 of things, wherein the metallic medium, accompa- 
 nied by incipieiit improvements in the arts, led the 
 way to this developement of the commercial system. 
 
 When nations had been conquered, and com- 
 pressed into narrow precincts, when the value of 
 the arts, and of those possessions, to which these 
 give rise, had become familiar to mankind at large, 
 and the laws and rules for the distribution and en- 
 joyment of property, had begun to extend them- 
 selves, the usefulness and importance of the me- 
 tals, as an instrument for expediting transactions 
 would be felt and acknowledged by all. As it was 
 in these mild and genial climes, w^ierein nature it- 
 self, half-way meets the exertions of her sons, that 
 the arts are known to have arisen, and as it was 
 chiefly under that shelter which princes and great 
 men aiforded, that these were supported and ad- 
 vanced, the earliest developements of the arts, were 
 accompanied by displays of taste, power, and splen- 
 dor. Personal influence, as well as wealth, not un- 
 frequently accompanied the exercise of them; and, 
 although those grand remains of ancient produc- 
 tions that have reached us, plainly discover the 
 hand and the dignity of the sovereign j. yet both his- 
 tory and analogy attest the e:xistence of a grada- 
 tion of similar displays, correspondent to the sta- 
 tions and circumstances of the different ranks of 
 men, which then prevailed. The existence of accu- 
 mulated processes and of manufacturing establish-
 
 53 
 
 nieiits is thence inferred, as also of artists and fabri- 
 cators of high renown, even in the necessary arts. 
 These establishments, it must be noticed, comprised 
 slaves more generally than free workmen ; they 
 were isolated, comprehending within themselves, 
 all these various gradations and divisions of labor, 
 which conducted the rude material to the finished 
 marketable commodity j and thus, they resembled 
 the flocks and herds, the reproductive establish- 
 ments of the pastoral fathers, they sent forth their 
 fruits, by the mere operation of their own system ; 
 and were dependent on no other market than that 
 of the ultimate consumer. The establishment of a 
 West India plantation, approaches nearer to that or- 
 ganization, which distinguished the ancient estab- 
 lishments, than any other in modern times. 
 
 These establishments like all others, must have 
 had their origin in small and rude beginnings. 
 AVhen an artist, or an agriculturist had got posses- 
 sion of the means needful for setting one of these 
 agoing ; the precious metals, then the universal in- 
 strument of exchange, would enable him to complete 
 his supply of materials, assistants, and facilities. 
 Those chemical and mechanical aids, which were 
 then accessible, would not be awanting. Having, 
 provided every thing tliat could augment the value 
 and amount of the productions of his industry, ab- 
 breviate its operations, and economize its proce- 
 dure, and ibrmed out of his acquisitions a well di- 
 gested, full organized system, secured and pro- 
 truded under e\ery attainable advantage and lacil-
 
 54 
 
 ity, he could henceforward look upon himself, and 
 his establishment, as independent of any ordinary 
 contingency. It contained within itself the means 
 of its own support and advancement. Its subse- 
 quent produce was exclusively his own, and gave 
 out funds which he could either invest afresh in 
 his establishment, or consume in the natural way ; 
 the support of his slaves and dependents, like that 
 of his domestic establishment, being provided for 
 in that form which suited his circumstances. The 
 whole procedure being thus advanced upon one 
 capital, and under one great head, and the com- 
 modities, not being passed in an unfinished state 
 from hand to hand, as with us, that accommodation 
 or credit, that direct and indirect circulation of the 
 medium or its representative, which affords so much 
 financial relief to our tradesmen, was unknown. The 
 establishment rested on the basis of its own means, 
 and the use of the medium in all its forms was pre- 
 cluded from the first entry of the raw material to 
 its ultimate resolution in a finished article for ge- 
 neral consumpt. The smith could not relieve the 
 founder of his commodities, and interpose in his fa- 
 vor, the benefit of his commercial support, nor him- 
 self derive that advantage from the armourer. The 
 whole weight of every undertaking lay undivided 
 upon the fabricator, and it became him to be pre- 
 pared for the whole stretch of his manufacture. 
 
 It is not my business to inquire into the whole 
 results of this state of things; it is enough to point 
 out those which most strikingly contradistinguish
 
 55 
 
 it from ours, and disclose to us the operation of 
 those principles, on which our own system is found- 
 ed, when placed in circumstances so congenial to 
 the natural state of human industry. Perhaps the 
 most important of these distinctions, is the vast 
 saving in the use of the medium of exchange. Dur- 
 ing the whole process, substances and materials 
 alone entered the establishment, and finished com- 
 modities alone came out of it. For those finished 
 commodities, the price, the medium, was obtained ; 
 in procuring the substances and materials alone it 
 was expended. Like the industry of a great nation, 
 which is independent of every other, billets or no- 
 tices of exchange might pass, from the hand of one 
 individual member of the establishment to another, 
 on the delivery of any half-finished commodity; but 
 the imiversal medium of exchange itself was use- 
 less, until the finished commodity met the general 
 market. 
 
 The second circumstance that deserves notice, 
 is the independent footing on which the fabricator 
 held his establishment. He could do nothing till 
 he had procured the means ; those means he could 
 only obtain by delivery of the medium, or some 
 current value in hand ; but when he had done this, 
 his system was complete ; to provide for the wants 
 of his slaves and domestics, to bring their industry 
 to the market, and to keep up his stock of means, 
 were the only burdens with which he coukl be af- 
 fected. The merest movement of his system could 
 not but procure these in an era, wherein finished
 
 66 
 
 commodities were scarce, and substances and ma- 
 terials superabundant. As no manufacturing estab- 
 lishment could be set down, but by persons really 
 and substantially possessed of means, and under si- 
 milar necessities with himself, so his commodities 
 would always maintain their value. The fabricator 
 was, as it were, possessed of a fertile field, or well- 
 conditioned flock ; regular returns for his industry 
 could therefore be no more doubted of by him, than 
 regular returns of the seasons, and their consequen- 
 ces by the farmer. 
 
 The third circumstance to be noticed, is the 
 very narrow sphere which could be occupied by 
 those fabricators. As these rested entirely on their 
 own means, they were restrained by the limits of 
 those means in all of their operations. The merchant 
 might be at hand to relieve the fabricator of his 
 commodities, and to supply him with materials, suit- 
 ed to his establishment. Still, however, he was by 
 his circumstances strictly confined within the sphere 
 which these operations could easily describe. In 
 those days, as at present, fabricators were no doubt 
 held in estimation, according to the value and rarity 
 of their productions. Those of their highest class 
 might be bribed not only with a high price, but 
 with pecuniary advances for the sake of a prefer- 
 ence in their finished commodities, whereby addi- 
 tional powers and faculties would become invested 
 in their productive system. But, perhaps, it hap- 
 pened much oftener, that purchasers were not fully 
 prepared to deliver the full value of the commodity 
 
 I
 
 57 
 
 in hand, which they had procured, whereby it fell 
 to the fabricator, to bestow some indulgence as to 
 the term of payment ; although by so doing, he so 
 far for the time weakened his establishment. It 
 must be remarked, however, that these very cir- 
 cumstances indicate the independent nature of the 
 industry, which then prevailed. The connexion 
 betwixt the fabricator and his employer, was of 
 that intimate kind, that each severally accommo- 
 dated himself to the circumstances of the other, 
 not only in his general procedure, but throughout all 
 the particulars of each transaction. The medium, 
 and the means, were severally superabundant; the 
 finished commodity was in general scarce, and while 
 the prospect of gain on the one side, stimulated 
 the fabricator to do his duty ; that of advantage, on 
 the other, equally disposed the consumer to meet 
 his views. These dispositions, and the conduct to 
 which they gave rise, had no doubt, great varieties, 
 but throughout the whole, the independent nature 
 of established industry, and the equal balance that 
 subsisted betwixt the tradesman and his employer, 
 produced a coincidence in the conduct of each, 
 which has few parallels in our days ; the supera- 
 bundance of commodities, and the paucity of con- 
 sumers, placing those last with us, completely on 
 the vantage ground. 
 
 In the fourtli place, the quantity of medium in 
 circulation in those days, in general, greatly ex- 
 ceeded the demands both of the fabricator and of 
 the merchant. This apjx'ars from several circuin- 
 
 II
 
 58 
 
 stances. The medium was of no farther use, than 
 as it transferred the value of the commodity sold, 
 from the purchaser to the vender ; an occurrence 
 which took place only in circumstances, wherein 
 the natural wants of both parties disposed them to 
 enter into such transactions. The circulation of 
 the metals was so extremely slow, that they were 
 in general prized more on account of their common 
 use, as articles of luxury, than on aiccount of their 
 being indispensable accessories for expediting in- 
 dustry. Gold was frequently thus retained, not 
 only in temples, but in the houses of individuals ; 
 statues, embellishments, and personal decorations 
 being in some instances in a great measure com- 
 posed of it. Those personal obligations which 
 we preserve with so much care, and occasionally 
 circulate as instruments of exchange ; these, then, 
 served merely to ascertain the amount of the debt, 
 the term of payment, and the conditions and pen- 
 alties, consequent on every failure ; thereby pro- 
 ducing a certain degree of stability, and ensuring 
 some personal exertions on both parts, to realize 
 the accredited value. It is certain, however, that 
 the commercial spirit, in those days, was so feeble 
 in its movements, that such obligations were not 
 only seldom created, but that when they were cre- 
 ated, they generally passed off in personal services, 
 in acts of friendship or hostility, or in some display 
 of prowess, or condescension, or direct expenditure. 
 They seldom re-entered the reproductive establish- 
 ments, and were in general, perhaps, much more 
 prejudicial than advantageous to the interests of
 
 ^9 
 
 industry. The trutli is, tlie reproductive proces- 
 ses moved so regularly, without adventitious aid, 
 their services were so exactly limited to tlie supply 
 of ordinary and current demands, that every thing 
 that went beyond these, was devoted to direct and 
 immediate consumpt. 
 
 Fifthly, foreign trade, the grand stimulator and 
 supporter of industry with us, was generally con- 
 ducted witliout the intervention of the medium. It 
 consisted for the most part in bartering commodities 
 and productions against each other, and it took 
 place in that slow deliberate manner, which result- 
 ed from far-fetched, and loosely calculated views 
 of the wants and circumstances of those countries, 
 which were thus brought into contact. That wide 
 and overpowering species of intercourse, which 
 gives the law to the consumpt, and to the charactei- 
 of communities, was unknown. Then, the natural 
 developcment of moral and physical principles, pro- 
 ceeded not merely with regularity, but in so fur a^. 
 commercial objects could affect it, with the most un- 
 interrupted harmony. The results of foreign com- 
 mercial transactions, were, therefore, neither direct 
 nor powerful ; they reached in the most apposite 
 manner to those objects, for which they were cal- 
 culated ; but they entered naturally into the habits, 
 and established connexions and concatenations of 
 men and objects; thereby contributing to give sta- 
 l)ility to a system of things already secure within it- 
 self, and efficient in all its exterior relations. What- 
 ever vices and faults might attend particular parts 
 
 « 2
 
 &> 
 
 of this organization, these were driven out of 
 sight, by the operation of the great machine ; and 
 whatever deficencies and imperfections were at- 
 tendant on the organization itself, these were abun- 
 dantly remedied by those energies and resources, 
 which were perpetually arising from the system. 
 Over such matters, therefore, commerce had no 
 control, it accommodated itself to, or bent under 
 their influence. Limited, however, and weak as 
 the foreign intercourse, which then subsisted was, 
 it affected industry in a direct manner, and in that 
 way, M'hich, for the time, advanced the general in- 
 terests of a body-politic, necessarily slowly and 
 steadily progressive. 
 
 Sixthly, even the acts of government, and the 
 structure of political connexions, were so constitut- 
 ed as to save the use of the medium of exchange, 
 and to favor the ordinary self-moving develope- 
 ments of established industry. Taxes and imposts, 
 were generally raised in kind, and the subjects 
 thus levied, were again circulated and distributed 
 through the agency of the state. Industry, in some 
 measure, raised above the operation of the medium, 
 was thus kept steadily in motion by those great a- 
 gents and excitators, which, in all countries super- 
 induce consequences, which are irresistable. In- 
 dustry and commerce, accordingly, became more 
 and more independent of the medium, and more 
 and more fixed and stable in all their results and 
 cfiiBcts.
 
 61 
 
 There are several other distinctive qualities of 
 ancient industry, which arose out of tliis state of 
 things, that might be exhibited in this place, as di- 
 rect consequences of the views that have been ta- 
 ken. By illustrating three of tliese, however, some 
 idea of the whole may be obtained. In the first 
 place, it is evident, that when the means of con- 
 ducting industry, were thus independent of the 
 medium, and when the servants who were em- 
 ployed about industrious establishments, were thus 
 severally fixed to their condition, the great line 
 of improvement, would proceed alongst that course 
 of things, wherein the power and dignity of the 
 rich could be displayed. These alone possessed 
 the medium, the means of commanding the servi- 
 ces of others, the instrument for exciting emulation 
 and competition amongst tradesmen, and of bring- 
 ing forward under their views, the full exercise of 
 all the powers and faculties, that were inherent in 
 the existing state of things. It was in subserviency 
 to their views that the wants of these were supplied ; 
 this process proceeding in that dull, heavy course, 
 which necessity prescribed, and being neither an- 
 imated by exhibitions of taste, nor smoothed by 
 the hand of ingenuity. As the poor dependent o- 
 perative had no choice, but to take up what was 
 allotted to him, neither skill nor sophistry were 
 needful to allure his acceptance, or to gratify his 
 fancy; that parade of brilliancy, and of appropriate 
 decoration which are set forth in every commodi- 
 ty, for the sake of the meanest as well as of the, 
 highest, could, therefore, have no place in regard to
 
 62 
 
 personages, to whom the most prostrate submission 
 had become constitutional. But the channel of 
 improvement thus narrowed, rushed forward in 
 that course which had been assigned to it, with an 
 impetuosity, to which we vainly look for a parallel 
 in modern times. Those temples and amphithea- 
 tres, those statues and paintings, which were pro- 
 duced in small societies, exhibit a progression in 
 improvement, which almost exceeds belief. Power- 
 ful, yet confined to its proper object, it excluded 
 every thing base and mean, and associated itself 
 intimately, with every thing great and dignified ; 
 and it did this in a way, which the greatest poweris 
 of succeeding ages, have in vain attempted to emu- 
 late. Happily for us, our progression in improve- 
 ment, has not only become wider, but more pow- 
 erful, it has its source in the exalted principles and 
 doctrines of our holy religion ; it originates in the 
 heavenly regions ; and it possesses throughout its 
 whole course an energy, which raises every thing 
 with which it comes in contact to its proper pitch 
 of excellence. Though we are deprived of these 
 factitious ornaments of society, which were pecu- 
 liar to this primary progression of improvement in 
 the arts, we enjoy countervailing blessings, which 
 shut these out of sight ; and if we steadily keep in 
 our eye the leading principles of all improvement, 
 we need not despair of attaining similar excellence, 
 even in these very particulars. We perceive howev- 
 er, that this object depends neither qjitije iiy^du;ini^ 
 nor on the rapidity of its circulation j it depenels
 
 63 
 
 upon the general circumstances and pursuits of the 
 social body. 
 
 The second particular consequence attendapt up- 
 on the course of ancient industry is, that the circula* 
 tion of its productions was free and unincumbered. 
 I do not here allude to those necessary imposts on 
 industry, which every government, must, more or 
 less, resort to ; although it is evident, that these 
 ought at all times to be proportioned to many other 
 circumstances, besides the exigencies of the state. 
 I refer to the circulation of commodities, when 
 they had reached their market value. These com- 
 modities, not only at once found a merchant, but 
 they found one, over whose reciprocal regards they 
 had the most absolute command. Let any one look 
 .steadily to the intercourse that takes place in com- 
 modities amongst us, and he will perceive that the 
 whole evils of our commercial and financial difficul- 
 ties, originate in our wanting this advantage. Most 
 of our commodities, are destined to the service of 
 our determined enemy, whose wants they must sub- 
 serve, before they can attain their value. After this 
 has been secured to them, amidst dangers and losses 
 of the most extraordinary kind, another risk attends 
 the transference of this value into our own hands, 
 Avhich, including all the dangers, attendant on the 
 drawer and accepter of bills, and on those indivi- 
 duals who make transferences of value, which must 
 serve to meet these, are of a nature so perilous, that 
 i ,i n ^^tri114i4 ^^A*m^ no person will refuse acknowledg- 
 ing that for once, that the assumed value is replac-
 
 64 
 
 cd to the community at large, it nearly ten times 
 perishes in the circuit which it must describe. Be- 
 sides this, however, even in the home market, so lax 
 find illusory are tliese laws and customs, by which 
 floating property is protected, that the course of the 
 home circulation, is, on the w^hole, far from being 
 either stable or secure. From all those evils, from 
 the circumstances in which ancient industry was 
 placed, ancient fabricators were safe. Their defi- 
 ciency in mechanical and chemical power in the ge- 
 neral digest and organization of their means, their 
 embecil, and sometimes puerile exercitations, with 
 the whole imperfections and deficiencies of their ge- 
 neral procedure, were compensated by this advan- 
 tage. That humiliation, that trepidation, and that 
 complete annihilation of property and of power, 
 which assail so generally the whole race of fabrica- 
 tors and merchants with us, and which so often hur- 
 I'aes them fi-om princely fortunes to extreme pover- 
 ty, were never either seen nor thought of. 
 
 I AM hence led to take notice of the third effect 
 produced by those characteristic distinctions of an- 
 cient industry, that have been noticed. The indus- 
 trious processes thus set agoing, were not only in a 
 great measure independent of the medium, and 
 very little dependent on foreign trade ; the fruits 
 which arose from them, not only circulated without 
 any interruption, and without any tendency to em- 
 barrassment, but even during this connected circu- 
 lation, each of these processes remained radically 
 independent of each other. One or more, or in-
 
 65 
 
 deed any mimber of them might be withdrawn, 
 overturned, or destroyed, by the calamities of war, 
 of pestilence, of famine, of mismanagement ; while 
 the remainder, would not thereby partake sensibly of 
 the change. Not that the general movements of 
 industry could not be deranged by the irruption of 
 any incidental connexion, that might subsist be- 
 twixt flourishing and ruinous establishments ; or that 
 the withdrawing of a great consumer and replacer 
 of valuable commodities, was without its effects ; 
 but such was the state of things, that these matters 
 were not only, in themselves inconsiderable, on ac- 
 count of the paramount influence of a system, which 
 was established on such superior grounds ; but the 
 state of society, was such, that no connected chain 
 of commercial calamities, could, in any ordinary 
 course of things, at all take place. 
 
 There are two chains of connexions in our fabr.i* 
 eating establishments, to which we have no parallel 
 in ancient times. Our several manufacturing pro- 
 cesses are brought forward in distinct parts, and 
 each on a separate stock as distinct properties, under 
 a peculiar system of management. It is in this cir- 
 cumstance, that the power and perfection of our 
 system of industry consists ; the profusion of com- 
 modities, which each of these processes incessantly 
 sends forth, rendering the chance of any interrup- 
 tion in the general process of industry, on account 
 of any accidental defalcation, in the accessory bran- 
 ches, extremely triflling. ' It seldom happens there- 
 fore, even when contingencies of this kind do take 
 
 I
 
 66 
 
 place, tliat the deficiency is either great or lasting, 
 while the advantages which are secured from the 
 power and perfection of the system thence obtained, 
 are great and powerful in every respect. 
 
 There is, however, another chain of connexions, 
 which produces effects, and entanglements of a dif- 
 ferent kind. Owing to the palpable deficiency of 
 the general medium of exchange, those various 
 establishments, and indeed the whole superior part 
 of the community, have been reduced to the neces- 
 sity of instituting, what is called commercial credit, 
 for the purpose of serving as a sort of medium of 
 exchange, which each graduates for his own use ; 
 but on which, all in the end become more or less 
 dependent; or rather on which every great interest, 
 is as it were strung into one. When any part of this 
 chain of credit gives way, the deficiency is not only 
 palpably felt, but it creates an obstruction in the 
 general circulation, that must inevitably be more 
 or less detrimental, or perhaps ruinous to many in- 
 dividuals. Nor is this all, those primary effects be- 
 come speedily productive of others, sometimes of 
 high moment. As we now see these effects placed 
 before us in a manner, that is at once palpable 
 and deeply agonizing, it is unnecessary for me to 
 narrate, how very ruinous these irruptions may be- 
 come. The whole motions of the commercial, finan- 
 cial, and fabricating parts of our system are paral- 
 ized, and every commodity and production with 
 those various systems, that are constituted for their 
 creation, are deprived alike of their value, and of
 
 67 
 
 their usefulness, and many of them will, in all pro- 
 bability, be soon rendered of as little avail or im- 
 portance, as any other morbid corrupting substance 
 whatever. 
 
 As this subject will afterwards be resumed more 
 at large, it is only necessary to note thus briefly, 
 the above particulars ; and ii*om these we perceive 
 distinctly, the vast importance of the medium of ex- 
 change, in securing individual independence. In the 
 inferior parts of our establishments, this indepen- 
 dence is provided for abundantly, and a continu- 
 ance of it secured by the necessity, under which 
 the heads of these establishments are laid, of grant- 
 ing to their dependents, as the price of their labors, 
 the universal standard into which all commodities 
 are resoluble, and which of course, commands its 
 full value of each commodity. In the superior part 
 of these establishments, however, no such security 
 is obtained. These establishments are linked to- 
 gether, by a factitious paper circulation, and bv 
 other false grounds of mutual confidence, which arc 
 alike ruinous and fallacious ; insomuch, that on every 
 failure of the hopes of those who may have reached 
 a high place in this system, the evil becomes general. 
 Nevertheless, though calamities, to which it is fre- 
 quently difficult to set limits, therefrom take place, 
 and involve alike the most deserving, and the most 
 culpable; the man of great property and deservedly 
 respectable, and him, who had never tlie smallest 
 foundation of either; the system is permitted to go 
 on without interruption ; we busy ourselves about 
 
 I 2
 
 68 
 
 its subordinate parts, while we ought to be sedu- 
 lously employed about its foundation. 
 
 The iron hand of despotism, and the cruel rava- 
 ges of privileged depredators, were the most pro- 
 minent enemies, by which improvement was in an- 
 cient times opposed. These were of a kind, and of 
 a nature, to which Europeans, until of late years, 
 could scarcely attach any fixed appropriate idea. 
 The stern countenance of the conqueror, not only 
 desolated regions of immense extent, but forbade, 
 with the most inflexible accent, the return of im- 
 provement. His myrmidons not only swept from 
 the face of the earth its most precious productions, 
 but they tore up by the roots its institutions and 
 establishments. These prominent enemies to im- 
 provement, were not, however, the most formidable. 
 The form of society thus pressed together, contain- 
 ed in it principles of vitiation incomparably more 
 virulent. While one small portion of mankind a- 
 lone, could enjoy the blessings of liberty and secu- 
 rity, honor and emolument; and while all the rest 
 were consigned to unmitigated debasement ; while 
 every mean and vile demarcation of abject bondage, 
 was affixed to that state of dependence, which is 
 inseparable from human aflairs ; and while a system 
 to which no other views or interests, excepting these 
 of the £tw could enter, continued to prevail, no 
 provisions that were at all commensurate to the na- 
 tural wants of man, would be attended to. The 
 industry of the community might be valuable, but 
 it was calculated, limited, and pointed to the use
 
 69 
 
 of the few. Its productions might be precious and 
 abundant, but those productions were all destined 
 to the paramount few, or to those purposes, to 
 which it suited their views and interests to allot 
 them. Hence in general, it must be admitted, that 
 the industry of those days was altogether inade- 
 quate to the wants of man ; not indeed from the 
 embecility of its movements, but from the malverse 
 destination of its powers. In some countries in- 
 deed, this evil was circumscribed, and slaves had 
 certain rights and properties secured to them; but 
 in none, could the labourers acquire that real com- 
 mand over those good things that were and could 
 be produced, which every British subject, and un- 
 til lately every inhabitant of Christendom might en- 
 joy. The medium of exchange was rarely to be 
 procured ; when procured, it Mas incompetent to 
 many valuable purposes, and it never had that com- 
 mand over the whole fruits of industry, which its 
 nature implies. Thus this circumstance, which 
 rendered the industry of the ancients so stable, and 
 so secure, its independency of the medium, tended 
 to shut out of use, its most valuable faculties, 
 to limit its operations to the service of the rich, to 
 circumscribe the provisions, the enjoyments, and 
 the possessions of the poor, and thus to render their 
 dependence on their masters, most absolute and 
 most hopeless. Thereby, the objects produced 
 might become more abundant and valuable of their 
 kind, but thereby also they were extremely limit- 
 ed in their amount, thus conducing to seal more
 
 70 
 
 completely the unhappy state of the grand mass of 
 humanity. 
 
 Taking the views into which those things lead us, 
 and having in our eye the circumstances of the 
 eastern and southern parts of the world, it is not 
 necessary for me, in a cursory survey of this kind, 
 to pursue the subject any further ; it is enough 
 to refer to the known state of industry in such 
 cases. When w^e fix our attention upon the vast 
 results, which have flowed from this embecil and 
 imperfect species of industry, we cannot help being 
 overpowered with wonder and astonishment. The 
 grandeur, and the multitude of superb edifices and 
 monuments of genius and art, which have reached 
 our times, the splendid provisions made for reli- 
 gious purposes, for the pomp of the state, for the 
 education of youth, and for the luxurious indulgence 
 of cheiflains and grandees ; and above all, those pro- 
 digious and expensive armaments, colonizations, 
 and other enterprises, into each of which the whole 
 soul and energy of nations seem to have passed ; 
 each of their kind, though vastly different, displays 
 a power far trancending that which we are natural- 
 ly led to expect. And it must be further noticed, 
 that though the abject bondage, and debasement, 
 of the great bulk of mankind, has necessarily been 
 subsumed, we are not hence to infer, that for these 
 no provision was made by the course of industry, or 
 that they were debarred from direct participation 
 in every ordinary enjoyment. So far from this being 
 the case, it is certain, that of those things which
 
 1 
 
 uerc needful to the condition even of the lowest 
 class, ample supplies were made. Enveloped in the 
 lustre of the country, family, individual, to whom 
 they were attached, they participated in general in 
 those blessings, and in those sentiments to which 
 their own industry gave rise, and not unfrequently 
 lost sight of their individual forlorn condition, from 
 the radiance with which it was surrounded. They 
 could not indeed, as the poorest and most depen- 
 dent amongst us now do, by producing the stand- 
 ard medium, appropriate to themselves these things 
 that were then sacred to the rich ; nor enjoy in that 
 self-collected manner, even that share of the fruits 
 of their industry, which was peculiarly their own. 
 That token of independence, the medium which 
 commanded marketable means, supported by a vast 
 range of those appropriate commodities and pro- 
 ductions, which are needful in personal and domes- 
 tic circles with us, were quite unknown to them. 
 Destitute, however, of these advantrges, their wants, 
 and the means of supplying these, were regularly, 
 though imperfectly accommodated to each other. 
 
 On tlic whole, however, it is necessary to re- 
 mark, that, nature herself, not only met half-way, 
 all those efforts that were made to perfect her 
 works, by the first adventurers in the arts, but that 
 she gave a lustre and happy effect to the results that 
 followed. The earliest and simplest movements 
 of industry, such as merely accelerated and prepar- 
 ed the way for the course that followed, were not 
 unrewarded. Mankind were then able, not onlv
 
 72 
 
 to reap in abundance, those supplies which were 
 requisite, but to form aggregations for futurity. 
 These aggregations in the hands of individuals were 
 the emblems of power and of honor, and they ena- 
 bled them to make aggregations still larger, and 
 more valuable, and to carryforward improvements of 
 various kinds upon higher grounds. Those things 
 gave birth to property in all its circumstances, as 
 well as to those accumulative fabricating pro- 
 cesses, under which the dependent were ranged 
 and exercised. The potency and promptitude, 
 thence accorded to the course of industry, greatly 
 augmented its value and its results. Hence an 
 abundance ^of means was created in favor of the 
 the rich, and hence the aggregate power and splen- 
 dor thereby obtained, was duly exercised. 
 
 The great design of those different courses of 
 industry, was to produce abundance of the com- 
 modities to which they were destined. In this view, 
 the system established was peculiarly favoured, for 
 though defective in mechanical and chemical aids, 
 and other advantages of high import with us, yet 
 being independent of those overwhelming embar- 
 rassments which envelope all our undertakings, 
 its productive processes, when once set fairly a- 
 going, met with no opposition from rivalry, and 
 with no interruption from financial embarrassment. 
 Like every thing else in those days, it was affected, 
 and sometimes ruined by war, by desolation, and by 
 all those calamities, which were great and univer- 
 sal. The views of the rich, were moreover, ho-
 
 13 
 
 mologated with those of the state, a;i:l the mea- 
 sures, which both these adopted, were carried for- 
 ward by certain courses of things, all of which re- 
 solved themselves into the public service. The na- 
 tional arena being then the field of universal display; 
 riches, talents, endowments, mental and corporeal 
 prowess, were all alike here exercised. Let it be 
 noticed, however, that wealth being created tor the 
 service of the rich and the powerful, after re-ani- 
 mating their personal vigor and splendor, it passed 
 off without creating any circulable burden, or any 
 commercial influence upon the industry of the 
 country. So that although the course of things, 
 then current, tended to give support to industry, 
 by rendering it necessary, as the price of posses- 
 sion to make a transference into the funds of the 
 industrious of that instrument, which was admitted 
 to have a commensurate command over every oth- 
 er possession, yet this did not regularly stimulate 
 industry, for this price went not into the liands of 
 the laborious, but into the hands of the rich, 
 whose views it subserved, and where most generally 
 it remained, till as the price of a similar possession 
 it passed into those of another. The sinews of the 
 domestic, and of the slave, were stretched for tiie 
 advantage of his master, and the unbending arm of 
 capricious power, twisted those according to the 
 reigning passion of the moment, very generally 
 without any direct view to pecuniary consequences. 
 These, therefore, seldom received any support, 
 and never any advantage from those circulations. 
 Their fate was fixed, their enjoyments were circuin-
 
 scribed, and their possessions all cut off by the 
 hand of their master ; to them, industry was hfeless 
 and uninteresting ; its labors, and its sorrows, ex- 
 hausted hopelessly, their whole faculties ; for the 
 measure of their griefs and sorrows, of their posses- 
 sions and advantages, was not adjusted by the 
 claims of their industry, but by the caprice of their 
 master. That instrument of independence, that 
 power to which all can with effect appeal, the me- 
 dium of exchange, was reserved for the use of oth- 
 ers, in whose hands it served only to seal the ab- 
 solute debasement of the laborious. 
 
 From the foregoing statements regarding ancient 
 industry, it must have become manifest, that the 
 value of its productions and not its accumulative 
 powers was the ultimate object then in view, and 
 that this value depended not so much upon the 
 quantity of the medium employed in its operations, 
 as upon the quantity and quality of the substances 
 operated upon, and of the industry, that was therein 
 exercised. The primary movements of every pro- 
 cess, no doubt, originated in the expenditure of the 
 medium, as well as in the use of other subjects ; 
 but in all its subsequent movements, the progres- 
 sion of industry, went forward on the grounds that 
 were previously provided ; the intervention of the 
 medium, in this progression, being only necessary, 
 when the operations of the establishment, came in 
 contact with extrinsic objects, and when evils, and 
 defects, inherent in its constitution required the 
 intervention of exterior aid. Thus far a closs an-
 
 75 
 
 alogy and resemblance subsisted betwixt these es- 
 tablishments, and those which existed in the pastor- 
 al era. It must be noticed, however, that unlike 
 the flocks and herds of the ancient fathers, which 
 without any further resolution, represented their 
 own value to the individual possessor, the proprie- 
 tor of these establishments, could only realize this 
 value by means of the accredited medium. To him 
 the productions of his establishment, were the in- 
 struments of procuring the medium, and it was in 
 the power, which it possessed for this procurement 
 of it, that the value of his establishment consisted. 
 Its fruits, like those formerly derived from the posses- 
 sion of flocks and herds, might be passed away, 
 "without injuring the accumulating process that was 
 going forward ; but it was neither in these fruits, 
 nor in his establishment, that the substantial power 
 the fabricator over general wealth resided. 
 
 But besides this, the flocks and herds of ancient 
 times, were of themselves this general wealth, and 
 they conveyed along with their possession, all that 
 power and influence, which are inseparable from 
 general wealth ; neither these lal)ricating establish- 
 ments, however, nor the medium that could be de- 
 rived from their operations, could effectually either 
 constitute, or represent general wealth, without a 
 still farther resolution into other objects of an extrin- 
 sic nature. Individual wealth presupposed a mul- 
 titude of acquisitions and provisions, that were pe- 
 culiar to that state of society, of which every indi- 
 vidual, who aspired to dignity and power, belioov- 
 
 2 K
 
 76 
 
 ed necessarily to possess himself; such as houses,- 
 furniture, apparel, and other procurements of a 
 nature, which gave forth no other value but that 
 which a sense of possession constituted ; landed pro- 
 perty, personal endowments, political and person- 
 al influence, and those other acquirements, which 
 constituted substantial wciilth, such as was not 
 only enjoyed, but such as of itself formed, the 
 basis of subsequent acquirements of the most in- 
 valuable kind. The means of acquiring the medi- 
 um., naturally led to the possession of these advan- 
 tages ; the regard which these means challenged, 
 and the power which the medium, into which those 
 means were resoluble commanded, insured not only 
 this possession, but those subsequent advantages, 
 which flowed from possession. Hereditary distinc- 
 tion, personal and family prowess, were no doubt 
 then, as at present, for the most part indispensible 
 perquisites to the attainment of those advantages ; 
 but it was in the energy, subtilty, and strenuousness 
 of long continued exercises and efforts alone, that 
 these attainments, reached their full value ; and in 
 the state of society, which then existed, incitements 
 of the most cogent nature, were never awanting 
 to urge forward those advantages. 
 
 Thus it appears, that personal exertions, the me- 
 dium of exchange, and the means of commanding 
 it, were alike invaluable, and that it was in their 
 combined operation, that this power was most 
 conspicuous. The medium drew means into the 
 service pf individuals, but if his cstabhshment, if
 
 77 
 
 iiis personal prowess, was not kept at work, these 
 means, and this medium, w^ould be of little avail to 
 him. By the possession of the medium, he was as 
 it were, placed like the pastoral flocks near a fertile 
 meadow, beside stil! waters; but without the full 
 appropriation of these advantages to himself in the 
 use of his natural and acquired powers, these could 
 be of no service to him ; by using these as he might, 
 his establishment, with all its powers displayed their 
 value in a way at once stable and powerful. The 
 great use and object of the medium at that time, 
 was to excite and support extrinsic operations, that 
 species of intercourse which was not included v. ithin 
 the verge of establishments, or mere personal ex- 
 ertions. It marked the independence of these on 
 each other, and gave a range for choice and exer- 
 tions, which favoured competition. Thus far the 
 operations of the medium resembled those that are 
 in use amongst us, but in place of serving to di- 
 vide and subdivide industry, according to its va- 
 rious functions, as is done by it with us, it mere- 
 ly served to pass finished commodities; and in place 
 of animating all the inferior departments of in- 
 dustry, it was itself expedited and supported in all 
 its operations, by the very means which it repre- 
 sented. Like gold at present with us, those means 
 served to substantiate the value of the medium, 
 even in ordinary transactions, and to establish the 
 security, which every one seeks in the enjoyment 
 of his property. Thus the tantamount value of 
 objects of consumption, with the coin, into which
 
 78 
 
 they were resoluble was displayed, ""and both ren- 
 dered alike the proper objects of solicitude. 
 
 The truth and certainty of these views, has been 
 already fully illustrated. That the progress of 
 industry was in no respects impeded by any de- 
 ficiency in the medium appeared from the purposes 
 to which the precious metals were profusely appli- 
 ed ; not only by states, but by opulent individuals, 
 of different ranks and characters, investing most in- 
 discriminately, that precious substance on which 
 general industry with us, is so dependent alike in 
 their household furniture, &c. and in the circulat- 
 ing medium. On the whole, therefore, it must be 
 evident, that the quantity of medium in circulation^ 
 the current course of industry, and the circumstan- 
 ces of mankind in general, harmonized and corres- 
 ponded to each other, and advanced in one simul- 
 taneous progression. The probability is, that for 
 the most part, the great deficiency was in commo- 
 dities, and the great redundancy in the medium. 
 
 It does not seem to be necessary to go far in or- 
 der to discover the reason of this state of things. 
 Industry was not in those days clothed with honor, 
 as with us. The dispositions and propensities of 
 mankind, were then steadily in favor of that tumul- 
 tuous indeterminate kind of living, which we still 
 perceive in barbarous nations ; military exploits, 
 intellectual exercitations, and other ambitious pur- 
 suits, generally occupying the vacant faculties of
 
 79 
 
 those high characters, who took the lead in public 
 affairs. 
 
 The prcceeding statements and observations, ap- 
 ply generally to the present circumstances of ma- 
 ny countries in the world, but it is unnecessary to il- 
 lustrate the subject, by any farther reference to 
 these. The facts and matters, however, that have 
 been narrated, I think, warrant me to draw the two 
 following general deductions, which shall here be 
 just briefly stated, because it will be necessary, af- 
 terwards, to take them up more fully. 
 
 First, wc perceive, that it is by no means so dif- 
 ficult, nor so dangerous to saturate a community 
 with the instrument of exchange, as most people 
 imagine. Here we have seen this very effect pro- 
 duced, that is — the process of intercourse, so fully 
 subserved by the medium of circulation, that it was 
 unnecessary for general purposes to introduce any 
 farther supplies of it. We sec gold stored in pri- 
 vate, as well as in public recesses in such profusion, 
 that we now a-days, are even sceptical, as to the 
 accuracy of the accounts respecting that facts hand- ^ 
 ed down to us. In the mean time, all the business 
 of society was fully executed and adjusted ; all the 
 industry that was competent to its character, was 
 fully exercised upon all the means, that could be 
 prepared for its exercise ; and the whole of its pro- 
 ductions, distributed and consumed in. that way, 
 which corresponded to its general circumstances. 
 No embarrassment from default of the medium, no
 
 80 
 
 confusion from its perversion took place ; on the 
 contrary, here, as in other circumstances of the 
 like kind, a mass of public procurements, invest- 
 ments, and establishments, were derived out of the 
 redundant means thereby brought into circulation ; 
 whicli permanently advanced the circumstances 
 of society, and gave to all its other improvements, 
 a fixed and stable foundation of the last moment, 
 to its general progression in this high course, and 
 to the farther developement of its natural powers. 
 
 These provisions were so great and so important, 
 that when we recollect the unseemly organization 
 of industry, that then prevailed, and its almost to- 
 tal want of those chemical and mechanical powers, 
 in which our strength resides, we cannot but regard 
 its results with astonishment. Cities with many, 
 concatenated acquisitions and decorations ; agri- 
 cultural and fabricating processes, with various 
 concomitant improvements ; institutions for the 
 service of the state, of religious worship, of civil 
 education, of general and particular solemnities and 
 festivities, appear in superabundance on one side ; 
 and all those ample provisions and accommodations 
 that enter into the detail of human life, and render 
 civilized existence so respectable, were not only 
 generally acquired and secured, but distributed and 
 appropriated through the instrumentality of this 
 medium, and of the industry which it diffused, the 
 supersaturated powers of which, left a residuum un- 
 absorbcd and unemployed.
 
 81 
 
 It must be noticed, that the form and circum- 
 stances of society were such, that a great part of 
 its business proceeded in an evenly train, without 
 any intervention of the medium. The relation be- 
 twixt master and servant, like that betwixt a father 
 and his family, dispensed with the intervention of 
 the medium ; that of the state, and its subjects for 
 the most part, existed on a similar basis. Stated 
 customs and ordinations, consuetudinary indulgen- 
 cies, and benevolent and public displays, frequently 
 also dispensed in like manner with its services. On 
 the whole, however, as there was no defecit in the 
 mode or circumstances of distribution, nor any in- 
 adequacy in these to the state of society, it is obvi- 
 ous, that we may safely infer the independence of 
 its financial operations. 
 
 Secondly, we perceive, that those advantages 
 originated not in any excessive power, in the mo- 
 mentum, by which the process of industry was ex- 
 pedited, for as already noticed, the power of che- 
 mical and mechanicahmprovements, and of regular 
 organic co-exertion was little understood. Far less 
 did it originate in any peculiar economy or policy 
 in the conduct of states or of individuals; for the 
 views and objects of these were directed not to the 
 advancement of industry, but to the maintainence 
 of those high and independent principles, which co- 
 incided with ambitious and warlike propensities. 
 Those advantages, originated solely, or chiefly in 
 this circumstance — in the uninterrupted, regularly 
 progressive state of things, whereby the fate of in-
 
 82 
 
 dividuals and of communities was at once secured 
 and advanced. Those tremendous desolations that 
 are produced by the disproportion that subsists 
 betwixt our means and our capacities for consum- 
 ing those means, and reproducing their value ; be- 
 twixt the price which we annex to these means, and 
 our powers for realizing this price in the general 
 accredited standard, were then unknown : society 
 had no inducement to protrude its industry into 
 unknown or forbidden paths ; its fruits were there- 
 fore at all times prized according to their real esti- 
 mation. That trepidation, which originates in an 
 imperfection in the capacity of distributing these 
 fruits, took place so seldom, and when it took place, 
 was so very innocuous in its general effects, as 
 scarcely to attract the public regard. 
 
 It must be noticed, however, that in those days, 
 the spirit and temper of society raised it, in general, 
 above mere personal feelings, and thus gave to the 
 operation of tlie advantages above-mentioned, a 
 peculiar prominence of display, as well as a free 
 range for their developement. When men were 
 accustomed to hardships and privations, or rather, 
 were unacquainted with the fascinating influence 
 of sedulous indulgence, their minds, along with 
 their bodies, were prepared for vast undertakings, 
 and for strenuous exertions. Besides this, they 
 had few objects of a private nature to enfeeble or 
 absorb their active powers, and fewer still that 
 could impede that paramount necessity, by which, 
 their faculties and acquirements were, on such high
 
 83 
 
 occasions, propelled into action. The publicity 
 and deep interest which attended certain displays 
 of social advancement and civil acquirement, ren- 
 dered a kind of supernal animation in some re- 
 spects constitutional to individuals, and insured 
 that ardor and perseverance which bore them a- 
 bove the imperfections and difficulties with which 
 their system was replete. The paucity of means, 
 therefore, was overshadowed by the dexterity and 
 potency of the application of these means ; and the 
 imbecility of the general momentum, by which 
 their industry was propelled, was superceded by 
 the art, vigor, and force, with which it was exercis- 
 ed. 
 
 Although, however, it must be admitted, that 
 the spirit and temper of the times most assuredly 
 gave an efficacy to the train of industry, then go- 
 ing forward, which enabled it occasionally to trans- 
 cend its natural strength, it is perfectly evident, 
 that this spirit, and all the advantages connected 
 with it, arose out of the simj)licity and due propor- 
 tionment of the active powers of the general system 
 under which these were arranged ; for. even then, in 
 numberless instances, it appeared, that no ardor of 
 spirit, no vigor of exertion, no earnestness of per- 
 severance, could remedy those multifarious imper- 
 fections, which arose out of a deficiency of means. 
 The hardy Gauls, and the undaunted Britons, 
 though most familiarly acquainted with, and most 
 incessantly exercised in, the art of war, from the 
 mere want of certain means of attack and defence, 
 
 I 9.
 
 84 
 
 were unable to cope with the legions of Caesar. 
 These monuments of genius preserved, in ancient 
 Greece, the field whereon genius and talent were 
 most strenuously exercised, come far short in point 
 of majesty and effect, of those more exalted dis- 
 plays, which the superior means of Rome, and Ba- 
 bylon, and Persepolis, enabled them to procure. 
 That there existed, in those ages, an exuberance 
 of means, above direct consumption, which easily 
 resolved itself into public and private provisions 
 and acquirements, that those were procured with- 
 out disturbing the high order of things which then 
 prevailed, and that those procurements were dis- 
 tributed and possessed by means of established 
 rules, supported by a medium of exchange, which 
 completely subserved the general system of pro- 
 duction and consumption then going forward, we 
 cannot but infer. That the mode of acquiring and 
 possessing such productions, accorded with that 
 apportionment of labor and enjoyment, which are 
 known to have been received in those days, is suf- 
 ficiently established. That those productions them- 
 selves, and the power and influence of the state, 
 and of individuals, together with a variety of unde- 
 fined riglits and usages, severally abbreviated the 
 process of intercourse, and superceded the appHca- 
 tion of the medium, admits of no doubt whatever. 
 But it is no less certain, that no regorgement of 
 the faculties of industry, no general paralyzation 
 nor destruction of establishments took place, in 
 consequence of a superabundance of the produc- 
 tions thence obtained ; none of these operations
 
 8^ 
 
 wliich originate in a deficiency of the medium, 
 none of those movements of wealth by which indi- 
 viduals were placed in direct opposition to each 
 other, from the mere default of the instrument of 
 exchange, took place. Every production that arose 
 out of the earth, or out of the powers of the inge- 
 nious, maintained its value until something greater 
 and nobler appeared to overshadow its utility. Su- 
 perabundance of power, of skill, of production, 
 never plunged those individuals, Avho exercised 
 them into ruin, nor sapped the foundations of th^t 
 society in which their roots were fixed ; nor did 
 the scarcity of these, waft the wealth which repre- 
 sented them amongst the children of adventure, 
 like chaff in the face of the wind. Whatever was 
 produced became valuable, in virtue of its own in- 
 trinsic qualities, and was supported in this value so 
 long as these qualities could be maintained. The 
 spirit and temper of the times rose far above all 
 these shadowing peculiarities, which, with us, con- 
 stitute the essence of property, but these M'ere re- 
 strained in their movements by the fixed circum- 
 stances of each community ; these being never- 
 theless supported and advanced by that course of 
 improvement, which characterized the times. 
 
 It is impossible to dismiss this subject withoi t 
 noticing fiirther, that what we understand by per- 
 sonal possession was then, and is still, with many 
 nations, an idea, which though it comprises what 
 we call the state and pomp connected with th.c 
 object possessed, and also th.c most exclusive i.p-
 
 86 
 
 propriation of its use to those personal purposes, to 
 which it was adapted, yet that this possession, 
 though in general much more completely secured 
 than is commonly done with us ; and containing, 
 under this idea, a multitude of the qualities which, 
 with us, are most invaluable characteristics of pos- 
 session, nevertheless excluded others, which we hold 
 to be its most essential qualities. Largesses were 
 sometimes profusely thrown away, by the public, 
 upon its members. Exhibitions were frequently, 
 in like manner, bestowed by individuals. Such 
 matters indicate the channel in which profusion dis- 
 played itself. Farther, we know, that it was not 
 only held to be illiberal, but unlawful, for individu- 
 als to monopolize, for their own use, acquirements 
 that were ultimately resoluble in the public service, 
 excepting under the intervention of the general 
 authority. These things, accompanied with the 
 mildness of the climate, the fertility of the soil, 
 and the spirit of their times, no doubt, rendered 
 both the demands for the medium, and the claims 
 of industry, both essentially and universally alike 
 lax and feeble, so as even to render it necessary to 
 annex the idea of punishment, as well as of priva- 
 tion, to the chastisement of the indolent and un- 
 profitable members of society. All these things 
 discover to us, distinctly, the vast difference that 
 necessarily takes place betwixt the circumstances 
 of a society of industrious, independent individuals, 
 duly organized and supported by estabhshments, 
 all alike powerful, and replete with means ; and 
 those of one, which is composed of half-formed.
 
 87 
 
 half-educated exercitators in the arts, whose efforts 
 are alike disjointed and embecil. They discover 
 to us, likewise, that the industry which was requi- 
 site to obtain these possessions, the means there- 
 from arising, and the medium to which they were 
 calculated, were not only duly proportioned, and 
 correspondent to each other, but that they con- 
 tributed means beyond those needful, to advance 
 tliat course of improvement, which is the ultimate 
 object of every civilized community. Interruptions 
 and imperfections in this system, no doubt, occa- 
 sionally impeded, and even destroyed this amelio- 
 rating tendency ; but these never originated in, 
 nor were connected with, a deficiency of the me- 
 dium of exchange, a redundancy in the fruits of 
 industry, or any consequent regorgement of these 
 upon the reproductive powers of the system. 
 
 The two inductions above-stated, might be illus- 
 trated by a reference to the actual situation of ma- 
 ny countries in the world, at this moment, and 
 indeed to our own country, prior to the American 
 revolution. Tn these, the proportionments exist- 
 ing betwixt the processes of industry, the medium 
 which upheld these processes, and served to dis- 
 tribute their productions, and the consumption and 
 repetition of the value therein created,were so near- 
 ly at par, that nothing like general stagnation in 
 trade, or universal financial embarrassment, was 
 known or apprehended. It concerns us, moreover, 
 to attend deeply to these most important deduc- 
 tions, for it is in these very points that our present
 
 88 
 
 financial embarrassments orlg-inate. Ifit is an in- 
 disputable fact that a high degree of civilization 
 and enjoyment, equal, (at least in those respects in 
 which our advantages are by many held to be most 
 estimable,) or nearly equal, to what we now pos- 
 sess, can not only be acquired and maintained un- 
 der a system, wherein the momentum of industry, 
 and the distribution of the medium, are incompara- 
 bly less than with us ; but can be supported and 
 secured in a regular and irrefragable manner ; it ap- 
 pears, at the outset, to be a most wise and salutary 
 measure to conform ourselves, as nearly as possible, 
 to the same plan ; and as far less labor and solici- 
 tude, incomparably less genius, talent, and power, 
 will suffice for our purpose, to curtail our projects, 
 :and dismantle our overwhelming establishments, in 
 order to avoid that redundancy with which we are 
 afflicted. It is certain, that we must thereby accom- 
 plish one great object — the enjoyment of our pos- 
 sessions in peace and security ; and that many others 
 the most desirable, may be expected to follow ; 
 and being at the same time certiorated, that our 
 general attainments and indulgencies, will neither 
 be abbreviated nor diminished — it may also be ap- 
 prehended, that we need be under little alarm a- 
 bout the continuation of our civil enjoyments. 
 
 This is too generally the language of party with 
 us, and amidst our various turmoils, vexations, and 
 calamities, we are all extremely apt to betake our- 
 selves to the same sentiments, as a kind of relief 
 from the evils with which we are impressed. We
 
 89 
 
 ibrget our situation, and we overlook the necessa- 
 ry consequences of every tendency to declination. 
 Progression in human affairs, favors the develope- 
 ment of our powers ; retrocession infallibly cuts 
 short and delapidates their expansion ; it protrudes 
 our faculties, while it blights their luxuriance, and 
 withers up their energies. Our system admits not 
 of tins retrocession without a surrender of all its 
 advantages. Our ruin is sealed the moment we 
 lower our greatness. Our enemies are powerful ; 
 our friends are weak and timid. It is in the high 
 exercise of our means, and in the full expansion 
 and re-inforcement of our powers, that our safety 
 consists ; and, until these principles that are con- 
 genial to our system, shall have attained a general 
 ascendancy in the world, we have no choice, but 
 either to maintain our present system, or abandon 
 ourselves to the same fate in which we see every 
 other civilized nation overwhelmed. 
 
 Ix place, therefore, of indulging such humiliating 
 conceptions of the object and tendency of our ge- 
 neral industry, let us look calmly and carefully at 
 our situation. There can be no doubt whatever, 
 but that by this prostration and destruction of our 
 system, gloomy and debasing as it unquestionably 
 is, a state of things, inconceivably preferable to 
 that, existing amongst us, wherein turmoils and 
 dissentions every other year attain the ascenden- 
 cy, would be obtained ; and that it would be in- 
 comparably more just aiid wise, at once to fetter 
 down our productive powers to their proper place, 
 
 M
 
 90 
 
 or rather to cxliaiist tlicir energy upon less profit- 
 able subjects, than to erect establishments, and 
 rear up whole generations of men in the service of 
 these establishments ; all of which, in the natural 
 course of things, are destined to work out each o- 
 ther's destruction, with the most inconsiderate ra- 
 pidity. It may be thence supposed that we would 
 thereby save our whole population from these tre- 
 pidations and extremities to which they are almost 
 incessantly exposed, that we would thereby, also, 
 submit our political existence, and our social hap- 
 piness, to much less hazard and calamity, tlian 
 that to which they are now incessantly submitted ; 
 and that we would secure to all classes of men, a 
 fair and suitable remuneration for their labor and en- 
 terprise ; and save much of that overstraining and 
 overloading of the natural powers of man, which 
 at present takes place in our system, and thus grad- 
 ually introduce habits and desires, congenial to our 
 circumstances, to our constitutions, and to our 
 highest prospects. 
 
 We must attend to this fact, however, that our 
 system admits of no such easy, gentle declination. 
 Sooner may an overgrown unwieldy citizen, attain 
 to that slender make, which he enjoyed in the days 
 of puberty ; sooner may a stately oak shelter itself 
 from the storm, under the shelter of the ivy by 
 which it is enveloped, than our magnificent system 
 can be bent to this lowly state of self-abasement. 
 It may be overturned, blighted, cut down, or other- 
 wise destroyed, and with it all our hopes and en-
 
 91 
 
 joymcnts, may perish, without leaving one vestige 
 of their prior-existence. But since our whole active 
 powers, our whole national means, our whole pro- 
 ductive energies, have sprung forth into existence, 
 and into high exercise, we will in vain attempt to 
 limit their growth, or restrain their progressive an- 
 imation ; they may be perverted, obstructed, and 
 lacerated, and they may become mere gangrene 
 in our body-politic, but their force will continue to 
 develope itself, either in our exaltation, or in our 
 destruction ; constantly going forward, until some 
 stronger power, than any that can be made to bear 
 on them by our strength, begin to affect their con- 
 stitution. The industry of the ancients, and that 
 of later periods, affected merely, the objects within 
 their own system, and in this they were assisted 
 by the provisions and institutions, which were add- 
 ed, age after age, to their system. In this, too, 
 they derived much advantage from the concatenat- 
 ed industry of circumambient nations, betwixt 
 whom and them a steady eftiux and influx of com- 
 modities, correspondent to the circumstances of 
 each, took place ; and as the object tlien chiefly in 
 view, was to provide for personal wants, and to ad- 
 duce supplies under the facilities, derivable from a 
 system of fixed procurements, provided for that 
 purpose, the value and amount of their productions 
 might vibrate with impunity in every direction. 
 But our system is, in all respects, widely dill'ercnt. 
 Our establishments embrace the circumstances of 
 the whole world, and by the general circumstances 
 of most of the nations in the world, these estab-
 
 92 
 
 lishments are always liable to be aftected. Oiii' 
 own personal concerns are comparatively of no 
 importance to any oi' us. These are all sunk in 
 those of the establishments with which we are con- 
 nected; and to these, therefore, we at all times, 
 unconsciously, sacrifice them. Burdens the most 
 stiipendous, and duties the most momentous, are 
 laid upon our system. These affect the pursuits 
 and possessions of all and of each of us ; and they 
 do this in a much more direct and palpable man- 
 ner, than any of our most interesting private con- 
 cernments ; and inducing us to bear up our part 
 of the system, cause us severally to affect it in a man- 
 ner both palpable and direct. Our personal, our 
 family, our social wants and cravings, when view- 
 ed with those of these establishments, by w^hich 
 such wants and cravings are usually supplied, seem 
 scarcely to attract our serious regard. Our w'ants 
 are known to be enwrapped in those of our peculiar 
 establishment — with the rise or fall of which, our 
 power to command their gratification is seen to in- 
 crease or diminish. To these establishments, there- 
 fore, our whole feelings and attachments instinc- 
 tively bind us ; — to their interests our time, our 
 powers, our whole means and resources, are unhesi- 
 tatingly sacrificed. The luxury of the times, the 
 pressure of taxes, the force of our own habits and 
 propensities, and every thing that serves to aug- 
 ment the number and urgency of these personal 
 cravings, contribute in linking us more and more 
 elossly to our establishments. Not merely the me- 
 chanic, the fabricator, and the merchant, arc thuf:
 
 93 
 
 affected ; but the proprietor of the soil, and every 
 rank and class of the community, including the 
 state and all its officers, find their whole circum- 
 stances and interests inseparably bound up with 
 the fate of the system in which they are involved, 
 and of all those establishments in which their owji 
 peculiar concernments are more particularly impjt- 
 cated. However arduous the undertaking there- 
 fore, however difficult the execution, we have no 
 choice but to adhere to our system, to facilitate its 
 developements, to foster its increase, and to invi- 
 gorate its powers, retrenching, no doubt, whatever 
 is superfluous, and eradicating w-hatever is injuri- 
 ous, but always taking care, neither to extirpate 
 nor renovate, without a due attention to the mul- 
 tifarious consequences attendant on such opera- 
 tions, in a system so vast, and so thoroughly ma- 
 tured, as our system unquestionably is. 
 
 For our comfort and relief under these burdens, 
 we know, that we set to work provisioned, not 
 merely with those advantages which flow directl}' 
 from our stupendous establishments, and all their 
 concomitant acquirements, that we enjoy not mere- 
 ly security at home, and ample power in every 
 quarter of the world, but that we possess a spirit, 
 that is equal to the highest enterprizes ; and that 
 it is a peculiar characteristic of our establishmentSj 
 and of our civil and social organization, that our 
 whole powers and strength, our whole energies and 
 resources can be bent with full force in that direc- 
 tion, and in every several direction that best befits
 
 94 
 
 our views and projects. Our innate vigor is abun- 
 dant, our circumstances are complete ; it is only 
 necessary to select and to follow out that course, 
 and those objects, on which these ought to be exer- 
 cised, in order to give to that momentum which is 
 requisite, free and ample scope in all its movements. 
 
 The preceding statements have served to bring 
 clearly under our eye several circumstances, that 
 have a relation to this subject ; and we now per- 
 ceive, that although we enjoy a redundancy of 
 commodities and productions, and a power of in- 
 creasing these almost unlimited, advantages un- 
 known to the ancient world, yet that we are liable 
 to become, and have, in fact, become, destitute of 
 certain facilities and advantages, of which these 
 last were fully possessed. Under the pastoral era 
 we perceive, that the productive processes, those 
 establishments of flocks and herds, which then con- 
 stituted wealth, performed their increasing opera- 
 tions, not only without the intervention of the me- 
 dium, but almost without human interference. 
 Farther, these establishments being themselves the 
 medium of circulation, they had also the faculty 
 of being able to bring into the hands of their own- 
 ers, without any resolution whatever, their full 
 value of every marketable commodity which at 
 that time could be required ; and besides this, be- 
 ing themselves absolute wealth, carrying along with 
 them the emblems of dignity and power, these es- 
 tablishments, at the very instant that their repro- 
 ducing powers were in full exercise, and while they
 
 95 
 
 could command their full value of every accessible 
 object, maintained that respect, which constitute 
 without any farther resolution, that great end of all 
 our operations; and that authority, which is insepa- 
 rable from fixed wealth, towards the acquisition of 
 which, our productive establishments, and all their 
 concomitant advantages, and even the medium of ex- 
 change itself, which commands directly every other 
 object, are all of themselves incompetent. Hence 
 the resolutions that take place in our system. That 
 it is in the various struggles made in attempting to 
 effect these resolutions, that most of our calamities 
 take their rise, is evident to the most superficial ob- 
 server. That in that state of things wherein these 
 resolutions could be avoided, no such calamity 
 could possibly take place, has been fully exhibited. 
 
 In the subsequent era, when commodities and 
 productions, and those establishments in which 
 these could be severally produced, with every ac- 
 cessible facility had been procured ; and when such 
 objects had, in consequence, acquired a correspon- 
 ding importance in the public estimation, a process 
 of interchange and compulsion became the instru- 
 ment for distributing articles of value. This pro- 
 cess, the metallic medium expedited — the subordin- 
 ate part of the reproductive processes, and indeed 
 most of the offices of social and civil life, being 
 nevertheless performed without its intervention. 
 In these circumstances, this instrument was useful ; 
 on the one part, for the purpose of expediting in-
 
 96 
 
 dustry, and on the other, for that of obtaining pos- 
 session of its productions. 
 
 The medium of exchange thus became the re- 
 quisite and indispensible instrument of much com- 
 mercial intercourse. Into this medium, not merely 
 all commodities and productions, but every estab- 
 lishment, possession, and advantage, it was ultim- 
 ately seen, might, by gradual accession, be rendered 
 more or less resoluble. As these several properties 
 and objects of the mxdium, however, were gene- 
 rally accompanied in their movements by the ab- 
 solute possession of means ; as its movements were, 
 in fact, at every turn, substantiated, as well as repre- 
 sented, by these means themselves, so as even to 
 supercede the application of the medium of ex- 
 change, to a multitude of transactions ; and as the 
 medium was for the most part superabundant — the 
 paucity of transactions, and the real estimation in 
 which substances and possessions then stood, con- 
 ferred a stability and security to the process of 
 intercourse, to which we in this country, at present, 
 have no parallel. On the whole, we perceive, that 
 commodities, and the industry which produced 
 these, possessions, and the mediunti by which these 
 were distributed, were necessarily so balanced, 
 that whatever disorders took place in a country, 
 this compartment of the body-politic remained al- 
 ways in imison with the circumstances of society. 
 These things form a contrast to our situation iu 
 these particulars, so very striking, that we would 
 be tempted to give to the state of things then ex-
 
 97 
 
 isting, a decided preference to that under which 
 we live, did we not know, that there, as in all in- 
 cipient and immature advances towards systcmatiz- 
 ation, these advantages were eclipsed by the many 
 radical imperfections and perversities which were 
 inseparable from its operation. 
 
 The sum of the preceding illustrations, therefore, 
 seems to be this. In the early stages of society, 
 when general industry and commercial intercourse 
 were feeble and lax in their operations, that me- 
 dium of exchange which arose easily out of their 
 movements, served to expedite and support the 
 business of life, without the intervention of any 
 very determinate standard of value. Their indus- 
 try, and their intercourse, were kept in motion by 
 the circumstances of a society, wherein power and 
 wealth conjoined, stimulated, and substantiated all 
 their movements. Moreover, these various move- 
 ments and operations, were not only thus support- 
 ed, but their limits were fixed down, and circum- 
 scribed, within those precise boundaries, which 
 existing circumstances plainly pointed out. By 
 these circumstances they were affected, and into 
 these they never failed absolutely to resolve them- 
 selves, advanchig the condition of individuals and 
 of societies, in that way, which corresponded to 
 tlic ordinary course of affairs. 
 
 In such a state of things, it is plain, that what 
 we call funds, or accumulations of absolute wealth, 
 either public or private, would be very seldom crcat- 
 
 N
 
 ed. Property, in the shape of mere ch'culable ca- 
 pital, could scarcely at all exist ; it existed in the 
 hands of the possessor of the medium, while the 
 medium remained with him ; but whenever he chose 
 to part with it, the capital which it represented, 
 and every power and faculty therewith connected, 
 were at the same time forfeited. The wealth that 
 then existed, was, therefore, for the most part, tan- 
 gible and real, and that influence which we perceive 
 daily exercised by capital and commercial credit, 
 lay, in general, with those, whose power, and 
 means were fully commensurate with such influence. 
 What v/e understand by funds, was then nearly 
 of the same import with means j and what we un- 
 flerstand by capital, was, for the most part, synon- 
 imous with property and possession. Hence, that 
 overweaning influence of funded property, which 
 in the hands of states, and of individuals, exercises 
 such a paramount authority over useful industry 
 and commercial intercourse, was altogether un- 
 known. Commerce and industry, like the ebbing 
 and flowing of the sea, were affected only by those 
 regular principles of movement, which were inher- 
 ent in the general circumstances of the social body. 
 
 Let it be remarked, however, that the grand 
 moving principles of this machine, were of a descrip- 
 tion directly repugnant to all ideas of social order 
 and happiness. In the ruling party, jealousy, at 
 once mean and vindictive, was predominant; in 
 all the rest, abject bondage was sealed by slavish 
 timidity. The general business of society moved
 
 99 
 
 upon these, as its proper centre. Mankind did 
 not devote tlicir faculties to tlie service of others, in 
 order that they, in their turn, might demand a fair 
 equivalent from the aggregate mass of tlie fruits 
 of industry; unreserved submission on one part, 
 moved merely in obedience to stern authority on 
 the other, without end and without object; while the 
 ultimate design of this inflexible power was, not so 
 much the production of those articles of value, whicli 
 were of real use to all, as the preservation in secur- 
 ity of certain personal prerogatives. The arbitra- 
 ry dictates of a task-master, pervaded those depart- 
 ments of life, which, with us, are animated by genial 
 emulation ; and in many instances, this course was 
 followed out to an extreme length, though the imbe- 
 cility of the movements to which this capricious 
 principle gave birth, was detrimental in all respects, 
 both to the employer and to his servant. jMankind 
 exercised over dependents, a power which could dis- 
 train the last dregs of their personal labor ; and 
 this labor, supported by acquirements, and insti- 
 tutions, peculiarly favoiu^ablc to its dcvelopement.. 
 sent forth fruits which were not only equal to all 
 the demands that could be made upon them, but 
 which could give to these institutions and acquire- 
 ments, a general lustre and effect, that still ap- 
 pears refulgent ; yet it is certain, that this labor was 
 deficient in its results, it left out of its object, the oc- 
 casions of the mere dependent. Here, indeed, the 
 heavy arm of power, overshaded the deficiency, but 
 although the effulgence sent forth from the higher 
 departments of lite, by tlieir convergence, still ip- 
 
 N 2
 
 100 
 
 pear glorious, and although the opacity of those 
 circumstances, out of which this effulgence proceed- 
 ed, is lost in the shades of time, and in their bor- 
 rowed radiance; yet we can distinctly discern that, 
 neither the condition nor the circumstances of 
 mankind at large, nor even those of these highest 
 characters, in whose persons the power and honors 
 of whole generations of men, were concentrated, 
 could command these noble and rational enjoy- 
 ments, which are now^-a-days familiar to all of us. 
 
 These considerations lead me now to observe, that 
 lieretofore we have only regarded industry and com- 
 mercial intercourse, as these are instruments for 
 procuring articles of utility and estimation, for dis- 
 tributing these articles, and forgiving to them their 
 full value in the hands of their lawful owners. It 
 remains however to be noticed, that industry and 
 commercial mtercourse, besides these qualities, pos- 
 sess a vast influence in forming the characters and 
 circumstances of mankind. From the statements 
 already given, it appeared evident, that the circum- 
 stances of society, and the industrious and com- 
 mercial operations which upheld these circumstan- 
 ces, together with tlie medium of exchange, by 
 which the fruits of this industry and commerce, 
 were distributed, their operations maintained and 
 their powers harmonised, all served severally in 
 their proper place to advance the condition, and 
 to expedite the business of social life. But it must 
 now be noticed, that 'the circiimsiaiices of society 
 themselves, that point whereon industry, and all its
 
 101 
 
 accessories, severally turned antl rested, in u great 
 measure, derived their form and qualities from the 
 employments and attainments of its individual mem- 
 bers. This observation lays open a large field of 
 research to us, but it is unnecessary to burden our- 
 selves with more than a general survey of certain 
 portions of this highly interesting subject. 
 
 From what has been already stated, it is very 
 plain, that the current course of industry, and the 
 mode by which its movements were directed, con- 
 tributed to press dowm, and bind up together the 
 existing state of human affairs. Wars and internal 
 commotions, which occasionally disturbed this or- 
 der of things, never radically subverted the system ; 
 for the master and his slaves, the proprietor of an 
 establishment and all its appendages, and accesso- 
 ries, were alike upheld by that circulation of means, 
 which had force and terror, more than influence 
 and persuasion for its principle. In their circumstan- 
 ces, therefore, this equal proportionment of wealth, 
 and of the medium for distributing it, of industry, and 
 of the instruments which upheld its operations, and 
 rendered these commensurate with the circumstan- 
 ces of the community, which w^as so serviceable in 
 securing the regular, irrefragable movements of 
 commerce and of industry, turned out to be the very 
 means for fixing down, and perpetuating, the 
 general circumstances of the community. If these 
 circumstances had been, in all respects, good and 
 desirable, and steadily advancing towards high im- 
 provements, no acquisition could have been more
 
 102 
 
 desirable than such an equalization and propor- 
 tionment of the powers of the community, as that 
 to which we have referred. But that the case was 
 quite the reverse of this must have now become suffi- 
 ciently apparent, and it therefore follows, tJiat these 
 advantages merely served to seal and fix down astate 
 of degraded though splendid existence, which it 
 was the interest of all to have renovated. This is 
 a part of our subject of which it imports us much to 
 have a due apprehension ; for which reason, I shall 
 take up two or three of these particulars wherein 
 the deficiency and perversity of the current course 
 of things is most palpable. This review it is hopedj 
 will disclose to us the high ground, on which our 
 own system stands, and prepare us for taking into 
 consideration, those particular objects, which must 
 be kept most steadily in our eye, when new provi- 
 sions, of apparently, doubtful tendency and opera- 
 tion, are proposed to be adopted into our system ; 
 provisions, which effect the primary movements 
 of our whole social body, and of all its members* 
 
 I BEGIN with remarking, that though the circum- 
 stances of the times, and the general character of 
 society, were abundantly subserved and harmoniz- 
 ed, by the current processes of industry and of com- 
 mercial intercourse, yet that these circumstances, 
 and this character, when brought into competition 
 with those which at present appertain to our nation, 
 were extremely low and unimportant. The con- 
 nexions which subsisted betwixt the various parts 
 of the general systems were lax and feeble ; the va-
 
 103 
 
 rious bearings of these several parts on each otlicr, 
 were indirect and embecil ; and in consequence of 
 these things, of the feebleness of the general mo- 
 mentum, and of the imperfect state ofthc general or- 
 ganization of human industry, although the quan- 
 tity of human labor, was in many instances \ery 
 great, its aggregate results were seldom proportion- 
 ally valuable, and important. Such was the gene- 
 ral repugnance of the human mind to regular sys- 
 tematic industry, and so operose and cumbersome 
 was the process by which this industry was expe- 
 dited, that stimulants of no ordinary kind were 
 needful, in order to set the human capabilities for 
 such services fully in motion ; while at the same 
 time, amidst the paucity of the productions of their 
 arts, and inaptitude of their productions, to this ob- 
 ject, amidst the profusion of natural blessings, and 
 their fascinating power over man in his rude state, 
 no such active and countcrvaihng stimulants could 
 be found. 
 
 In our own system we perceive, that money, or 
 funds, or floating capital, performs of itself the of- 
 fice of a grand momentum, as well as that of an ef- 
 fectual support, to general industry. It gives to 
 the bearer the full command over a commensurate 
 quantity of any marketable substanccor commodity, 
 upon which he may set his mind. The facilities for 
 obtaining [)ossession of the medium by means of re- 
 gular industry, with which our system is endowed, 
 render tliis quality of the medium doubly power- 
 ful j our constitutional aptitude for regular systematic
 
 104 
 
 industry, our habitual propensities to tliose enjoy- 
 ments into which the successful exercise of these 
 faculties naturally leads, custom, example, and a 
 multitude of established incitements to perseverance 
 in the course into which these things conduct us, 
 these all give to the leading stimulant its full ef- 
 ficacy, and its keenest edge ; while the circumstan- 
 ces of all around us, the pressure of our common 
 burdens, the tenure under which our various posses- 
 sions are held, our several prospects, desires, and 
 fears, all pointedly protrude our faculties, into that 
 very course of industry, which is most useful to the 
 community, and most conducive to our ow^n inter- 
 est ; tnat on the whole this stimulus acts within our 
 
 A 
 
 system, asa regular self-movingprinciple, of the high- 
 est conceivable power and efficacy, fully armed and 
 amply provided for compelling every individual 
 amongst us, to contribute his full quota of services 
 to the community, in that way, which is requisite ; 
 in so much, that with us the great object of general 
 solicitude is not to find out a momentum sufficient- 
 ly powerful to expedite the movements of industry, 
 but to procure subjects, whereon this industry may 
 be profitably exercised ; we are anxious that our in- 
 dustry should be incessant and powerful, but we 
 accomplish this object, merely, by placing under its 
 operation, means correspondent to its faculties, and 
 removing whatever obstacles may impede the natu- 
 ral movements of this self moving principle. 
 
 But with the ancients, money possessed no such 
 paramount influence over general industry ; it was
 
 105 
 
 sometimes, even incompetent to expedite the most 
 ordinary transactions. Money in the shape of funds, 
 existed but rarely. It had a basis sufficiently broad 
 for the structure which was reared upon it, but it 
 wanted the solidity sufficient to support a financial 
 superstructure and capable of comprizing this power- 
 ful principle. Money, as substantiated by means 
 even of the most valuable kind, did indeed exist ; 
 but its bearings upon industry were so weak, that 
 it lay dormant in the hands of individuals, at the 
 very time that its received value ; if that value had 
 been as freely circulablc as it is v/ith us, would 
 liave raised its owners to wealth and independence. 
 That animated and unrestrained intercourse, which 
 disposes men frankly to meet the views of each 
 other on equal terms, was wholly awanting. A 
 certain concatenation of circumstances, a certain 
 pre-dispositionto mutual accommodation, was gene- 
 rally in the first place needful. That spirit ofen- 
 terprize, that intuitive vigor of mind in balancing 
 events and consequences, that strenuous earnestness 
 of exertion which unremittedly pursues its object 
 in every direction, in fine, that animated, well di- 
 gested, powerful process of" industry, which in our 
 days has executed such wonders, was not only a- 
 wanting, but it was incompatable with, and repug- 
 nant to, the existing state of human affiiirs. 
 
 This feebleness and defect in the grand momen- 
 tum, was partly supplied by peculiar extrinsic 
 princii)les, severally more or less powerl'ul in their 
 operation, and generally tending to j)reservc that
 
 106 
 
 equilibrious system of things, which we have beeu 
 contemplating. In one place, the suasive influence 
 of patriarchal or paternal authority prevailed; in 
 another, respected usages and customs j in some 
 instances, the equitable principles of reciprocity and 
 good brotherhood appeared. In general, however, 
 the stern brow of vindictive authority interfered, 
 and while, with jealous care, it pervaded the most 
 minute department of industry with its influence, it 
 pressed forward the operative process with blows, 
 and scourges, and tortures, and even death itself, 
 sometimes in the most cruel form. By such methods 
 the blessings of life were expressed out of the sinews 
 of the industrious. To support this system, thus 
 supported, the human being was systematically 
 debased to the lowest point of moral and intellec- 
 tual degradation. 
 
 When the gratification of lofty passions and 
 base desires thus went forward, hand in hand, it 
 could be no difficult matter to protrude a system 
 so congenial to human depravity, into all its conse- 
 quences. In order to render such practices de- 
 corous, however, or in some respects, at least, ven- 
 erable, a multitude of mythological rites and cere- 
 monies were resorted to. War and rapine may be 
 held to have been the grand business and employ- 
 ment of the independent classes of society, at the 
 time that cruelty and oppression were the means 
 by which their power was in general upheld ; in- 
 dustry and commerce being then mere accessories 
 ■in the great system of affairs. Familiarized to 
 such practices, men set no limits to their violence
 
 107 
 
 and injustice. To these tliey were, moreover, in- 
 stigated, by their own licentious passions and dis- 
 positions, invigorated by habit and example, and 
 animated by universal approbation ; and in these 
 they were not only supported and sanctioned by 
 fanatical institutions, wherein all the vices and 
 crimes congenial to human depravity were deified, 
 and rendered honourable, but they were incited 
 and urged on by legislators, poets, and moralists, 
 and by that class of men whose business it is to de- 
 duce and inculcate the first principles of true vir- 
 tue. Mankind were thus induced, not only to re- 
 sort to the most unwarranted practices, in order to 
 subserve their industry, but under similar influence, 
 to extend and fortify to the utmost that system 
 which had been thus established. Having violent- 
 ly usurped the whole possessions of those whom 
 they had subjugated ; seized and devoted their 
 persons and families to perpetual bondage ; and 
 rendered both their appearance and circumstan- 
 ces vile and debased ; they scrupled not to depress 
 their dispositions and understandings to a similar 
 level, and to fix upon their whole race a character, 
 every way correspondent to their prostrate condi- 
 tion. It was by these means that the industrious 
 processes were carried forward, until they became, 
 in all respects, constituted upon these general 
 principles. The faculties and temperament of 
 mankind, exercised under such a system, were 
 gradually moulded into that form which was best 
 adapted to these operations. But out of these 
 general principles, nations and communities, sevc- 
 
 2
 
 108 
 
 rally, diverged more or less determinately into those 
 courses that were most congenial to their own cir- 
 cumstances ; whence an order of things became, at 
 length, established in each particular country, in all 
 respects, conformable to its peculiar situation. 
 
 When, with these views, we cast our eyes abroad 
 upon the general processes, whereby industry and 
 commerce were expedited amongst the different 
 nations, we find them differently provisioned and or- 
 ganized, while at the same time, in general, the 
 nature and operation of the foregoing principles 
 are distinctly predominant. The nations of the 
 South, enervated by their climate, and satiated by 
 the exuberance of their soil, after having made 
 vsome attainments in the regular course of industry, 
 seem to have almost universally given way to an 
 enfeebling superstition. Their commercial and 
 industrious processes being powerfully assisted by 
 the hand of nature, under the influence of this tor- 
 tuous yet imposing fanatism, advanced rapidly 
 to a high degree of exaltation ; but being restrained, 
 by the state of things, within narrow limits, these 
 processes neither extended themselves far, nor 
 reached to those more necessary and important 
 objects, that befit the occupation of strong and 
 nervous minds. A mystical subtility, indeed, 
 coincident with their refined and enfeebled charac- 
 ter, appears to have carried the operations of their 
 system, in some respects, to a most sublime pitch of 
 excellence. But the chiefs of these nations being 
 generally of a timid and insidious cast, a variety
 
 109 
 
 of mysterious contortions took place in their sys- 
 tem, which marred and thwarted even this pro- 
 gression. These chiefs were moreover dependent 
 on superiors of a jealous and vindictive cast, and 
 they were frequently obliged to surrender the gene- 
 ral prosperity of their dependents, to a paramount 
 authority. And besides this, all classes, from the 
 highest to the lowest, being fully exposed to the 
 inroads of barbarians, their highest attainments 
 were circumscribed, and thus exhibited more of 
 their fears and apprehensions, than of their powers 
 of expansion ; and hence it was, that though the 
 arts were, in some respects, improved, the processes 
 by which the operations and distributions there- 
 by induced were expedited, were on the whole 
 both lame and limited. 
 
 The hardy sons of the North were placed in very 
 different circumstances. They were not allured 
 to the cultivation of the arts by any natural advan- 
 tages. The strong hand of imperious want alone 
 obliged them to resort to any tiling resembling re- 
 gular industry. Where the labor of slaves could 
 produce little value, when compared with the ex- 
 pence unavoidably incurred in maintaining them, 
 their numbers would be few, and their exertions 
 confined within narrow precincts. The severity 
 of the climate, while it indurated the bodies, and 
 blunted the faculties of all, would bring the condi- 
 tion of the master and of his slave nearly upon a 
 level. It being necessary for both the one and 
 the other, to accustom himself to hardships and
 
 110 
 
 privations, and to conjoin their personal exertions, 
 their mutual situations would be gradually made 
 to bear on each other, in a more equal way ; and 
 the master might receive the full remuneration 
 of his solicitude, while the condition of his de- 
 pendent was not only generally mitigated, but 
 advanced. And it must be noticed, that to such 
 characters, the toils of war were incomparably 
 more sweet, than the exercise of peaceful indus- 
 try ; and that the plunder acquired by irruptions 
 upon the more valuable acquisitions of their south- 
 ern neighbours, would be vastly more precious 
 than the fruits of their own rude exertions. A 
 complacent priesthood accommodated these hardy 
 laborers with an ensanguined superstition, conge- 
 nial to these circumstances, whereby the full force of 
 every propensity was*§irected towards warlike af- 
 fairs. The character of society, and the tendency 
 of its pursuits, received a correspondent bias, and 
 a system wherein the improvement of the arts was 
 extremely limited, took place, accordingly. The 
 desultory industry of these nations, and the pre- 
 datory intercourse which existed amongst them, 
 formed therefore, a contrast with the peaceful pros- 
 trate industry and intercourse that subsisted in the 
 South, which was peculiarly striking. 
 
 When we remove our eyes from such scenes, 
 and fix them upon those regions wherein civiliza- 
 tion and improvement were carried to the greatest 
 height, we are astonished to find, that social ad- 
 vancement, so far from having carried along with
 
 Ill 
 
 it the principles of humanity, served ratlier to low- 
 er those in the general system. In the South, al- 
 though the laboring classes were so debased that 
 their property, and even their civil and social 
 existence, seemed to be absorbed in those of their 
 chiefs, yet their personal rights were, in some 
 measure, secured to them, and something re- 
 sembling emulation was introduced into their in- 
 dustrious processes. In the North, the circum- 
 stances of the master and his slave had been, in 
 some degree, approximated to their natural claims 
 in such circumstances. Here, however, all such 
 principles were sedulously excluded. The Spar- 
 tans, in order that they might be nationally de- 
 voted to war, and lofty exercises, not only seiz- 
 ed upon the possessions, territory, and persons of 
 their neighbours, the Helots, and they not only 
 devoted that whole race, for ever, to unmitigated 
 bondage, and prepared them, by the debasing 
 process aforenoticed, for their prostrate condition j 
 but they, Vv^th the most cold-blooded policy, sys- 
 tematically brutified their manners ; from the mere 
 wantonness of cruelty, they turned out these de- 
 solate helpless fellow-creatures in this condition, to 
 be the sport of their children, and when their politi- 
 cal circumstances seemed to require it, thcv 
 most deliberately slaughtered this most industri- 
 ous part of society, sometimes by thousands ; and 
 they did this with as little ceremony as if they had 
 been destroying the meanest and the vilest part 
 of the brute creation. The Romans, whose name 
 is held to be synonymous with civilization, carried
 
 112 
 
 this system much farther. The deadly conflicts 
 of gladiators, and their horrid combats with wild 
 beasts, are so many instances of the blood-thirsty 
 (leHrium which then prevailed. The general suf- 
 fering of their laborers appears from the extrem- 
 ities, to which, from the madness of suffering, these 
 laborers occasionally resorted. Whole colonies of 
 them were at times driven into open rebellion, so 
 as even to endanger the existence of the state ; 
 and, as the benignant genius of Christian mercy 
 had no place in their system, such irruptions, like 
 those that have taken place in our days in France 
 and St. Domingo, and proceeding to the like 
 deplorable extremities, knew no intercession, un- 
 til it had terminated in the utter destruction and 
 annihilation of the party that was outraged. There 
 is an instance upon record of many thousands of 
 these infuriated slaves being crucifiedat atime. Such 
 circumstances display the character of a system, 
 wherein simple coertion is the grand stimulator of 
 of regular industry ; and slavish dependence, the 
 source whence supplies to the cravings of human 
 nature are derived. 
 
 The sacred scriptures, in the history of King 
 Solomon, convince us, however, that this system 
 is capable of no small degree of excellence, when 
 thoroughly pervaded by a benignant policy. That 
 great monarch, in concentrating and giving effect 
 to the various means and energies left in his hands 
 by his father, in the spirit of true wisdom, availed 
 himself fully of the principles of action, as well as
 
 113 
 
 of the faculties of acting, which had been matured 
 for his service. In conformity to the practice of the 
 times, he resorted to the service of foreign labor- 
 ers, consigning to his own people only, offices of 
 trust, authority and dignity. Under this system, 
 he brought forward his immense resources and 
 powers, and he so distributed its operations and 
 means of support, as to render its results, in all 
 respects, grand, complete and harmonious. He was 
 possessed of abundance of every valuable and use- 
 ful commodity, including a profusion of tlie pre- 
 cious metals, of which we have no parallel upon 
 record. His power was most extensive, and firm- 
 ly established, and to its authority was conjoined 
 that of a theocratic domination, which was no less 
 powerful that venerable. All these advantages it 
 became his business to bear fully upon his pro- 
 jects, it being the peculiar privilege and high 
 duty which had been de\'olved upon his reign, to 
 make these advantages produce efiects corres- 
 pondent to their magnitude. This he effected in 
 such a manner, as to secure the most unbounded 
 confidence, the most profound respect, and the 
 most animated admiration, both of his own sub- 
 jects and of foreign potentates. All kings and na- 
 tions, it is said, soilght unto him for communi- 
 cations of his knowledge, and resorted to his ca- 
 pital, in order that they might witness the great 
 and sj)lendid effects of that heavenly wisdom and 
 power, with which he was endowed, and that 
 they might contribute towards their exaltation and 
 establishment. Plis kingdom thus became the
 
 114 
 
 centre of surrounding kingdoms over which he ex- 
 ercised a sovereignty which was no less power- 
 ful than benignant ; and by means of such para- 
 mount influence, his projects and undertakings 
 received a devclopcment, correspondent to their 
 stupendous and important nature. 
 
 There are certain circumstances regarding the 
 state of industry and intercourse, while under 
 these happy auspices, that apply so directly to our 
 present subject, that they demand in this place, our 
 pointed regard. First — Although the medium of 
 exchange, as well as every valuable and useful com- 
 modity, was superabundant, yet the business of 
 society went forward with every conceivable ad- 
 vantage. Gold and silver, it is said, were so 
 plentiful, as to be nothing thought of. Artists and 
 laborers of every description had abundant sup- 
 plies to all their wants. Yet on the one hand, 
 most stupendous public works and projects, esta- 
 blishments and organizations, went forward to full 
 completion, with a vigor and harmony that have 
 never been equalled ; while on the other hand, 
 the people, numerous as the sand upon the sea 
 shore, sat every man in his own vineyard, under 
 his own % tree, eating, drinking, and making 
 merry, and rejoicing in all the good that was done 
 forthem. Secondly — These things were co-existent 
 with a vast extension of foreign intercourse, and 
 a liberal communication of all their blessings to 
 every surrounding nation. Nor was this all ; the 
 rights, privileges, and immunities, of all ranks.
 
 115 
 
 were not only securely preserved, but exercised in 
 such a manner, as to give them their highest in- 
 fluence. Lastly — This state of things was fixed, 
 stable, and of long continuance ; it subsistetl in 
 full force during the whole long reign of this l<ing, 
 until in his dotage, he forsook the wise counsels 
 under which he had formerly acted, and had fal- 
 len into courses which brought down the wrath 
 of Heaven upon himself and his people. 
 
 From these circumstances, we perceive, that 
 the very highest degree of supersaturation of the 
 medium, is not inconsistent with general pros- 
 perity and happiness, and with great and proper 
 regularity in every social movement. It is neces- 
 sary, that a correspondence and proportionment, 
 betv/ixt this medium and the objects which it can 
 command, should subsist, and that these should be a- 
 like plentiful and valuable ; but while this propor- 
 tionment and correspondence continues, it does 
 not seem to be at all necessary to limit their pow- 
 er or extension. Farther, we perceive, that as a 
 high and incipient course of improvement, under 
 accumulated advantages, serves to raise the pow- 
 ers and capacities of the state, and of all its mem- 
 bers, so it also tends to accelerate the progress 
 of moral and intellectual improvement, to ditfuse 
 general happiness and prosperity, and to beget 
 mutual good will and confidence betwixt the go- 
 vernors and governed, sufficient to give an eclat 
 and eflicacy to every measure that may be ne- 
 cessary, to raise their joint operations far above mu- 
 
 V 2
 
 116 
 
 tual jealousy and casual obstruction, to advance them 
 rapidly in their high duties, and in tlie end, to place 
 within the range of general fruition, the most in- 
 estimaWe blessings and benefits. We perceive also, 
 that high prosperity and perfect security are not only 
 compatible with each other; but that they severally 
 tend to advance and extend these operations which 
 are peculiar to both, and to augment and fortify the 
 resources of tlie state and of the community, and 
 thus powerfully contribute to identify and incor- 
 porate the interests of the government and of the 
 people. 
 
 These very splendid advantages, it is true, 
 were in a great measure lost, during the end of 
 this and the beginning of the subsequent reign ; 
 but this loss, it must be noticed, originated in a 
 gross dereliction of the principles upon which 
 these advantages had been founded. It was not 
 until the degeneracy of king Solomon had pro- 
 voked the Divine indignation, and the folly of his 
 son had given this indignation its full efiect, that 
 any calamities befel this system. In regarding the 
 order of these calamities with some attention, we 
 will perceive, that here, as in other cases, the 
 Divine ordination operated in a natural, as well 
 as in a direct manner. There are three different 
 inferences, all of high moment, in our present re- 
 searches, that I humbly apprehend may be drawn 
 from the statement given in the sacred volume res- 
 pecting the irruption to which we now refer.
 
 117 
 
 First. Though in Solomon's reign, Uu- pct)ple 
 were very heavily assessed, both in their personal 
 services and in their properties, yet so long as 
 these assessments were employed upon high ob- 
 jects, so long as the}" occupied that supreme por- 
 tion of the royal regard, to which they were des- 
 tined, these burdens remained unnoticed. The 
 abundance of commodities, and of the medium for 
 distributing these, contributed to bring into full 
 exercise the whole faculties and capabilities of 
 the nation, and to bestow upon the successful 
 occupation of these their due reward. The pres- 
 sure, therefore, occasioned by these burdens, 
 served merely to give to these their fullest and 
 highest tone ; and it was laid so equally and 
 wisely upon the sinews of the industrious, and 
 the means of the people, that those assessments 
 served merely to invigorate and accelerate the 
 operations that were induced. The commercial, 
 agricultural, and operative courses, that were pj-o- 
 truded, wanted, indeed, that powerful incessant 
 stimulus and support, which a free and regular 
 circulation of wealth naturally produces; but they 
 were animated by a more dignified principle, and 
 permeated through all their windings by a degree 
 of wisdom and precision, that fully served the 
 same end. How long this state of tlu'ngs might, 
 under, such an influence, have continued, we know 
 not. "We know, however, that it was not unlil 
 the royal character had been disgraced, and until 
 the cessation that had taken place in these high 
 employments had ushered in a course of ims-l
 
 118 
 
 libidinous extravagance, that the expenditure of 
 the state was complained of. We may, therefore, 
 I think, warrantably infer, that while the resour- 
 ces of the state went off in ihis fbohsli manner, 
 the reproductive processes of the nation, being 
 now neither animated by a spirit of wisdom, 
 nor invigorated by any high or deeply interest- 
 ing principle, were also, in like manner, dimin- 
 ished ; and tliat, the assessments of the state 
 were continued, even after the palpable incapa- 
 city of the people to bear them, in their present 
 circumstances, had pointed out the propriety of 
 lessening them. In other words, the medium 
 of exchange, together with the immensity of ob- 
 jects which this medium could command, had fal- 
 len off and disappeared before the end of king 
 Solomon's reign ; the general power of replacing 
 these was also decreased ; while, at the same time, 
 the old assessments continued to be levied, ac- 
 cording to a standard of the medium and of means 
 which th's medium could command, that had 
 been fixed in more prosperoiss times. Is not the 
 irruption, therefore, that took place in such cir- 
 cumstances, one great beacon amongst a multi- 
 tude of others, warning us, of the danger that 
 attends torpor and degeneracy in a state, and 
 strongly indicative of the importance of a super- 
 lative attention to financial operations, on the 
 smallest cessation of regular industry ? 
 
 Secondly. A nation, like an individual, comprises 
 a multitude of powers and faculties, all of which
 
 119 
 
 ought to be kept more or less in full and high ex- 
 ercise, according as they may liave become more 
 or less sensible of their own powers and capabilities. 
 These powers and capabilities, it appears, in the 
 reign of Solomon, had been so exercised as to form 
 the whole body of the people into one organized 
 body-politic. While exercised in this capacity, un- 
 der a wise guidance, they had produced results of 
 high moment to the state as well as to the com- 
 munity. These results, however, it became evi- 
 dent, were in the course of being completely frus- 
 trated and destroyed by the folly and infatuation 
 of their rulers ; the people, therefore, in this joint 
 capacity, naturally enough required that some check 
 should be laid upon public profusion. By some 
 politicians, it has been received as a maxim, that 
 when a nation is so disposed, it ought to be hurried 
 into some foreign contest. This, however, is not 
 only a most wicked, but a most pernicious max- 
 im, for it generally terminates in the discomfiture 
 of those who adopt it, and it always protrudes 
 the public energies into grounds, whereon more 
 ultimate danger is experienced, tlian any that had 
 previously existed. In all wise governments, this 
 state of things will give rise to new and appro- 
 priate public provisions, to fiscal retrenchments, 
 and to those salutary reforms which meet the real 
 and proper exigences of the case, in their several 
 parts and bearings. In the instance before us, 
 we perceive, that this treatment was, (in a pru- 
 dential light,) well calculated to have niitigatcd 
 the public calamity. Tlie pc(>i)lc required to be
 
 120 
 
 5;oothed, and to be conducted into a course, where- 
 in their best interests, and those of the state, would 
 have coincided. Their powers and privileges, as 
 a nation, and the advantages inseparable from a 
 higli exercise of sucli privileges, ought also to have 
 been displayed before them. In place of regard- 
 ing their concerns, however, with this deference, 
 the infatuated monarch proceeded to exercise them 
 more fully in their disjointed capacity, and thus de- 
 stroyed his own power over them. 
 
 The third, and last inference that I shall here 
 deduce from the subversion of this beautiful sys- 
 tem, that was set in motion by king Solomon, is, 
 that there inherently appertains to that indepen- 
 dently systematic, thoroughly organized, and com- 
 pletely established system of industry and inter- 
 course, that arises, spontaneously, out of the im- 
 proved circumstances of mankind, a vast superior- 
 ity above that species of industry and intercourse, 
 which is impelled into existence by the mere force 
 of personal character. In the one case, the death 
 of the individual, or some change of circumstances, 
 may demolish the most beautiful, well-poised 
 ^rystem, and all the benign effects connected with 
 it, may be buried in its ruins. In the other, so 
 long as the powers and resources of mankind can 
 be borne with full effect upon each other, and so long 
 as their circumstances present a firm and stable 
 foundation to the operations that are thence in- 
 duced, so long will amelioration and advancement 
 go on. Who could have imagined, that a domina-
 
 121 
 
 tion so deeply founded, so wisely constructed, so 
 amply provided, so abundantly secured, as that 
 which we have been contemplating, should have 
 fallen to pieces thus suddenly ? The death of the 
 founder, we see, struck at its foundation ; nay, 
 the tergiversations of his own character, sapped its 
 roots, even in his own life-time ; and in the end, 
 so far from being encircled with the radiance of 
 power, its decayed grandeur tended constantly to 
 allure the rapine of those invidious neighbours, who 
 were raised up by Heaven for the chastisement of 
 general offences. The general system of Jewish 
 polity, no doubt, remained in its impaired de- 
 nuded state, and served to convey to this peo- 
 ple, and to the world, at large, those communi- 
 cations of light, and displays of truth, for which 
 this polity was destined by the Most High ; but it 
 was robbed of its exalting ameliorating qualities, 
 it was blighted in its general operations and ef- 
 fects ; and it served to exhibit the innate feeble- 
 ness of the course of improvement that was going 
 forward, and its dependence on the character of 
 individual rulers and their circumstances ; as well 
 as to illustrate that benign wisdom, in which it 
 wasfounded,and which it still imperfectly displayed. 
 
 To conclude, a concrete system of tyranny 
 may be maintained for ages inviolate, and may 
 preserve all these principles which are peculiar 
 to its general operation, so that the character and 
 exercises of those who preside over it, may have 
 a high and resplendent radiance, which, Ibr the 
 
 Q
 
 122 
 
 time, will exalt and invigorate whatever comes 
 within its own influence ; but when general and 
 systematic amelioration is sought for, something 
 more than mere personal character is necessary. 
 Mankind themselves must operate their own ad- 
 vancement and improvement. The renovating sys- 
 tem must either develope itself, by means of its own 
 internal vigor, or it will remain ever liable to 
 be blighted, whenever the exotic influence, un- 
 der which it arose, is withdrawn. Its roots and 
 branches must have that free scope which is con- 
 sistent with the full exercise of their natural 
 functions ; abundant provision and support must, 
 no doubt, be afforded to it, correspondent to 
 its movements, and to its luxuriance ; but these 
 must be administered in that way, which befits 
 its circumstances. The spontaneous contribution 
 of genius and of talent, the unbiassed exercita- 
 tions of its own powers, and the genial glow of 
 public favor, are incomparably more effectual in 
 expediting this general advancement, than the 
 highest splendor of any merely human excellence. 
 
 It is in such favorable circumstances, that our 
 concernments are placed. In consequence of 
 the general improvement of our community, and 
 the multitude of objects upon which this improve- 
 ment is excrcisedj in consequence of the regular sti- 
 mulus and support, which, our various reproductive 
 processes receive; in consequence of the dioroughly 
 organised, duly concatenated, and completely di- 
 gested ameliorating processes, that are constant-
 
 123 
 
 ly going forward ; a profusion of advantages, for 
 tlie service of every individual amongst us, is 
 necessarily obtained. It is needful, for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining possession of these things, for 
 us to produce the medium of exchange as a proof 
 of our personal right, before we can acquire our 
 portion of these advantages. But this medium 
 is placed within tlie reach of every one of us, 
 and it is obtained by the regular exercise of our 
 talents, in the most useful way ; while by so doing, 
 we forthwith not only obtain this portion of the 
 medium, but we at the same time contribute to 
 the general stock, advantages, correspondent to 
 those which we thus appropriate to our own con- 
 sumption. With us, therefore, natural incitements 
 draw forth exertions, to which the rigor of no 
 task master is competent. These incitements ne- 
 cessarily conduct our powers and exercises, into 
 that very sphere of action, wherein these can be 
 most useful to ourselves, and most advantageous 
 to the community. The means and resources of 
 the community, are thus also brought within the 
 range of general developement and advancement, 
 and raised in their intrinsic value, so as to afford 
 to individuals, and the public, their highest ad- 
 vantages. Under these circumstances, a respected 
 independence is necessarily maintained by the in- 
 dustrious, and a mild domination exercised by their 
 superiors. The powers of man are thus called 
 forth into full exercise, and without being invest- 
 ed with that overwcaning influence, which absorbs 
 
 Q 2
 
 124 
 
 and controls the general course of human affairs, 
 these are also most amply rewarded. In their 
 operations, talent and genius are, with us, diffu- 
 sive ; they promulgate their acquirements, while 
 they exercise them, and thus call forth univer- 
 sally correspondent displays ; and they excite un- 
 iversal emulation, by those very means by which 
 they appropriate to their own use, their own pe- 
 culiar attainments. It is thus, that our common- 
 wealth is surcharged with invaluable commodities, 
 and that these commodities are brought within 
 the reach of every one of us ; and it is thus 
 also, that every order and class of the commun- 
 ity have at length obtained, for their own use, a 
 complete set of provisions, suited to their circum- 
 stances, and serving to advance and promote those 
 peculiar interests, that appertain to them. These 
 acquisitions and all their concernments are, from 
 these very circumstances, rendered independent of 
 the authority of any individual, however great or 
 exalted his character may be ; and being set forward 
 in a stable and irrefragable progression, in improve- 
 ment and advancement, they are placed far above 
 all extrinsic and intrinsic influence. 
 
 The grand characteristic advantage of the an- 
 cient system of industry, consisted in this, that 
 wherever mere muscular power, or physical ener- 
 gy, could be regularly urged on, by the instru- 
 mentality of direct and incessant coertion, results, 
 both transcendent and stupendous, could be ac- 
 quired J and a precision and perfection, rarely at-
 
 125 
 
 tainable by us, secured. It has already been no- 
 ticed, that the great line of improvement, under 
 this system, stretched forward in that direction 
 which befitted the views and circumstances of the 
 higher classes of society. It may now, however, 
 be farther noticed, that these improvements very 
 generally exhibited themselves in those invaluable 
 public and private acquirements, which were, in a 
 regular manner, brought within the individual or 
 collective control of these classes ; the powers of 
 the community being not unfrequently exercised 
 by means of these acquirements, for the advantage 
 of these superior classes. The art of war itself, 
 with all its provisions, was one of these subjects ; 
 and this art, more than any other, served to at- 
 tract and concentrate these exercises and acquire- 
 ments : the offices of the priesthood, of judicial 
 administration, and of authoritative influence, be- 
 longed to the same class, and carried in their train 
 a multitude of establishments, institutions and or- 
 dinations, into which the means and resources of the 
 people were, in a great measure, resolved. All 
 these matters, it is evident, when viewed as pieces 
 of business, w^re placed under the full weight of 
 all that momentum, which the power of the state, 
 regularly exercised, could give ; and as the exer- 
 cises induced were, for the most part, muscular and 
 energetic, they could be propelled with a force 
 and regularity, which could admit of no interces- 
 sion. Hence it is, that the body-politic, was so 
 fully provided with useful and important acquisi- 
 tions ; and hence it is, also, that its movements indi-
 
 126 
 
 cated a plenitude of power and of provision, that 
 threw out of view its multiplied defects and imper- 
 fections. This system, impelled by the force of the 
 state, \vas enlivened by the splendour of the great, 
 supported by the prostrate energies of the indus- 
 trious, and connected together by a system of laws, 
 customs and institutions, systematically calculat- 
 ed for giving to all these advantages their full ef- 
 ficacy. 
 
 On the other hand, the characteristic advan- 
 tages of the modern system of industry, consists 
 in this, that the faculties, powers, and talents of 
 each individualj are, to a certain degree, placed 
 in independent circumstances, and that these are 
 regularly stimulated and supported by means cor- 
 respondent to their nature and circumstances. 
 The natural wants of each individual give him 
 an internal stimulus to the full exercise of his pow- 
 ers ; and by exercising these powers, as he ought, 
 he produces, for the advantage of others, means 
 which enable these others to discharge faithfully 
 those claims, from whence supplies to these wants 
 can alone be had. These means must attain to 
 their value, not only by the due exercise, but 
 by the judicious direction of the industrious 
 powers ; they must be constituted for the service 
 of those who can replace their value to the pro- 
 ducer. One class possesses this value prepared, 
 and ready for delivery ; another has it coming for- 
 ward in his reproductive processes, but by far the 
 greater part must, by dint of their incessant in-
 
 127 
 
 dustry, create tliis value for themselves. It is for 
 the service of all these three classes, that the 
 industrious powers must be calculated. The poor, 
 therefore, come in for their share of provisions as 
 well as the rich ; and the powers of industry and 
 of ingenuity will, of course, be stretched for their 
 advantage, as well as for the advantage of their 
 superiors. Hence a progression in improvement 
 in the circumstances of individuals is set a-going, 
 which is expedited by the comparative indepen- 
 dence in which each individual can exercise his 
 own powers, and the facility with which he can ap- 
 peal to the public for a full remuneration of all his 
 exertions. By this means, individual happiness 
 and enjoyment are alike increased and augmented, 
 their possessions are improved, and rendered more 
 estimable, the circumstances of all are advanced 
 and ameliorated, and a process of things is kept 
 a-going, in which the attainments and advantages 
 of men, of all ranks and classes, are multiplied, ex- 
 tended and secured. Amidst all these numberless 
 attainments, the state finds its resources ; out of 
 these, individuals draw their supplies ; which sup- 
 plies, in general, vastly exceed tlie utmost demands 
 of both. In our nation, we can scarcely turn our 
 eyes to a quarter, wherein profusion, beyond all 
 our powers of consumption, does not stare us in 
 the face, and call loudly for the helping hand 
 of the wealthy consumer to relieve it of a bur- 
 den, which has already become too weighty for 
 its capital to support. When to this we add, the 
 augmentative power of our vast reproductive es-
 
 128 
 
 tablishiTients, and observe tlie vast mass of produc- 
 tion which these are, incessantly pouring forth for 
 Ihe universal service of he community ; the high 
 predominance of our industrious processes, be- 
 comes abundantly conspicuous. Not only the 
 wants of individuals, but the exigences of public 
 affairs, are seen replete with supplies of every 
 kind, which, so far transcend all their powers 
 of absorption, that, our system, itself, notwith- 
 standing all its numerous and important defects 
 and imperfections, appears most refulgent and 
 attractive, and every way deserving of our most 
 cordial attachment, of our highest admiration. 
 
 It may be proper in this place to notice, that 
 our deficiences chiefly appear in our public provi- 
 sions,, and our defecj^ m the application of these 
 provisions to individual exigences. Wherever the 
 ordinary wants and cravings of the individual 
 are concerned, there a profusion appears, that 
 anticipates their whole highest demands. Wherever 
 individual power, or wisdom, can, in its regular 
 exercise, promote the developement of the sys- 
 tem of production and consumption that is thus 
 induced, there we find every want, error, and per- 
 versity, highly and fully, obviated and amended. 
 It is chiefly, where great and leading objects are 
 concerned, that these defects and imperfections, 
 become apparent, and produce such great evils, 
 as those which it is our present business to un- 
 ravel.
 
 129 
 
 Although, during the preceding review, I 
 have had it constantly in my eye to expose the 
 fallacy of these terrors and misapprehensions, un- 
 der which our present circumstances appear, I 
 am certain, that much remains to be done, in or- 
 der to overcome these prejudices and alarms, 
 which every new project, calculated for meeting 
 these upon an extensive scale, is apt to carry along 
 with it. This consideration renders it necessary 
 for me to carry forward my views, through the 
 leading changes that have taken place in the prin- 
 ciples of industry just nov; considered, until they 
 meet the circumstances of the present day. It is 
 now, I apprehend, a matter altogether indisputa- 
 ble, that the embarrassments under which we labor, 
 indicate a plenitude of power, and an abundance 
 of means, which place all suspicion as to the ra- 
 dical strength and efficiencj^of our system of in- 
 dustry and intercourse, entirely out of the question. 
 These evils are manifestly connected with a mis- 
 application of these powers and means, with cir- 
 cumstances which mar their progress, and blight 
 developement ; and this is, perhaps, precisely what 
 we ouglit to expect, where there is a deficiency 
 in our public provisions, and some malvcrse pro- 
 pensity in those provisions that are already estab- 
 lished. So far, however, is this perversion of 
 our faculties from being a ground of alarm, that 
 it discovers to us, only the more fully, tlic pre- 
 dominant benclicencc of our system, which, under 
 buch perversion, is still so productive ; and it points 
 out the necessity of reviewing, without prejudice, 
 
 a
 
 130 
 
 all the circumstances of our situation, in order that 
 we may ascertain, not only what public provisions 
 are necessary, but what qualities in these provi- 
 sions are best calculated for meeting, with full ef- 
 fect, all the exigencies of the case. What the na- 
 ture and extent of these provisions ought to be, 
 therefore, remains to be discussed ; but, that these 
 provisions should fully meet our present exigencies, 
 is a position which, I think, no one will deliberate- 
 ly refuse to admit : and as these exigencies plainly 
 indicate, that these provisions should not only be 
 extensive, but be pointedly directed to all those cla- 
 mant cases that so anxiously solicit our regard, I 
 apprehend, that it is no less indisputable that these 
 provisions should be alike powerful and abundant, 
 both in their principle and in their mode of applica- 
 tion, so as to be, in all respects commensurate to the 
 immediate, as well as to the remote causes of our 
 embarrassments. 
 
 We are all of us sufficiently acquainted with the 
 ameliorating and renovating tendency of that sys- 
 tem of industry, and commercial intercourse, which 
 is established amongst us, as well as with its power 
 and efficacy. There is in it a wonderful tendency 
 to harmonize and dulcify every jarring principle 
 with which it may be connected, and to identify 
 and incorporate, with its very essence, every in- 
 terest to which it may have been conjoined. It is 
 proper for us to examine, with care and accuracy, 
 the nature of our embarrassments, and the opera- 
 tions of those provisions, that may be proposed; to
 
 131 
 
 regard these in every light, and to trace then for- 
 ward in all their consequences. But having done 
 this, we ought, in like manner, to adopt with firm- 
 ness, and to prosecute with steadiness, these plans 
 into which our researches have conducted us; trust- 
 ing not only to that incessant vigilance which we 
 must systematically exercise over the operation of 
 these provisions, but to the renovating tendency 
 of our system itself, and to its congenial propen- 
 sities in every improving and ameliorating process. 
 Thereby only, can we ensure stability and security 
 to our general measures, and thereby also, we may 
 set forward a ne^v and high progression in greater 
 and nobler attainments, while we remedy these 
 evils under which we are at present bent down. 
 
 In the course of the following survey, it is pro- 
 posed to throw such lights upon those principles 
 which are peculiar to our system of industry, as 
 will, in some measure, remove the scruples of those 
 who are averse to great and decisive measures. 
 In the preceding part of this treatise, it is appre- 
 hended that the leading difficulties of our system, 
 and those advantages which were peculiar to that 
 system, which prevailed in former times, have been 
 set forth in that point of view which it suits us at 
 present to regard them. While thus engaged wc per- 
 ceive that our industrious processes, though pow- 
 erful, are liable to be broken up, and to be render- 
 ed more injurious than advantageous ; we perceive 
 also, that this proceeds, in a great measure, from 
 the scarcity of a medium for enal^ling individuals 
 
 R 2
 
 1S2 
 
 to resolve the productions of these processes into 
 absolute value ; and that the circumstances of the 
 ancients were such, that this value was either re- 
 solved without the intervention of the medium, or 
 was passed away, almost without leaving any traces 
 of its existence, except those which appeared in 
 public and private real acquisitions ; what we call 
 funds, that power which can command property in 
 the hands of the community at large, having scarce- 
 ly any existence. Here, it might be proper, to 
 trace the operation of the funding system, through 
 its different steps of advancement, to its present 
 highly exalted situation ;. but this w^ould lead us 
 into a wide field of discussion, with which it ap- 
 pears to me to be unnecessary to burden this pro- 
 ject. In setting forth however, the principles of the 
 system, as these gradually became established, 
 these general views which belong to our subject, 
 will become sufficiently obvious. But it must be 
 remarked, that it is more the elucidation of the prin- 
 ciples of the subsequent project, than any abbre- 
 viate of this extensive subject, that is now propos- 
 ed to be given. 
 
 It is proper to premise, that as the great object 
 of the preceding survey is, to exhibit, in a very pro- 
 minent manner, certain circumstances pecuhar to 
 the ancient system of industry, and civil intercourse, 
 by a due regard to the nature and operations of 
 which, the perversities that exist in our system, may 
 be more distinctly perceived and ascertained, I have 
 Contented myself with holding up those views^
 
 133 
 
 ^vIlich can best serve this end ; and that ibr sim*- 
 lar reasons, in bringing down the survey to our 
 own times, I shall follow out the same method. 
 Far from pretending to convey full and precise ideas 
 respecting such matters, I sedulously exclude many 
 important particulars, merely, because these would 
 burden the subject with explanations, which are of 
 no direct import in t-|ie present case. In order that 
 the principles exhibited may be followed out in 
 a regular train, 1 do not limit my views by things 
 as they arc known to have existed, I pass over the 
 operation of countervening principles, and carry 
 the general subject over grounds, wherein there 
 is no positive evidence that it could possibly pro- 
 ceed. Notwithstanding this licence however, I am 
 satisfied, that the principles laid down, in so far as 
 these have been developed, and the general views 
 that have been given of their developement, are, on 
 the whole, substantially just. Being too apt to fill up 
 pur views of antiquated objects, with existing cir- 
 cumstances, and to lose sight of those numberless 
 changes, which the evolution of ages, and the disci- 
 pline of other systems have efi'ected, upon our own 
 affairs, the views tliat are given w^ill, I apprehend, 
 be found also to convey ideas, that are by no means 
 inadequate to their subject. In the following sur- 
 vey of these great leading changes that have been 
 brought about in that ancient system, v,c v/ill per- 
 ceive, that the effects of the evolutions, and ma- 
 turations, under which our own system has been 
 dif^ciplincd, can be neither few nor small.
 
 134 
 
 The first of the grand evolutions that deserves 
 our notice, is the introduction of the Christian 
 system. Previous to that epoch, tlie multiplied 
 conquests and desolations of hostile nations, had 
 produced no very essential changes in the quali- 
 ties of the industrious processes. These were still 
 generally expedited by direct coertion, and the 
 changes that took place, still depended more on 
 the personal character of the individual, than up- 
 on the nature of his system. It is not meant to 
 say, that no general amelioration took place, or 
 that neither personal emulation nor individual in- 
 dependence Vv^ere promoted, amidst these trans- 
 mutations of power ; for w^e know, that some de- 
 sultory exercise of these principles was promoted 
 by these changes, more especially undei the later 
 period of tlie Iloman domination, when these emu- 
 lous and independent exercises, had the counten- 
 ance and support of the state. It is enough to say, 
 however, that no principle that could systemati- 
 cally support, and maintain the industrious pro- 
 cesses, was ever regularly substituted in the place 
 of coertion. The Ptomans, of all conquering na- 
 tions, were the most sagacioug and comprehend 
 sive in their schemes of authorative policy : it fre- 
 quently suited their views and designs, to play oft' 
 the feelings and the interests of one class of so- 
 ciety against another, and to incorporate their 
 own manners and customs, with those of subjugat- 
 ed nations, and by this means, to break down that 
 concrete system of coertion, by which general 
 labor had been previously expedited. They were
 
 135 
 
 enabled to exercise this advantage with full effect, 
 in consequence of their admirable military and 
 civil institutions. Still, however, the great moving 
 principle, by which supplies to human wants were 
 procured, was coertion, not uniformly simple indeed, 
 for it was occasionally modified by blandished 
 customs, and in certain circumstances, free work- 
 men became numerous and respectable, and they 
 associated together in families and in tribes ; but 
 emulation as a general principle, at once power- 
 ful and independent, still rarely subsisted, until the 
 system now before us had matured and introduc- 
 ed a more genial spirit into human affairs. 
 
 It belongs to the Christian system, to teach 
 men to love and reverence each other as friends 
 and brothers ; in whatever circumstances they may 
 be placed, to regard their fellow-creatures as be- 
 ings, for whom their Heavenly Father has express- 
 ed his highest regard, giving unto them the com- 
 mon privilege of expecting from him mercy and 
 restoration, in another and a higher state of things. 
 The powerful are, by its precepts, induced to re- 
 pect all the personal rights of their dependents ; 
 these last again, are upquircd to submit unhesitat- 
 ingly to all the rcgij^r commands of their su- 
 periors. The virtuous, under a sense of their own 
 imperfections, are by its spirit led to pity, and by 
 mild and suasive measures, to attempt reclaiming 
 the vicious ; and these last again, are placed under 
 the control of institutions, which are calculated to 
 penetrate the heart, as wt*ll as to amend the con-
 
 136 
 
 duct. Such a system could not but break asun- 
 der the iron bands of pinching slavery. But this 
 system farther induced men to exercise them- 
 selves strenuously in every good work, and with 
 vthe prospect of high and refined enjoyments be- 
 fore their eyes, to devote their whole talents and 
 energies to the service of each other. While 
 this system, therefore, destroyed the severe yoke 
 of simple coertion, by which the industrious pro- 
 cesses had been expedited, it placed these last 
 under the guidance of merciful emulation ; in- 
 fusing into their progression love, humility, mu- 
 tual confidence, and good-will. Every rank and 
 class of the community became partakers of this 
 spirit, and each of these was made to contribute 
 its aid in advancing the interests, and extend- 
 ing the enjoyments and accommodations of in- 
 dividuals, in each of these classes ; not only in 
 an indirect manner, as connected with their own 
 special concernments, but as fit and necessary ob- 
 jects of individual solicitude. Alongst the direct 
 path of improving these, it conducted general in- 
 dustry ; and thus men were gradually placed in 
 that relation in regard to each other, that pro- 
 visions for the wants of every description of men in 
 the community went forward from a self moving 
 principle. By the operation of this system, too, 
 the female character was improved and advanced j 
 domestic comfort and security were maintained and 
 practised, and those relations of life, which have love 
 and esteem for their safeguard, were placed in cir-
 
 137 
 
 eumstunccs which tended to give iheni a liigh and 
 dignified impression on human affiiirs. 
 
 Such, however, was the depraved state of society, 
 and such its proneness to luxury and oppression, 
 that this beautiful system was, from the first, per- 
 secuted and opposed, by every constituted human 
 authority. Even after it had triumplied over exter- 
 nal opposition, and had beconvc established through- 
 out the Roman empire, its purifying influence was 
 enfr^ebled, and its benign operations blighted and 
 perverted, by the prevalence of vice and corrup- 
 tion. In these circumstances, our holy religion, 
 served more frequently to promote the views of 
 the crafty, and to extend the domination of the 
 turbulent, than to raise the character, and amel- 
 iorate the condition of the human race. In order 
 to punish the Christian world, for thus abusing this 
 highest gift of heavenly grace, the barbarous na- 
 tions of the North were permitted to obtain the 
 ascendancy, and whilst these nations levelled with 
 the ground the pride and obduracy of those who 
 thus traversed the merciful designs of Heaven, they 
 completely overturned that concrete system of 
 luxurious tyranny, which had struck its roots so 
 deep in the social body. Amidst incessant vio- 
 lence and desolations, ages rolled on, and human 
 intercourse gradually tell back into its former rude 
 and unsettled condition ; or rather it fell into a state 
 much worse, for while the wants of mankind were 
 but imperfectly provided for, their cravings were 
 immoderately strong and pungent; and as violence 
 
 8
 
 138 
 
 and desolation swept away with a high hand the 
 spontaneous shoots of pristine attainments, any 
 intercourse or industry, that could remain, was in- 
 cessantly exposed to destruction and derangement* 
 
 These conquerors, also, introduced a system 
 peculiar to themselves. Individually independent, 
 and maintaining this independence by their person- 
 al prowess, the claims of every man, regarded 
 merely as a citizen, ranked high in their system. 
 Having neither the taste nor the capacity that 
 were requisite for carrying forward refined pro- 
 cesses of industry, those highly improved establish- 
 ments which passed into their hands, fell to pieces, 
 and the powers, of which these were composed, 
 were consigned to services more correspondent 
 to the low standard of excellence, that had then 
 become prevalent. The first and the most ordinary 
 feelings of nature, had most abundant supplies ad- 
 ministered to them, partly from the spoils that 
 were acquired in war, and partly from the exactions 
 which were every where levied. In the course of 
 procuring these, the luxurious oppressor and his 
 humble dependent, the man of great mental powers, 
 and the meanest slave, were alike obliged to stretch 
 their muscular sinews. The violence and ignor- 
 ance of the master, and the combined subtilty and 
 effeminacy of his slaves, rendered the processes 
 whence these supplies were drawn, at once disjoint- 
 ed and defective ; and mankind thus universally 
 debased in all their employments became at length
 
 139 
 
 rude and inert in the most ordinary avocations of 
 civil and social life. 
 
 The cruelties, devastations, and overturnings 
 in which this system originated, have not only 
 given to it a dark and horrid aspect, which no sub- 
 sequent amendment has yet palliated, and no dis- 
 tance of time mollified or obliterated, but they have 
 thrown a lustre and importance upon the preced- 
 ing era, to which that era is not entitled. Let us 
 recollect, however, that although under the Greek 
 and Roman systems, abundance of means for the 
 exercise and enjoyment of the superior orders of 
 society, during the high tide of life, was in general 
 secured, yet that for the calamities to which the 
 poor and the helpless, the sorrowful and the des- 
 ponding, the aged and the diseased, were exposed, 
 no suitable provisions were made. The character 
 of the times was repugnant to their complaints, and 
 a malevolent superstition aggravated their suffer- 
 ings. The general eflulgence, in which they were 
 immersed, might occasionally bewilder the appre- 
 hension of the unfortunate ; but, in their darker 
 hours, their griefs remained unmitigated, and their 
 future prospects wild and dismal. Doleful, and en- 
 sanguined, however, as the Gothic conflicts were, 
 the Christian system had previously penetrated 
 the whole social body, mitigated these by meet- 
 ing the disasters of individuals, with its cheering 
 consolations, and its animating prospects j and by 
 affording hopes and joys, which elevate the soul 
 
 s 2
 
 140 
 
 above every mere earthly sorrow or privation, pre- 
 pared it for encountering evils of every descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 The Christian system and the Gothic system, 
 though radically distinct, and essentially discordant, 
 yet had each a tendency to promote the extension 
 of the individual comforts of man, in every rank 
 and class of society, and to direct the whole impet- 
 us of human intercourse and industry to this object. 
 Formerly the views and schemes of the few, the 
 superb objects which occupied their attention, and 
 the services and exercises which coincided with 
 their pursuits, absorbed the talents and faculties 
 of the human race; the circumstances of the de- 
 pendent, their wants and distresses, being merely 
 matters of regard, according as they happened to 
 correspond with these. Under the joint influence, 
 however, of the these new systems, the circumstan- 
 ces and wants of individuals, were advanced into 
 notice, and the paramount influence of the few 
 was balanced by the importance, which was sys- 
 tematically attached to these wants and circum- 
 stances. War, and religion, and civil affairs, had for- 
 merly been direct instruments, not only for debas- 
 ing the industrious, but for reconciling them to the 
 deepest prostration of all their mental energies ; 
 these, however, now became the most direct instru- 
 ments in their exaltation. Such objects, still, no 
 doubt, served to confirm, and display the author- 
 ity and supremacy of the dominant party ; but these 
 high instruments contributed also to bend down.
 
 141 
 
 the services of those, as well as of every establish- 
 ment, institution, and general measure, to the di- 
 rect advantage of the whole people ; their character 
 and estimation were professedly founded upon this 
 circumstance, and the exercises W'hich they induced, 
 were calculated to raise the importance of every 
 individual in his own eye, as well as in that of the 
 public, and thus to adapt him to those duties which 
 were consistent with this state of things. Chris- 
 tianity has the general melioration of mankind, and 
 human affairs for its object, and employs the talents, 
 opportunities, and advantages of every individual 
 in this service, rendering these efficacious, no less 
 in promoting personal than universal improve- 
 ment. The Gothic system, while it advanced the 
 individual concerns of all men on the fore-ground, 
 implanted a high sense of personal honor in the 
 breast of each member of the confederated body. 
 These conjoined principles, incorporated under civil 
 influence, were pressed forward in the system of 
 human affairs, and regularly exercised under tlie 
 authority of the state. 
 
 That that sense of individual independence, 
 which naturally arises out of such principles, would 
 in such circumstances be very generally dift'uscd, 
 is abundantly manifiL^st. The personal feelings 
 thus necessarily stimulated, would teach men to 
 regard themselves, and each other, with sentiments 
 of respect and complacency; they would advance 
 in their view, every circumstance that could ame- 
 liorate the condition, or promote the advantage,
 
 142 
 
 of man, individually considered ; and dispose them 
 to invest with dignity and importance, all these 
 things that tend to confirm, or display this dignity 
 and importance. Hence those possessions and en- 
 joyments, which were peculiar to the condition, 
 even of the lowest, were gradually advanced and 
 improved, and at length decorated with the en- 
 signia of respect. In place of exhausting their re- 
 sources, and straining their powers, for the express 
 purpose of sealing their own debasement, these 
 were now employed in the business of renovating 
 and exalting their whole character and condition. 
 War, religion, and polity, were directed to this, 
 as their high and exclusive end. And in place of 
 their former degrading employment, every public 
 establishment and institution, and every general 
 measure received more and more, the same ame- 
 liorating tendency. Thus in the end, the circum- 
 stances, and moral, and intellectual energies of 
 mankind, were rendered capable of supporting the 
 high state of things, that was thence induced; and 
 mankind at large, were enabled to direct their in- 
 dustrious processes, into these channels, wherein 
 individual advantages were to be promoted ; the 
 frame of human society becoming at length, organ- 
 ized and constituted upon this equitable basis. 
 
 It is well known, however, that although the 
 frame of human society was thus constituted, its 
 whole fabric was, for many ages, composed of the 
 most heterogeneous elements. Mankind, corrupted 
 by vicious passions, and stimulated by objects^
 
 143 
 
 which excited these to their utmost virulence, 
 were not to be influenced by the mild dictates of 
 a pure religion. Goaded on by emulation and cu- 
 pidity, in their ambitious career, they were not to 
 be restrained by general rules or principles. Where 
 the field, for exercising their violent propensities, 
 was so enlarged, individuals raised to superior sta- 
 tions, were inspired with unbounded rapacity ; the 
 lust of" domination, was supported by this congen- 
 ial spirit, and the same passions and principles, 
 which within convenient precincts, could be har- 
 moniously adapted to each other, now took a range 
 of operation, that was inconsistent with this regul- 
 arity of movement. Society was torn to pieces by 
 intestine discord, and many centuries elapsed, be- 
 fore its tumultuous elements could be composed. 
 
 It was in this state of things, that the power 
 of Christianity began again to unfold itself, and 
 notwithstanding the corruptions and perversions, 
 with which its doctrines were debased, it serv- 
 ed to bind together the social body, to neutralize 
 its effervescence, to infuse mild and genial modes 
 of thinking and acting into civil intercourse, and 
 to renovate and advance general industry. Eu- 
 rope was indeed like a ship, in the midst of a dark- 
 some tempest, without rudder, and without com- 
 pass, but she contained within herself, a pilot who 
 presided over the storm, and who made its rude- 
 ness subservient to his purpose. Towards the close 
 of this epoch, Europe found herself not only rid of
 
 144 
 
 these dangers, but fraught with principles congenial 
 to her high destiny. 
 
 It nuist be noticed that one great characteristic 
 of our present attainments, lies in the multitude 
 of centres, from which improvement advances. It 
 has been shewn, that the whole circumstances of 
 man, in a social and in a civil capacity, were now 
 placed under the influence of improvement, which 
 was permitted to develope itself in the most un- 
 restrained manner, almost from the first rudiments 
 of social union. But we must observe, farther, that 
 now, in place of one great central city, which ab- 
 sorbed, and consumed the whole results of the en- 
 ergies of man, Europe had acquired a vast num- 
 ber of such central cities, all of them indowed with 
 principles of improvement, and as these were 
 severally defective in that overweaning influence 
 which brought within the vortex of Rome the 
 productions of a prostrate world, each of these 
 centres severally stimulated and supported a spe- 
 cies of industry and influence, that was congenial 
 to its own circumstances. Those torrents of devour- 
 ing violence, sometimes irradiated with luxurious 
 refinement, but always loaded with blighting deso.- 
 lation, wliich became the mistress of the world, 
 were unsuited to the circumstances of poor, yet 
 independent provincial cities. Religion, to shed a 
 mild ray of peaceful consolation round the habi- 
 tations of the industrious, and to conduct their la- 
 bors, amidst these employments wherein productions; 
 the most useful and fascinating, could be obtained.
 
 145 
 
 was felt to the needful. Society was but in a poor 
 and miserable condition ; but this poverty, and 
 this misery, alike served to preserve its reproduc- 
 tive processes, from degenerating into that decri- 
 pitude which had characterized tliem during the 
 preceding era, and to keep these steadily engaged 
 in the general service of society. The asperities 
 of the Northern sky, and the fervor of the meri- 
 dian sun, gave, each, in their place, to the current 
 course of industry then going forward, a series 
 of movements, which was favorable to this species 
 of advancement. In consequence of tlie exercises 
 and operations which these movements induced, 
 the temperament of individuals became impressed 
 ^vith salutary habits, at the very same time, and 
 by the very same instruments, that their condition 
 and circumstances were advanced. Thus, the new 
 progression of improvement, unlike that which had 
 taken place under mere pagan influence, and which 
 had heretofore had the ascendancy, implicated the 
 whole valuable interests of society ; it extended the 
 comforts of individuals, as well as provided for the 
 wants of all classes, and it strcngtiicned their no- 
 bler powers and faculties, while it exercised these 
 liilly in the public service. 
 
 It was, however, impossible for improvement, 
 to proceed, with a firm and steady pace, amidst that 
 incessant violence and licentiousness, which then 
 prevailed. When the industrious and commercial 
 processes, were more dcj)cndent upon the move- 
 ments of an unbridled, rapacious, au'l turbulent 
 
 T
 
 146 
 
 spirit, than upon tlie regularly established forms oi 
 municipal jurisprudence, the operations of these 
 improving tendencies would be only feeble and 
 desultory. The social body, involved amidst op- 
 posing principles, gave way to the one or to the 
 other, almost indiscriminately, according, as these 
 could for the time affect them most powerfully. 
 Christianity, contaminated by an admixture of bar- 
 barous rites and principles, was bent down by its 
 leaders, into this desolating service; and mankind, 
 under the influence of a system which breathed 
 only love and peace, rushed into the most invete- 
 rate and ensanguined conflicts. A high sense of 
 individual importance, buoyed up men to a derelic- 
 tion of that high regard to personal character, upon 
 which alone this importance could be maintained. 
 And while, acting in opposition to the spirit and 
 tendency of their several systems, the heads of the 
 Christian church, making a common cause with the 
 outrageous rulers of the Gothic bands, gave to the 
 usurpations of these leaders, all that sanction and 
 countenance, which it was possible for them to 
 writhe from the hands of a turbulent population. 
 Thence it was, that the feudal system, acquired 
 a concrete form and consistency, and its various 
 chiefs a degree of authority and power, which it 
 was impossible that they could ever otherwise have 
 attained. At the same time, a hierarchy wa^ 
 permitted to become organized and established, 
 which had a strong tendency to blight and destroy 
 the benign influence of that system, under which 
 it had arisen. This hierarchy, no less remarkable
 
 147 
 
 for the absurd doctrines and precepts which it 
 promulgated, than for the success and atrocities at- 
 tendant on its prosecution of this object, when fully 
 constituted, acquired, however, a power, which, 
 being acknowledged universally, served to incorpo- 
 rate the disjointed interests of Christendom into one 
 body-politic ; and Europe, though split asunder in- 
 to an indefinite number of political entities, was unit- 
 ed under one common head, who usurped a right to 
 interfere with, and regulate its best and highest 
 concernments. The great object towards which 
 this right was in general exercised, was to main- 
 tain its supremacy over these opposing entities ; 
 and though it was powerfully restrained, and some- 
 times disputed, it never failed to display itself, with 
 full effect, when a suitable opportunity oflfered. 
 The vigilance, and strenuousness with which this 
 authority was exercised, served, in some measure, 
 to shrowd its native imbecility, and to i-ender these 
 views and interests which it supported, for the most 
 part, in the end, superior to those, by which they 
 were opposed. 
 
 It forms no part of my design, to set up any 
 apology for the atrocities and perversities, which 
 flowed from these usurpations, or to decypher their 
 advantages and disadvantages, in regard to those 
 objects and processes by which the wants of men 
 were su{)plied. It is enough to say, that within 
 this chaos of moral and intellectual principles, the 
 genial truth and efficacy of the Christian revelation 
 were comprized, and that that vital energy, which 
 
 T 2
 
 148 
 
 distinguishes this heavenly communication of truth 
 in all its operations, could not be prevented from 
 improving the human race ; these principles, even 
 then, developing advantages of the highest nature, 
 and sending forth influences which still adumbrate 
 and nourish our productive faculties. Under the 
 Popish and Gothic dominations, accordingly, slaves 
 were manumitted, peasants had their privilege to 
 the rights of humanity recognized and protected, 
 feudal subjection became an appropriate ligument 
 and cement in the Christian community ; and 
 since the powers and operations of these and of 
 several other ordinations, were restrained by the 
 principles, and invigorated by the motives, that 
 are peculiar to our holy religion, rulers, potenta- 
 tes, and even great princes, were, necessarily l6d 
 to flivor the encrease of these beneficent tendencies; 
 and though occasionally kept in severe durance, 
 by an authority which they could not but execrate 
 and despise, they generally found it convenient to 
 compromise their claims, by yielding to the dictates 
 of moderation and forbearance. 
 
 But besides such ordinations, under the same in- 
 fluence, the strength of society was established and 
 organized in a variety of institutions, which w^ere 
 expressly destined to produce a series of beneficent 
 actions. These institutions, had a range peculiar to 
 themselves, which was generally sheltered from the 
 storm of violence. Therein genius, as well as indus- 
 try was protected ; therein also, the claims of hum- 
 anity were admitted to be paramount to all others.
 
 149 
 
 Under such auspices, the forms and usages of so- 
 ciety, acquired a complexion and a texture, which 
 coincided with Christian and independent princi- 
 ples ; it was thus, that these became established, and 
 universally diffused ; and it was thus also that bar- 
 barism and licentiousness themselves, asswaged and 
 mollified, became the instruments of extending the 
 power of the general system. We are now-a-days 
 astonished at the success, with which many vague, 
 absurd, and unintelligible dogmas, were propagated. 
 Let us recollect, however, that these derived their 
 strength from the truths which were conveyed a- 
 long with them, and were impelled into action by 
 most beneficent institutions ; and that while they 
 were writhedwith the strong arm of public authori- 
 ties, on the necks of the subjugated, they were fixed 
 by a turbulent priesthood, upon the foreground of a 
 grand progression of public improvement, with 
 which they were incessantly incorporated and iden- 
 tified ; and to which they, in their turn, from the 
 beneficent operation of the general system, could 
 not but give an ameliorating tendency. 
 
 Amidst these scenes, certain leading principles 
 obtained a firm foundation in the social body. The 
 rude attritions that took place betwixt men and 
 objects, and the powerful energy with which these 
 principles were impressed upon these, served alike 
 to extend the influence, and to consolidate the force 
 of these principles. Mutual good will, attended 
 by a condescending and forbearing spirit, co-ope- 
 rated with conscious potency and determined for-
 
 150 
 
 titiide, in forming the minds of men to heroic 
 actions. Besides this, these principles, having re- 
 ceived an organic efficiency from the institutions 
 and establishments in which they were invested, 
 individuals vi^ere instinctively disposed to regard the 
 condition of each other with favor and attention ; 
 and these feelings co-operating w-ith that sense of 
 mutual dependence, which stimulates the exertions 
 of individuals, in order that they may by these ex- 
 ertions acquire, their own necessary supplies, «; mer- 
 ciful compelitum mid cmulafmi, became the ruling 
 principle in those processes, by which such supplies 
 (Jould be obtained. Coertion, no doubt, contin- 
 ued more or less to goad on the exertions of the 
 multitude, but it was, in general, a species of 
 coertion, which is consistent with the character and 
 circumstances of man, and with those develope- 
 ments of these, which are necessarily attendant on 
 moral and intellectual advancement. 
 
 Violence and oppression, supported by pride 
 and ignorance, no doubt, too frequently interfer- 
 ed with the ordinary operations of industry, and 
 of commercial enterprize, and gave them a bias un- 
 favorable to improvement ; and these sometimes ob- 
 tained a fixed, and inflexible ascendancy in those 
 otherwise beneficent institutions and ordinations, 
 which had been established. Still, however, to this 
 baleful influence, a powerful check was found in 
 the multitude of interests by which their opera- 
 tions could be opposed, and to which, accordingly, 
 they were frequently obliged to succumb. The
 
 151 
 
 operation of these checks was frequently most sahi- 
 tary. Appeals were made to the common sense 
 of mankind, regarding their own leading concern- 
 ments ; and individuals thus became interested in 
 the general measures by which the jarring views and 
 interests of states and of potentates, were adjusted. 
 All of which views and interests, were thus, accord- 
 ingly, in general subjected to the trial of justice and 
 reason, before they could be carried into effect. 
 
 UxDiiR such circumstances, the business of society 
 proceeded, and various methods, suited to the exist- 
 ing feelings and sentiments of men, were resorted 
 to, for the purpose of apportioning labor, and distri- 
 buting its results amongst the different classes of 
 society. There could scarcely be said to be any fixed 
 instrument for ascertaining the rates of absolute 
 value. The standard medium, as fixed by a me- 
 tallic currency, was rarely interposed for this pur- 
 pose. In place of this instrument, customs and 
 usages, congenial to the rude and independent 
 spirit of the times, were resorted to. In some in- 
 stances, personal services compensated certain pe- 
 culiar claims ; in others, productions and commo- 
 dities, delivered in kind, served the same purpose; 
 and in general, the wants and circumstances of in- 
 dividuals, found, in the order of things that was es- 
 tablished, a direct access to the means of supply, 
 without the intervention of any very determinate 
 equivalent. These modes of distribution and ap- 
 portionment, though rude in their first conception, 
 and scarcely resting on any real substantial basis.
 
 152 
 
 being congenial to the frank and magnanimous spi- 
 rit which then prevailed, were, for the most part, 
 not only most pertinaciously adhered to, but they 
 served to maintain in full force, the character of 
 the system, and in the end, they formed one of the 
 finest and boldest traits of the feudal era. 
 
 The great point of excellence, however, in which 
 this system, in our present view of it, appears to 
 us, is its aptitude to receive and carry forward 
 improvements and meliorations, of the highest and 
 noblest kind. This susceptibility of improvement 
 derived almost its whole value from its being an 
 inherent quality of the system, and independent of 
 individual influence. Individuals might occasion- 
 ally figure high in the system ; they might dis- 
 play their personal character, with full effect, in 
 a number of ways, leaving behind them an im- 
 press of their sentiments and operations, sufficient 
 not only to illustrate their virtues and their vices, 
 but to display the effects of these to future ages. 
 Still, however, the system itself was no ways af- 
 fected by such interferences ; even after the sever- 
 est conflicts and concussions, it remained as fresh 
 and vigorous as ever, and could accommodate itself 
 to all these multifarious processes of improvement, 
 which were peculiar to its circumstances. It had 
 functions, as well as faculties, for the whole of 
 these processes; and in the midst of the operations 
 hence induced, the highest individual character 
 was frequently seen to be shaded by that of the 
 system under which his greatness was exhibited.
 
 153 
 
 Nay, the movements of tliese various processes, 
 which severally checked, composed, conjoined, and 
 subserved, each other, were such, that princes, alike 
 powerful and intelligent, sometimes found, their 
 best concerted measures absorbed by the counter- 
 vailing potency of the general system, and their 
 wisest schemes, merely petty instruments in ex- 
 tending its influence ; v;hile those of an opposite 
 description often turned out to he instruments of 
 the most powerful, as well as of the most beneficent 
 kind, and such as were altogether remote from the 
 apprehensions of the designers themselves. The craft 
 and power of Charles the Fifth, who sacrificed e- 
 vcry moral and political obligation, for tlie sake of 
 extending his own dominions and authority, so 
 completely blighted, yet so wonderfully subservient 
 to the increase of general improvement, evince 
 strongly the superiority of the system, under which 
 his measures were conducted, to all the means that 
 he could bring against it. The hot-headed, hair- 
 brained, impetuosity of Henry the Eighth, who 
 could, for a contemptible consideration, overturn 
 the balance of power in Euro})e, and cliange the 
 religion of his dominions, at a v eiiture, and who, ne- 
 vertiieless, set forward a system of j)olicy and of 
 national religion, which have been of the highest 
 use and importance to the human race, evince as 
 forcibly the counterpart of this position. In both 
 cases, tl'.e.se high agents touched springs in the sys- 
 tem, wliich were too powerful for them to inj;nage, 
 and in both cases, tlie cilects produced weie such, 
 as they could not be all prepared to meet. 
 
 V
 
 154 
 
 This remark, must, however, be obtempored by 
 this consideration, that when individuals could af- 
 fect the system, in that way which coincided with 
 its natural course, they might thereby display 
 their character, and even perpetuate their influence 
 upon the system, in a manner that illustrated alike 
 their virtue and their wisdom. Charlemagne shone 
 amidst the age of greatest barbarism, like a meteor 
 in a dark atmosphere; many of his actions, pur- 
 suits, and attainments, coincided with the course 
 of events that was then going forward, and these 
 have connected, with his name and deeds, the lus- 
 tre of his personal character. But there existed 
 no chain of connexion, no principle of accordance 
 betwixt his sublime conceptions, and the system 
 in which he was involved. With his lustre, there- 
 fore, his personal influence upon the system was 
 terminated ; his character and his atchievements are 
 known, but as their effects, like heterogeneous prin- 
 ciples, could not affect the circumambient mass 
 in a conspicuous manner ; they produced no pe- 
 culiar results ; the bodies with which they came in 
 contact, remained still rude and unsubdued. His 
 name and his deeds, remain upon record, but the 
 efforts of his genius, are sunk in the dust, amidst 
 others of inferior note. Alfred shone less conspi- 
 cuously in his day, but his influence was more gen- 
 ial and permanent, than that of Charlemagne ; it 
 was displayed and fixed in institutions and ordin- 
 ations, which coincided alike with the best inter- 
 ests, and the strongest propensities of his people. 
 -His ameliorations were easily and fully incorpor-
 
 155 
 
 ated with the system into which they were intro- 
 duced ; they sent forth results, correspondent to 
 the nature of that system, which improved its sub- 
 stantial qualities, and accelerated its advancement. 
 And hence it is, that Alfred's atchievements and 
 character, though involved amidst great obscurity, 
 are known and felt, at the distance of a thousand 
 years, by the English nation. 
 
 But, besides the faculty of supporting the rights, 
 and maintaining the independence of its constituent 
 members, and that of repelling innovation, and 
 assimulating congenial principles to its own opera- 
 tions, this system had the farther quality of pre- 
 serving those high primary principles, on which 
 the grand improvement of the social body depended; 
 of maturing the early developcments of these prin- 
 ciples ; and of sending them forward under the shel- 
 ter of its power and influence, into these depart, 
 ments of social life, which corresponded with their 
 nature. In the end, we now perceive, that when 
 these high principles, have at length overtopped 
 the parent stem, the feudal system, and superceded 
 its services, that this system can contribute in the 
 fullest manner, its own luxuriance and its power, to 
 that new course of things, whicli is arising out of 
 its ruins; and that it has a tendency to predispose 
 this new progression of improvement to analyse 
 and absorb its own elements. The reformation, by 
 Luther and the lathers of the protestant ciuuxh, 
 arose ofout principles which were prei)ared to their 
 hand. These principles had a deep root, in the 
 
 u 2
 
 156 
 
 general system, they had given forth various deve* 
 lopements long before their days, and although these 
 developements were repressed, elements were pre- 
 pared which exhibited the innate power of the prin- 
 ciples from whence these had sprung, and the supe- 
 riority of the system under which they existed, over 
 that povv'er which for the moment took the lead in 
 its affairs. The feats of Columbus, arose out of 
 those of the Portuguese and other nations, who had 
 prepared, defended, and developed those first prin- 
 ciples, out of which his own discoveries arose. The 
 subhme researches of Newton, were in like manner 
 merely continuations of those of Galileo, Coperni- 
 cus, and others, who amidst much opposition and 
 many difficulties, had directed the human attention 
 to these principles and rules, by which such high ob- 
 jects were to be judged of and ascertained. 
 
 If we look towards the primary moving princi- 
 ples, by which these peculiar advantages were thus 
 impelled into the general service of society, we will 
 perceive that these sprung directly from the opera- 
 tion of the system itself. Where emulous compe- 
 tition supercedes the necessity of direct and sim- 
 ple cocrtion, the mind of man acquires an energy 
 and elasticity in all its movements, that render 
 him in some points a superior being. But this 
 emulous competition in the present case, possessed 
 an extension in its range of operations, and it had 
 within this range, a multiplicity of objects which 
 favored its highest exercises, that were altogether
 
 157 
 
 new in the world. These elements, were formed 
 \inder the chaotic ebulitions of Gothic institutions. 
 The principles, which operated on these had been 
 nurtured in the woods, and exercised on the en- 
 sanguined plains of Europe. These elements and 
 these principles, were moreover homologated with 
 a beneficent religion, and through its instrumen- 
 tality, they had passed into all the duties and offi- 
 ces of social and civil life. The system, thus con- 
 stituted, could restrain the tyranny of princes, at the 
 same time that it animated them with irresistable vi- 
 gor; itpermeated the influencesof improvement, and 
 thereby accelerated its progression, at the very time 
 that it fixed down this progression, to useful and 
 valuable objects ; and while it diffused lite and en- 
 ergy into all the active powers of the whole body- 
 politic, it rendered these, severally, alike, counter- 
 poises, and stimulants to each others operations. 
 The truth is, Europe became a grand congeries of 
 improving establishments, a vast republic of social 
 advancements, each of which on feudal and chris- 
 tian principles, impelled, supported, and balanced 
 each other. The ultimate object of all was indi- 
 vidual and territorial improvement ; but amidst 
 such improvements, a variety of countervailing gen- 
 eral and particular interests perpetually arose in- 
 to power, which counteracted and modified the 
 general progression towards this grand object, and 
 which severally prevailed and subsided, without 
 any determinate rule of succession. 
 
 Having now taken a general view of the princi-
 
 158 
 
 pies, which were introduced into society, under 
 the influence of these conjoined systems, and also, 
 taken some notice of the diversified operations, to 
 which these principles gave rise, it is proper, in the 
 next place, to advert briefly, to the constituted au- 
 thorities, and recognized powers, under which these 
 systems were severally exercised. Here a multifa- 
 rious and complex scene presencs itself to our no- 
 tice ; political entities, almost without end, and 
 these having severally, peculiar, and sometimes 
 opposing interests to maintain, appear on the fore- 
 ground. The papal hierarchy, which exercised an 
 indirect domination, over all these interests, first 
 attracts our regard. This domination, amidst the 
 varied and intricate evolutions of these different 
 component parts of the general system, could in- 
 troduce its mysterious power, its co-ercive influence, 
 in such a way, as to attach to itself, and to its nu- 
 merous emissaries and dependants, with all their 
 varied interests their operations and pursuits, a 
 very high degree of public regard. By this means, 
 tlie want of direct piedominant power, was not 
 only amply made up, but a right of authoritative 
 interference became established in its favor, which 
 in the end, permeated the whole civil and politi- 
 cal body. But besides this, while the various 
 states of Europe continued in incessant agitation, 
 and fvom their mutual repugnance, were incapable 
 of following out any conjoined mode of operation, 
 the papal power assumed a supremacy over the 
 whole, which it annexed to its recognised authori- 
 rity. This supremacy, was supported by all the
 
 159 
 
 artifices, peculiar to that subtile usurpation. Its 
 views of its own interests, alike extensive, acute, 
 and penetrating, embraced the whole concern- 
 ments of all its emissaries and dependants. These 
 views were followed out, by a line of policy, at 
 once daring and inflexii)le ; and in their operation, 
 they implicated the highest interests of states, indi- 
 viduals, and potentates, for a long series of ages. 
 
 The great and ultimate object, constantly in the 
 view of the Romish Church was, to extend and 
 consolidate her own power, and to monopolize for 
 herself and for her partizans, the largest possible 
 share of every thing valuable and important. The 
 means to which she resorted for this purpose, were 
 analogous to this design, and they coincided with 
 her character. She agitated the various existing 
 political entities, by casuistical difficulties, by her 
 own pretensions, and by her mystical distinctions ; 
 these turmoils she supported by the most sophisti- 
 cal disquisitions, and by the most tremenduou§ de- 
 nounciations, against all who called these in ques- 
 tion. Thus she continued to distract, without any 
 determinate object, and almost witliout any os- 
 tensible end, the councils of princes, as well as the 
 regular movements of the European system. But 
 while she professed to prevent the devastation of 
 Christendom, shemostdirectlyaugmcntcd the sphere 
 of her own domination ; while she was cinpioy- 
 ed, in bhghting the progress of general improve- 
 ment, she pretended to be occupied in retarding 
 that of vice and corruption ; and while she cfiec-
 
 160 
 
 tually repressed the developements of the human 
 mind, she exhibited her power, and supported her 
 assumptions, by appeals to tenets, which no one 
 had then the audacity to scrutinize or controvert. 
 It is evident, that a domination, thus exercised and 
 thus extended, might easily keep the various compo- 
 nent parts of a system, so rude and indigested, in 
 a state of constant repugnance to each other, and 
 thus retardthose ameUoratinff and harmonizing^ ten- 
 dencies, which are inherent in the civilizing process. 
 This insidious policy, indeed, emitted one general 
 advantage, it preserved to each of these civilizing 
 processes, its separate faculty of improving itself; 
 and rendered these processes, severally more or 
 less, independent of every other process. But this 
 object was effected in such a manner, as to evince 
 her total disregard to the separate interests of these 
 very processes, and to indicate most unequivocally, 
 her devotedness to selfish aggrandisement. Not 
 content with monopolizing all spiritual power, and 
 extending its precincts through every department 
 of social life, with advancing her own, and her 
 suffragan's authority, above judicial control, and 
 claiming a supremacy even in secular and tempor- 
 al affairs, which was, in a manner paramount to 
 every existing human authority, she betook her- 
 self to the disorganizing system, for the purpose of 
 drawing into her own hands the whole wealth of the 
 community, fixed and floating, circulable and here- 
 ditary. The possessions thus attained, she declar- 
 ed to be unalienable, and the influence annexed to 
 these possessions, to be indefeasible. Having thus
 
 161 
 
 raised her own interests, generally, throughout the 
 whole sphere of their operation, she concealed no 
 longer the hideous nature of her pretensions ; her 
 character proceeded to unveil itself, and to exhi- 
 bit a collection of malign propensities, that outdid 
 even those of the mythology of the ancients. The 
 wealth, that had been withdrawn from its usual 
 channel, being thus unhesitatingly sacrificed to the 
 service of those propensities, Europe became uni- 
 versally implicated, not only in a most malignant, 
 but in a most degrading bondage. Can it there- 
 fore appear surprizing, that it should have become 
 the manifest desire of society at large, to lower 
 the pretensions, and to exclude the interference 
 of the hierarchy, long before any fit and appro- 
 priate method, of doing this with advantage, had 
 been prepared for that purpose ? 
 
 The next class of powers that presents itself to 
 our regard, is that of the great states, into which 
 Europe was split up, on the destruction of the Ro- 
 man Empire. The Gothic nations had spread 
 themselves over its whole territory, and their de- 
 solating conquests were so complete, that every 
 vestige of the ancient state of things was absolute- 
 ly destroyed. Having parceled out the possessions 
 which they obtained, according to those principles, 
 which arose out of their former modes of existence, 
 their leaders annexed to that personal autiiorit}', 
 which they had enjoyed over their subjects, when 
 luited in a military capacity, that of supreme rul- 
 '*r or king, over the districts in which their [)owel- 
 
 X
 
 162 
 
 had become established. Under their authority, 
 their inferior officers as subsidiaries were arranged, 
 and invested witli similar possessions and with cor- 
 respondent power, and under these again, inferior 
 delegatioiis succesivcly were made, until a form of 
 social organization, correspondent with these prin- 
 ciples of graduated subjection, which took place in 
 the fit. Id of battle, had become constituted. The 
 great object in view, in framing this order of things, 
 was to prepare those parties, for defending and se- 
 curing their possessions ; and for disposing them as 
 occasion served, to follow up any farther usurpa- 
 tions that might present itself to the general no- 
 tice. For this purpose, various modes of delibera- 
 tion were provided, in which, the will of the na- 
 tion at large, was held to have been obtained. It 
 must be observed, however, that so tremendous had 
 been the desolating havoc of these nations, and so 
 prone to rapine and bloodshed were their dispo- 
 sitions, that the ancient possessors of these coun- 
 tries, were completely swallowed up in the gen- 
 eral system. Every thing that could attract their 
 regard, was levelled with the ground, and those 
 only who could be absorbed into the system, were 
 permitted to remain. Here therefore there was 
 nothing to provide for ; it was ostensibly in the 
 view of warding off similar inroads from their an- 
 cient settlements, of protecting themselves from 
 sustaining a repetition of disasters, similar to 
 these which they had themselves inflicted, that 
 these nations thus provided ^themselves, in their 
 new settlements; and it appeared that they had.
 
 163 
 
 but too much occasion to put to the test the effi- 
 cacy of that system, which they had thus institut- 
 ed/ 
 
 These various powers and states, however, though 
 thus organized and constituted, were generally far 
 from being disposed to that fixed mode of life, 
 which such provisions implied; for they scrupled not 
 to make inroads into the possessions of their neigh- 
 bours and brethren, especially when these had se- 
 cured to themselves a better lot, than that which 
 had fallen to their own share. This circumstance, 
 vastly impeded the process of civilization, and it 
 gradually augmented the darkness and misery of 
 the feudal era. In such a state of things, the para- 
 mount influence of the papal see, was not without 
 its uses ; it served to asswage animosity, to stimu- 
 late nations that were liable to become impjf cated 
 in a similar fate to bestir themselves, in support 
 of general peace, and even to set bounds to their 
 own usurpations. By making direct appeals, on such 
 subjects, to mankind at large, as intelligent and 
 accountable creatures, this power exercised their 
 common feelings and perceptions, under the most 
 rational views of their own interests. "^Tlicse be- 
 nign operations, were, no doubt, by similar me- 
 thods, frequently traversed and abused by this very 
 power itself. Still, however, by these and by other 
 means, nations and individuals, were gradually 
 taught to disincumber their minds from their bar- 
 barous propensities ; and in the end, under the 
 influence of Christian principles, to abandon their
 
 164 
 
 ibrmer desolating mode of conquest for the purpose 
 of absolute subjugation. Although, such views were 
 on various occasions set aside, still, however, being 
 recognised as principles that ought to sway Chris- 
 tian nations, in their mutual transactions, the bulk 
 of the people, became less impffcated in nation- 
 al struggles than formerly ; they lost gradually the 
 savage nature of their former character; warfare, 
 became at length what it now is, merely a struggle 
 betwixt the rulers of nations for an extension of 
 tlieir patrimonial domains ; an extension, in which 
 not one, in many hundreds of their subjects, could 
 at all participate or enjoy. 
 
 When warlike enterprises had assumed this char- 
 acter, and when the inferior members of the feu- 
 dal body had become fixed in their possessions, 
 it is evident, that few, except the chief feudatories, 
 and these too of the more adventurous descrip- 
 tion, would relish foreign warfare. The junior or 
 more dependent part, and these who sought to dis- 
 play their prowess under the eye of their sovereign, 
 would, no doubt, flock to such standards ; but we 
 must recollect, that as the independent principles 
 of Gothic subordination prevailed and as those were 
 insufficient of themselves to constitute an army, so 
 except in these cases, wherein the national honor, or 
 the national independence, were so impt'^cated, as 
 to call forth the strength of states, in a regular way, 
 such enterprises were far from being either sup- 
 ported, or conducted on these high grounds, up- 
 on which the first irruptions of the Gothic bands
 
 165 
 
 had taken place. The truth is, the magnanimous 
 Brdorofthe feudal system, gradually mouldered 
 down, to a convenient form, which served more to 
 exhibit the prowess of individuals, than to exercise 
 the capacity of nations for subjugating each other. 
 The risk and ex]lence of foreign warfare, was seen, 
 and at length appretiated ; the advantages and 
 blessings resulting from the arts of peace were per- 
 ceived ; and these arts arose constantly in impor- 
 tance, until certain amehorating accessories render- 
 ed them principal subjects in the general system. 
 Princes were, by such means, checked by the opera- 
 tions of each other, and they exercised their sub- 
 jects only under the influences which became their 
 own counterpoised situation; it was rarely that they 
 could avow any deliberate design to subjugate, far 
 less to exterminate any other nation. 
 
 But princes and states were not only counter- 
 acted in their operations, by their mutual repug- 
 nance, and thwarted and traversed by the mystical 
 influence of papal domination ; their general move- 
 ments, and even their established procedure were 
 checked, and balanced by those constituent part* 
 of the system, w^ierein their power was comprized- 
 The feudal princes, unlike those of the preceding 
 era, did not at once command the whole energies 
 of their sw^jects ; they did this only through the 
 instrumentality of baronial, ecclesiastical, and po- 
 pular feudatories, or intermediate powers. Each 
 of these feudatories, had his own peculiar and un- 
 alienable immunities and privileges, and these,
 
 166 
 
 as occasion served, they could exercise, maintain, 
 and defend, against each other, and even against 
 the sovereign himself. In upholding this species 
 of independence, each of these fiefs mutually as- 
 sisted each other. The hierarchy, as a matter of 
 course, seconded their pretensions ; and rival states 
 and princes, thus countenanced and befriended, 
 frequently lent their aid, in the same cause; inso- 
 much, that the claims of vassals and dependants fre- 
 quently stood on a more stable footing, than those 
 of their com mon sovereign. The authority of prin- 
 ces, thus balanced and circumscribed, was evidently 
 of a nature, altogether different from that posses- 
 sed by princes under the preceding era. 
 
 There still remained, however, in the social sys- 
 tem, another set of checks and balances, which, 
 in the end, was destined to obtain the preponde- 
 rancy over all the rest. This was, that of the com- 
 mercial and industrious class. The interests of this 
 class were, at first, held to be involved in those of 
 the others 5 from which however, they were seen to 
 be excluded; and it was seldom that more than sus- 
 tenance and protection were admitted to be their 
 due. The beneficent principles of the Christian re- 
 ligion, and the independent maxims of the Northern 
 hemisphere, were however, infused into their condi- 
 tion; and their circumstances not being so different 
 from those of their recognized superiors, as they had 
 been, during the preceding era, the feelings of these 
 last, became also less repugnant to those ofthe former, 
 than they had then been ; thus preparingthem forthat
 
 167 
 
 improvement which was becoming universal. Insti- 
 tutions, wliich secured this advantage to them, to- 
 gether with certain rights and possessions befitting 
 their condition were provided for their service, and 
 held by them by the same irrefragable tenure with 
 those held by their superiors. In their favor the hier- 
 archy frequently interfered ; for it was the grand de- 
 sign of this power to retain this class completely in 
 its interests ; and the circumstances of the times 
 enabled it to accomplish this end, frequently, with- 
 out much difficulty or embarrassment to any de- 
 partment of the body-politic. Princes and states, 
 found also their advantage, in playing off the rights 
 of these dependents against the power of their supe- 
 riors. All these ameliorating tendencies coincided 
 with, and were supported by the institutions, doc- 
 trines and precepts of religion, as these were receiv- 
 ed and acted upon by the community atlarge. Hence 
 It was, that though the interests of this class, were 
 at the outset, treated with contempt, by all the other 
 classes; and though for centuries, this class was not 
 known in a political capacity, yet its general circum- 
 stances continued to improve. Individuals, indeed, 
 were compressed strenuously within their proper 
 sphere, their personal interests and feelings were un- 
 hesitatingly sacrificed to those of their superiors, and 
 rhey were on the whole, proverbially, mean and vile; 
 but as their state was accessible to improvement, as 
 the whole superincumbent system rested on their ex- 
 ertions, concussions in the body-politic not unfre- 
 quently elicited sparks of genius from their minds, 
 and advanced them ])urtially in the general system;
 
 168 
 
 thus placing them on a footing, vastly superior to 
 that of their predecessors; and by exercising and 
 securing their previous attainments, preparing them 
 for their present respectable condition, 
 
 It was under these auspices, that the industrious 
 and commercial processes, were for many ages car- 
 ried on. The medium of exchange, rarely inter- 
 vened its equalizing faculty ; for the services, pos- 
 sessions, and commodities, which were provided for 
 the service of the community, were for the most 
 part apportioned and distributed, by rights and 
 claims, which could not be determined by any such 
 instrument. Heroism and magnanimity, raised the 
 superior class above mere personal feelings, and 
 made them seek their most favorite gratifications, 
 in the attentions which they could bestow upon the 
 wants of others. When personal dignity, and inher- 
 ent power therefore, made them masters of commo- 
 dities, these disposed them also to distribute these, 
 in a way correspondent to the wishes which these 
 qualities naturally excite, in such a state of civil ex- 
 istence. Fortitude, and a sense of obligation, were 
 leadingprinciples in the minds of those, who compos- 
 ed the lowest class ; and these principles likewise dis- 
 closed themselves, in correspondent circumstances. 
 In such a state of things, consolidated through uni- 
 versal consent, confirmed by irrefragable customs, 
 and organized in appropriate institutions — the prin- 
 ciple of emulation, would be a much more power- 
 ful stimulant, to incessant industry, than simple 
 coertion — and the hope of peculiar patronage, than
 
 169 
 
 the expectation of direct remuneration. The tnitn 
 is, neither the medium of exchange, nor any in- 
 strument, that could determine theabsohite claims 
 of distributive justice, could in such circumstances 
 be resorted to. This was the era, wherein the high 
 and lofty passions of the mind were enthroned, di- 
 rect appeals to the legal standard, either of value 
 or of justice, were therefore, for the most part, re- 
 garded with contempt. 
 
 It deserves to be noted, however, that a vast di- 
 versity in these respects took place,, in different 
 states, and that these diversities exhibited the dis- 
 tinctive character of these states much more forcibly 
 than either language, climate, or descent could do. 
 These diversities, with the causes of their produc- 
 tion, may, therefore, with much propriety, be here 
 shortly reviewed. Poland was the barrier country 
 of civilization, and it was, for many centuries, the 
 scene of arduous and sanguinary struggles. These 
 were generally conducted under the direct author- 
 ity of deputies, who thus exercised under their own 
 influence, upon the principles formerly explained, 
 the whole inti^rior population. The population, gra- 
 dually Ibrmcd under sucli banners, became at Icngtli 
 fully disciplined and organized, in that way which 
 best promoted the selfish views of these lieuten- 
 ants ; and its whole body became, in the end, no 
 less attached than subjected to these deputies. The 
 lieutenants, becoming thus legally and absolute- 
 ly possessed of the means and piinci})les of ag- 
 grandizement, perceived, however, the necessity 
 
 Y
 
 170 
 
 of harmonizing their operations, and the adAantages 
 that could be obtained from consolidating their se- 
 veral forces, and incorporatingthese under onebody- 
 politic ; they therefore formed a kind of military un- 
 ion, under a common head. The lieutenants them- 
 selves, with their dependents, constituted that aggre- 
 gate body, whereon the supreme power rested. 
 Their chief was denominated their king, but he 
 had no paramount personal interest or influence 
 that entitled him to this appellation. He was mere- 
 ly their recognized grand functionary, elected 
 under their influence, and necessitated to give 
 way on all occasions to the monopolizing spirit, 
 and overbearing authority, which arose out of their 
 aggrandizing projects. Amongst a number of ag- 
 grandized characters, the king was the first, but 
 it was needful for him to regulate all his move- 
 ments, according to the views of a factious aristo- 
 cracy, which was no less jealous of their prince, 
 than inimical to the best interests of their country. 
 In Poland, impetuosity and faction, turbulence 
 and outrage, were inseparable. Perhaps we see in 
 Turkey, some such organization and constitution 
 of society, as that which we consider as having exist- 
 ed in this unhappy country. It must be noticed, 
 however, that in Poland, Christian principles, and 
 Christian institutions, had the ascendancy; and 
 that there, also, that regard to personal character, 
 which was peculiar to the feudal era prevailed. 
 These advantages prevented the feelings of men 
 from degenerating into that low sensuality, on the 
 one side, and into that criminal insensibility to the
 
 171 
 
 claims of humanity, on the other, which seem to 
 be inseparable from the Turkish character. 
 
 In such circumstances, it is evident, that the pro- 
 gress of improvement, wouldbe exceedingly slow and 
 feeble. Productions that could magnify the pomp, 
 and emblazon the superiority of the dominant 
 class, would, no doubt, be superabundant ; cities 
 — wherein the arts, necessary for unfolding and 
 miintaining metropolitan grandeur, and baronial 
 pride, and for expediting the ordinary course of 
 things, could be profitably exercised and displayed 
 — would not be awanting. But, as to those other 
 arts, which are more needful for the social body, 
 no such advantage could be attained. Mliere 
 a few chieftains could, with a strong hand, control 
 the ordinary and useful employments of man almost 
 at pleasure ; and could, without any appeal to esta- 
 blished rules, appropriate the productions of these 
 to their own private emolument, it is evident, that 
 no great advancement could take place. Under the 
 pressure of direct coertion, the agricultural and 
 pastoral employments might proceed ; and thus 
 a profusion of the most necessary articles of life 
 might be obtained ; but as to these industrious 
 processes, which have for their object the domes- 
 tic comfort, the social advancement, the civil en- 
 joy meiitsof the great mass of the people, no adequate 
 support could be procured. Those industrious 
 processes, which alike exalt the character, and 
 ameliorate the circumstances of mankind at large, 
 and which are so famiUar to our apprehension, as 
 
 Y 2
 
 172 
 
 scarcely to afford us any conception of their non- 
 existence, were therefore awanting. Such matters 
 were generally tln'ovvn out of the system, so that here 
 as under the Roman and Greek dominations, the 
 employment of the multitude, and the exercises of 
 their chiefs, served more to increase the debasement 
 of the former, and to exasperate the pride of the lat- 
 ter, than to produce any decided improvement in 
 human affairs. Thus, the current course of indus- 
 try, led to a dereliction of many of these qualities, 
 which were peculiar to the feudal system ; these per- 
 verse propensities, served to seal and confirm its de- 
 teriorating influence, and to give to the movements 
 of human intercourse, a concrete and absorbing in- 
 fluence which was totally inconsistent with that gen- 
 erous competition, that social independence, which 
 was generally connected with this system. 
 
 That instrument of personal independence, the 
 standard medium of value, the basis of commercial 
 intercourse, rarely intervened. In general, this 
 intercourse was left absolutely to the operations of 
 chance. The transactions of government, and the 
 movements of ecclesiastical polity, from the existing 
 state of things, commonly dispensed with its inter- 
 vention. The tenure of heritable property, and the 
 usages of the proprietors of such subjects, ex- 
 cluded its operations, in a similar manner. Even 
 the productions of the soil, and the valuable com- 
 modities, that were exuded from the exertions of 
 slaves, could be distributed, and their value realiz- 
 ed, without its assistance. It was chiefly in the
 
 transactions of the Jews, that any thing like regii* 
 lar commercial enterprizc, or the circulation of tfie 
 medium took place. This despised race of men, 
 excluded alike from Christian society and from 
 territorial possessions, found in this proudful sphere 
 of Polish industry, such an abundant lield for their 
 cnterprize, that they adopted this country, as their 
 chief residence ; and, amidst their private recesses 
 and employments, they gradually monopolized and 
 concentrated nearly all that fluent wealth and com- 
 merce, which this immense territory comprized. 
 
 There are certain points of resemblance be- 
 twixt this state of things and that which prevailed 
 in Scotland, during a great part of the same epoch, 
 that here demand our pointed regard. Neither in 
 Poland, nor in Scotland, could the sovereign make 
 a common cause in general improvement w^ith the 
 industrious, and with the middle ranks of so- 
 ciety ; because, these were all beat down, and or- 
 ganized under the banners of the barons. Neither 
 could these sovereigns, form one common cause 
 v;ith the hierarchy, because that crafty domination, 
 aware of the difficulty of overawing such powerful 
 chiefs, preferred that direct line of policy, where- 
 in its own immediate interests lay. Its metropo- 
 litans had usurped the same rank with the tumul- 
 tuous barons ; with these last therefore the Church 
 joined its influence, in order to increase the com- 
 mon power appertaining to them ccmjoinedly j 
 and thus, this power, in place of keeping its usual 
 popular tract, contributed to writhe on the necks
 
 174 
 
 Qt the king and people the common yoke of the ba- 
 rons and its own metropolitans. It suited the eccle- 
 siastical interest however, sometimes to tamper with 
 tliese opposite parties ; but in so doing, this pow- 
 er rarely effected any one good common object. 
 It sometimes augmented its ow-n peculiar claims, 
 and sometimes it counterpoised those of the barons 
 that were most generally obnoxious ; but, in the 
 end, tl e general system of tyranny and oppression 
 was, for the most part, only the more confirmed 
 and extended by such interferences. 
 
 Therb are two leading circumstances however iii 
 the situation of the Scottish nation, that have con- 
 fributed to give to the system, developed there, 
 a very difllereut complexion from that of Poland. 
 First, the bleak climate, and rugged soil of Scot- 
 land, approximated the condition of her chiefs, 
 more to that of their vassals, than those in Poland: 
 hence a suavity of manners, and a commixture of 
 exercises, took place in Scotland, that could not 
 possibly exist in Poland. These things rendered the 
 connexion, which subsisted betwixt these parties 
 more like to those ties and liguments, which result 
 from parental subjection, than to the bonds by which 
 the arrogant lords of Poland, exercised their domin- 
 ion upon its fertile plains. In the second place, 
 its remote and secluded situation, and the moder-, 
 ate views of its governments, preserved Scotland 
 for many ages, secure from foreign interference ; 
 those criminal intrigues, originating in jealousy 
 and ambition, which disgraced the councils of the
 
 Ill 
 
 Polish state, were for many ages unknown to those 
 of Scotland. These and other circumstances, pif)- 
 duced a harmony and power in the Scotch pro- 
 cesses of improvement, of wln'ch, there were few 
 instances in the early stages of the feudal s}^stem- 
 
 If we attend to the general polity and received 
 character of the Scottish nation and government, 
 prior to the wars of the succession, we must be- 
 come satisfied, that the current course of industry, 
 and of commercial intercourse, must have then 
 been upon a very favorable footing. In its remot- 
 est districts, there are still monuments of power and 
 wealth, that were erected during that epoch, which 
 far transcend the present capabilities of that coun- 
 try, greatly advanced in improvement and civiliza- 
 tion, as it unquestionably is. Here, not only splen- 
 did and magnificent edifices, for the service of reli- 
 gion, and abundant provisions for the maintainance 
 of its ministers; but superb castles, and private edi- 
 fices, and vestiges of rural and agricultural improve- 
 ment, of no mean description, indicated alike the 
 concentration of industry and of genius, and the 
 existence of an advanced state, and sublime turn 
 of mind, in the people who could project such un- 
 dertakings. When we turn our eyes to her civil 
 and municipal polity, v.e find unctpiivocal j)roofs 
 of high improvement, and of public spirit, such as 
 could only be corresj)ondent to, and co-existent 
 with, considerable progression in general and com- 
 mercial industry. This happy state of things, was 
 iiowcvcr, eHectually arrested by the base and per-
 
 176 
 
 fidious interference of Edward the First, king oi' 
 England, who, availing himself of the suppliant 
 disposition of the candidates for the Scottish 
 Crown, first attacked the independency of that vir- 
 tuous nation, and then introduced his baleful in- 
 fluence into its councils ; an influence which Eng- 
 land, scarcely ceased more or less, to exercise, un- 
 til the turbulence of the Scotch barons, and the 
 barbarity which they thus introduced into their 
 country, approximated the circumstances of that 
 once happy nation, to those of Poland, and prepared 
 it for that kind of fate, which, in the case of that 
 country, all parties now so strongly reprobate. This 
 conduct, is the more to be execrated, because we 
 know, that the Scottish court and nation, previous 
 to that period, had in many instances displayed 
 a most generous and magnanimous spirit, when 
 similar turmoils had taken place in England ; and 
 because the good understanding of the two coun- 
 tries, was already secured by the substantial inter- 
 est, which the king of Scotland, as feudal superior 
 of the frontier counties of England, had in main- 
 taining this harmony. Having mentioned these 
 atrocious perversities, in the rulers of a great na- 
 tion, it may be proper also, to notice the divine 
 vengeance, which soon after overtook that people, 
 and-manifested to the world, how^ highly the di- 
 vine indignation is excited, when Christian nations 
 thus wickedly desert their common faith. The 
 sword which the English king wielded, entered 
 into his own bowels and his own nation, in those 
 horrid devastating, and sanguinary conflicts which
 
 r 
 
 look place, sometime afterwards, regarding the 
 line of succession of its own kings; which calamities 
 continued with little intermission, until nearly the 
 whole of this monarch's descendants, and of the an- 
 cient race of nobles, had become extinct. Their 
 continued perversity was farther humbled, when it 
 afterwards coincided with the divine procedure to 
 unite the two kingdoms under one head. This was 
 effected, by the failure of the English, and the sub- 
 stitution of the Scotch race of kings, upon their com- 
 mon throne ; who thereupon entered into possession 
 of that power, which their ungracious predecessors 
 had aggregated in this unseemly manner. 
 
 These statements, are not given with any view 
 to the feelings, which they might at one time have 
 excited ; in the lapse of so many ages, these parties, 
 must have been so commixed, and their party feel- 
 ings rendered so obtuse, that views of this kind, 
 must appear at once, useless and absurd. Far less 
 are they meant to exhibit general notions of the 
 order of Divine Providence, on such occasions. 
 When one nation is exalted, and another depressed, 
 one employed as the instrument of his mercy, and 
 another of his vengeance, the procedure of Hea- 
 ven rests upon principles, which no mere human be- 
 ing can scan. These statements are here introduc- 
 ed, merely, because they elucidate these move- 
 ments, in the general system of Scotland, which 
 led to its dissolution, and because they serve to il- 
 lustrate this fact, that the more attentively we re- 
 gard the history of nations, the more clearly will 
 
 z
 
 178 
 
 we discern the certain and irrefragable connexion, 
 that subsists betwixt their welfare, and their uni- 
 form adherence to the principles of magnanimous; 
 forbearance and dignified reciprocity ; and betwixt 
 their conformity to these rules, that correspond with 
 just and benevolent sentiments, and their own 
 proximate fate and condition. In examining, in a 
 general way, a subject whereof the results and 
 fruits of our labors, and the instrument, which mea- 
 sures and apportions these, are the direct objects, 
 it seems to be alike proper, thus incidentally to ad- 
 vert to these circumstances, and to avoid entering 
 into any farther discussions respecting them. In our 
 own days, the hand of divine providence, in the 
 affairs of nations, has been discovered by tokens, 
 which must appal the most obdurate. A few years, 
 in some instances, a few months, have sufficed to an- 
 nounce the connexion betwixt national crimes, 
 and their punishment ; and they have done this in 
 a way so tremendously awful, as to silence all ca- 
 villing as to its certainty. 
 
 Before quitting this subject, however, it maybe 
 proper to notice, that the circumstances, which 
 marked the conduct of the Stuart race, while seat- 
 ed on the British throne, and those which accom- 
 panied their exclusion from it, as well as those 
 which served to place them thereon, are alike elu- 
 cidatory of the same fact. Without adverting 
 particularly to subjects necessarily so abstruse, it 
 may be stated, as a proof of the superior power of 
 the system, in which they and our nation were in-
 
 179 
 
 volved, above that of any individual whatever, that 
 some of the greatest advantages, which we at this 
 time enjoy, had their rise in the perversities of these 
 monarchs, and in those fatalities, wherein their sub- 
 jects were of consequence implicated. It was un- 
 der this inauspicious dynasty, that the two British 
 nations were radically and harmoniously incor- 
 porated together ; an event indispensably necessary, 
 in order to render them one people, great and inde- 
 pendent. It was amidst the civil broils of these 
 reigns, that its constitution, after a severe ordeal, 
 was finally fixed on its present popular basis. The 
 ship money, and other arbitrary exactions of King 
 Charles, as well as the navigation act, for some 
 time so injurious to trade, and the otherwise unna- 
 tural and impolitic warfare with the Dutch, laid 
 open to Britain the empire of the seas ; while the 
 ruinous and sanguinary absurdities of the civil wars 
 filled our North American colonies, with a race of 
 most industrious sober-minded citizens, whose ex- 
 traneous labors, in the end, afforded such a pow- 
 erful stimulus and support to our national indus- 
 try, as to have placed it on that high and indepen- 
 dent footing, on which it now stands. 
 
 Without attempting to follow out these general 
 views any fiuther, I will just remark, that it was the 
 resplendent results of Polish industry, and of Scot- 
 tish industry, subsequent to the wars of the succes- 
 sion, which interrupted the progress of improve- 
 ment. The surplus fruits of industry, passing di- 
 rectly, and ahnost exclusively, into the hands of a 
 
 z 2
 
 180 
 
 turbulent nobility, and an overweaning priesthood, 
 tended to augment the violence of the one, and the 
 rapacity of the other. The lustre of the state, as 
 represented by the monarch, was shaded by the 
 audacity of these parties, while the happiness and 
 improvement of the people, were trodden under foot 
 by their usurpations. The abundance of cathe- 
 drals and of fortresses, with all their requisite ap- 
 purtenances, with which these countries were re- 
 plete, attests the power and efficacy of the repro- 
 ductive processes then instituted ; but these also 
 attest, that these processes, did not then resolve 
 themselves into these meliorations and provisions, 
 which had a tendency to advance and protect in- 
 dividual improvement. On the contrary, notwith- 
 standing the advantage of all those highly important 
 general acquirements, which arose out of their cir- 
 cumstances, such was the general state of things, 
 that we may safely pronounce, that here, as under 
 the Pagan era, the exercises of the higher and lower 
 ranks had one common object, that of exalting the 
 first, and depressing the last of these conditions; 
 counteracted no doubt, by certain principles, in- 
 troduced into general society, by the Christian and 
 Gothic systems ; but having a determinate inclin- 
 ation to exclude all these ameliorating influences 
 more and more out of their operation. 
 
 Let us now turn our eyes towards the opposite 
 extremity of Europe, where long chains of lofty 
 mountains cover the widely extended plains of 
 -Iberia; and contemplate a developement of the
 
 181 
 
 feudal system, vastly different from the foregoing. 
 These fertile regions, under the influence of a ge- 
 nial sky and powerful government, had already 
 made considerable progress in the arts of life, when 
 the Gothic nations burst their frontier. The nu- 
 merous lofty barriers and deep recesses, with which 
 this country abounds, enabled the natives to make 
 long and vigorous stands against their barbarous 
 invaders. Race after race, however, penetrated 
 their delightful territories, and the banners of the 
 crescent, and even those of the cross itself, were not 
 unfrequently unfurled over the heads of these in- 
 furiate invaders. From Africa, and from every sur- 
 rounding shore, they found their way into this 
 fascinating region, until at length, Spain, like the 
 other countries of Europe, sunk down, subjugated 
 under their influence. These hordes, however, were 
 of different casts, and they were frequently no less 
 opposite to each other in their characters, than vio- 
 lent in their reciprocal animosities ; insomuch, that 
 in the end their hostility against each other, was 
 even more intense, than against those whom it 
 was their joint object to destroy. These desolat- 
 ing contests at length, formed them into separate 
 states ; the numerous natural divisions of Spain, and 
 the strength of the lofty boundaries which marked 
 these divisions, gradually forming them into isolat- 
 ed kingdoms, some of which, possessed a .separate- 
 existence of a longer, and some of a shorter contin- 
 uance. In the mean time, however, in order to 
 avoid the inroads of such desolating invaders, men 
 flocked into cities and strong-hold.?, thus leaving
 
 182 
 
 the open territory, in a great measure, wild and 
 desolate. 
 
 Within these recesses, the pomp of war, and the 
 pageantry of state, were alike displayed. In these 
 too. Patrician arrogance, and clerical usurpation, 
 were fully exercised. It was, in such hands as these, 
 that the wealth of the community, and the power of 
 commanding it were deposited. The wealth and. 
 power thus divided, yet thus compressed together, 
 served to check and counterpoise that viruknce, 
 with which the possession of such power and such 
 wealth, was, in these days, commonly attended, to 
 concentrate their force, and to bend them towards 
 the improvement of these objects, whereby the views 
 and measures of these parties could be promoted. 
 The objects, whereby power and splendor, could 
 be displayed, were most congenial to the circum^ 
 stances of these grandees ; and the arts for procur- 
 ing these objects accordingly, were promoted and 
 extended. The exuberant fertility of the soil, and 
 the vast profusion of gold, with which this territory 
 abounded, enabled these dominant parties, to give 
 a strong and steady stimulus and support to those 
 industrious processes, in which these arts, were 
 concentrated. To such processes accordingly, their 
 force was primarily directed, but in consequence 
 oC the abundance of the medium, and the preva- 
 lence of independent principles, this confinement 
 was not, as under the former era, absolute. Indus- 
 try became general and diffusive, and, although 
 the conmion and most ordinary processes were
 
 183 
 
 tor the most part but imperfectly supplied, and the 
 most necessary movements of industry, were lame a- 
 like in their operations and in their results ; still, 
 however, as regular industry on independent princi- 
 ples had a fixed foundation, and a firm hold upon the 
 social body, supplies suited to the circumstances 
 of all classes, and that instrument, which enabled 
 individuals to command their portion of these sup- 
 plies, were provided and circulated ; and society 
 at large, if somewhat deficient in the more ordin- 
 ary and necessary commodities, was able to com- 
 mand an abundance of those, of a foreign and exo- 
 tic kind, that befitted their condition. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the regular arts, ofva- 
 rious kinds, must have reached to some consider- 
 able degree of eminence. Pent up within their 
 cities and recesses, priests and nobles, Mahome- 
 tan as well as Christian, must have accelerated the 
 course of improvement, by all that influence and 
 talent, which their joint acquisitions could bestow. 
 Their circumstances gave them possession of those 
 rude commodities, of which the industrious are al- 
 ways in quest ; and their habits and propensities 
 induced them to relieve the industrious of those 
 finished productions and commodities, which the 
 industry and talent of these parties could prepare 
 for their use. Whence it was, that both these classes, 
 not only supplied their wants by the same move- 
 ment, but they thereby also produced that stimulus 
 and support, which was necessary to advance the 
 whole community, in the most regular order of im-
 
 184 
 
 provemcnt. Nor is this all ; the jealousy, competi- 
 tion aiid turmoils, that took place amongst the do- 
 minant classes, and the emulation in pomp, pa- 
 geantry, and luxury, to which these things gave 
 rise,* produced correspondent emulation amongst 
 the industrious and ingenious. Thus, while the com- 
 munity at large was plentifully supplied with means, 
 and the laborious classes furnished with that medium, 
 which enabled them to obtain their portion of these 
 means, the industrious capitalists, were not only sti- 
 mulated and supported in their exertions, so as to in- 
 duce them to provide and circulate their commo- 
 dities under every advantage, but they became gra- 
 dually more and more, respectable and indepen- 
 dent in their private circumstances ; in aid of their 
 processes, they procured all those chemical and me- 
 chanical helps that were then known, and they were 
 enabled to have recourse to such divisions and con- 
 centrations of labor, as were then attainable. By 
 means of their accumulations and attainments, they 
 could also meet and anticipate the exigences of their 
 customers, and of the public. Many of these, also, 
 in the end, became so abundantly possessed of the 
 instrument of independence, the standard medium 
 of exchange, as to be able to command and distribute 
 the wealth of the community, on a scale of magni- 
 cence, that emulated that of their recognized su- 
 periors. 
 
 There were various accessory advantages, atten- 
 dant on this state of things, which require our 
 pointed regard. While the saturation of the com-
 
 185 
 
 munity, with the medium of exchange, and the 
 prevalence of industry, founded on independent 
 principles, served to distribute these advantages, 
 generally, throughout communities ; the influence 
 of the hierarchy, wherever its power existed, and 
 the authority of the state, contributed to the aug- 
 mentation of these advantages. Besides this, in 
 certain circumstances, there existed a concordance 
 in the views and designs of some of the states and 
 kingdoms of this peninsula, that was highly favor- 
 able to these amelioratingtendencies, which brought 
 within their range, a greater expanse of territory, 
 and a greater power over the means which this 
 territory could afford. From these, and other ad- 
 vantages, it followed, that in Spain, a multitude of 
 independent civil and political entities, (many of 
 which, to this day, assume the insignia of their for- 
 mer prowess,) started up into power, and that these 
 severally developed themselves fully in the service 
 of such courses of improvement, as then possessed 
 the ascendancy. Ranged under these auspices, the 
 interests thus aggregated, as well as those of the 
 individuals connected therewith, became perman- 
 ently fixed and secured in their respective cir- 
 cumstances and bearings. 
 
 Thksr were, no doubt, great and decided facili- 
 ties to the progress of advancement. Let us see, 
 however, into what real substantial benefits they 
 resolved themselves. We perceive that a nniltitude 
 of objects of desire and of utility, were procured for 
 the public service; that to an appropriate portion
 
 186 
 
 of these, regular access was laid open to all the 
 industrious, upon independent principles ; such 
 principles, as at once advanced the condition of 
 individuals, and that of those reproductive proces- 
 ces, from which these supplies were drawn. But 
 it still remains to be seen, into what general ob- 
 jects these movements resolved themselves. What 
 consequences, besides that of supplying the direct 
 wants of the parties interested, did these operations 
 produce ? And, in the first place, it must be notic- 
 ed, that these served to buoy up the authority of 
 the state, and the magnificence of the superior or- 
 ders, and to give these an energy and an exten- 
 sion in their respective ranges, that was of the high- 
 est moment to each class, and to every individual 
 in each of these classes. Thereby, these individuals 
 and classes were assuredly and permanently ad- 
 vanced in the scale of society, and furnished with 
 means that rendered this advancement both grateful 
 and dignified. But still it remains to be asked, how 
 were the industrious producers of these advan- 
 tages situated ? They might furnish themselves with 
 every eniblem of magnificence, they might wallow 
 in sensual indulgences, but w^as honor or dignifi- 
 ed employment within their reach? This question 
 must be answered in the negative j they might screw 
 up their industrious improvements to the highest 
 pitch, they might extend the reproductive powder 
 of these processes to the most extreme length ; but 
 there were immunities, privileges, attainments, and 
 enjoyments, constantly beaming before their eyes, 
 from which they were most completely excluded.
 
 18Y 
 
 Nor was tliis all. As if the sole object of all social 
 improvement had been to emblazon these distinc- 
 tions, and to make them more galling to those 
 who were excluded from them — the great point of 
 excellence was, by express authority, annexed to 
 these very distinctions, and the emblems of glory 
 and of renown, with the most unrelenting exacti- 
 tude, were bestowed only where these marks of 
 distinction could be ascertained. 
 
 Let us, however, next direct our attention to 
 the results of these general effects of social improve- 
 ment. And here we see, that as in the pagan era, 
 this very improvement served to augment the pres- 
 sure of the dignified orders of society, upon these 
 below them ; so, under the feudal era, it served to 
 pamper an exotic pride, which qualified this pride 
 for annexing to its operations, advantages that were 
 beyond its proper sphere. It served also to rivet the 
 chains of superstition, and it made this yoke more 
 galling and more humiliating. Thus it was, that 
 these parties, severally, joined hands with the state, 
 and with the hierarchy, and arrogated a multitude 
 of exclusive advantages, which lay not in their di- 
 rect course. Happily for the Spanish nation, these 
 restraints received a relief from their foreign con- 
 nexions. The independent principles nurtured 
 at home, when permitted to exercise themselves, 
 without restraint abroad, displayed the innate vigor, 
 with which they had become endowed, in conse- 
 quence of their previous discipline. These princi- 
 ples had a direct tendency to model themselves ac- 
 
 2 A 2
 
 188 
 
 cordini^ to those views, which had become so dazz- 
 ling at home, they therefore had a range of develope- 
 ment, that was peculiarly favorable to that species of 
 improvement, which coincided with these views, and 
 with the sentiments which these views had pro- 
 duced. But as usurpation and violence had become 
 familiar to all parties ; as pride and arrogance were 
 the gratifications that were universally sought after, 
 so these principles, or rather execrable propensities, 
 attained an ascendancy, which a superstition, mo- 
 delled upon such views, exasperating, finally gra- 
 tified. In the mean time, the superior arrogance of 
 the grandees, and presumption of the clergy, and 
 the predominant influence of a jealous monopolizing 
 government, goaded and traversed the whole- range 
 of these acquirements ; insomuch, that Spaniards, 
 both at home and abroad, (excepting only in those 
 cases wherein exterior influence completely eX" 
 eluded that of their own system,) found their state 
 every where sealed against that high intellectual 
 and moral improvement, wherein the true happi- 
 ness of man consists. Their physical and political 
 power was at times great and tremendous. In 
 their discoveries and conquests of the new world, it 
 was astonishingly displayed, so as almost to appear 
 preter-human ; but none of those feats ever tended 
 to the real advancement of the race, which execut- 
 ed them. On the contrary, while the lower facuU 
 ties of the soul were exercised and exhibited in all 
 their natural strength, ):iothing that could distin- 
 guish or characterize a great people appeared : base 
 superstition on the one hand, and pompous rapacity
 
 189 
 
 on the other, were discovered to be their predomin- 
 ant principles ; and these were so blindly exercised, 
 that this nation produced no results, that either 
 sound reason, or true religion, could approve of or 
 justify; on the contrary, while these gave forth 
 developements, which must astonish all ages by their 
 stupendous magnitude, they merely appal us, with 
 their complete repugnance to the best feelings of 
 humanity. 
 
 In my opinion, there are certain prominent char- 
 acteristics of the system that developed itself in Eng- 
 land, which coincide with the foregoing. Eng- 
 land during the Heptarchy, in many respects, re- 
 sembled the kingdoms of the Spanish peninsula ; 
 the same violence, the same aristocratical, and ec- 
 clesiastical arrogance, and the same conjunct exer- 
 citations of all ranks, in the course of improve- 
 ment and deterioration, took place in each coun- 
 try. Happily for England, however, its territory 
 afforded no such formidable barriers, for these pet- 
 ty kingdoms, into which it was divided ; and there 
 existed no such virulent animosities betwixt its dif- 
 ferenc inhabitants, as those which existed in Spain. 
 On the contrary, almost from the first, the warfare 
 tliat was carried on betwixt these states was of a 
 languid nature, and consisted more in bickerings 
 betwixt those, who occupied the foreground of so- 
 ciety, than in any infuriate hostihtics. Besides this, 
 England, although it could yield abundance of tlic 
 commodities, needful for social existence, to the 
 laborious and careful, afforded none of those in-
 
 190 
 
 citements that could instigate or support splendid 
 luxury, or pageantry, or indolence. Rapine and 
 disorder were dreaded as the worst of evils ; and 
 England having to prepare herself for encounter- 
 ing the inroads of desperate invaders, and to con- 
 centrate her forces, and exercise them under the same 
 banners, the general interests of the social body be- 
 came paramount over the whole island. Parties being 
 thus exercised, and coupcd up together, it could 
 be no difficult matter, for any power which had ob- 
 tained the ascendancy amongst them, to convert 
 this ascendancy into a complete sovereignty. Thus 
 it was, that the kingdoms of the Heptarchy, were 
 firmly united and consolidated under one head, 
 while society was but in a nascent state ; and that the 
 whole inhabitants of England were universally con- 
 stituted and organized as one people, long before 
 any separate nationalities could be formed amongst 
 these divisions of its territory, sufficient to keep 
 them apart. This nation, therefore, not only re- 
 sumed its former unity of character, but it proceed- 
 ed forthwith, to avail itself of its commanding situa- 
 tion, in regard to the rest of Europe. In repelHng 
 the Danes, and other invaders, it had frequent oc- 
 casion, to try its general strength, in regard to other 
 nations. It was not, however, until after the con- 
 quest, when its superior power, had been fully col- 
 lected and organized at home, that its capacity for 
 achieving those high exploits, which struck sur- 
 rounding nations with terror, was discovered. 
 Thereafter, Englishmen, conscious of their prowess, 
 could not only preserve their own possessions entire.
 
 191 
 
 but they were able to augment their value at home, 
 and their absolute extent in foreign regions. 
 
 Under such circumstances, the industrious pro- 
 cesses were nurtured in England, during the feudal 
 era. It must be remarked, that as in Spain and 
 Poland, so in England, the privileged classes con- 
 trived to transfer into their ow^n hands, the aggre- 
 gate power and wealth of the community. It was 
 under their banners, that the population was gene- 
 rally exercised, and it was into the augmentation 
 of their power, that the fruits of these exertions 
 generally resolved themselves. In England, how- 
 ever, the sovereign had vast personal domains, a 
 circumstance which gave him necessarily a prece- 
 dency over all others ; his power as a sovereign, 
 though limited, was always sufficiently powerful, 
 to restrain the presumption of his feudatories within 
 certain instituted bounds, unless by very gross mis- 
 conduct, he united these in one body against him- 
 self. It was the interest of the sovereign, to pro- 
 tect and extend the immunities of the industrious, 
 and he did this, not only by his favor, and royal 
 protection, but by his example, in regard to his 
 own immediate vassals, by discovering the advan- 
 tages w'hich he aimed at introducing. In this re- 
 spect, therefore, the population of England, was 
 placed in incomparably better circumstances, than 
 that of Poland. This population, was moreover, 
 chiefly exercised about those rustic occupations, 
 which befitted a country wherein such occupations 
 were necessarily matters of vast importance ; and
 
 192 
 
 their fruits, being for the most part of that kind, 
 which applied alike to the wants of the chieftain, 
 and to those of his hind, the distinction betwixt 
 the comforts and enjoyments possessed by the high- 
 est, and those possessed by the lowest classes, was 
 seen to consist, more in the absolute dependence 
 of these last on their superiors, than on any peculiar 
 inferiority in the means of their subsistence. Hence, 
 a species of attachment was generated in the breasts 
 of those in dependent circumstances in England, 
 which greatly mollified the peculiar hardships, to 
 which they were subjected. These ostentatious dis- 
 plays of distinction, which prevailed in Spain, were 
 studiously avoided, and the exercises of the chase, 
 and those of the field, those employments wherein 
 the bold and dignified feelings of rude nature are 
 most readily recognized, discovered to the nation 
 at large, that the true ground of distinction betwixt 
 the raftks, consisted no less in personal prowess, than 
 in hereditary claims. Like the Polish chieftains, 
 those of England enjoyed undisturbed their patri- 
 monial domains, but they did not, like these, seek 
 to emblazon their superiority, by the prostration of 
 their attendants, or the degradation of their com- 
 mon sovereign. Like the Spaniards, the wealth 
 and means, that passed into their hands, speedily 
 found its way into these ameliorating processes with 
 which they were surrounded j but, unlike these 
 last, the wealth of the English barons exalted their 
 own heroism; and while it warmed the hearts of their 
 dependents, it fostered dignified views of their own, 
 and of their country rights, and it led them through
 
 193 
 
 their various labors and enjoyments, to that unso- 
 phisticated manly cliaracter, whicli has always been 
 the highest honor of the English nation. 
 
 In my opinion, taking its wealth into account, 
 England was then comparatively deficient in cathe- 
 drals and magnificent buildings, the peculiar aggre- 
 gate productions of the feudal era. Perhaps, this, of 
 itself, is one very strong proof of the independence 
 and high spirit of the people at large, who engag- 
 ed in those employments, which more immediately 
 befitted their circumstances, did not chuse to over- 
 burden themselves with such monuments of their 
 subjugation, to the power of overweaning grandeur 
 or influence. The country was highly peopled ; 
 the people had their establishments for religious, 
 civil, and social exercises complete ; and the con- 
 sciousness of this, and of the security, in which 
 they enjoyed these, and all their possessions^ made 
 them hold pomp and magnificence, either in pa- 
 geantry or in more stable provisions, comparatively 
 in low estimation. Their desolating civil wars, and 
 tlieir ruinous irruptions into the French territory, 
 no doubt, by draining them of means, contributed 
 to augment this callousness, towards architectural 
 jirovisions. Still, however, it is evident, that a de- 
 gree of improvement and advancement, in all these 
 things which befitted the circumstances of a peor 
 pie slowly emerging, under feudal principles, from 
 a state of barbarism, prevailed within the English 
 territory, which denoted that its organization, ci- 
 vil, and social, was undergoing a Amdamciilnl 
 
 2 B
 
 194 
 
 preparation, for a very high state of national ex- 
 cellence. 
 
 The feudal system developed itself, no where 
 with more force and efficacy, than in Germany. 
 This country, lying contiguous to the highly im- 
 proved regions that were under the direct influence 
 of the Roman sway, had generally received the 
 full influence of those civilizing processes that were 
 peculiar to that domination, when the northern 
 nations began to display their superior prowess. The 
 forests and marshes of Poland, and the lofty Pan- 
 nonian mountains, formed a kind of natural barrier 
 to the ravages of these infuriate desolators ; it was, 
 morever, inhabited by a brave and hardy race of 
 men, who were not disposed to part with their gen- 
 eral rights, upon the deceitful grounds of insecure 
 compromise ; its climate and its territory, were ob- 
 viously less inviting than those of Italy, France, 
 and Spain ; and the Gothic and Vandalic devasta- 
 tors, could perform a circuit either by sea or by 
 land, with incomparably greater ease, than they 
 could have penetrated this redoubted territory. For 
 these and other reasons, that accrued from the char- 
 acter and circumstances of the indigenous inhabi- 
 tants, Germany escaped from the fury of the nor- 
 thern irruptions, more than any other European 
 nation, and was thereby capacitated to carry for- 
 ward in security its own peculiar improvements. In- 
 deed, Germany received its devastations more from 
 the regorgement of the banditti, upon its western 
 and southern frontiers, when these were forced
 
 195 
 
 back from France and Italy, than from its Polish 
 exposure. In regarding this point, we must take 
 this fact along with us, that feudal principles, ac- 
 companied with a feudal spirit and energy, deve- 
 loped themselves under every advantage in Ger- 
 many ; because, there these had already been ap- 
 proximated to existing circumstances ; whereas in 
 other countries these were so repugnant to the 
 state of society, therein subsistiing, that tliey could 
 only exist by destroying countervening principles 
 and thus inducing most infuriate hostility. 
 
 Under these auspices, the German feudatories, 
 not only succeeded, as in Poland, in rendering their 
 supreme chief elective, and in restricting his pow- 
 er to the office of executing their general will, but 
 they were able to appropriate to themselves re- 
 spectively, within their several precincts, the full 
 possession, and the complete exercise of sovereign 
 authority. Each feudatory acquired and main- 
 tained a certain civil corporate system of his own, 
 conformable to his condition, and in all respects in- 
 dependent of every other feudatory, and of the 
 general chief. This supreme domination was recog- 
 nized on all hands, and it was protected by appro- 
 priate municipal and military establishments. In 
 so much, that upon the whole, these various pow- 
 ers comprized within their own authority, all the 
 prerequisites of independent sovereignty; restricted 
 indeed, as to certain general provisions, but in lieu 
 thereof, protected by a grand paramount sway, to- 
 wards the maintenance of which, though they scvc- 
 
 2 B 2
 
 196 
 
 rally contributed their respective quotas of men and 
 money, yet ui tl.eii separate capacity, they were in 
 all other respects, coinpieteiy independent. More- 
 over, as upon feudal principles, these different feu- 
 datories were severally bound and impledged to 
 guarantee and defend to each other, their various 
 separate rights and possessions ; so each of these, 
 upon the same principles, derived a protection and 
 security, which in real value, far exceeded the sub- 
 stantial extent of the contributions that were really 
 exacted from them ; and as each of these powers 
 took a warm and vigorous interest in the concerns 
 of every other power in the confederacy, in so far 
 as these coincided with its own general views ; so 
 each of them remained as a pledge to every other, 
 in similar circumstances, for the safety of its pecu- 
 liar possessions. And although many of these states 
 were small, and of themselves unequal to any great 
 undertaking, yet a consciousness of their participa- 
 tion in general concernments raised up for them both 
 in their joint, and in their separate capacity, not only 
 correspondent, but paramount influence. 
 
 Although the great bulk of these states were of 
 an inferior description, yet it must be noticed, that 
 various respectable potentates, perceiving the ad- 
 vantages that would accrue from being implicat- 
 ed within the general pale thus provided for im- 
 provement, having consented to become parties to 
 the confederacy, bestowed upon its movements a ra- 
 dical strength and consistency, of high import to its 
 best interests. While those potentates, in the view
 
 19* 
 
 of the vast range of genera] usefulness, which was 
 thus placed within their reach, and within the reach 
 of all their most valued connexions, thus contri- 
 buted largely to the public welfare, undue prej)on- 
 derancy w^as guarded against by their reciprocal jea- 
 lousy and competition, which stood up in defence 
 of the public good. Alongst with this decided 
 advantage, another not less important, was con- 
 joined. By dint of their superior means, these su- 
 perior powers could bring forward and mature va- 
 rious important ameliorating processes, of general 
 operation ; thougli perhaps, more peculiarly adopt- 
 ed to the case of that state which protected them. 
 To all these improving tendencies, the whole range 
 of the whole system was laid open, so that individual 
 talent received a field of expansion, as well as an 
 instrument of support and protection, of the highest 
 moment to its subsequent developements. The jea- 
 lousy and competition, that took place betwixt 
 those states, in consequence of this advantage, like 
 that which existed amongst their chiefs, though 
 sometimes directed to the retardation of improve- 
 ment, became strenuously powerful, when extended 
 in its developement. Competition and emulation, 
 thus introduced, ceased not in their operations, until 
 they had secured, not only for Germany, but for all 
 Euijp^e, the full advantage of these developements. 
 
 It has already been noted, as one of the peculiar 
 qualities of the feudal system, that it readily admit- 
 ted of these improvements, which coincided with 
 its general principles ; that it dispoc d these im-
 
 198 
 
 provemcnts to develope themselves under circum- 
 stances peculiarly favorable to the interests of in- 
 dividuals; and that it induced combinations be- 
 twixt these of a kind, that was decidedly favorable 
 to geperal improvement. This remark may now 
 be farther extended, by noticing, that in various in- 
 stances, improvement proceeded not only under 
 the influence of such high individual acquirements, 
 but under that of organized combinations of such 
 individuals. The Knights of the Teutonic order, 
 and others of a similar kind, may be given as in- 
 stances of these organized combinations of highly 
 improved individuals, arising out of a peculiar de- 
 velopementof this system. Their organization was 
 peculiarly simple, but it not only developed con- 
 sequences, congenial to the system under which 
 they acted, and in all respects fully equal to the 
 aggregated power of the individuals who were 
 comprized within its influence; but in all their move- 
 ments, these knights displayed an authority and 
 an energy, for which no proximate cause could be 
 assigned. This matter, however, may be sufficiently 
 accounted for, by adverting to this circumstance, 
 that individuals, such as these knights were when 
 drawn together, possessed a most superlative regard 
 to the concerns of the deserving, and that it was 
 known and believed, that these knights thus con- 
 ducted themselves, from a most scrupulous regard 
 to their personal character ; a regard which neces- 
 sarily shut out of sight their life, and all their 
 personal concerns, and disposed them to exercise 
 a prowess, which appeared to be preter-human.
 
 199 
 
 And when we consider that these knights had one 
 fixed and invariable object before their eye, towards 
 the attainment ofwliich, their whole thoughts were 
 directed, and that in compassing this object, a mul- 
 titude of zealous, and emulous individuals wore as- 
 sociated, by whom all ordinary obstructions were 
 regarded as infinitely below their notice, we can- 
 not be surprized that these individuals were able to 
 achieve exploits, that in general, inspired terror, 
 where redoubted assurance would otherwise have 
 existed. Amidst the tremulous sensations with 
 which these circumstances inspired their opponents, 
 the inflexible courage, and formidable aspect of 
 these associates, could not but display themselves 
 with full advantage, so as to induce a vacillation and 
 trepidation in the counsels of their adversaries, which 
 became in general decisive of their contests. These 
 circumstances, distinctly announce the character- 
 istic advantages of associations, formed upon these 
 high grounds, and prepare us for regarding with 
 attention, these peculiarities in the Germanic con- 
 federacy, that now more particularly coincide with 
 our researches. 
 
 The princedoms of Germany, besides possessing 
 the inherent priviledges already noticed from their 
 union and association, furnii.hed a sphere of action 
 for the enterprizes of their youths, that greatly 
 advanced their individual character. Not only 
 the whole expanse of the imperial domains, but 
 the absolute extent of Christendom, in consequence 
 of the personal acquirements which their higiily
 
 200 
 
 favorable circumstances enabled them to mature, 
 was laid open to them. The public interests, and 
 the public cause, at a time when Europe was in a 
 ferment regarding these, seem to be conjoined with 
 those of this confederacy. The famous Hanseatic 
 league, so popular and so powerful, was also seen 
 to possess interests which were necessarily identified 
 with the Germanic body. The Christian knights, 
 notwithstandingtheir obliquities and tergiversations, 
 appeared to be only the advanced ground of the 
 same cause. It is no wonder, therefore, that the 
 feehngs and the propensities of civilized Europe, 
 became so implicated in those of the Germanic body, 
 as to cause its interests to be regarded as the gene- 
 ral concerns of civil and social improvement. 
 
 There exists a coincidence betwixt these asso- 
 ciations and the feudal system, that here demands 
 our regard. These associations, branched out in 
 a similar way, with the developements of this sys- 
 tem. In a system so vast and so complex, so ex- 
 tended and so attenuated, as the Germanic body 
 necessarily was, to digest and to provide for all the 
 concernments, that were meant to be comprized 
 within its influence, and to make its general pow- 
 er bear with sufficient steadiness on the business 
 that was placed before it, could not, especially at 
 the outset, be expected. The system had grown 
 out of the circumstances of the times, it coincided 
 with the maxims, which then swayed the councils 
 of nations ; during its immaturity, it as already no- 
 ticed derived shelterfrom the intervention of Poland,
 
 201 
 
 betwixt it and more barbarous nations ; the known 
 prowess of the German nation, together with the 
 splendid character of their chiefs, and leading com- 
 munities; the influence of the hierarchy; the cla- 
 mant emergency, that arose from the irruptions of 
 the Saracens into the centre of Europe, combined 
 with the gallantry, which then characterized the 
 times ; these and other things, gave a lustre and 
 eclat to the movements of this vast body, which 
 thenceforward ensured its stability. It had appear- 
 ed, that improvements in the useful, as well as in 
 the ornamental arts, were important objects of po- 
 litical regard. Into this confederacy, such views 
 were not only admitted as fundamental principles, 
 but in a variety of combinations they were made, 
 under the influence of the predominant confede- 
 racy, essential parts of principles that had been so- 
 lemnly recognized. And as these gave forth re- 
 sults, which fully warranted the assumption of theim- 
 portance that had been connected with their pow- 
 er, their influence became proportionally exten- 
 sive. Let it at the same time be remarked, that 
 these confederacies, developing themselves in this 
 shape, harmonized, much more exactly with those 
 ancient leiulal practices, whence tiie system had 
 derived its influence, than those direct infeuda- 
 tions did, which were construed, as implyingauthor- 
 ized subjugation on the part of the vassal, and ac- 
 knowledged infcMiority as to his })ersonal claims. In 
 these dark ages, wherein the leudnl system was 
 tbundcd, industry never was held in contempt, 
 and general affiliations on tlie [nincij)les of reci-
 
 202 
 
 procal right, public utility, and inherent interest, 
 were alike the basis and the support of the social sys- 
 tem. In this view, the Germanic and Hanseatic 
 confederacies, may not only be regarded as legiti- 
 mate developements of the feudal system, but as 
 peculiarly fraught with those advantages, which 
 this system was held to imply. These advantages 
 have produced such consequences, that it may be 
 proper, in this place, to trace these out more par- 
 ticularly. This shall be done, under three distinct 
 heads, into which these seem naturally to have be- 
 come resolved. 
 
 It is necessary at the outset, to notice, that it 
 was the peculiar office of the feudal system, to res- 
 cue industry from the concrete oppression under 
 which it labored during the Pagan era, and to be- 
 stow upon it full room for expansion, in every use- 
 ful and desirable direction. To have attained this 
 advantage, therefore, in any considerable degree, 
 would have dignified the system, which effected it, 
 especially, when to this, the privilege of carrying for- 
 ward in security the industrious processes, and enjoy- 
 ing the fruits that naturally flow therefrom, (an ad- 
 vantage ultimately effected under this system) had 
 been superadded. But to procure a range of exercise, 
 and of developements, coincident with this high pro- 
 gression, space and means, correspondent to the va- 
 lue of these procurements, and a sufficiency of that 
 medium of exchange, that instrument for expediting 
 industry, which befitted these circumstances, were 
 accessories of incomparably greater importance.
 
 203 
 
 Yet all these advantages were introduced into the 
 German territory, during the darkest ages, under 
 the influence of this system. This remark being 
 premised, let us next regard the three special classes 
 of advantages, into which these circumstances re- 
 solved themselves. 
 
 In the first place, the interests of industrious 
 communities, such as cities and imperial franchises, 
 were not only regularly received into the aggre- 
 gate body, wherein the whole great concernments 
 of the empire were comprized, but their instruments, 
 and representatives, as well as the principal sub- 
 jects in which their interests were concentrat- 
 ed, were there set down, and recognised, as dig- 
 nified parts of the general system. These bodies, 
 being held as feudal dignitaries, their representa- 
 tives were always regarded as belonging to the su- 
 perior class. This simple and unavoidable conces- 
 sion, was of peculiar advantage to the progression 
 which we are now contemplating ; first, because it 
 impressed the public mind, in all its various capa- 
 cities, with a just sense of the value of those inter- 
 ests, which were thus advanced into notice ; and se- 
 condly, because, it gave this class full power and 
 opportunity to make good, its just and irrciragable 
 claims, in that form, which corresponded with the 
 condition of the society thus constituted. In tlic 
 case of the Hanscatic league, we know, that the 
 industrious, pushed their interests much iiuther; 
 they absorbed the public feeling in their direct 
 interests, and thus set their opponents, fully in 
 
 2 c 2
 
 204 
 
 the back ground. The high hand, with which this 
 league exercised, and maintained the joint and 
 separate interests of the industrious, during a series 
 of ages, evinced at once, the high ground, which 
 these interests occupied, and the necessity under 
 which all parties were laid of submitting to their 
 claims. And it must be noticed, that these substan- 
 tiated claims raised those of the whole commercial 
 body to such a height in the general estimation, that 
 they had the whole range of the known world for 
 their developement, and the whole aggregate force 
 of feudal and improving principles for their support. 
 
 In the second place, the industrious, not only 
 attained to feudatory rank and influence, and be- 
 came suSiciently capacitated for exercising an ample 
 share of the general power of the state, and of its 
 influence on the public opinion, but they acquired 
 sovereign authority within these precincts, whichhad 
 devolved upon them. In this capacity, they could 
 new-model the general order of tlieir community, 
 so as to render it completely subservient to their 
 views, and they could thus secure and advance these 
 courses of improvement which befitted their cir- 
 cumstances. Nor is this all ; they could thereby 
 introduce and circulate those ideas of civil great- 
 ness and importance, which were most conducive to 
 their interests. It is easy to perceive, that in such 
 circumstances, the industrious would attain to a 
 certain ascendancy in their competition with the 
 merely dignified. Society had, by this time, in 
 place of spirit, substituted system ; and in place
 
 205 
 
 of desperate courage, it had advanced deliberate 
 contrivance, on the foreground of strenuous exer- 
 tions. Hence means, and the command of these; in- 
 fluence, andthepower of managingthis influence, gra- 
 dually reached to a superior importance in that gen- 
 eral system, wherein mere personal prowess operat- 
 ing upon indigested means had formerly prevailed. 
 The dignified themselves, perceiving the operations 
 of this powerful system, became at length proud of 
 the privilege that was laid before them, of enlist- 
 ing under burgage banners, and exercising emu- 
 lously their peculiar advantages in the public ser- 
 vice. 
 
 In the third and last place, all these advantages 
 derived a substantial and permanent hold of the 
 general system, from the provisions to which they 
 gave rise. When cities had thus raised themselves 
 to sovereign power, and when their various separ- 
 ate internal interests had been set forward in a course 
 of improvement, coincident with these circumstan- 
 ces, those subdivisions of the industrious, which 
 consequentially arose therefrom, gradually reached 
 to a limited degree of interest and importance. 
 Restrained by their condition, many individuals 
 of these classes, could scarcely venture to assume 
 any fixed ground, until, under the banners of incor- 
 porations, they could, as members recognized in a 
 civil capacity, set forth their claims. When indivi- 
 duals, however, had thus become aggregated, their 
 power and their claims would be displayed, and 
 in the person of their head, they would be success-
 
 206 
 
 fully enforced, and those immunities that became 
 their condition, gradually increasing in importance, 
 would be solemnly recognized, and, as occassion 
 served, they would also be duly exercised. Thus 
 .sheltered, the interests of every distinct class of men, 
 and of the individuals who composed these classes, 
 were thus successively arranged, and gradually for- 
 tified and augmented. Therefrom, individuals, on 
 the one part, derived power and influence ; and 
 therefrom also, the states and communities, with 
 which these were connected, derived also corres- 
 pondent advantage. The feudal system having once 
 received the industrious and commercial part of 
 the community, into its organization, on terms be- 
 fitting their circumstances ; this organization, un- 
 der every subsequent developement, exhibited more 
 and more its determinate propensity towards the 
 advancement of individual industry, and the exten- 
 sion of social intercourse. 
 
 It is now proper for us to direct our attention 
 to these important and diversified results, which 
 flowed from this interesting developement of the 
 feudal system. And here we find, that besides 
 those which were peculiar to those states, whose cir- 
 cumstances have been already considered, such as 
 cathedrals, and all those usual and appropriate ap- 
 purtenances of religious worship, which a power- 
 I'ul and gorgeous priesthood could secure for them- 
 selves ; besides an abundance of those provi- 
 sions, which a multitude of subordinate, though 
 independent and substantial, municipal, civil and
 
 207 
 
 military establishments, could require ; together 
 with a profusion of the means necessary for sup- 
 porting the power and pageantry of their several go- 
 vernments, central and subordinate, along with their 
 patrician and equestrian dependencies; we find a 
 variety of invaluable institutions for advancing the 
 character of the people, and improving the face of 
 the country ; a multitude of reproductive, indus- 
 trious and commercial processes, and an universal 
 and decided tendency in all these, to promote and 
 extend the happiness and improvementof the com- 
 munity at large. 
 
 When we look a little farther, we perceive con- 
 sequences of these general results, that indicated 
 at once the propriety and efficacy of these confe- 
 deracies, and the high ground on which these and 
 all other governments stand, that act seriously to- 
 wards the best and highest interests of those com- 
 munities, and of those individuals, who are severally 
 and collectively, under tlieir charge. The Ilan- 
 seatic league obtained a superiority over the seas, 
 which enabled them not only to secure and main- 
 tain their widely scattered interests, but to intioii- 
 dale and alarm all their opponents, great and power- 
 ful though many of these doubtless were. The spirit 
 and prowess ol" the Teutonic knights spread an 
 alarm v/hich paralizcd the most remote barbarians. 
 The power and splendor of the commercial cities, 
 both in their civil and municipal ca[)acities ; the 
 wealtli, renown, and influence of the merchants, 
 in their private and in llieir public right ; thcte,
 
 208 
 
 and other advantages, are so many prominent at- 
 testations of the irresistible energy with which that 
 system, which had broke in pieces the concrete 
 form of human society, and substituted genial com- 
 petition and emulation in the room of simple co- 
 ertion, as it is the moving principle, now operated. 
 And as mankind, in their personal and in their so- 
 cial concerns, found a progression of improvement 
 in constant motion, which was perpetually extend- 
 ing their comforts and enjoyments, advancing their 
 condition, and exercising their powers and facul- 
 ties in the most profitable and rational manner, it 
 was evident, that the energy and efficacy of this 
 system, in its lower and more immediate operations, 
 were equally indisputable. Out of all these pro- 
 visions, the nation's power arose most resplendent ; 
 as it was popular in its constitution, so its measures, 
 which, in the first instance, extended the sphere 
 of popular claims, in the end, led to an expansion 
 of the influence of the constituted power. A sys- 
 tem so amply provided, so well organized, and so 
 equally poized, seemed to be secure against every 
 emergency. 
 
 It is evident, however, that these diversified po- 
 litical entities, contained principles of repulsion, as 
 well as of concord. Hence, not only dissension, 
 and mutual jealousy and recrimination, but actual 
 hostility, and sometimes sanguinary and invete- 
 rate warfare took place amongst them, which nei- 
 ther the general arm nor the sense of justice or pro- 
 priety could allay or terminate. This arose, part-
 
 209 
 
 ]y, from tlieform in which these indc})cndcnt states, 
 severally, gave their voices in their dehberative as- 
 sembhes, which was pecuharly restricted, indicat- 
 ing a distrust not only in the general body, but in 
 their peculiar representative, and much self-suffi- 
 ciency in their respective views and projects; but it 
 arosechiefly from the circumstances into which these 
 advantages ultimately resolved themselves. It is 
 evident, that it was the interests of all parties to 
 draw this confederacy closer ; and thus to strength- 
 en each of its limbs, by infusing the whole vigor 
 and animating principle of the general body into 
 these, as often as occasion required it ; thus creat- 
 ing a natural tendency to bring the whole system 
 under one energetic, duly poized, central govern- 
 ment, more or less similar to that which prevailed 
 all over the rest of Euroi)e ; such as was found to ad- 
 vance, at once, general improvement and personal 
 independence. In Germany, this union and com- 
 bination might have been effected, not only without 
 hostility, but with perfect harmony, if a similar spi- 
 rit had got the full ascendancy. In place of this, 
 however, an anxiety to preserve their separate ex- 
 istences overwhelmed every other consideration ; 
 and Germany became the common arena, wherein 
 military prowess was formed and disciplined ; in- 
 somuch, that the interests of its inhabitants were 
 lost sight of amidst the virulence with which their 
 rulers defended antiquated forms and privileges. 
 In our days, privileged usurpation, and legalized 
 rapine, in one party, and contracted views, and 
 mere personal considerations in other parties, have 
 
 2 n '
 
 210 
 
 been set in motion, for the purpose of executing 
 that, which it would have been well if all parties 
 had at one time effected, in a regular manner. At 
 length, however, a period appears to have been 
 put to these disorganizations by means which still 
 appal us. 
 
 As Germany has been the mother, and the fos- 
 terer of almost all that is valuable and important 
 in the present state of things, it seems to be proper, 
 before quitting this subject, to take a nearer view 
 of the cause of these disorganizations. Improve- 
 ment has a tendency to unite ; how is it, that such es- 
 timable and such extensive improvements as these, 
 with which Germany abounded, could thus resolve 
 themselves, into a disseveration of that federal 
 system, out of which they had arisen ? In attempt- 
 ing to account for this, we have only to turn our 
 eyes to our own country, wherein an equally im- 
 proved, and an equally free, but a more combined 
 system of things prevailed ; and there we perceive, 
 at once, that this disseveration arose partly from 
 the want of a sufficiently powerful arm, to com- 
 prize and bind these interests into one ; and partly 
 i'wm the want of some common principle to har- 
 monize their operations, to consolidate their views 
 and prospects, and to give to the whole expansion 
 a concatenation and developement, corresponding 
 to the nature of its powers of reproduction. From 
 the want of the first, dissensions, and foreign com- 
 binations were formed, which became unmanage- 
 able ; and from the want of the last, the energies.
 
 211 
 
 pent up and circumvented, spent themselves in 
 devouring that system from whicli they had arisen. 
 
 If we attend a little more clossly to the sub- 
 ject, we will find, that such effects must always flow 
 from any system of improvement that is thus un- 
 equally poised. In the general progression of im- 
 provement, the aristocratical party, both in those 
 greater states who retained a monarchical, and in 
 those which assumed a popular form of govern- 
 ment, having the power constantly in their hands, 
 acquired an absolute, though modified ascendancy. 
 The best fruits of the industrious processes fell in- 
 to their hands ; the rest of the community had, no 
 doubt, secured to them a variety of privileges; but as 
 these first felt their power and influence always 
 most valuable, when the state was engaged in offi- 
 ces and occupations, wherein they were drawing 
 forth its utmost resources, and exercising these a- 
 longside of other states, in similar circumstances 
 with themselves, they naturally enough gave the 
 preference to the warlike posture of afi'airs, as that 
 one wherein the movements of the system harmoniz- 
 ed most completely with their own interests. The 
 course of peaceful improvement, thus traversed 
 and broken up, taking a direction which coin- 
 cided with the exigences of the states, a new species 
 of interest and of influence, flivorablc to dis- 
 tention and oppression, was created in the com- 
 monwealth. Amidst the turmoils of their fellow- 
 citizens, and the intrigues of foreigners, the inter- 
 ests of the general body were absolutely lost, and 
 
 2 n 2
 
 212 
 
 Germany saw, in all its petty principalities, foes and 
 opponents impressed by circumstances, in which 
 its interests were not implicated. Jealousy and 
 pride became the stimulants to war; fear ofthe conse- 
 quences of a cessation ofhostiHties kept these con- 
 stantly in agitation ; and family views and family 
 measures, having once got the ascendancy, became 
 more and more predominant ; until, the general in- 
 terests of the country were completely absorbed 
 in those of family feuds and animosities. Hence 
 it was, that these families and parties became, at 
 length, so highly buoyed up in the system, that out 
 of mere complaisance to their humors, and with- 
 out either choice or discrimination, Germans pro- 
 ceeded to slaughter each other, and to desolate 
 their common country almost at random. 
 
 Before entering any farther upon the considera- 
 tion of these results of this very peculiar develope- 
 ment of the feudal system, it is proper, to take in- 
 to view, those circumstances which distinguished 
 the developement of the feudal system in other 
 European countries; partly, because the results of 
 these developements being greatly blended together, 
 can be better apprehended under one view than 
 apart, and partly also, because the statements, that 
 must here be incidently introduced, will necessarily 
 go a great way in illustrating those matters that still 
 remain for our attention. Before taking leave of this 
 subject, however, it is proper to make two gene- 
 ral remarks.
 
 21. 
 
 First, tliat the feudal system, no where, ga\c 
 forth more important and more interesthig deve- 
 lopements than in Gernljiny ; including under this 
 appellation, as has been all along done, that terri- 
 tory that extends from the frontiers of Poland on 
 the one side, to those of France, as it lately stood, 
 on the other. The vast improvements, every where 
 introduced into social life, under the political and 
 commercial influence of the Hanseatic league, and 
 the effectual support, which that great body gave 
 to those reproductive processes, to which this in- 
 fluence extended, were followed out and increased 
 under that of the Flemish and Dutch states, so as 
 to form one grand connected series of displays 
 of the power and efficacy of regularly supported, 
 well directed industry, duly cherished, protected, 
 and honored, by the dominant power. From thence, 
 potentates of every description perceiving blessings 
 and advantages springing up to their hands that 
 had formerly been overlooked, were led to pursue 
 these measures that tendedtowards their attainment, 
 and were furnished with means, that enabled them 
 successfully to execute these measures. Under such 
 extensive and powerful patronage, numberless 
 discoveries in the arts and sciences, improvements 
 of a civil and municipal nature, and provisions 
 for giving full effect to t!ie progressions into which 
 these tilings led, were obtained. The circumstan- 
 ces and character of mankind at large were amelior- 
 ated andadvanced; and principles were set in motion 
 which carried these advantages through every rank 
 and class in society. Amidst these circumstances,
 
 214 
 
 many most illustrious characters were formed; whose 
 researches and labors exalted and extended the 
 compass of the human powers, and in the end, shed 
 that dignity on the character, and that energy on 
 the movements of the social body, that have raised 
 modern Europe so high in the scale of the world. 
 
 Secondly, We know however, that with all these 
 favoring circumstances, there were then, and are still 
 numberless obstructions in the way of improvement, 
 arising from defects in public measures ; and that 
 even the most promising schemes, were then, and 
 are still, daily blighted by dissension, and traversed 
 by ambition. We know also, that it is only where 
 the principles of emulation and of strenuous exertion 
 have free scope, that the progress of improvement 
 displays its beneficent influence ; and that thence, 
 improvement is apt to infer more difficulties than de- 
 gradation, and abundance of means more embarrass- 
 ment than a defective supply. May we not, there- 
 fore, conclude, that such high results can only be 
 obtained and secured, where useful occupations are 
 endowed with the capacity of adequate extension ; 
 and where an organization of society exists, that 
 is not only regular, and steady in its movements, 
 but is so fully combined, that it can receive anew, 
 and exercise advantageously, the results and fruits 
 of its own reproductive powers. In other words, 
 in order to obtain the proper use of its own bles- 
 sings, do we not discern, that the frame of every 
 great society ought to comprize, along with the 
 means and principles of improvement, the power
 
 of exercising these incessantly with advantage i 
 that it ought to possess not only an organization of 
 its members fitted for its ordinary functions, but 
 a field of expansion for these, commensurate with the 
 due exercise of their powers and talents, accord- 
 ing as these may become prepared for expansion r 
 This observation is here incidentally noticed, be- 
 cause it arises out of previous statements; it is ne- 
 cessary, however, to return to our leading sub- 
 ject before it can be fully elucidated. 
 
 Next to Germany, Italy challenges our regard 
 in the present view. Italy, for ages, the seat of 
 splendor, glory, and civilization, had become the 
 prey of every base and profligate propensity, long 
 before Gothic barbarism had changed its aspect. 
 Our attention, however, being confined to that 
 state, to which, under feudal principles, it after- 
 wards arose, it is unnecessary to advert to its pris- 
 tine situation, farther, than just to notice, that ow- 
 ing to these circumstances, to its delightful climate 
 and luxuriant soil, and more especially owing to its 
 advantageous situation for trade, Italy gradually 
 engrossed the lucrative and valuable commerce 
 with the east. Besides this very momentous ad- 
 vantage, Italy possessed within itself, various im- 
 portant resources, which, along with the foregoing, 
 gave her immense advantages for carrying forward 
 those reproductive processes which were then most 
 profitable, that is, those which subserved the more 
 refined wantsof human nature. Besides this, Italy, 
 being the domestic territory of the papal suprcma-
 
 216 
 
 cy, derived incalculable advantages from the in- 
 fluence which this pompous domination exercised 
 over the rest of Christendom. To emblazon all its 
 establishments with the most gorgeous monuments 
 of art and genius, such as superb edifices for the 
 service of religious worship, statues, paintings, and 
 every emblematic trapping that could captivate the 
 senses or enthral the imagination, was its direct ob- 
 ject: Italy therefore, theformersceneof Roman gran- 
 deur, and nowof that of the priesthood, necessarily be- 
 came the seat of such manufactures. Establishments 
 for procuring these in the highest style of excellence, 
 and in the greatest possible quantities, were accord- 
 ingly everywhere set agoing. As the pontificate ruled 
 in such matters, with the most uncontrolable sway ; 
 as Italy, both from its acquirements, ancient and 
 modern, and from its superior riches, was in all 
 respects, alike, the best field and the highest mo- 
 del of perfection in all these arts, and was, besides 
 this, the centre of an immense and invaluable com- 
 merce 5 and as the numberless provisions and insti- 
 tutions, for the service of these arts, were all im- 
 mediately impressed by ecclesiastical influence in 
 subservency to this object ; so Italy came, at length, 
 to be the fountain head of commercial grandeur, 
 and the centre into which that wealth and power 
 which flowed from lucrative occupations, necessa- 
 rily tended. Its reproductive processes were, ac- 
 cordingly, not only highly valuable, but extremely 
 numerous; they were not only improved by the 
 whole strength of native talent, but they were tho- 
 roughly provided for with every thing useful and ne-
 
 217 
 
 cessary, and so completely established and or- 
 ganized in all their parts, as to be capable of produc- 
 ing the highest aggregations of excellence. And 
 as these various reproductive processes possessed 
 a most extensive range for their developement, 
 they were also duly excited, and sustained in their 
 highest excitations ; having not only full, but inces- 
 sant occupation. 
 
 Like Germany, Italy was divided into a number 
 of petty states, each of which cultivated high excel- 
 lence in the useful and ornamental arts, and enjoyed 
 a certain share of that exterior commerce, which 
 had become the basis of their acquirements. Like 
 Germany, too, the dcvelopemcnts and results of 
 these processes entered deeply into the concerns 
 of these several states; and they had, for the most 
 part, certain public provisions and immunities se- 
 cured to them, which served to exalt the charac- 
 ter and condition of the industrious. Though 
 generally confined within narrow bounds, these 
 principalities possessed within their own direct con- 
 trol, a profusion of means, and a redundancy of ca- 
 pacities for drawing forth and exercising these 
 means. An energy of character, an ardor of spirit, 
 a peculiar subtility of genius, and an irrefragable 
 sagacity in the management of all these advantages, 
 characterized the people, and made them send forth 
 results, that seemed to surpass the compass of mere 
 mercantile enterprizc. These states were, gene- 
 rally, more or less dependent on the head of the 
 (icrman empire ; and tliey were all under the direct 
 
 2 K
 
 218 
 
 influence of the pontificate. It is nevertheless cer- 
 tain, that it was more from their own innate pow- 
 er and courage, than from the protection thus se- 
 cured to them, that their independence was preserv- 
 ed. These two supreme powers, in some measure, 
 balanced and neutralized the influence of each other 
 within these states ; they also occasionally opposed 
 themselves as barriers against foreign invasion ; 
 drawing thence, in return, invaluable supplies. The 
 diflferent patrician families in the aristocratical go- 
 vernments, (which form almost universally pre- 
 vailed within these states,) were also connected to- 
 gether in a variety of ways, so as to constitute links 
 connecting these states together ; thus serving to in- 
 sure concord and stability, on various important 
 general points. It must be noticed, however, that 
 all these implicated securities and impledgments 
 were more frequently subversive of, than subser- 
 vient to the cause of tranquillity. A kind of com- 
 plex intricate species of management arose out 
 of them, which split up the country, into facti- 
 ous distinctions ; and though the patrician orders, 
 in the end, came to possess amongst themselves the 
 power of the state, yet this power could only be ex- 
 ercised by them, in subserviency to the worst pas- 
 sions of the multitude. 
 
 Although, therefore, in such circumstances, the 
 general wealth of the community, and the mode 
 of distributing this wealth, advanced the condition 
 of society at large ; these were far from promoting, 
 so generally, the happiness and independence of
 
 219 
 
 of individuals, as the same advantages were under 
 German influence. The multitude were fond of 
 dazzling public splendor, and of individual indul- 
 gence ; but they were very careless of their per- 
 manent, personal interests. The more pressing 
 wants of man, in these genial climes, being easily 
 met and supplied, intered little into the view of these 
 thoughtless parties. It was therefore, in pamper- 
 ing the fastidious desires of the great, in produc- 
 ing those resplendent objects, wherein taste and 
 caprice unite, and in procuring attainments both 
 splendid and costly, that the reproductive process 
 ses generally resolved themselves. These acquisi^ 
 tions, while they gratified the desires of the popu^ 
 lace, exhibited the grandeur of those patrician fami- 
 lies who could obtain them. It was under the au- 
 thority of these families, and not of the state, that 
 the multitude unhesitatingly arranged themselves ; 
 and it was in the influence and magnificence thus ag- 
 gregated, and thus upheld and displayed, that these 
 infatuated dependents perceived those fruits of their 
 labors, that were to them most delicious. It must 
 be noticed, however, that this resolution of the 
 general wealth was not so useless, as we are at first 
 inclined to suppose. The fruits of their industry 
 had obtained such command over the general wealth 
 of the world, that articles of a costly nature, could, 
 no otherwise, be consumed, so as to reproduce to 
 their owners their appretiated value. Abundance 
 of those objects, which decorated and embellished 
 social existence, was thus made to flow throughout 
 the community out of the wealth of these patrician 
 
 2 E 2
 
 220 
 
 families ; the cause of the country was evidently 
 impl-f cated in their welfare ; and its respectability 
 in the splendor of the displays of this, which these 
 could make. We cannot, therefore, wonder that 
 a populace, whose minds and feelings were under 
 the constant management of priests and parasites, 
 should lose sight of their own individual claims, and 
 those of their families, while fascinated with the 
 magnificence of their chiefs ; and imbibe the pure 
 flame of patriotic ardor, while they were basking 
 in the refulgent rays of their country's glory; even, 
 although, these things only served to illustrate the 
 more clearly, their own debased and helpless con- 
 dition. 
 
 Let it be noticed, also, that these brilliant ad- 
 vantages were not only lustrous in their appear- 
 ance, and the means of transfusing wealth through- 
 out the general body, but they were also the di- 
 rect instruments, of bringing forward public and 
 private acquirements of every description ; they 
 were suited to the character of the people, and they 
 served to exercise their talents and their resources, 
 in that very manner, which coincided most directly 
 with their own pccuhar circumstances. In the com- 
 mercial states of Italy, as mercantile ideas had a par- 
 amount ascendancy, personal prowess and public au- 
 thority, if not emblazoned by magnificence, would 
 have failed in producing their requisite effects : 
 where mild and benignant protection were not ex- 
 pected, pomp and pageantry were necessary ve- 
 hicles of that importance, which was held as apper-
 
 221 
 
 taining to the superior class. Besides this, the 
 character of Italian society, though highl}7 defined, 
 shrouded an innate subtility of contrivance, which 
 led to such displays. Its industry, though con- 
 sumate and indefatigable, was not inconsistent with 
 systematic rapacity. We have all heard of the dark 
 jealousy and vindictive policy gf its governments. 
 These were more impatient than ardent, more pre- 
 cipitate than enterprizing, and more prone to those 
 things, which indicated their own attainments, than 
 to those which diffused aggregate advantages. And 
 let it also be recollected, that the authority of the 
 state, immense marine and military establishments, 
 and a multitude of public provisions and institutions 
 were rendered subservient to commercial princi- 
 ples; and that all these things, necessarily deve- 
 lope themselves, most directly, in the personal gran- 
 deur and embellishment of the superior orders. 
 M'hatever, therefore, of what is good or great, re- 
 spited from the form of society that prevailed in 
 Italy, must be attributed, in no small degree, to the 
 modes by which this form was embellished and il- 
 lustrated. 
 
 When we attend to the baleful influence conspi- 
 cuously exercised by faction in the Italian states ; 
 and perceive that this influence arose, spontaneous- 
 ly, out of the general state of things, we cannot 
 but be astonished at the momentous advantages 
 that resulted fi-oni the operations of tliese compar- 
 atively small states. It must be noted, however, 
 that in Italy, after iludal heroism had degenerated
 
 222 
 
 into factious ambition, the industrious processes as- 
 sumed a kind of concrete form, which bore some 
 resemblance to that u'liich had subsisted during the 
 pagan era. Christian principles, no doubt, prevail- 
 ed, and softened the asperity of the bondage thence 
 induced, and along with feudal clanship, arranged a 
 great part of the CQmmunity, under the influence 
 of chiefs, who were not devoid of kindred feelings 
 to their dependents. Still, however, domination 
 was exercised over the inferior classes, generally, in 
 a most unrelenting manner, and their lives and pro- 
 perties were sacrificed, but too readily, to the ca- 
 price of their superiors. These things formed the 
 basis, on which the ambitious and aspiring built 
 their own fortunes. They gave to the powers of 
 systematic developement redoubled force, where- 
 ever these powers could be brought into full exer- 
 cise, and they afforded means, on which the ag- 
 gregate skill and vigor of the superior orders, could, 
 ■with every advantage, be fully occupied. It must 
 be noticed, farther, that various principles of ac- 
 tion, permeated tlie social body, which effectually 
 precluded that lassitude or imbecility on the one 
 side, and that aggregate oppression on the other, 
 which characterised the epoch, wherein simple co- 
 ertion was the great principle of movement in the 
 industrious processes. These principles, gave am- 
 ple scope to the emulative powers, and objects a- 
 bundant for their occupation; these principles also 
 conveyed this advantage, directly to every class of 
 society, and they insured very generally the full 
 developement of these advantages.
 
 As it may be proper, to convey some idea of the 
 principles, that became thus powerful in the pro- 
 gress of improvement, I shall here mention some of 
 their sources. In the first place, it belongs to mar- 
 itime employments, to take mankind, as it were, 
 apart by themselves, to draw out with irresistable 
 force and efficacy, their personal powers and facul- 
 ties, and to exercise these vigorously, in a variety 
 of ways ; here talent is necessary in every situation, 
 and here, accordingly, talent must have more or 
 less of its due reward. These employ n)ents, it is well 
 known, were the main business of no inconsider- 
 able portion of the Italian population. In the se- 
 cond place, these states planted colonies, and ob- 
 tained possessions in foreign countries. Such ad- 
 vantages are peculiarly favorable to the develope- 
 ment of individual talents ; they remove these from 
 under the influence of undue oppression, and 
 place them in circumstances, wherein their de- 
 velopement must be alike advantageous, to the 
 state, and to the individual. In the third place, 
 Italy, the seat of the hierarchy, partook most direct- 
 ly and most effectually of all that patronage, which 
 this powerful domination could bestow ; and this pa- 
 tronage stimulated and rewarded talents of ano- 
 ther class. Italy became the seat of learning, of 
 intrigue, and high emulation in ecclesiastical and 
 secular affairs, as well as that of the arts and com- 
 merce ; for as the doors of the church were thrown 
 wide open to genius of all ranks and classes, who 
 were all invited to partake of these bounties.
 
 224 
 
 which the hierarchy held in charge, so a powerful 
 excitation was given to all such talent, as be- 
 longed to this cast. The independent spirit could 
 thus extricate itself, from the hands of commercial 
 and aristocratic influence, and become enlisted 
 under the banners of the church, which gloried a- 
 like in the multitude, and in the splendor of its vo- 
 taries. In the fourth place, it may be mentioned, 
 generally, that commerce and industry, themselves, 
 are high instruments for supporting and maintain- 
 ing individual improvement. They meet directly 
 the views of the industrious and enterprizing, and 
 they gradually place these in circumstances, where- 
 in their talents and means are displayed, and exer- 
 cised, with most advantage. In the last place, let 
 it be noticed, that the wars in which these states 
 were incessantly engaged, the variety of talent ne- 
 cessary for managing the complicated affairs of the 
 state, and the necessity that existed, for holding up 
 these offices, as direct objects for individual com- 
 petion, served still more to advance talent on the 
 foreground, to exercise individuals on matters 
 wherein their own interests could be best promoted, 
 and thus to break through that concrete form, in- 
 to which the movements of the social body tended 
 constantly to resolve themselves. 
 
 It was under such influence, that the industri- 
 ous and commercial processes proceeded in Italy. 
 It was into the 'augmentation of such powers and 
 eflfects, that the reproductive movements of the so- 
 cial body resolved themselves. The power and
 
 225 
 
 wealth of the state, and of individuals, severally 
 contributed to the extension and advancement of 
 these influences. Unfortunately, however, the spi- 
 rit of faction and dissension took such deep root in 
 all these states, that their power and their wealth, 
 seemed only to increase, in order to pamper that 
 pride and ambition which were the operating causes 
 of these turmoils. The states themselves, occupied 
 in mutual hostilities, embarked their best energies 
 in inveterate and sanguinary wars and contests ; 
 which wars, as they were conducted with a vehe- 
 mence, and at an expence of blood and treasure 
 that bore no proportion to the value of the objects 
 in dispute, were totally inconsistent with their in- 
 terests as commercial states. In these desolating 
 contests, means and powers were engulphed, which 
 luid they been all happily aggregated under the in- 
 tiuence ofone steady well poised government, would, 
 in all human probability, have raised Italy to the 
 highest rank of European powers; have preserved 
 fully ibr its use its immense internal and external 
 resources and foreign colonics; have maintained its 
 naval power, on a most respectable footing; and have 
 set forward all these advantages in a course of inces- 
 sant improvement and advancement. In such a case, 
 the Portuguese and Dutch, might have extended 
 their conquests and trade to the east at pleasure ; 
 the British and French, might have followed hard 
 at their heels; while Italy, secure in territorial riches 
 and higji improvements, exclusively her own, would 
 still have maintained a most exalted character. 
 
 2 F
 
 226 
 
 It is chiefly, in the improvements in the liberal 
 arts and sciences, that have been handed down to us, 
 that we now value the progressions of industry, that 
 prevailed within these states. In Italy, maritime 
 prowess was displayed on a scale that, till then, 
 had not been witnessed. To Italy, we are indebt- 
 ed for the basis of our funding system, the inven- 
 tion of bills of exchange ; by means of which, gen- 
 eral wealth can be aggregated, and remain secure 
 in the hands of any individual, however insignifi- 
 cant and unprotected he may be ; and by him it 
 may be transmitted all over the commercial world, 
 in spite of the tyranny and opposition of states, 
 or of princes. To the discoveries and improve- 
 ments of the Italians, in astronomy, navigation, 
 and mathematics, we owe our present direct access 
 to the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. In fine it 
 was amidst the ardor excited, kept up, and pre- 
 served through so many ages, in this fine country, 
 that many first principles in the arts and sciences, 
 that have since been so much improved by the Bri- 
 tish and French nations, were brought to light and 
 matured. When it is recollected, that these states 
 possessed only a confined insecure territory at 
 home, that they were exposed to powerful surround- 
 ing enemies, by whom their whole possessions 
 were frequently pillaged and destroyed, we cannot 
 hesitate in giving our tribute of regret at the dread- 
 ful catastrophe, in which that country, and all its 
 concerns, are now sunk. In spite of the torpor and 
 degeneracy into which they had fallen, the genius 
 and spirit of Venice and of Genoa, still excited ffen-
 
 227 
 
 eral veneration. But now, when one tremendous 
 ruin has overwhehned their political existence and 
 possessions, and destroyed and absorbed their co- 
 lonial and maritime power ; we must perhaps at 
 length consider their name, and their character, as 
 effectually blotted out of the map of Europe. 
 
 When we direct our attention to that country, 
 which at present holds in its hands, the reins of 
 unlimited sway upon the European continent, we 
 perceive, that even the earliest developements of 
 the feudal system in France, contributed towards 
 the simplification of its government, and the ag- 
 gregation of the results of its industry, in the hands 
 of the merely dignified. Most of the useful arts, pe- 
 culiar to ancient Rome, had taken deep root within 
 her territory, and her natural resources were alike 
 valuable and abundant. Her affairs at an early pe- 
 riod of the Gothic era, were, in some degree, esta- 
 blished and confirmed, under one set of conquer- 
 ors. She had also the advantage of certain great 
 and wise princes, who favored the introduction of 
 Christianity, and all those institutions which con- 
 tributed to the amelioration of the personal circum- 
 stances of man, and to his social independence. 
 Tlic climate and the soil of France were, also, both 
 Iricndly to the advancement of the arts. The first 
 was sufficiently mild and temperate, to render per- 
 sonal exercises grateful to the human frame, yet 
 so severe, as to make these exercises highly con- 
 ducive to constitutional vigor ; and the last, while 
 by its asperity, it called forth exertions of the most 
 
 2 F 2
 
 228 
 
 strenuous kind, by its fertility and luxuriance, it 
 abundantly repaid their value to those who were 
 thus exercised. Hence France at an early period en- 
 joyed internally much tranquillity, and externally 
 much security. The minds and bodies of men, ha- 
 bituated to useful and interesting employments, 
 were prepared for arduous enterprises, while the 
 stability of her government, and the extent of its 
 resources, gave her all that latitude in these, which 
 the state of her improvement could occupy. Thus 
 it was, that by the same process whereby her sup- 
 plies were provided, her government and circum- 
 stances were advanced ; and the manners and ha- 
 l)its of the people were dulcified and harmonized, 
 and its territory rendered congenial to improve- 
 ment, by the very means, and at the very time, that 
 its inhabitants were prepared for the enjoyment 
 of these advantages. 
 
 Out of these very tendencies to amelioration, how- 
 ever, certain principles arose, which, in the end, 
 were the cause of much degeneracy. The French 
 monarchs, had extended their sway over a great part 
 of Germany and Italy ; but this |power could only be 
 maintained by means of coertion, internal and ex- 
 ternal; and it could only be of value to the nation, 
 when it was ^yielded by a sovereign of redoubted 
 courage and talents. Hence it was, that the spirit 
 of domination, which was exercised over the French 
 territory, gradually approximated more and more 
 to that tortuous system, that prevails in those 
 governments, wherein, caprice, intrigue, and dis-
 
 229 
 
 simulation, occupy that place, which can only 
 be advantageously filled, by a systematic arrange- 
 ment and true vigor of mind in the supreme head. 
 Charlemagne, whose powerful genius, and noble 
 dispositions, enabled him to raise the French power 
 to its utmost height, perceived, at the close of his 
 life, the total inadequacy of such a system, to the 
 great object of civilizing a rude race of people ; he, 
 therefore, split up his empire into three grand par- 
 titions ; alloting one of these to each of his sons. 
 Yet even, with these advantages, those various di- 
 visions and subdivisions of sovereignty, which char- 
 acterize the feudal era, w^ere seen to be still farther 
 necessary. Mankind had then acquired the art 
 of concentrating the experience and the sagacity of 
 their chiefs in grand deliberative bodies ; but they 
 had not learned the advantages that result from 
 those cantonments of authority, under one grand 
 dominant power, and which are effected by means 
 of committees for examination, and boards for exe- 
 cution. All depended on personal character, and 
 as personal character may be unsupported and un- 
 balanced, so it was found to be, at once, a most 
 precarious and a most dangerous object for depen- 
 dence ; confusion and delapidation, being for the 
 most part, altogether unavoidable. In such cir- 
 cumstances, it was an easy matter, for the great 
 dignitaries, and feudatories of the state, to ab- 
 sorb that influence, which was delegated to them 
 by government, and to Hx the supreme authority of 
 their own peculiar district, absolutely, in their 
 own person ; and in the end so to traverse the func-
 
 230 
 
 tions of government, as to prevent its interference 
 ■within their own precincts. And as such usurpa- 
 tions coincided ahke with the spirit of the age, and 
 with current circumstances, they soon became fixed 
 and durable. Thus it was, that the feudal system 
 evinced itself, to be as efficient in new-modelling 
 the power of the general head, and counteracting 
 the degeneracy of the age, as it had been in forming 
 thegeneral circumstances of rude society. This mere 
 transference of power was, no doubt, but a lame 
 succedaneum in such a deteriorated state of things ; 
 yet its regenerating efficacy was perceived in the 
 wealth, splendor, and power displayed under its 
 domination ; while its complete establishment was 
 evinced in the regularity of its ordinary proce- 
 dure, within each particular precinct. These great 
 feudatories, in the end, detached themselves so 
 completely from the royal power, that little else 
 remained, for the support of the central authority, 
 but its hereditary appropriate domains. The vast 
 weight, which the English and German monarchs 
 threw into the scale of these detached feudatories, 
 as grand dominant co-vassals, at once fixed the 
 French monarchy within the narrow limits that 
 had been assigned to it, and gave to these general 
 usurpations of power, both stability and lustrous 
 efficiency. 
 
 Thus the territory, as well as the power of the 
 French monarchy, were compressed within very 
 narrow boundaries, and even within these bounda- 
 ries, the tenure, by which its remaining power was
 
 231 
 
 held, remained for many ages, in consequence of 
 the pretensions of the English nation, very inse- 
 cure. It must be noticed, however, that it was 
 chiefly during these contests, and particularly after 
 the expulsion of that nation from the European 
 continent, and the consequent forfeiture of their 
 possessions to the French crown, that the renova- 
 tion of the French monarchy took place. The gen- 
 cralgovernment, havingat length obtained adequate 
 power, was enabled to secure stability and concord, 
 within the whole immense, and invaluable territory 
 of France. Sometime, thereafter, by means of in- 
 trigue, marriage, and circumvention, the monarchy 
 absorbed within its direct authority, all those posses- 
 sions of the great feudatories, which had not been 
 detached from its power and placed under supe- 
 rior authority. Amidst these various transmuta- 
 tions of authority, there arose, however, a class of 
 individuals, whose influence on the general body, 
 lias contributed to replunge the French nation in- 
 to general barbarism. As the circumstances of 
 this class of individuals have not on]y entered into 
 the great course of political events, and liave given 
 to the French nation, that characteristic pronencss 
 tousurpation and intrigue, to systematic oppression, 
 and incessant warflire, by which it has lor many 
 ages been distinguished ; but have even traversed 
 the operations and results of the industrious pro- 
 cesses, it is necessary, in (his place, to unfold and 
 illustrate tlieir general movements, at t^oir.e length. 
 
 It suited i he policy off he French and English
 
 232 
 
 monarchs, to interfere so far with the prostrate con- 
 dition of their vassals, as to appoint towns, and 
 cities, wherein these might exercise the useful and 
 liberal arts, securely, under their direct authority 
 and protection ; and to favor such combinations of 
 the industrious, as served to aggregate their pro- 
 per interests, and to render them an essential part 
 of the civil government. These measures, produc- 
 ed two most essential advantages to their respec- 
 tive realms. In the first place, they enabled the 
 state to restrain the oppression, and consequent 
 overweaning power of the great vassals ; and in the 
 next place, they introduced into the social body, 
 that momentum, which was so necessary to set 
 its reproductive powers in full motion, and to aug- 
 ment, in a regular manner, their fruits and the va- 
 lue of these fruits. The potentates of Christendom 
 had been thoroughly awakened to the value of such 
 attainments, by observing their effects upon the 
 free towns of Germany and Italy. With the view, 
 however, of excluding as much as possible, that li- 
 centious temerity, which was so repugnant to their 
 thoroughly established governments, these poten- 
 tates cautiously avoided every measure, that could 
 serve to introduce, amongst the class of the indus- 
 trious, any undue proportion, either of general 
 wealth, or of enterprising ardor. They carefully 
 followed the footsteps of the flourishing cities of Ger- 
 many, in so far as they could thereby attract similar 
 wealth within their own dominions ; but while they 
 did this, they burdened general industry with pro- 
 visions, which served to bring both the industrious
 
 2S3 
 
 and their wealth, most directly under their own 
 influence. It is chiefly to the circumstances, into 
 which these provisions resolved themselves, that 
 England and France are indebted for that universal 
 improvement in social and civil affairs, which have 
 so long distinguished these kingdoms from Poland, 
 Russia, and other great monarchies, into whose affairs 
 such provisions were not admitted. It is also chiefly 
 owing to the same circumstances, that the sove- 
 reigns of these kingdoms, though, in many respects, 
 restrained in the exercise of their authority, have 
 always been able to bring into action resources 
 suflScient, not only to illustrate and enforce their 
 own superior prowess, but to do this with com pa. 
 ratively little difficulty and hazard. 
 
 To these provisions there was, in France, ano» 
 ther class superadded. Whether these provisions 
 originated in some antiquated principles, or arose 
 out of subsequent notions of expediency or pro- 
 priety, may perhaps be uncertain. It is evident, 
 however, that they have long been peculiar to the 
 social organization of France, that they have been 
 cherished by all its monarchs, that they have reached 
 our days, and have only perished in the revolution, 
 with theother parts of her constitution; and that they 
 indicate more an extreme anxiety in the monarch, 
 to preserve and extend his royal prerogatives, than 
 a serious view, to the good of any class of his sub- 
 jects. While they permanently raised the condi- 
 tion of tlie whole privileged orders above that of 
 ilio lower ranks, thev exalted the monarch to a si-
 
 234 
 
 tuation, wherein he could always, with full and un- 
 bounded effect, influence the whole affairs of both 
 classes, in that way, which best suited his own pur- 
 poses. The provisions to which I refer, are short- 
 ly these. First, the privileged orders were exempt- 
 ed from taxation. Secondly, their numbers were 
 so encreased, as to include within their pale, al- 
 most the whole landed interest of the kingdom. 
 Thirdly, the usual claims of primogeniture were so 
 iar dispensed with, that heritable domains, and pa- 
 trician honors and immunities, were communica- 
 ted to all the members of every noble family ; and 
 lastly, each of these members, from custom or 
 connivance, could, and frequently did, exercise a 
 wantonly oppressive, sometimes a predatory in- 
 fluence over those of the industrious class of citi- 
 zens who were more immediately under their 
 authority. Here I do not allude merely, to their 
 rigid exercise of that right, which is held to be in- 
 herent in the proprietor of the soil, of distraining, 
 in the name of rent, the utmost extent of his re- 
 gular claims. I allude to grievances much greater; 
 the privileged orders in France, could seldom be 
 authoritatively prevented from seizing, even where 
 no such claim existed, in a direct manner, such 
 portions of the property of the peasants as attracted 
 their attention, and from appropriating these, with- 
 out farther procedure, to their own purposes. 
 
 It is very evident, that in consequence of these 
 provisions, the nobility of France would be prodi- 
 giously increased in number, and that by far the
 
 235 
 
 greater part of them would be not only without 
 heritable domains, but without any personal pro- 
 perty whatever. It could not but thence follow 
 also, that the people at large, and these nobles, 
 would be placed in such direct opposition to each 
 other, that neither their interests nor their feelings 
 could be so harmonized, as to make them pursue 
 steadily their common interests, or oppose their so- 
 vereign when he thought proper to invade these. 
 This effect, it must be noticed, was augmented by 
 the disdain, and repugnance, with which the low- 
 er orders of society, and their occupations, were 
 always regarded by the privileged classes. As the 
 general circumstances of the nobility rendered it ne- 
 cessary, even for the most illustrious of its members 
 to stand firmly on the foreground of all their im- 
 munities, the whole body, individually and collect- 
 ively, sought shelter under the most uncondition- 
 al submission to the crown. Those of the more 
 dependent class, and all who were destitute of pro- 
 perty, being shut out from the exercise of regular 
 industry, betook themselves to the arpiy, to the 
 church, and to the bar, in myriads. Nay, when 
 these offices became overstocked, multitudes of 
 them scrupled not to surrender themselves as ab- 
 ject tools to their sovereign's will, and as obsequious 
 caterers to his, and to his ministers* pleasures. In 
 all which circumstances, their constitutional va- 
 nity, and unalienable privileges, buoyed them far 
 above the most illustrious of tiie lower orders, ex- 
 rept in so far, as these last were beamed on, by the 
 direct effulgence of royal favor and patronage. 
 
 2 G 2
 
 236 
 
 At first view, wc perceive, that the industrious 
 processes, and all the advantages, that could a- 
 rise out of these, behoved, necessarily, to be in a 
 most depressed condition. The pressure of any 
 durance, we also know, augments with the num- 
 bers, with the necessities, and with the imperious 
 temperament of those whose office it is to give it 
 force and efficacy. The exactions of taskmasters 
 are sometimes diverted or mollified, from a consi- 
 deration of the odiousness or unprofitableness of 
 the task, or in consequence of some superior inter- 
 ference. In the case before us, however, countless 
 thousands were present at every avenue through 
 which the reproductive processes could intro- 
 duce their fruits into the light ; the wants of these 
 parties were of a most peculiarly pressing kind, and 
 could no otherwise be supplied, but from the re- 
 sults of these exactions; and their contempt of those, 
 whose circumstances they thus depressed, was only 
 equalled by the levity and self complacency, with 
 which they enforced their demands. While the 
 feelings of the industrious were thus outraged, and 
 the fruits of their labors thus prematurely snatched 
 out of their hands, the sovereign himself, whose 
 business it was to have intervened suitable provi- 
 sions for their protection, though precluded from 
 assessing the privileged orders with the expences 
 of his government, and thus compelled to writhe 
 out of these overstrained sinews, the means neces- 
 sary for supporting that enormous load of state 
 which he thought proper to lay on their shoulders, 
 was, however, on all sucli occasions, obliged, ei-
 
 237 
 
 ther to veil his prerogative, or to superadd tlic 
 weight of his authority, in order to quash opposi- 
 tion ; and, as if to carry the measure of their bur- 
 den to the extreme point of [human durance, the 
 poignancy of contrast was placed before them, in 
 the total exemption from all such indignities, that 
 was secured to those, whose besotted folly and nig- 
 gardly selfishness was the great cause of all their 
 calamities. 
 
 It must be noticed, however, that the class of 
 the industrious, now in our eye, are the local pea- 
 santry, and those whose circumstances connected 
 them with this class ; that with all their hardships, 
 this class still enjoyed personal independence, and 
 the benefit of certain religious and civil institutions 
 which upheld them in that personal independence ; 
 and that this state of freedom, embittered as it was 
 by the severity of the privations to which they were 
 subjected, was the source of much comfort and de- 
 light to their hearts, and rendered their condition 
 permeable by that improvement, which sprung up 
 to their assistance from another quarter — from these 
 franchises, which had been provided by their mon- 
 archs in the manner already noticed, for the pro- 
 tection of the industrious. In consequence of the 
 advantages thus secured to French industry, and 
 of the deep root which the reproductive processes 
 had previously taken in their soil ; and in con- 
 sequence of the irrefragable connexion that sub- 
 ijists betwixt Christian and independent principles, 
 and general improvement ; tlir rcnoN •iting power
 
 238 
 
 of the reproductive processes, attained the ascen- 
 dancy. So energetic and elastic are such processes 
 in their movements, when thus firmly established ; 
 and so transcendant is the power of that value, 
 which they, in their developements bestow upon 
 every other species of possessions to which they 
 can be applied ; that the evils above noted were 
 not only mitigated, both in their nature and in their 
 operation, and harmonized with the circumstances 
 of a community enjoying independence on feudal 
 principles, but these very evils were rendered em- 
 inently conducive to the progress of improve- 
 ment, and they contributed to give to the French 
 nation, that characteristic gallantry, loyalty, and 
 animated sprightliness of disposition, for which 
 they have so long been distinguished. 
 
 It will be recollected, that a government so great 
 and powerful, and a nation so full of natural and 
 acquired riches as France always has been, must 
 bring forward, and consume a multitude of valua- 
 ble commodities. The country, it has been seen, 
 however, was striped of these productions, in favor 
 of the privileged. But these personages, it is evi- 
 dent, could not consume those commodities in the 
 rude state, in which they were produced. These 
 commodities were therefore by them transferred to 
 the merchant, to the fabricator, and to the ingen- 
 ious and enterprizing, in whose hands their value 
 could be substantiated and encreased ; their privi- 
 leged owners, contenting themselves with receiv- 
 ing ill lieu of them, that accredited price in the me-
 
 239 
 
 (Hum, at which in these tranfcrences, these commo- 
 dities had been valued. The produce of the soil, 
 being placed in such circumstances, proceeded to 
 perform its proper office, of supplying the general 
 wants of man, by a new cract; it was as little the bu- 
 siness of the merchant, as of the land holder, to keep 
 up and consume his commodities in the gross ; he, 
 therefore, as speedily as possible, passed these in 
 greater or less quantities, to some other person, 
 whose views it suited to disburden him of his load, 
 and to give him in lieu thereof, some substantiated 
 token of their absolute value. This person gene- 
 rally resided at some distance from all these parties, 
 and it became his business, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, to convey these commodities, in convenient 
 proportions, to the immediate consumer ; to whom 
 the task of preparing and delivering the value of 
 his purchases, either in absolute wealth, or in some 
 article bearing that value, was again dcvohcd. 
 
 We all know, that this is the usual way of com- 
 mercial intercourse, and that these various mer- 
 chants, by themselves or their accessories, collect 
 and transfer to each other, or to other merchants 
 or their accessories, those commodities rude or pre- 
 pared, that enable and dispose them to transfer to 
 each other, those tokens of absolute value, by which 
 such transactions arc expedited. And that it is by 
 means of ihe absolute and received value ot these 
 tokens, (whieli in tiie course of a multitude of tran- 
 sactions these parties can aggregate or command,) 
 that the amount of the relative wcahh of each in-
 
 240 
 
 dividual is ascertained. In the case before us, how- 
 ever, it must be noticed, that two very important 
 and peculiar distinctions arose out of the circum- 
 stances in wnich these tokens of wealth were plac- 
 ed in France. — These, and the individuals who held 
 them, were subjects of a great and extensive king- 
 dom, by whose laws, measures, and circumstances, 
 their whole affairs were necessarily regulated. 
 
 In the first place, it must be noticed, that the cir- 
 cumstances formerly stated, scarcely excepting that 
 pressure upon the condition of the peasantry, which 
 has been so deservedly reprobated, were favor- 
 able to those industrious processes, that were esta- 
 blished within towns and franchises; for they pres- 
 sed forward the means of the country into that state, 
 wherein these could receive their highest value. In 
 consequence of this, these processes became, at 
 length, fully organized, provisioned and establish- 
 ed, and sent forth their finished commodities, not 
 only in great abundance, but in a state of great 
 perfection. These improved means were, by the 
 instrumentality of these towns, every where cir- 
 culated and distributed, so as to draw back in re- 
 turn, means or tokens, corresponding to the in- 
 creased value of tliese means. The variety and 
 the immensity of the means, which the inhabi- 
 tants of these cities thus aggregated, render- 
 ed it necessary for them to seek as extensive a 
 field for the consumption of these means, and the 
 repetition of their value, in some accredited shape, 
 as possible ; and as the whole French empire was
 
 241 
 
 open to their intercourse, the capacity of that em- 
 pire, for consuming these means and replacing their 
 value to them, became, of course, their peculiar 
 privilege. ^Vllen the power of me^nism was not 
 much understood, or generally introduced into the 
 reproductive processes, and when, of course, these 
 productions were neither superabundant nor ex- 
 ceedingly valuable, this privilege was a most de- 
 cided advantage ; it gave these cities a command of 
 a market, wherein they could not only easily real- 
 ize that absolute value of which they were in quest ; 
 but possess facilities, whereby they could again re- 
 ceive that absolute value in other means, in which 
 its sum might be still farther augmented. 
 
 But besides these privileges, there was another 
 advantage of a more general and extensive nature, 
 which resulted to the community at large, from 
 its mercantile interests being thus subjected to 
 one great and powerful general government. The 
 tokens of wealth, thus aggregated, had, to a certain 
 degree, the command of the whole marketable means 
 of this immense empire. The absolute wealth, 
 which these represented and commanded, could be 
 invested in rural, as w^ell as in burgage, employ- 
 ments ; it could command the possession, and, in 
 many instances, the property of houses and lands, 
 with all their dignities and immunities. In place 
 of being pent up within the walls of a city, and 
 bcip.g represented, merely by commodities, or by 
 establishments for perfecting such commodities, as 
 was generally the case in Germany and Italy ; thi^
 
 24^ 
 
 wealth was circulated all over the face of the coun- 
 try ; it transfused its influence into every rank and 
 class of society ; animating and invigorating their 
 exertions ; advancing and improving their condi- 
 tions ; and exercising their powers and faculties, in 
 that way, which was most conducive to general 
 and individual advantage. The vast resources of 
 the French empire, were, by this means, gradually 
 more and more developed j their value, being per- 
 ceived, became universally powerful; and the wealth, 
 thus created, being protected by the steady arm of 
 a powerful government, and substantiated in a va- 
 riety of important establishments, throughout the 
 whole territory a still farther and higher progres- 
 sion of improvement was set in motion, which reach- 
 ed to the circumstances of the throne, and of all its 
 privileged dependents. The possessions of the no- 
 bility and gentry were increased in power and in 
 value; their minds were gradually raised above that 
 abject servility, which they had formerly through 
 necessity exercised. The condition of the peasants, 
 thus relieved, sent forth more valuable and more 
 abundant fruits, which reaching and reinforcing 
 those sanctuaries of freedom, in which their regen- 
 eration had arisen, enabled these to display and ex- 
 ercise still greater degrees of commercial power 
 and influence. As these franchises continued to 
 receive and distribute the fruits of foreign nations 
 amongst their fellow-citizens, and to relieve and 
 transport those superfluous productions which were 
 beginning to encumber domestic industry, the pow- 
 er of the nation increased externally, as well as in-
 
 243 
 
 ternally- This species of commerce, perhaps, ne- 
 ver reached to any great height in France; but such 
 as it was, it refreshed and reanimated her mercan- 
 tile towns, and increased their wealth and means. 
 The ingenious and enterprizing, found therein new 
 fields of exertion ; and the community at large be- 
 ing linked and connected togetlicr, and its inter- 
 ests conjoined with those of the world at large, a pow- 
 er and a range for their exertions, and 'V stimulus 
 and support tor the prosecution of these exertions, 
 was obtained, which were of high importance to 
 their farther advancement. The w^ants of the state 
 and of the privileged, though constantly increasing, 
 were abundantly and regularly supplied; the claims 
 of the merely privileged, and those of the indus- 
 trious, were amply and sufficiently provided for ; 
 and the whole arts of life, and avocations of society, 
 were replenished w^ith means, which prepared them 
 for the highest undertakings. All tiiese advanta- 
 ges, flovv'cd directly from the firm compact circum- 
 stances of the French empire, and the stability of 
 its government. Wealth was not only attracted, 
 concentrated, and diffused all over its territory, 
 as in the neighbouring loosely connected govern- 
 ments ; but being substantiated within its limits, 
 and exercised upon its soil, it v»as fixed in substan- 
 tial expansive establishments. And, being every 
 where relieved and protected, by a strong and ct- 
 Jcctual dominant pov/er, it had for its develope- 
 ments, a degree and a pov.-er of extension, to which 
 no aggregation of inferior states could ever obtain. 
 And along with all these things, internal tranquil- 
 
 2 n 2
 
 244 
 
 lity, and a harmony of employments, gave to the 
 movements of this great machine, a momentum, 
 and an effect corresponding to its magnitude. 
 
 These views more properly represent to us, the 
 state, towards which French industry tended, than 
 that to which it ever actually attained. The prin- 
 ciples of degeneracy and corruption had struck 
 their roots too deeply within the French territory, 
 to admit of any very great approximation to uni- 
 versal improvement, upon such an exalted basis. 
 While these ameliorating tendencies were thus de- 
 veloping themselves, the crown, which was always 
 making advances towards a despotic sway, was in- 
 cessantly engaged in absorbing the best fruits of 
 these developements, for its own purposes. The 
 French government had a decided propensity to 
 unbounded magnificence; and in the indulgence of 
 this, it stopped at no ordinary difficulty. Having 
 acquired an uncontrolable authority over the whole 
 kingdom, the influence of which pervaded every 
 department of public affairs, the monarch hesitated 
 not in giving full reins to his personal propensities. 
 He drew forth the highest energies of the people, 
 and he exercised these, strenuously, in his own af- 
 fairs. Legions of privileged dependents, whose 
 highest ambition it was, to anticipate his royal will; 
 a multitude of institutions and establishments, both 
 civil and military, prepared for his use ; and a po- 
 pulation disciplined in all things to the most ob- 
 sequious complacency in his wishes, were all ready 
 severally, in their proper places, to yield instant
 
 obedience to his impulse, to entbrce his pleasure, 
 and even to promulgate his praise, however un- 
 justifiable and perverse his conduct might be. All 
 these, and many other means and resources, were 
 employed in enlarging the French territory, in ex- 
 tending the royal prerogative, in augmenting the 
 force by which the national prowess could be dis- 
 played, in establishing the superior splendor and 
 majesty of the Gallic throne, and in administering 
 most profusely to the royal wants and caprices. In 
 this way, the wealth acquired in commercial and 
 general enterprize was very frequently intercepted 
 and consumed ; and even those provisions, that 
 were necessary for the support of the industrious 
 processes, withdrawn. In carrying forward its mea- 
 sures, government adopted plans the most simple 
 and efficacious ; regardless of the misery and con- 
 fusion which it created, it stood at no measure what- 
 ever that could serve its purpose. By deeds of in- 
 solvency it at different times annihilated the fund- 
 ed property of the nation ; impatient of contraven- 
 tion, it ventured even to consign myriads of its 
 best subjects to the sword ; and at no time, did it 
 scruple to wither up and destroy its most produc- 
 tive resources, and scatter their inestimable results 
 to the wind, when wealth, sufficiently great to at- 
 tract its attention, could thereby be procured for 
 its own special service. 
 
 It must be noticed, however, that here as in 
 the former case, some relief, for the calamities thus 
 induced, was found in thr establishments and in-
 
 246 
 
 stitiUions already secured to the community. 
 These, the result of Christian and independent prin- 
 ciples, with all the habits, customs, laws, ordina- 
 tions, and provisions, to which they had given rise, 
 had fixed themselves so deeply in the character of 
 the people, and in the circumstances of the coun- 
 try, that the monarch's power over them, was, in 
 general, both limited and imperfect. These pre- 
 sented themselves on many occasions, as strong 
 barriers to the riglits of humanity. 
 
 Amidst all their privations, the French people,, 
 individually, preserved their personal liberty ; and 
 they seldom were destitute of that sense of their 
 private and public importance, which coincides 
 with feudal principles. Gallantry, self-denial, and 
 personal prowess, were qualities, which no one as- 
 piring to eminence, could be without. Debased, 
 in some sense, as the privileged orders of France 
 generally were, they could not divest themselves 
 of the feelings to which these principles gave rise. 
 Having little else corresponding to their station to 
 display, they carried these principles along with 
 them, even in their exactions, although they there- 
 hy diminished their own private resources. The- 
 concerns of futurity troubled them little, for their 
 hopes and fears were cut off on all sides by the 
 intervention of others; the business of the moment 
 occupied their whole thoughts; the pleasure of dis- 
 play absorbed every other feeling; and they fre- 
 quently obeyed a generous impulse, without being 
 conscious of its existence. A singular facihty of
 
 247 
 
 icmper, and a giddy buoyancy of spirit, thence be- 
 came habitual to them. These pleasing qaallties, 
 were enlivened by surrounding splendor, invigor- 
 ated by their received importance, and exercised 
 under a bewitching species of display. They not 
 only blunted the edge of calamity, but they have 
 given a permanent cast of gaiety and sprightliness 
 to the French character, which no circumstance 
 has yet obliterated. 
 
 A HIGH sense of personal importance, no doubt, 
 lay at the bottom of this magnanimous deport- 
 ment ; but this same sense, it must be noticed, is 
 the root of most of the dignified propensities pe- 
 culiar to the feudal era ; and it is knov/n, that this 
 sentiment, when disciplined under suitable institu- 
 tions, affords an excellent foundation for many no- 
 ble qualities. Let it be farther remarked, that the 
 animated vanity of the Frenchman, is not only less 
 obnoxious to the feelings of others, but is rnorc 
 conducive to social intercourse and enjoyment, 
 than many other developements of the same senti- 
 ment. The disdainful arrogance of the Spaniard, 
 the pompous assumptions of the German, the over- 
 i)caring self sufficiency of the Briton, are still more 
 unfit objects of our esteem, than the flippant va- 
 nity of the Frenchman. This vanity, is no doubt, 
 connected with a slavish attachment to frivolous 
 sentiment, and an inordinate propensity to super- 
 ficial display, which dispose individuals, frequent- 
 ly, to live and to act more for the sake of the figure 
 which they may make in their neighbour's eye, than
 
 248 
 
 from a regard to the dignity of their own senti- 
 ments ; and it, sometimes, renders fruition, less 
 estimable on its own account, than on account of 
 its effect in display. But do not these very things, 
 habituate a person to self-possession and sometimes 
 even endow him with many virtuous qualities, that 
 he would not otherwise have possessed ? By assum- 
 ing a joyous and animated aspect, the Frenchman 
 became gay and sprightly; and by exhibiting a gal- 
 lant and dignified deportment, he, in the end, ac- 
 quired many heroic and magnanimous propensities. 
 These, and similar endowments and dispositions, 
 being called forth, and exercised under benign and 
 independent principles, and being compressed by 
 the existing state of things, within the limits of pro- 
 priety and usefulness, not only circumscribed and 
 moderated the evils inherent in the system that has 
 been reviewed ; but they have produced ulterior 
 consequences, which neither the perversities of the 
 government, nor the degeneracy of the nation at 
 large, perhaps, can ever permanently affect. 
 
 Besides the relief afforded to the evils inherent 
 in the French system, in the manner above notic- 
 ed, another source of relief was found in the si- 
 tuation, in which the royal towns and franchises 
 stood in regard to that system. These places, ori- 
 ginally intended for checks on the tyranny and u- 
 surpations of the great barons, became at length 
 indispensible instruments in the progress of im- 
 provement. Being the receptacle of the enterpriz- 
 ing and industrious, equal laws and ordinations,
 
 249 
 
 without which tliese could not have aggregated to- 
 gether, were indispensable. Having obtained these 
 advantages, these towns became the receptacle of 
 those, whose wealth and talents required such a 
 sanctuary ; and these, taken apart from the merely 
 privileged, formed a peculiar system for themselves. 
 This system was necessarily an object of deep im- 
 portance to the French government. The wants of 
 every government must be supplied by the means 
 of the people; those of a magnificent government, 
 such as France, could only be met by such high im- 
 provement of these means, as could be produced 
 within these receptacles. The peculiarities of his 
 system, together with the general urgency of his 
 affairs, for the most part, prevented the French 
 sovereign, from using this requisite discretion, 
 in cases wherein his conduct was not' distinctly 
 tied down by circumstances. These circumstan- 
 ces, however, intervened in a most imperious man- 
 ner, in regard to these franchises. These were the 
 engines for carrying on that commerce, without 
 which the grandeur of his state could not be up- 
 held ; they connected France with the world at 
 large \ and as merchants and money holders would 
 not transfer their property thither, without some 
 irrefragable basis of intercourse, such a connex- 
 ion could not then be despensed with, without an 
 assurance of return, without the protection and 
 nurture of tlie state, these merchants, in the non- 
 age of commerce, would scarcely have adventured 
 themselves or their property, within the grasp of 
 a despotic monarch. In these towns, however, the 
 
 'i r
 
 250 
 
 property of every individual was duly respected ; 
 improvement proceeded in its regular course ; cus- 
 toms and institutions, favorable to the advance- 
 ment of the personal character of man, obtained 
 the ascendancy. The injlustrious processes sent 
 forth abundantly their fruits ; these pervaded the 
 country at large ; and they gave forth results, which 
 disclosed, universally, the benign influence of re- 
 gular systematic industry. Thence, the dominant 
 parties were induced to accept of stipulated equi- 
 valents, in lieu of their arbitrary exactions ; thus be- 
 stowing, on the country laborer, means and leisure 
 necessary to improve and extend his own special 
 establishment. It was needful for this peasant to 
 increase its momentum, in order that he might 
 thereby be enabled to meet the increasing exac- 
 tions of his superiors; but having done this, the 
 remainder was at his disposal, and his industrious 
 processes could proceed without interruption, in 
 their proper tract. The results of these advantages 
 would have rapidly accumulated, had not the ra- 
 pacity of government kept pace with the peasant's 
 powers of satiating its demands. Although, how- 
 ever, his powers of increment were by these means 
 kept low, he was able to send forth invaluable re- 
 sources to the fountain-head of his improvements ; 
 and in re-animating the industry of the towns, he 
 rendered these sanctuaries of liberty, these recep- 
 tacles of improvement, more powerful, and m'bre 
 valuable than ever. There, the various resources 
 of the country, were brought into contact, and ex- 
 ercised together upon the basis of improvement ;
 
 251 
 
 and ihcrcFroin, the subslanliated energies of the 
 community were again impelled into action, witli 
 a force, that enabled these to pervade and re-ani- 
 mate the whole social body, with their renovating 
 influences. 
 
 From the degenerated state of things in France, 
 these influences, however, were gradually absorb- 
 ed into that mass of corruption and profligacy with 
 which its nflhirs were overloaded ; by administer- 
 ing j)lcntifully to their occasions, these also tended 
 much to the increase of that corruption and profli- 
 gacy which were predominant. Ambition was the 
 great leading jninciple of that government; to this, 
 a most inordinate love of pleasure was conjoined. 
 War, and selfisli aggrandisement, were the objects 
 to which it sacrificed every other consideration. 
 'Hie views, to which these things gave rise, compriz- 
 ed nearly tlie whole circle of its procedure ; com- 
 merce, and other such matters, being only regard- 
 ed as very subordinate parts of the system. The 
 French government had completely within its grasp, 
 the whole means of the country ; those of the pri- 
 vileged orders, and some of those of the franchises, 
 only excepted. With every increase of these means, 
 its rapacity and profligacy gatliered strength ; /or 
 the reproductive ])rocesses were always kept as 
 near the extreme point of pressure as possible. The 
 degeneracy of the court, reached even these pro- 
 cesses, and in many instances, destroyed their 
 ])ower; insomuch that the natural bands of society, 
 were also, almost universallv, weakened by the con- 
 
 2 I '2
 
 9m. 
 
 tao"ion of corruption. This corruption and degen- 
 eracy received a vast augmentation of strength, 
 from that vanity and frotliiness that were peculiar to 
 this nation ; men became criminal, not merely from 
 the love of personal indulgence, but from an emu- 
 lative vanity, a desire of fashionable distinction, and 
 a fastidious love of folly. They disdained the so- 
 lemn ties of religion and decency, because these 
 were held to be inconsistent with a high spirit ; 
 they picqued themselves on their want of regard to 
 the nuptial vow, and to the rules of sobriety, and 
 overwhelmed every serious consideration by the 
 levity with which they treated it, merely because 
 men of superior rank did'the same. To such people, 
 the regular avocations, as well as the serious duties 
 of life, could have few charms ; indeed, a very gene- 
 ral propensity prevailed amongst people of all ranks, 
 to make their escape from, or to force their way 
 through these duties, at all adventures, wiienever 
 opportunities of so doing occurred. The royal fa- 
 mily took the lead in this destructive course, and 
 exhibited an example of profligacy and corruption, 
 that could not but produce great public embarrass- 
 ments ; from which embarrassments they scrupled 
 not to extricate themselves by practices, similar to 
 . those that were daily resorted to by the vilest of 
 the people. The evils proceeding from this total 
 dereliction of moral principle pervaded the whole 
 system ; in a certain view, they completely obscured 
 those brilliant and magnificent results, that flowed 
 from that lascinating developement of feudal prin- 
 ciples, which took place in France ; and they point-
 
 253 
 
 cd out the necessity of a radical renovation of 
 the general system. The attempt at effecting 
 this renovation tliat was made, we all know, has 
 led into consequences, which still awfully hang 
 over our heads. Unable though we be, to make 
 even an indeterminate guess at the ultimate issue 
 of these consequences, we cannot but discern the 
 closs and irrefragable connexion, that has uni- 
 formly subsisted betwixt the moral evils in which 
 these calamities originated, and the political dis- 
 asters that have ensued ; and it becomes us, with 
 deep and serious attention, to fix our regard upon 
 those special connexions. 
 
 The general circumstances of France, at the 
 time when the states-general assembled, promised 
 a peculiarly tranquil and harmonious renovation of 
 her affairs. Her population, loyal almost without al- 
 loy, enjoyed thegovernment of a mild and beneficent 
 prince, whose throne had been established for cen- 
 turies, and who was himself intimately connected, 
 by the tics of blood and marriage, with most of the 
 leading potentates of Europe. Habituated to piu'- 
 suits of the most ingenious and arduous kind, the 
 great bulk of the people had no desires that could 
 traverse or frustrate the views of the state. Their 
 occupations concatenated with, and supported by 
 the circumstances of the country, led them to seek 
 with earnestness a continuation of tranquillity, on 
 any tolerable conditions. The commercial alliances 
 which conjoined the general interests of industry 
 in France, with that which existed in oilier coun-
 
 254 
 
 tries, procured for these dispositions most energetic 
 activity and most powerful efficacy. France was 
 deficient neither in men of talent and enterprise, 
 nor in means and resources, on which these could 
 be advantageously exercised ; she was the centre 
 of civilization and politeness, and had become the 
 grand resort of all who laid claim to elevation of 
 sentiment, and elegancy of manners. To crown 
 the whole, while those conciliatory propensities pre- 
 vailed, the condition, both of the government and 
 of the people, was such, that the renovation pro- 
 posed, obviously arose out of their general interests; 
 approximated to each other by mutual necessities, 
 they seem not only to have created a coincidence 
 and harmony in the views and sentiments of all, 
 but to have prepared them for that magnanimous 
 and decided class of measures, which had at length 
 attracted their attention. A few, indeed, were 
 bold enough to cry down the merits of reform on 
 a great scale ; but their voices, like the screaming of 
 the owl at noon day, served only to evince the in- 
 nate darkness of those minds, from v/hich such 
 sentiments could proceed. 
 
 Along with these inestimable advantages, how- 
 ever, it must remembered, tliat the French go- 
 Acrnment was not only overloaded with embarrass- 
 ments arising from the profligacy and incapacity of 
 the members of which it was composed, and be- 
 set on all hands witli difficulties in its financial and 
 constitutional departments ; but that the reigning 
 power had most deservedly forfeited its character
 
 255 
 
 for probity and good conduct. It had not only 
 lost the public confidence, but it was incapable, by 
 any measures that could emanate from itself, to re- 
 trieve or maintain the dignity of its situation. The 
 oppression and corruption, which were the cause 
 of this debasement, unhappily pervaded the whole 
 community, and not only rendered the people at 
 large, incapable of any vigorous, steady and consis- 
 tent conduct in their proper sphere, but infused a 
 fatal distrust in their minas against their own lead- 
 ers. These incurable evils, originating in a total 
 defalcation of moral principle, inflamed by a pronc- 
 iiess to personal indulgence, which the arm of des- 
 potism with difficulty repressed, appeared after- 
 wards in all their natural deformity, when a furious 
 contaminating jealousy, set, not only, all parties, 
 butalmosteach individual at enmity with each other. 
 All were conscious that they had ulterior objects 
 in view which they durst not'avow ; their own per- 
 sonal views and desires, they, therefore, as is usual in 
 such cases, shrowded under an overweaning en- 
 thusiasm in the general cause ; feeling the hollow- 
 ness of their own pretensions, the most intimate 
 confederates could seldom place confidence in each 
 other. Serious and mature deliberation, dignified 
 and resolute activity, being incompatible with such 
 dispositions, every obstacle and difficulty acquired 
 an active and virulent, as well as an obstructive 
 efficacy. When men were thus isolated and \mv:\- 
 lysed, it cannot appear surprizing that the whole 
 affiiirs of the state, should fall into the hands ol
 
 256 
 
 men, whose depraved propensities even outstepped 
 
 the NV!.lde.;^;t fuspicions cf their cotemporaries. 
 
 That these were the principles, under which the 
 French revolution proceeded, admits, I beheve, of 
 no dispute ; and that while under the influence of 
 such principles, the government and all constitut- 
 ed authority, tended infallibly to unavoidable de- 
 struction, in whatever circumstances France had 
 stood, and with whatever measures its interests 
 might have been managed, appears to me to be 
 equally incapable of contravention. It is no doubt 
 true, that the whole business was intricate and ar- 
 duous, and that certain steps were resorted to, that 
 could not but agitate the selfish passions of man- 
 kind. The proximate cause was the want of pub- 
 lic funds ; and while the measures, necessary for 
 remedying the deficiency, necessarily set the peo- 
 ple at large upon the alert, as to their own private 
 affairs ; the retrenchments about to be made in 
 the public expenditure, and the abuses about to be 
 rectified in the various departments of government, 
 could not but alarm the rulers themselves, respect- 
 ing their own peculiar concernments. The same 
 unsparing hand, that was lifted up against all pri- 
 vileges and immunities, touched the intermediate 
 classes of the commonwealth in a w^ay not less 
 sensible. As it was, moreover, evident, that as the 
 work of reformation advanced, other interests 
 would become implicated in its course, and as in its 
 operations, its scrutinizing eye would constantly 
 increase in severity and in precision, so other discor-
 
 251 
 
 dant feelings might be expected to appear. These 
 tilings certainly indicated the importance and the 
 danger of the crisis, and they dispose us to make 
 great allowances for any jealousies and turmoils 
 that followed ; but as they pointed out also, the vast 
 magnitude of the duty that was imposed on the 
 national congress, and as they evidently called fox 
 mature and serious deliberation, for dignified, vi- 
 gorous, and decisive conduct, they lead us to ex- 
 pect from the august body, to whom this impor- 
 tant task was delegated, an ardor and vigor of com- 
 prehension, an incessant application to the nature 
 of the business in hand, together with an undoubted 
 courage and perseverance in the framing and execu- 
 tion of their measures, that were commensurate with 
 their circumstances. Along with these prerequi- 
 sites, we necessarily expect to find that the author- 
 ity and influence of the arm, that v;as thus consti- 
 tuted for renovation, should be recognized by all 
 parties as inviolate, and that its force, directed, not 
 by the dictates of expediency or accommodation, 
 which are so liable to tortuous misconstructions 
 and misapplications, but to the rules of equity, jus- 
 tice and moderation, which in their operation are 
 alike salutary and immutable, would have irresis- 
 table cfikacy attached to all its operations. Such 
 considerations ought to have directed their full 
 force to that obdurate insensibility to moral recti- 
 tude, which was the chief bane of the nation. 
 
 TiiK advantages that must have resulted, from 
 having such essential properties inherent in the nn- 
 
 '2 If
 
 258 
 
 tional congress, will appear, if we attend to the 
 following considerations. It was evident, that the 
 government already constituted, corrupted as it was 
 from its peculiar circumstances, and from that 
 magnanimous regard to the interests of the people, 
 which it had lately displayed by convening their 
 natural representatives, behoved to retain the exe- 
 cutive power, restricted and modified no doubt, 
 but so framed, as to serve the ends for which 
 it was ordained. As exact harmony, betwixt its 
 office and its powers, ought to have been esta- 
 blished at the outset, as a fixed point ; it followed 
 as a thing of course, that whatever these powers 
 that w^ere attached to the sovereign, were, they 
 should have been fully recognized, and guaranteed 
 to him by the legislature, and they should have been 
 fenced with barriers, that were alike impregnable 
 by the sovereign on his part, and by the people 
 on theirs. It farther followed, that this govern- 
 ment, should be relieved of the load of embarrass- 
 ments, under which it labored, and that all that 
 dignity, high authority, and supreme influence, 
 which are necessary in governing a people, advan- 
 ced in civil improvement, though sunk in moral 
 depravity, should be attached to it. On the other 
 part, it was evident, that the people debauched 
 and wicked, as they were, not only constituted 
 that great body, for which the whole fabric of go- 
 vernment and legislation was constructed, but that 
 these were themselves, the grand substantial foun- 
 dation, on which the whole burdens of the state 
 and of the community were necessarily rested ; that
 
 259 
 
 it was out of their labors and exertions alone, that 
 every desirable good could be extracted, and that 
 it was by giving a due regulation, and a suitable 
 destination, to these labors, that the great work of 
 reformation now begun, could be fully eflected. To 
 keep these accordingly, steadily to their duty, to 
 draw out their minds upon objects becoming their 
 own sphere, ought, therefore, to have been held as 
 indispensible qualities in the measur.es that were 
 to be adopted in regard to them. To illumine this 
 sphere, to augment its influence, to extend its 
 range, and, by suitable provisions and establish- 
 ments, to make all the advantages thereby attain- 
 ed bear fully on the circumstances of each indi- 
 vidual, were no less desirable. Both these consi- 
 derations, were alike cogent, and alike obvious, 
 and it furnishes us with a most irrefragable proof 
 of the gross degeneracy of the whole nation, to 
 find that they had so extremely little influence up- 
 on the national proceedings. 
 
 There remains one primary consideration to 
 be stated, and it was by neglecting this, that the 
 whole business of reformation fell so rapidly to 
 pieces. As a duty which- they owed alike to their 
 sovereign, to the people, and to themselves, the 
 members of this august assembly, ought to have as- 
 sumed integrity, equity and fidelity, as the inviolate 
 standard of their conduct, and to have adhered to 
 these in all circumstances. That their proceedings 
 might be conformable to this assumption, their mea- 
 ^lucs ought to have been the result of calm, serious, 
 
 2 K 2
 
 260 
 
 and mature deliberation ; and whatever they gave 
 forth, ought instantly to have been carried into full 
 effect. In these things, both the nation and the 
 monarch ought unhesitatingly to have concurred ; 
 for the sake of the complete establishment and 
 confirmation of this radical point, all things else 
 should have been held to be subordinate ; and it 
 should have become the incessant object of the as- 
 sembly so to have conducted themselves, and so to 
 have watched over their immunities, as tohave caused 
 both the king and the people, to receive the fruits 
 of their labors, not only without hesitation, but 
 with becoming thankfulness. If matters had beea 
 fixed on this solid foundation, although casual, 
 and even important errors had found their way in- 
 to their general procedure, the work would still 
 have gone on, the people would have been im- 
 proved in virtue and in talent, as well as advanced in 
 their external circumstances ; the monarch w^ould 
 have been firmly fixed in his proper station, and 
 by degrees, the national assembly would have be- 
 come that centre, towards which the virtue and 
 talent of the nation would have been attracted. 
 Thus situated, this august body might have calmly 
 and delibcratively examined and revised every 
 branch, and every view, of their complicated and 
 extended affairs, and have given forth, and enforced 
 their various declarations and enactments, with 
 that firmness and composure, that became their 
 own exalted condition, and befitted the relative 
 importance of the measures, which had been a^ 
 dopted. In this manner, the execution of the
 
 261 
 
 great designs of the state, might not only ha\e pro- 
 ceeded without difficulty or turmoil, but in their 
 consequences, they might been sedulously adapted 
 to the whole circumstances of the community. We 
 perceive at once, that in a business so vast, such 
 procedure would have placed the fate of the re- 
 formation most effectually beyond the reach of its 
 opponents. Why did it not take place ? did it not 
 imply a stretch of confidence of these several par- 
 ties in each other, beyond what their several char- 
 acters could bear ? 
 
 The foregoing statements, in my opinion, ren- 
 der it abundantly obvious, not only that the parti- 
 cular situation in which France, and French affairs 
 stood, at this crisis, was favorable to a tranquil 
 and harmonious renovation of her system ; but that 
 all these circumstances, by which her operations 
 could be regularly effected, might, by means of 
 a sedulous regard to their own peculiar advan- 
 tages, have been rendered highly conducive to- 
 wards the same end. The dreadfiil reverse of this 
 that has taken place, indicates sufficiently, that 
 the default, whatever it was, was of a gross and 
 fundamental kind ; I have already stated it as my 
 opinion, that this default arose out of a general 
 depravity of manners, and an universal tendency 
 to vice and corruption, evils which penetrated the 
 whole social body, and which rendered it not only 
 impossible for the parties to coalesce in any one 
 great object, but made a convulsion amongst their 
 jarring inlcrcsls almost unavoidable. I am aware,
 
 262 
 
 that the en use of the calamities, attendant on this 
 great event, is generally sought for, in the unsteady 
 steps of the executive power, and in the nature 
 and properties of political reformation. Without 
 pretending to say, that such things had no influence 
 on the fate of the revolution, I will venture to as- 
 jsert, that there is an unbounded malignity inher- 
 ent in universal degeneracy, when exercised on a 
 great scale, and when endowed with the absolute 
 command of those mighty energies tliat are produced 
 by great improvements in all the arts of civil exis- 
 tence, which enables it to assimulate every object and 
 every measure to its own nature ; and that this 
 cause alone can sufficiently account for all the 
 miseries and calamities that have ensued. As I 
 think it a matter of great importance to illustrate 
 thiis subject fully, I now proceed to shew, that with 
 the full consequences of their pohtical misconduct 
 in their view, the French nation precipitated itself, 
 from a mere madness of profligacy, into this di- 
 lemma so correspondent to their character. 
 
 In the first place, let it be noticed, that with the 
 example of England in their eye, which might have 
 served in some instances, as a model for imitation, 
 and in others as a beacon for cautious observation, 
 the French leaders adopted the most extravagant 
 of her follies, and the most atrocious of her perver- 
 sities. They began with laying the whole power 
 of the state prostrate at their own feet, and in or- 
 der that this ^achievement might involve in it all 
 the evil of which it was susceptible, they proceed-
 
 263 
 
 ed to outrage every feeling of their mild and gene- 
 rous monarch's breast, and to involve in the same 
 indiscriminate persecution, every friend of the state, 
 and every person remarkable for his virtue, talents, 
 or steadiness ; and they carried animosity to that 
 extent, that it became utterly impossible for the 
 state ever again to assume its erect posture, or by 
 any modification of its powers, or alterations a- 
 mongst its members, to exercise its functions with 
 dignity or effect. And it deserves notice, that in 
 this deep political turpitude, all parties had a hand. 
 It began with the moderate feuillans, and was com- 
 pleted by the savage mountaineers ; and in the view 
 of accomplishing this catastrophe, all these parties 
 unhesitatingly appealed to the rabble of Paris, who 
 thus enthroned above all constituted authority, be- 
 came thenceforward, that sovereign, to whose taste 
 and comprehension, all the subsequent measures of 
 the general congress were levelled and adapted. 
 
 In the next place let it be observed, that these 
 representatives disgraced their exalted station, by 
 their mutual hostility and acrimony ; they split 
 themselves into parties, which avowedly sought the 
 extermination of each other, and by attributing the 
 most criminal views and motives to their opponents, 
 they plainly unfolded the darkness of their own 
 minds, and evinced how very unworthy tliey all 
 were of that exalted power, and of that vast share 
 of the public confidence which had been placed in 
 their hands. Amidst the violence of their measures, 
 they, with a singular fatality, called m tliat rabble
 
 264 
 
 who were the abettors of their dissensions, to act as 
 umpires in their diabolical controversies. In order to 
 ensure this support to their own pretensions, each 
 party successively soothed the people with largesses 
 and indulgences ; whetting their animosity against 
 their competitors, by artifices of the most despe- 
 rate description. Thus the first duty of this great 
 intermediate body, that of manifesting the purity 
 of its principles ; and its supreme regard to justice 
 and truth, and its next duty in point of impor- 
 tance, that of impressing the government and the 
 people with the same principles, were thrown away. 
 Their ruling passion, a thirst for illicit indulgence, 
 with an abject prostration of principle in pursuing 
 the means that were necessary for attaining the pro- 
 visions requisite for gratifying this indulgence, led 
 them to exercise the same servility to their new so- 
 vereign, the people, that they had formerly displayed 
 before the grand monarch '; and while they deliber- 
 ately exalted the vilest of the nation into that con- 
 spicuous station, they contentedly sunk their own 
 dignified office, into the mere function of adminis- 
 tering fuel to the most impure propensities of their 
 new sovereign. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, it seems to be pro- 
 per to take a closer view of this scene of wicked- 
 ness and folly. In an assembly, which represent- 
 ed the feelings and sentiments of a vast nation, 
 though tumultuously or irregularly aggregated, we 
 cannot but find the mind of the people at large. 
 The people, it must be observed, not only expressed
 
 265 
 
 tlicir will in the choice of their representatives, 
 but their opinion of the procedure of these repre- 
 sentatives, in the approbation and sanction of their 
 measures and phins, which approbation on various 
 occasions the people solemnly adhibited. Uncer- 
 tainty and vacillation, in regard to measures of 
 less moment, might, it is acknowledged, even in 
 such cases, occasionally prevail ; but where life and 
 fortune, the dearest, most fascinating, and delight- 
 ful feelings of the ingenuous mind, are completely 
 at stake; wheneveiy man, and the nation at large, 
 felt and acted on the highest point of their peculiar 
 character; and when daring a struggle so arduous, 
 and so long continued, so vast and so extended, 
 both in its means and consequences, we perceive the 
 same principles uniformly prevail ; we cannol but 
 suppose, that it was the real character of the nation, 
 which constantly predominated. We are required to 
 make allowances for the temerity of one man, and 
 the timidity of another, for incidents and for in- 
 trigues, for the fervor, and for the consternation of 
 the public mind ; to consider that the people had 
 no distinct apprehension of the nature of the chan- 
 ges that were going forward, and that amidst the 
 overturnings and confusion which these changes 
 occasioned, the whole objects in which their feel- 
 ings and wants were implicated, were abandoned 
 or overlooked. To all such remarks, however, 1 
 would answer, that when we perceive the general 
 indignation, expressed, not against wicked princi- 
 ples of action, but against the unfortunate ajipli- 
 cation of these principles; not against the heinous- 
 
 2 L
 
 266 
 
 ness and aggravation of crimes, but against the un- 
 happy consequences of these crimes ; when we see 
 all parties and all classes, clinging to the advanta- 
 ges v.'hich resulted from the commission of these 
 crimes ; refusing to give the smallest compensation 
 or redress to the victims of their wickedness ; and 
 still determinately continuing the same rancorous 
 and incessant persecution against their opponents, 
 both at home and abroad, that ever they did — wc 
 must, I think, abate much of our inclination, for 
 making very great allowances to the people, or for 
 drawing very nicely our distinctions betwixt one 
 ruhng party and another. Their principles were 
 all uniformly bad ; their procedure may have been 
 worse than the generality were disposed to approve 
 of; but the results are merely the confluence of so 
 many different streams, from the same corrupted 
 source. I am far from wishing to insinuate, that 
 we have any right to wash our own hands in inno- 
 cency, or to stand up and condemn the French na- 
 tion ; we are not only unable, but utterly unworthy 
 to discharge this duty ; but, when the irrefragable 
 connexion that subsists, betwixt hideous perversity 
 and tremendous misery, is palpably displayed be- 
 fore our eyes, it does not become us to arrogate 
 to ourselves more wisdom or benignity than God ; 
 it becomes us rather with deep attention and sub- 
 mission, to receive the instructions, which have 
 been, thus mercifully accorded to us. 
 
 Thk previous devotcdness of the French na- 
 tion to the privileged orders, and their pristine
 
 267 
 
 obsequiousness to their hereditary chief, have al- 
 ready been sufficiently illustrated. It has also been 
 noticed, that the same servility of disposition ac- 
 companied the measures of the national congress 
 towards the Parisian rabble, after that great body 
 had recognized the people as imprescriptibly in- 
 vested with the sovereign power. As this last 
 position, may appear to some, to be a kind of quibble, 
 I shall here proceed to illustrate it still farther. 
 Those, who assume this opinion, rest it upon the 
 lofty strain of patriotism which seemed to animate 
 this rabble, and which, they may allege, intitled 
 people even of the lowest class, to claim high marks 
 of deference. For my part, when 1 know that the 
 wishes of the nation were solemnly and repeatedly 
 delegated to their representatives ; that these re- 
 presentatives, from the constitution of the state, 
 and the nature of things, had a power invested in 
 them, equal to the duty imposed on them ; and that 
 this rabble never interfered but for the purpose of 
 blasting and thwarting the best measures, I con- 
 fess, that I perceive not only no necessity, but a 
 gross imj)ropriety in every such deference on the part 
 of the representatives. Had they bent their dig- 
 nity below the leet of any irregular collection of 
 men whatever, their conduct had been execrable. 
 How much more must this have been the case, 
 Mhcn they thus humbled themselves before men, 
 whose aggravated audacity was continually in- 
 creasing, and whose wickedness and folly called 
 loudly for their marked reprobation. When 1 see 
 one j)opular jjarty after anotiicr, resort to the same
 
 268 
 
 shameful prostration; and true virtue and patriotism, 
 though placed in the sanctuary of the nation, shew 
 their heads only to meet the destruction prepared 
 for them by these miscreants ; I think myself far- 
 ther warranted to conclude, that the whole frantic 
 displays of enthusiastic patriotism and philanthro- 
 py, rung so incessantly in our ears, were merely so 
 many ebulitions of the gross servility of the nation 
 at large, to the governing mob. The fervor wdth 
 which these professions were accompanied, and 
 their long continuance, we know, were not proofs 
 of their radical power in the minds of those who 
 uttered them ; they might prove that strong feelings 
 of some kind agitated their minds; for though 
 the conduct of these individuals and their professi- 
 ons had seldom much connexion, this conduct was 
 generally bold and determined. Such protestations 
 moreover evinced, the frothy temperament of those 
 who uttered them. They indicated also that the char- 
 acteristic vanity of the French nation, and its na- 
 tive buoyancy of spirit, were so intoxicated by ex- 
 cessive indulgence, as to have rendered the nation 
 at large, incapable of sober reflection, or of con- 
 sistent conduct ; and that amidst the most awful 
 circumstances, the deficiency of the moral principle 
 was still most conspicuous. In following out those 
 views of the measures that were adopted, and of 
 those that might have been adopted, if suitable 
 motives liad governed the nation at large, into 
 which our subject now leads us, the truth of these 
 positions will more clearly appear.
 
 269 
 
 There is no truth, more plainly revealed in the 
 scriptures of truth, and there is none more conson- 
 ant to the dictates of sound experience, than this, 
 that mankind are more prone to that which is evil, 
 than to that which is good, and that it is out of 
 this malverse propensity, that the prevalence of 
 misery and folly arises. We are farther certiorated, 
 from the same infallible source, that the labor and 
 solicitude, which men regularly exercise, in at- 
 tempting to extricate themselves from these unhap- 
 py circumstances, have not only the direct tendency 
 of procuring for them this object, in that way, which 
 is most conducive to their advantage; but that these 
 have the farther effect of preparing their minds 
 for this deliverance, of assimulating their dispositions 
 to their circumstances, and of exercising these to- 
 gether with strenuousness, in the direct line of ra- 
 tional enjoyment. That both the character and 
 condition of the French nation were alike perverse, 
 has been fully illustrated ; that great and vigorous 
 exertions were necessary for their deliverance from 
 this state, is also abundantly obvious ; and that 
 these national exertions, suitably directed, and in- 
 cessantly continued, would have achieved this de- 
 liverance, cannot be doubted, when we examine 
 their character and circumstances, in respect to in- 
 dustry and commerce, as has already been done. 
 The condition of tlie nation, however, was such, 
 that no such exertions could be procured, without 
 violating the majesty of that new sovereign, the 
 people, to whom it had now become the business 
 of the icprcscntafives to pay court. It was in this
 
 270 
 
 strange state of infatuation, tliat that thing whicli 
 we call the revolution, originated. In place of a 
 renovation of their system, to be effected by means 
 of labor and solicitude, the French betook themselves 
 to the demolition and irradication of their system. 
 The express object of all this destruction, was de- 
 clared to be that of regenerating the character 
 and circumstances of the people. That this ob- 
 ject was completely frustrated, we all know. The 
 following considerations will shew, that this deter- 
 ioration proceeded from very ill-conceived, and ill- 
 timed loyalty to their new sovereign, and from the 
 consequences, into which fatal indulgences, be- 
 stowed under this principle, led the nation. 
 
 It has been noticed, that the expenditure of the 
 state so far exceeded its revenue, that no exertions 
 to which the state was competent, could make 
 these tally, and that the propensity of the nation 
 to consume, surpassed its ordinary rate of produc- 
 tion, so far that there was, on the whole, a dearth of 
 means, as well as of funds. As these were the 
 great and leading objects, on account of which the 
 states-general were assembled, and as they were 
 obviously matters of vast importance, it became 
 them, forthwith, to have taken them up in the full- 
 est manner, according as they were laid before 
 them ; and if they had been disposed to discharge 
 iiiithfuliy the duty that was thus laid upon them, 
 they would have found three powerful instruments, 
 all prepared to their hands, sufficient to have encour- 
 aged thorn to Dcrsevere in their task, until its com-
 
 271 
 
 pletion. First, however inferior the ordinary rates 
 of production were to those of consumption, there 
 existed within the country, means and resources 
 which, under the operation of regular industry, 
 could have far outmeasured the utmost demands 
 that could be made upon them. Secondly, there 
 existed also in the body-politic all those powers and 
 energies, that were requisite for these operations. 
 And thirdly, the circumstances of the country, both 
 internal and external, were so highly favorable to 
 the developements here proposed, that it was only 
 needful to study the natural course, into which 
 these circumstances conducted the national indus- 
 try, in order to obtain, in the highest degree, the 
 whole relief necessary. There seemed to be some 
 difficulty in giving these movements their first im- 
 pulse, and in adjusting the demands of the state 
 upon the people, and of the people upon the state. 
 I apprehend, however, that here, as in every simi- 
 lar case, wlien parties are disposed faithfully to 
 discharge their duty, it was only necessary to as- 
 certain the line of conduct, into which the obvious 
 duties of these parties most directly led them, 
 severally, in order to fix tlie limits of their recipro- 
 cal obligations ; every subsecjuent movement, that 
 tiicse parties made in this direct line, serving to 
 bring their several claims nearer to a close, and 
 to render subsequent difficulties both less impor- 
 tant and less perplexing. 
 
 FoK in the first place, it was the obvious duty of 
 the legislature, as already noticed, after fixing the
 
 272 
 
 constitution of the state, on that basis in which the 
 interests of all parties, coincided, to have received 
 and recognised the whole burdens of the state, in- 
 cluding its debts and pension lists, as well as its 
 civil, military, and ecclesiastical establishments, 
 and current expenditure; and although some of the 
 burdens might be seen to be liable to reduction, 
 on a plea of equity ; yet this plea ought not to have 
 been admitted, until the most ample grounds for 
 the reduction of the claim, should be satisfactorily 
 established. This procedure was implied in the 
 convocation of the assembly, and it goes upon the 
 principle, tliat whether these burdens were hon- 
 ourably created or not, they were created by a 
 government, on which the claimant, and all others, 
 had a good right to depend, and may be held to 
 have warrantably, and with the most complete as- 
 surance, depended at the time when their claims 
 were created; and from which therefore, under e- 
 very subsequent modification of the same power, 
 they could not but be exigible, until they were ex- 
 tinguished in a lawful manner. Upon similar prin- 
 ciples, it was incumbent on the French govern- 
 ment, in setting aside the obnoxious immunities of 
 of the privileged orders, to have given these fair and 
 honourable indemnification, for the losses to which 
 they were thereby subjected. To all these unavoid- 
 able public burdens, it remained to add those of 
 the expences, attending the erection and main- 
 tainence of new estabhshments, institutions, and 
 provisions. It must be noticed, however, that in 
 providing for all these wants, the new government,
 
 273 
 
 would not only have secured to itself the friends 
 of the old government, with all their resources and 
 faculties of improvement, all subjected to a renovat- 
 ing discipline, but that it would have acquired an en- 
 tire new set of means and measures for its support, 
 of the most invaluable description, which the old 
 government never could possess or attain to. A 
 government, thus provisioned and confirmed, could 
 not but command the esteem and confidence, of 
 every respectable citizen, and dispose its subjects 
 to rally round its interests, with all their zeal and 
 energy, whenever these could be of advantage to it. 
 
 It remained, however, to procure funds for the 
 discharge of these obligations, and for the execu- 
 tion of these duties. Here, England gave France 
 a model, well deserving of her imitation. The in- 
 fluence acquired by that government, and the ad- 
 vantages derived by that nation, from their paper 
 currency and funded capital, were obvious. Jus- 
 tice and policy required, that France should most 
 faithfully meet her engagements ; and these, also, 
 pointedoutthe necessity of creating afrec circulation 
 of property on an extensive basis •, for without this, 
 neither the government nor the people could pro- 
 fit fully of their peculiar resources. France had 
 few money-holders, but she had most extensive 
 powers and faculties, and invaluable means for ex- 
 ercising these upon. Over all these advantages, 
 the benign influence of a renovating government 
 was diffused, and all of them, to its supreme 'au- 
 thoritv were subjected ; although, therefore, its rc-
 
 274 
 
 venues and income did not, at the time, afford any 
 surplus funds for extraordinary emergencies ; yet 
 its circumstances afforded a basis sufficiently strong 
 for any new financial system that might be neces- 
 sary. That the new French government, therefore, 
 possessed a basis of finance, sufficient to bear the 
 whole superstructure that it was necessary to raise 
 upon it, admits of no doubt. There were difficul- 
 ties in its way, but these difficulties could have no 
 regard, either to its stability, or to its resources. 
 They arose from the circumstances of the commu- 
 nity, which had gone into disorder in consequence 
 of previous mismanagement; and, as a fair prospect 
 of removing the obstacles that occasioned these 
 disorders, was laid open, the government was fully 
 entitled to calculate on the capabilities of the na- 
 tion, and on the proximity of its renovation. Be- 
 sides this, it was necessary in the existing circum- 
 stances of France, to institute certain public pro- 
 visions for representing and circulating general pro- 
 perty, and for expediting the operations of the in- 
 dustrious processes j and these required a collection 
 and concentration of the scattered funds of the 
 community for their basis, until the strength, re. 
 suiting from the regular fruits of these processes, 
 should endow the national capabilities with appro- 
 priate faculties. It was easy, and it was proper, 
 therefore, for the government so to enlarge these 
 public provisions, as to make them comprehend its 
 own financial affairs, as well as those of the com- 
 munity. Their whole difficulties, in all their bear- 
 ings, and in all their connexions, resolved them-
 
 275 
 
 selves, accordingly, into a general measure of go- 
 vernment, arising out of circumstances previously 
 existing, which if wisely constituted, could not 
 but embrace its own difficulties as well as those of 
 the public. 
 
 In attempting to digest this measure, the exam- 
 ple and the experience of the British government 
 were before them. It w^as proper to attract the 
 floating capital, and the accessible means of the 
 nation, into one or more separate stocks ; and to 
 invest the public body or bodies, that might thence 
 be formed, with the powder of circulating their obli- 
 gations, as the current medium of the country. In 
 order to induce capitalists thus to adventure their 
 property, two things were necessary ; first, an as- 
 surance of return and indemnity ; and secondly, a 
 prospect of advantage. The resources of the state 
 being unquestionable, it became the legislature, in 
 this instance, to come forward, and to guarantee 
 to the public and to these capitalists, the absolute 
 validity of a suitable, but limited portion of this 
 paper currency. This end the government could 
 have effected, by taking up the whole amount of 
 the paper to be thus circulated, on the security of 
 a most substantial, and fully commensurate portion 
 of the public revenue, which property, of course, 
 fell to be set apart, and impledged to the issuers of 
 this paper, as their security for the loan thus made ; 
 by setting the government mark, seal, and number, 
 upon every particular note thus docqucted and as- 
 certained, before it was again issued in circulation; 
 
 2 Af 2
 
 276 
 
 and by declaring that all the other circulating pa- 
 per of the kingdom was ultimately resoluble into 
 these notes or the metalic medium. For the great- 
 er satisfaction and accommodation of the public, a 
 certain day of the week ought to be appropriated 
 by the great privileged bank or banks, for the pur- 
 pose of resolving a certain portion of the national 
 notes into the standard coin of the realm ; the go- 
 vernment always contributing thereto, by provid- 
 ing these banks with coined money, in return for 
 the precious metals. Upon this, as its foundation, 
 the structure of French finance might most assur- 
 edly have been laid ; and all that was necessary to 
 attend to, after its complete establishment, was, to 
 preserve with care and fidelity, the order and me- 
 thod that might, for the sake of the public security 
 and accommodation, be instituted. It certainly, 
 however, would have been proper at the outset, not 
 only for the government and all its dependents, to 
 declare themselves bound to accept of this accre- 
 dited medium in payment of all the obligations due 
 to them, but for each member of the legislature, 
 and all the leading characters of the nation, to have 
 given forth and docqueted a similar declaration. In 
 order to keep the national feelings steady upon this 
 point, it would have been necessary, at the outset, 
 to be sparing in the emission of these docqueted 
 notes. A general enactment against all surrepti- 
 tious attempts to weaken the credit of individuals, 
 as well as that of the state, might also be necessary 
 for the general good order of a community, which
 
 277 
 
 had passed nearly to the extreme point of moral 
 delinquency. 
 
 As it was not necessary for the government to 
 retain these accredited notes in its own custody, 
 or even to make all its own disbursements in these, 
 the money thus borrowed and secured by them, 
 might be again deposited in the banks, and be by 
 these circulated in the ordinary way of business ; the 
 government contenting itself with taking in lieu 
 thereof from time to time such validated paper as suit- 
 ed the parties. Under such circumstances, politi- 
 cal justice and political vvisdom, might shake hands. 
 The wants of the state, and those of the people, 
 would stimulate both to betake themselves to that 
 course of conduct, which could regularly procure 
 the requisite supplies ; while the substantial basis, 
 provided for ascertaining the absolute value of the 
 supplies thus produced, for distributing them, and 
 for realising their amount in a substantial manner, 
 would have given stability and energy to the courses 
 of conduct thus adopted, and made these, in all 
 their bearings and connexions, conducive to the 
 wealth and prosperity of the individual, of the state, 
 and of the nation at large. 
 
 But besides a good financial system, another 
 class of measures was necessary for the purpose of 
 taking off and employing these numerous high spi- 
 rits, A\hose minds were aroused by the vast colli- 
 sion of men and objects that was going on around 
 them ; and who, inflated by high ideas of their own
 
 278 
 
 personal importance, felt the range of employment, 
 that had fallen to their lot, too limited for their re- 
 strained energies. Here also, the previous expe- 
 rience of Britain led the way. North America, dur- 
 ing her revolutionary contests, served Britain no 
 less as a sanctuary for the oppressed, than as a field 
 for the expansion of her own latent energies. There, 
 at a distance from the scene of their former turmoils, 
 the turbulent of all parties obtained both scope 
 and leisure, for calm and deliberate reflection : 
 there too, a new impetus to their propensities, and 
 a new line of direction for the gratification of 
 these propensities was obtained. The faculties and 
 acquirements of these, nurtured under the pressure 
 of venerable institutions, and developed amidst ar- 
 duous broils and conflicts, found an extensive, yet 
 a secluded and appropriate sphere of objects to 
 receive, and exercise them. The industry and 
 commerce of France, though placed on a most fa- 
 vorable footing, in regard to its external relations, 
 required an outlet to her pent up energies, of such 
 a kind, that both her population, and their means, 
 should be comprehended in its course. As her cir- 
 cumstances then stood, it could not but be wise 
 in her, to provide some foreign support to her fin^ 
 ancial operations, whereon neither prejudice nor 
 violence could operate. It was evident, that the 
 results of her processes, would ultimately tend 
 strongly this way ; and although these processes 
 were not yet so encumbered, as to render colonial 
 possessions indispensably necessary, it became the 
 «;^overnmcnt to avail itself fully of means that were
 
 279 
 
 rising up into her hands for future emergencies ; 
 and by providing for the immediate wants of the 
 unfortunate and disappointed, to mature measures, 
 whereby the value of its resources would, in the 
 end, be more fully unfolded. Such considerations, 
 ought to have determined the new government of 
 France, to have set immediately about the execu- 
 tion of some grand new colonial enterprise ; and, 
 having fixed on some plan befitting her condition, 
 to have embarked therein, with a power and spirit 
 becoming its circumstances. 
 
 The old Government of France, had many 
 schemes of this kind already drawn up, and in a 
 train fit for execution. Of all these, perhaps, that 
 of colonising the great island of Madagascar, was 
 the most eligible. This island, apparently set apart 
 by nature for receiving the oppressed energies of 
 some great and highly civilized nation, was admir- 
 ably constituted for receiving that class of men, 
 who might be expected to embark in such a project. 
 Those would, assuredly, beof a very different char- 
 acter from the hardy simple hearted refugees, who 
 left the shores of Britain for America, who could 
 prowl their way through woods and marshes, and 
 feel the sense of enjoyment under every privation, 
 excepting only that of restraint on the developement 
 of their peculiar tenets and principles. But the 
 profligate sons of France, though ingenious in their 
 minds, were debased in their dispositions ; they 
 were more ardent in their imaginations, than vigor- 
 ous in their bodilj' constitutions ; and it suited their
 
 280 
 
 condition, to be placed under favorable auspices, 
 and alongside of those, whose industrious propen- 
 sities could readily bend under their mental prow- 
 ess, and prepare to their hand these facilities which 
 coincided with their more ordinary occasions. 
 But, whatever project France might adopt, it be- 
 came her to have in her eye, not only her own 
 circumstances, but the misconduct of Spain and 
 Britain, in regard to their colonial possessions; least 
 by supercilious conduct, she should create enemies 
 in place of friends, or by narrow policy, should in- 
 volve herself in that penury and durance, which she 
 had prepared for her expatriated children. France, 
 like these two great kingdoms, ought to have de- 
 voted herself to one great undertaking of this kind. 
 There, as at home, her supremacy should have been 
 on all hands preserved inviolate ; but this sovereignty 
 ought to have rested itself chiefly on the ground 
 of paternal authority, and to have been maintained 
 by arts, corresponding to that superiority in civili- 
 zation and improvement, which marked her title 
 to prior regard. She ought to have sought for no 
 advantage, that did not naturally arise into her 
 hands; she ough£ to have trained her sons to a high 
 regard for those privileges which they enjoyed in 
 consequence of their connexion with her, as well as 
 with a dutiful obedience to her authority. And, 
 while with a high hand she repelled every thing that 
 bordered on aggression, she ought, most sedulous- 
 ly, to have cherished and promoted every respec- 
 table and worthy propensity that sprung up under 
 her guidance.
 
 281 
 
 The advantages derived by Britain, from her 
 colonial possessions, both wliile these remained 
 under subjection to her government, and after they 
 had been disjoined therefrom, may convey to our 
 minds, some idea of the multifarious advantages, 
 that were then accessible to the French nation, had 
 its government at that time adopted a suitable sys- 
 tem of colonial policy. These possessions, while 
 they would have received the efflux of means and of 
 population, which were burdensome at home, would 
 have transplanted them into a soil so rich and lux- 
 uriant, that masses of wealth, to which the parent 
 state by itself was incompetent, would have speed- 
 ily sprung up for the service of both, and enabled 
 the community to exercise a power over the float- 
 ing wealth of surrounding countries, that was no 
 otherways attainable. But besides these, there 
 were other advantages, particularly coincident with 
 the existing circumstances of the French nation, 
 that would have resulted from the same cause. The 
 institutions of France, though apparently the same 
 with those that prevailed in other Christian nations, 
 were so radically corrupted, that something, tanta- 
 mount to a separation from the mass of corruption 
 at home, was needful for its regeneration. The 
 virtuous efibris necessary in prosecuting an under- 
 taking of this kind, and the salutary restraints 
 thence laid on vicious propensities, would have been 
 felt to be incompatible with gross depravity ; and 
 a course of things, which, while it absorbed the ac- 
 tive powers of the mind, purified these from the base- 
 ness of profligacy, wonhl also have been instituted.
 
 282 
 
 On the whole, as such possessions would have given, 
 to industry of every kind, a new and vigorous im- 
 pulse, they would not only have accelerated the pro- 
 gress of individual, as well as of national prosperity ; 
 but, b}' exercisingmost vigorously the national facul- 
 ties and resources on a grand and noble scale of gen- 
 eral enterprize, and by bringing forward individuals 
 of vast, though of peculiar powers, whose services 
 would otherwise have been lost to themselves and 
 to the country, these w^ould have advanced and 
 improved the general character of the nation, and 
 have purged off from its leading institutions, that 
 morbid influence, in which all their malignant 
 operations originated. Thus, improvement, set a- 
 going in remote regions, and chiefly effected by 
 dint of high personal efforts, might have gone far 
 in spreading itself over the whole empire ; it could 
 not but infuse into the body politic, great financial 
 and commercial strength, and thus dispose it to 
 these efforts ; and since, along with this strength, 
 the moral and physical powers of the nation would 
 have been augmented and confirmed, the whole 
 circumstances of the community, as well as the 
 general condition of individuals, could not but be 
 correspondingly ameliorated and advanced. 
 
 Let us for a moment suppose, that the renovation 
 begun in France had proceeded under these aus- 
 pices. And — as this is only supposing that the 
 new government, in which was understood to be 
 collected the whole virtual energy of the nation, 
 entlironed in the plenitude of sovereign power,
 
 2Sl 
 
 could have preserved its ascendancy so far over 
 an infatuated and slavish population, as to have re- 
 pressed with a steady hand the force of corru})tion, 
 at least, until the energies of the nation, now fully a- 
 roused, had found their way into that channel, 
 wherein the best interests and highest concern- 
 ments of the nation could have been taken up — we 
 may, I think, without trespassing upon the rules 
 of moderation or probability, and with much ad- 
 vantage, indulge ourselves in contemplating the 
 consequences of such an hypothesis. Let us, there- 
 fore, suppose the people, emancipated from the op- 
 pression of a despotic government, and freed from 
 the tyranny of arbitrary superiors, had acquired, 
 under the influence of a paternal sovereignty, an 
 abundant range for the exercise of their natural 
 powers. Let us suppose them full of confidence 
 in these advantages, and zealously solicitous to a- 
 vail themselves of them to the utmost of their pow- 
 er ; is it not very evident, that the state, and the 
 community would be alike benefited by the change? 
 Would not each individual in his place, and in the 
 regular use of his means, have necessarily contri- 
 buted his highest quota of services to his country? 
 As no one could feel deficiency nor imperfection 
 in the medium of exchange, the instrument by 
 which individual independence is secured, and uni- 
 versal distribution eflectcd, would not the im- 
 provement of the condition of individuals of all 
 ranks, have gone hand in hand with this advance- 
 ment of national circumstances? Let it be noted, 
 however, that to this line ot conduct, each indivi- 
 
 2 N 2
 
 281 
 
 dual would be stimulated b}^ the most noble and 
 most powerful personal motives — hy the certain 
 prospect of enjoying, in peace and security, the 
 fruits of his own exertions, and of attaining to wealth 
 and estimation, under a strenuous persevering con- 
 tinuance of these exertions; and that numbers would 
 be allured into the paths of lofty enterprise, from 
 the more remote and uncertain hopes of attaining, 
 by this means, to honour, dignity, and high renown. 
 Immersed in a state of social existence that was 
 every way improved and refined ; and supported, 
 on all hands, by provisions, establishments, and 
 institutions, which served to substantiate and per- 
 petuate the blessings thus induced ; men, even of 
 the lowest rank, would have sneered at the phrensi- 
 cal ideas that afterwards obtained the ascendancy ; 
 they would have looked, with horror and contempt, 
 on the project of proceeding to sink with their 
 own hands, the whole earthly abode of men into 
 a state of barbarism, as a previous step to the real- 
 ization of some golden dream.s. Men would have 
 fairly and fully met every difficulty in the face, 
 and surmounted it by measures corresponding to 
 its nature; and by so doing, they would have 
 found, at each rencountre, their natural powers 
 over all such opposition, only so much the more en- 
 creased and confirmed. 
 
 Let it be noticed, more particularly, in re- 
 gard to the exactions made for the purposes of dis- 
 charging claims against the state, and of meeting 
 that long chain of [uiblic and private burdens,
 
 285 
 
 which flowed from the high duties, assumed by the 
 national congress; that these, being seen to be with- 
 in the compass of the national means and so coin- 
 cident with their circumstances, as to be directly 
 conducive to their advancement, would be felt to 
 be direct stimulants to the reproductive processes, 
 exercisinga reanimating influence over their languid 
 powers, and augmenting that national momentum, 
 by which the movements of these processes were 
 expedited, and their powers of increment exercised. 
 Those envied individuals, in whose favors these 
 exactions were levied, would have appeared as 
 commandants indeed of aggregations of wealth, 
 but, by their circumstances, restrained to a use 
 of their power, which rendered their influence 
 beneficial, not burdensome to the nation. That 
 equitable allotment of the public good, which was 
 secured for the use of such personages, like that 
 appertaining to proprietaries of every other kind, 
 would be seen to be no more than a mere circulable 
 burden, arising out of the existing state of things, 
 and upheld entirely by that improvement with which 
 it was conjoined, and vesting them with that portion 
 of general wealth, which from the established order 
 of things, was necessarily prepared to their hand, and 
 which by the constitution of society, would never 
 have appeared without their existence. This ap- 
 portionment of general wealth, it could be remark- 
 ed, they would, in obedience to those feehngs that 
 necessarily predominate in their minds, as mem- 
 bers of a regularly civiHzed society, pass into the 
 hands of" those who could supply their own wants j
 
 286 
 
 whose industry it would stimulate, and whose avo- 
 cations it would support ; and from whose hands, 
 under similar circumstances, it would pass into the 
 hands of others; at each turn tending to augment 
 the national means, and to excite and reward the 
 exertions of the ingenious and deserving. While the 
 weight of this burden would thus disappear ; the 
 services of the exactors themselves would, in gen- 
 eral be seen, in some particular shape or other, as a 
 fair advantage regularly secured to the public body, 
 remunerated indeed more directly and more au- 
 thoratively than that which generally flows from 
 the usual course of industry ; but constituted in a 
 way becoming their condition as faithful, zealous 
 guardians of the public weal. The institutions and 
 establishments, in which these services were ag- 
 gregated, and into which so much of the public 
 w^ealth was imperceptibly absorbed, would there- 
 fore appear to be doubly efficient. First, in at- 
 tracting and concentrating the highest energies of 
 the nation, and afterwards propelling these, with ir- 
 resistable force and efficacy, throughout the whole 
 community ; and next by diffusing the wealth thus 
 aggregated, throughout a class of men, whose ser- 
 vices could no otherwise be suitably paid for, and 
 through whom it again passed anew into public cir- 
 culation. As privation and distress, would be 
 found only when connected with inaction and per- 
 versity ; and misery and contempt, with gross vio- 
 lation of public duty; we may fairly conclude, that 
 corruption and profligacy, exposed and disgraced, 
 would gradually have given way to superior prin-
 
 287 
 
 ciples, and that these superior principles would 
 have become more and more confirmed and extend- 
 ed, and productive of greater and higlier public 
 and private improvement. 
 
 The inducements which individuals, thus situat- 
 ed, would have to contribute their utmost exer- 
 tions in their own peculiar sphere, would be aug- 
 mented, on their finding in carrying these straight 
 forward in the way of duty laid open before them, 
 that they thereby at once secured their own and 
 their country's improvement. As the dignity and 
 welfare of the state would be seen to be not only 
 implicated in, but inseparable from, this progres- 
 sion in social advancement ; while each individual 
 would be as zealously instrumental in upholding 
 that form of society, from which so many blessings 
 resulted, and as sedulously attentive to all these 
 measures, by which abuses and grievances of every 
 kind could be removed as possible, he would cau- 
 tiously avoid all those measures, that could either 
 augment these evils, or exasperate their operation 
 upon the public mind. In other words, the repro- 
 ductive processes of France, if set fully forward 
 under such advantages, would have been like the 
 flocks and herds of the ancient patriarchs, when these 
 were placed in fertile meadows, and beside still wa- 
 ters; their power of increment, would have gone 
 on with full force, most harmoniously, while the 
 character and circumstances of the nation, reno- 
 vated by their operation, would, under the influence 
 of benevolent and independent institutions, have
 
 288 
 
 advanced with corresponding steadiness. These 
 views might be carried forward through a num- 
 ber of particulars, and the benefits resulting to the 
 community in ics civil, military, municipal, social, 
 ecclesiastical, and other capacities, might be thence 
 exliibited. In a case, however, which unhappily 
 is purely hypothetical, this could serve no good pur- 
 pose. It is only needful to remark farther, that as 
 throughout the whole system, the industry of the 
 people could not but be alike precious to the state, 
 and to the people, both from the value and extent 
 of its productions, and from its general influence 
 on their cliaracter ; and that as the measures of go- 
 vernment w^ould, in such circumstances, be re- 
 gulated by no other views but those which arose 
 out of rational principles ; so in so far as the oper- 
 ations of government, could be implicated in these 
 views ; to that full extent, would its inherent pow- 
 er and dignity derive augmented lustre and strength 
 out of those blessings which it could have produced. 
 
 In place of following a course so obvious, so di- 
 rect, and one to which every concurrent circum- 
 stance seems to have prepared the way, the French 
 leaders gave full way to the impetuosity of the po- 
 pular torrent. The pressure of the wants, of the 
 state, of individuals, and of the community at large, 
 all pointed at the necessity of an augmentation of 
 the general means of the nation, as the great 
 object in which their labors were concentrated. 
 Privations, retrenchments, well concerted enter- 
 prises, and incessant exertions, were the only ap-
 
 289 
 
 posite instruments for the attainment of this object. 
 Some powerful stimuUis, some high momentum, 
 was necessary to produce these effects. Of all the 
 powers, thereto competent, the very pressure it- 
 self, which the public sustained, from its own in- 
 cumbent burdens, was evidently the most efficient 
 and most appropriate. In order to draw forth the 
 requisite supplies, it was necessary to make this 
 pressure bear fully on established reproductive pro- 
 cesses ; for it was evident, that these processes, 
 properly instigated, under a liberal system of go- 
 vernment, could have sent forth such supplies, to an 
 unbounded extent ; and that they could have sent 
 those forth, only in that way which could subserve 
 the great object of distributing them, and the wealth 
 by which they could be represented, all over the 
 community. TJie circumstances of the people, and 
 their deficiency in capital, liad rendered it neces- 
 sary for the government to interpose its aid, in 
 order to bear up these first exertions of the nation. 
 This could only be done by docqueting and accre- 
 diting that portion of those circulating obligation?, 
 which was necessary to constitute a validated cur- 
 rency ; and by following out this measure, in that 
 steady, dignified method, formerly pointed out. 
 But as all these measures would have been of no 
 avail, unless the public confidence in the wisdom, 
 fidelity, and energy of the state, had been nearly 
 absolute, it was necessary for the state, to have 
 maintained irrefragably, that line of conduct, which 
 would have secured to it this character; and to have 
 preserved inviolate, the connexion that naturall} 
 
 2 o
 
 290 
 
 subsists betwixt regular industry and its due re- 
 ward. 
 
 The general congress, however, proceeded on . 
 an opposite set of principles ; they began with le- 
 velling every thing to the capacity of the people ; 
 they, in eiiect, bestowed largesses on idleness, and 
 destroyed every stimulant, and momentum, that 
 could force ibrward regular industry. Labor and 
 solicitude, of all things the most obnoxious to the 
 populace were accordingly almost universally set a- 
 side. The claims of the state, of the privileged, and 
 of the rich, were regarded as usurpations of the 
 public right, which deserved no more favor, than 
 that which was consistent with the public's views of 
 its own interests. A paper currency, to which 
 neither the state nor the people, could attach its 
 designated value, was emitted with the view of neu- 
 tralizing all these claims, and of bringing the whole 
 property of France under the influence of these 
 current principles. Having thus sunk the ancient 
 government, and all its connexions and dependen- 
 cies, in the eyes of the upright and discerning; they 
 proceeded to give efficacy to these transactions 
 by emitting their currency to an extent, that it 
 was impossible for the whole means of the nation, 
 and all its productive powers and resources, to have 
 supported, or to have liquidated, by any contriv- 
 ance whatever. And as they seized every opportu- 
 nity of wresting, from those who had means, the last 
 vestige of their former possessions, and of appropri- 
 ating these to their own purposes, there was neither
 
 291 
 
 reward nor incitement, sufficient to induce any one 
 to set about producing valuable commodities. The 
 whole establishments of the nation were thus dila- 
 pidated, its reproductive processes destroyed, and 
 its population trained into a sovereign contempt for 
 every thing that resembled regular industry. Not 
 only were the means of the nation consumed with 
 the most inconsiderate rapidity, and its powers of re- 
 placing them, desolated; but the right of command- 
 ing, and the priviletre of requiring the feeble rem- 
 nant of these means which had still a root in the 
 nation, was augmented. Thus a right, which could 
 only subsist in the hands of depredators, who, with 
 a multitude of assignee-holders, were all ready to 
 snatch from the industrious, the premature fruits 
 of their labors, without bestowing upon them any 
 appropriatecirculable equivalent, was substantiated; 
 while all the vast advantages, connected with this 
 great attempt at renovation, were not only scattered 
 to the wind, but their virtual energies were con- 
 verted into direct instruments of destruction. 
 
 This will appear more forcibly, if wc attend 
 to this circumstance, that the people were most 
 profligate and corrupted, and so prone to incessant 
 indulgence, that every obstacle that could liavc 
 disposed them, as a previous step, to seek this in- 
 dulgence, in the regular, though restrained, and 
 circuitous method of attaining the means necessaVy 
 thereto, would have been, in their circumstances, a 
 real acquisition. Thereby, the sweets of enjoyment 
 would have been rendered not only innocuous, but 
 
 2 o 2
 
 292 
 
 salutary; while the means of society and the general 
 power of commanding a continuance of such gra- 
 tifications, would have been, at the same time, per- 
 petuated and increased. In place, however, of pro- 
 secuting this object, |the general congress seem to 
 have considered itself, as expressly constituted for 
 the purpose of destroying this, and every other 
 fence to the passions and humors of the people. 
 It not only destroyed all the incumbent burdens 
 that pressed forward industry, but it seized the 
 possessions of the rich, in order that their claims 
 might, in future, be dispensed with; and it even pro- 
 ceeded so far, as to paralyze the movements of the 
 property in the hands of the state, by annexing 
 to the tenure, by which it could beheld, the whole 
 weight of the burden then in circulation. But be- 
 sides this, when the vicious propensities of men 
 were thus let loose, and objects that were sealed 
 from their use, by the obligations inferred by re- 
 ligion, honor, and decency, had attracted their 
 regard ; and when the national means, fast exhaus- 
 ting, had, in some measure, lost their power of ex- 
 citation, these great rulers, proceeded to pamper 
 the fastidious appetites of their new sovereign, with 
 a fresh set of indulgences. For while they abro- 
 gated all religious duty, they proceeded to avail 
 themselves of the faculties thereby left unoccupied ; 
 they sunk these in the common feeling of an over- 
 whelming attachment to their own institutions; 
 and thus threw open a wide door to the most un- 
 bounded licentiousness. Everyjnfringement of prior 
 obligations, having lost its character, when commit-
 
 293 
 
 ted in their service, and every virtue or crime, being 
 held to have changed its nature, whenever it could 
 in anywise afiect their views. Thus the whole pas- 
 sions, the strongest and the darkest, were embarked 
 fully in the service of this anomalous system of 
 things ; they were vehemently exercised in its ser- 
 vices ; and the restraints which conscience, a sense 
 of propriety, and a feeling of humanity, placed 
 before them, were all swept away and destroyed. 
 
 The dreadful calamities that have resulted from 
 this baleful course of tilings are well known. The 
 licentiousness of the people long repressed, now 
 found in their representatives, an accommodating 
 disposition which induced them to adopt their 
 own views of expediency, not the dictates of equity 
 or propriety, for the rules of their conduct. Hav- 
 ing, under those influences, beat down the barriers 
 of virtue, and gratified the animal appetites of 
 the populace to the utmost ; having outraged every 
 moral feeling, and violated every human and di- 
 vine institution ; the wildest, and most ferocious 
 of the people gained the ascendancy, and main- 
 tained it with a high hand. Then, amillst that defi- 
 ciency of means, which at length stared them in 
 the face, these leaders next bent that fury, excit- 
 ed, to the utmost, against their accommodating 
 senators against their own partisans and compan- 
 ions J so as in the end, to invert the powers of 
 the state, and to fix the overpowering propensities 
 of individuals, in direct animosity against each 
 other. In the mean time, war, civil and foreign,
 
 294 
 
 sprung up ; and war, horrid as it is, by exercising 
 men under one common set of feelings, served to 
 relieve the social body, from the goading pangs of 
 deadly suspicion. The truth is, the nation, fi'om 
 the one end of it to the other, was fitted for war, 
 and for no other avocation ; their feelings were 
 all desperate, their tempers ferocious, and the ha- 
 bits of industry and sobriety, were more repugnant 
 to their minds, than bloodshed or death. It is not 
 here meant to say, that there existed in the nation 
 no sentiment of disgust at these atrocities ; on the 
 contrary, it is certain, that repugnance at the ex- 
 cesses of the capital, was in many cases so power- 
 ful, as even to cause a momentary cessation in the 
 national career of profligacy. Neither is it here in- 
 sinuated, that the whole reproductive powers of tlie 
 nation were dilapidated; for it is equally certain, that 
 the agricultural, and other important processes, in 
 consequence of the superior influence of begun re- 
 novation, were on the whole amehorated, and more 
 powerful than ever they had been. Such favorable 
 tendencies, however, were all lost or absorbed by 
 the predominance of fury and despair, they were 
 animated by no sublime principles ; and partaking 
 strongly of the profligate character of the times, 
 they were soon swallowed up, in the prevailing 
 vortex of licentiousness, and thus assimilated to its^ 
 nature and character. 
 
 Thus, the French became literally a nation of 
 banditti ; their internal means, and their faculties, 
 of producing means or equivalents that could havQ
 
 295 
 
 procured these on a fair market, being continual]} 
 greatly below their capacity for consuming these, 
 they made up the deficiency, by the spoliations and 
 exactions which they drew from surrounding na- 
 tions. They could not, therefore, but form gene- 
 rals, armies, and military establishments, far ex- 
 ceeding in extent and power, those of the polished 
 and industrious, yet decrepitated nations, that sur- 
 rounded them. The fury of parties, and the de- 
 spair with which these were agitated, when ranged 
 under the terrors of military discipline, severally 
 augmented their warlike impulse. The nation, thus 
 provisioned, rushed into civil and foreign contests ; 
 and, carrying along with it, all its powers and ener- 
 gies, planted these in hostile territories for the pur- 
 pose of compelling these to reinforce its strength. 
 While at a distance from the ravages of war, the 
 French nation thus exhausted the means of its ene- 
 mies, it did not transplant their seeds of wealth thus 
 appropriated, into its own soil ; these perished with 
 the using ; or rather like the carrion, destroyed by 
 the vulture and the wolf, they nurtured its fero- 
 cious spirit, by the strength which the spirit thus 
 inhaled. In this manner, France again and again de- 
 vastated Germany, Italy, Spain, and Holland; and 
 although, in all its irruptions, warlike and financial, 
 it always assumed, that the victim was the aggres- 
 sor ; yet, as it is well known, that its own hand 
 behind the scene conducted all that false machin- 
 ery, on which the victim devoted to fall before her 
 was mounted, we perceive that her spirit was, if pos- 
 sible, worse than her deeds.
 
 296 
 
 Although, on all such occasions, France took 
 care to appropriate to herself, every thing valua- 
 ble that came within her reach, it would appear 
 altogether unaccountable, how amidst such im- 
 mense national expenditure, and such crippled in- 
 ternal resources, her power still remained so great, 
 and so entire, if we did not attend to this circum- 
 stance, that the French government always contain- 
 ed within itself, every power of commanding and ap- 
 portioning wealth, that is usually transfused through- 
 out a multitude of civil institutions. First, in vir- 
 tue of its sovereignty, it not only appropriated to 
 itself all the national revenues, the power of dis- 
 posing of every situation, military, civil, eccle- 
 siastical, and political, of holding each individual 
 in every one of these stations, only as tenants at 
 will; and propelling the national force, in whole or 
 in part in that direction, which, for the time, suited 
 its views ; it not only so regulated the order of ju- 
 risprudence, and of municipal, and financial opera- 
 tions, as to render these, in all respects, completely 
 subservient to its purpose ; but it can, and it fre- 
 quently did, in the most direct manner, seize every 
 public and private possession, that attracted atten- 
 tion ; and it can, and frequently did force into 
 circulation its own obligations, without any intention 
 of ever regularly meeting them. By doing this, 
 the whole energies of the community, were in all 
 respects so restrained, that their whole fruits, and 
 even their entire substance, passed into the hands 
 of the state, without turmoil or difficulty. The na- 
 tion at large, and all its dependencies, thus finding
 
 297 
 
 that they had no alternative, but to submit to the 
 sovereign's will, proceed in the beaten tract that be- 
 comes their circumstances, and, goaded on bytlieir 
 personal necessities, persevere in their exertions, 
 until supplies, sufficient to meet their own exigen- 
 cies and the requisitions of the state, can be pro- 
 cured. 
 
 Secondly, this power of the French government, 
 great and wonderful as it is, derives much strength 
 and efficacy, from two very obvious advantages. 
 First, every other constituted authority is beat to the 
 ground, those which exist having sprung up under 
 its own hands, and being merely emanations from it- 
 self. And secondly, every other oppressive or re- 
 strictive influence is so modified, and tlie order of 
 things so simplified, that the operations of nature, 
 and the exertions of the liuman being, can deve- 
 lope themselves fully into tlie public service. If wc 
 did not perceive, that the blasting influence of ty- 
 ranny, thus concentrated, is more desolating than all 
 the other evils that can be inflicted on our race, and 
 that it is prone to the most unbounded deterioration 
 and malignity, we could scarcely refrain from be- 
 stowing some eulogium on tliis condensed form of 
 government. But knowing as we do, that in these 
 pastures, wolves, not sheep, are procreated, vultures 
 not doves ; that here neither the sympathies nor 
 the attachments, neither the beauty nor the excel- 
 lency of our nature can prevail, wc turn from them 
 with disgust. We envy neither their verdure nor 
 their hixuriance ; and casting our eyes, with tran- 
 
 '2 y
 
 ^98 
 
 qiiil and grateful looks, upon the security of our 
 own recesses, we humbly pray for a continuance 
 of our lot. 
 
 The events, that we have been contemplating, 
 are seldom taken up in any other light, except that 
 of a revolution ; and when we consider the impor- 
 tance of any violent irruption in a state, which in 
 its progress, wrenches the whole power, wealth, 
 and substance of a nation, from one set of hands, 
 and transfers them to another, we must admit, that 
 in this view, such events challenge our greatest and 
 strongest regard. In the case before us, the con- 
 vulsion was so great- that perhaps, every individual 
 of the whole French nation may beheld to have be- 
 come radically changed, in his property, circumstan- 
 ces, and connexions. For it must be recollected, 
 that besides confiscations, and direct usurpations of 
 power and property, which have proceeded to a 
 length, of which in this country we can form no 
 adequate idea, and other greater and more promi- 
 nent changes of condition, the whole fruits of these, 
 and even their real value and substance were, a- 
 gain and again, wriggled out of the hands of their 
 possessors, by means of discredited paper, forced 
 loans, conscriptive levies, and by other such unjus- 
 tifiable methods, which always induced ten times 
 more oppression and spoliation, than they seem to 
 import. And it must be further recollected, that 
 this system of robbery, has been continued to a 
 greater or less extent, for above twenty years, and 
 that its course does not yet appear to have absolute-
 
 299 
 
 ]y terminated. Important, however, as such con- 
 vulsions in public and private affairs in themselves 
 are, yet as we know that tiiesc are merely results 
 and developements of the established system, it be- 
 comes us, in our present review, to regard this 
 revolution in that much miore interesting liglit, in 
 which it appears to us, as standing connected with 
 the character of that system which it destroyed, and 
 with the fate of those individuals, in whose mal- 
 versations it originated. 
 
 AVe will be able to do this with better effect, 
 if we compare the leading circumstances in this 
 history, with the corresponding events, which took 
 place in Britain. This island, it will be remarked, 
 had previously emerged from the darkness of Ro- 
 mish superstition. By the free use of their own ra- 
 tional faculties, improved and enlightened by the 
 exercises which this emancipation had induced, and 
 under the direct guidance of heavenly truth, the 
 inhabitants of Great Britain had generally ame- 
 liorated their institutions, improved their circum- 
 stances, and advanced their personal characters. 
 These changes had taken place, chiefly under the 
 auspices of the house of Tudor ; they coincided 
 with the views and interests of the state, and ihey 
 were harmoniously adjusted under their sovereign's 
 eye. These attainments, however, gave rise to 
 fiirther changes, which, being opposite to the pre- 
 judice.'^ and Icelings of the reigning family, were 
 not achieved without violent animosity and blood- 
 shed. Jt must be noticed, howe\'er, that popular
 
 300 
 
 and liberal views, entered less into the measures 
 of the Stuart family, than they had done into those 
 of their predecessors ; and that no small share of 
 the virulence that ensued, must be attributed to 
 this circumstance. Notwithstanding these cir- 
 cumstances, however, the series of events, that 
 constituted the British revolution, were marked 
 throughout their whole progress, (excepting only 
 v/here the overweaning influence of certain leading 
 characters, traversed its course) with a consistency, 
 a candor, simplicity, and steady adherence to the 
 fundamental principles of fidelity, honor, and truth, 
 whicli we in vain look for in the French revolu- 
 tion ; and we at the same time find, that a strong im- 
 pression of the divine power and justice, oftheobli- 
 gancy of moral duty, and of the superior efficacy 
 of benevolent and virtuous principles, predomin- 
 ated. Habituated to simple, and unsophisticated 
 enjoyments, to personal privations and restrictions, 
 and to the discipline of their own conscience and 
 understanding, Britons had few inducements, either 
 to violate the rules of fair dealing, or to consume 
 the powers of their country unprofitably. Their 
 struggles were all conducted under principles, which 
 in their issue, could not but seal their rights, and 
 confirm the virtuous efficacy of their characters, and 
 ■which, accordingly, became thenceforward deeply 
 rooted in all their establishments ; extending them- 
 selves, throughout the whole stretch of their con- 
 cernments, public and private, at home and abroad. 
 
 On tlie other hand, along witli the depravity of
 
 301 
 
 the whole mass of the French people, as ah-eadv 
 depicted, the Romish superstition, which tended 
 not to asswage these propensities, was annexed. 
 When ecclesiastical dispensations, and auricular 
 confessions and admonitions, had more power over 
 the mind, than conscience and a sound understand- 
 ing, and could with effect and impunity, open 
 the door to the suggestions of a corrupt mind, lit- 
 tle could be wanting to induce the mob to overleap 
 those feeble barriers, which such ceremonies and 
 absolutions, could impose upon their inclinations. 
 This little was, in a great measure removed, dur- 
 ing the high tide of the revolution, by the allure- 
 ments with which, even the poorest, were at that 
 time surrounded, and by the sense of oppression un- 
 dcr which they at the same time constantly groan- 
 ed. It must be noticed, also, that the improve- 
 ments of the age took part with its licentiousness, 
 and that a race of refined libertines, smoothed the 
 way to the depraved prejudices and licentiousness 
 of the people, by dressing the fascinations of vice, 
 and the charms of sensual indulgence, in the al- 
 luring garb of sentiment and pathos. It was here, 
 that the profligacy and refinement, the exaltation 
 and the corruption of the age, converged tlieir bale- 
 ful influences, and sent forth that spirit, which we 
 now call Jacobinism, but which is merely the es- 
 sence of Romish superstition, disengaged from its 
 mun)mery, developing its tendency and spirit, witli- 
 out restraint. The Romish religion had told the 
 people, that the connexion betwixt perversity and 
 its punishment could be dissolved by means of
 
 302 
 
 charms and incantations, without any radical re- 
 novaticii of character. Jacobinism, developed this 
 principle fully ; it said that vice was always venial, 
 and at times innocuous. The Romish superstition 
 had granted, that a good end might justify the 
 means that were used in accomplishing it. Jaco- 
 binism gave this principle its fuli scope, by declaring 
 that the greater the sacrifice of the moral prin- 
 ciple, the greater the violation of natural feelings 
 in accomplishing any great end, the more meritori- 
 ous was the conduct of the party. These princi- 
 ples, have accompanied the French nation and 
 government, in all their forms and changes, until at 
 length, they have attained to a stability, equal to 
 their enlargement. Indeed, when we reflect upon 
 the absolute subversion of civil and religious in- 
 stitutions, and the complete irradication of these 
 benign and salutary influences, that were produced 
 at the very outset of the French revolution, togeth- 
 er with the licentious and infuriated deeds and de- 
 clarations, of the different dominant parties, we 
 cannot but perceive, that the debasing series of 
 events already reviewed, were so totally inconsis- 
 tent with the nature and operation of these ameli- 
 orating and exalting principles, out of which im- 
 provement had previously originated, as to indi- 
 cate its connexion with radical principles of a very 
 {liffcrentkind. For although, amidst the benign in- 
 fluence of Christian and independent principles, 
 the seeds of primeval corruption were constant- 
 ly disclosing their innate malignity ; yet, it was not 
 until the new system had arisen, and dispersed 
 
 I
 
 303 
 
 its baleful influence, that the fair devclopeinents 
 of this heavenly influence were blighted ; that its 
 texture was analysed, and its elements absorbed. 
 It was under this new system, that the perversities 
 and peculiarities of the ancient coercive system 
 have been revived ; that religion, and every venera- 
 ble custom and institution, has been moulded down, 
 into a conformity with the well known character 
 of that system ; that Christianity itself, the parent of 
 all the blessings, which so happily distinguish the 
 state of individuals in our era, being regarded as 
 a mere engine of state, had also her most sacred 
 ordinations and appointments, either dispensed 
 with or subverted, abrogated or innovated, ac- 
 cording to the views of the rulingparty ; and that the 
 nuptial vow, that grand support of all that is hon- 
 ourable and endearing in human nature, with e- 
 very similar solemn and essential moral tie, were, 
 in like manner, either set aside or modified, to suit 
 the palifte of the existing government. And al- 
 though many of these most estimable and important 
 principles of social union even while denuded of 
 their glory and of their strength, having fixed their 
 roots too deep in human aflliirs, to be tlius sudden- 
 ly and completely overthrown, — still send forth 
 shoots, which illustrate alike, the power and the 
 character of the parent stem ; yet these, unlike the 
 stamina that remained to Britain, after all its re- 
 volutions, which constantly developed stronger and 
 more vivid shoots, nicrciy indicate that tlie last 
 struggles of that system, whence all its blessings 
 arose, are not yet over.
 
 304 
 
 Thus it appears, that the outrages committed un- 
 der the British revohition, lose their name when plac- 
 ed along side of those of France. It must be notic- 
 ed, also, that these, in so far as they were criminal, 
 were the deeds of individuals, not of the British 
 nation. For our country-men betook themselves 
 not to the revolution, for the sake of mere animal 
 indulgence ; and there were but few, who used it 
 as the instrument for gratifying their cupidity or 
 revenge ; it was a convulsion of principles, but this 
 convulsion reached not to the moral and respect- 
 able feelings of our nature. Amidst scenes of death 
 and desolation, the voice of humanity and the dic- 
 tates of religion, were revered and obeyed. It was 
 otherwise with France; the murders and devasta- 
 tions, the blasphemies and atrocities tolerated and 
 applauded tliroughout the French revolution, are 
 too horrid to be named ; yet with these, though 
 they were accompanied with aggravations of the 
 darkest shade, the feelings of the nation always 
 coincided ; indeed, they seldom seem to have 
 reached that point, which was congenial to their 
 minds. Nor was this all, in order that their glory 
 and complacency in these triumphs over religion, 
 morality, decency, and humanity, might be com- 
 plete, they dignified their crimes with the appella- 
 tions and honours of virtues. Nay, in order that 
 they might attest that this height of wickedness 
 was not a mere ebulition of their characteristic van- 
 ity and flippancy, they immolated the scaffold and 
 the dungeon, their infamous shrines, with the best 
 blood of the French nation. In the annals of the
 
 305 
 
 world, such a vast, extended, long continued, and 
 audacious series of crimes, all committed deliber- 
 ately and systematically, in the face of the sun, a- 
 midst every kind of diabolical triumph, is not to be 
 found. Till then, the extreme depravity of the 
 human heart seems to have been unknown, and 
 the great dangers which by the goodness of God, 
 our nation has escaped, to have been unnoticed. 
 
 But, as it was amidst the tumults of war and cir- 
 cumvention, that these desolating principles have 
 been exercised and nurtured, so it is by attending to 
 their operations, in these circumstances, that their 
 character can be best discovered. Warfiire and cir- 
 cumvention, may warrantably be held to have been 
 the peculiar avocation of the French government 
 and nation, ever since the overthrow of the mon- 
 archy ; we will find therefore in their warlike and 
 political transactions, the strongest, and most a- 
 biding features of their new system : for it is by 
 means of these employments, in which our powers 
 and faculties are most powerfully and incessantly 
 engaged, that the character and circumstances of 
 nations, as well as of individuals, are formed and ex- 
 hibited. Tlie impression made by such events, u- 
 pon the French nation, derived vast efficacy, from 
 the vehemence and intensity with which they were 
 universally accompanied, and from the contexture 
 of surrounding objects, all of which favored t!ic most 
 extensive dcvelopements of violent and desolating 
 principles. 'J'lic strength, as well as the character 
 of these dcvelopements, appears very conspicuous- 
 
 2 Q
 
 306 
 
 \y, by following out some of the most important 
 of these, from their earliest appearances, to their 
 ultimate results. And in the first place, theprone- 
 ness of the French to licentious indulgence, and 
 the facility afforded by the revolution, for gratify- 
 ing this propensity, even when carried to the most 
 extreme lengths, not only led them to absorb e- 
 very object that was meet for its gratification, but 
 induced a wantonness of pride and vanity, which 
 outdid the usual operations of corruption, and 
 w hich fixed its contaminating qualities, so firmly 
 in the character of all with which it came in con- 
 tact, that it is held, to have produced greater de- 
 solation in subjugated countries, than even their 
 most barbarous spoliations. " A short time,** says 
 an elegant wTiter, " may restore to the Hollanders, 
 their former commercial greatness, and a few years 
 may again fill their much exhausted treasures, and 
 replenish their harbours with ships and with stores; 
 but centuries will be unable to repair the injuries 
 done to the morals and principles of the people, 
 })articularly to those of the lower class, and of the 
 female sex, by the licentious depredations of the 
 base rcnegadocs of France.** 
 
 Secondly, the spoliations, exercised during the 
 old government, under privileged influences it has 
 already been noticed, had produced a callousness to 
 ihe dictates of equity, which co-operating with the 
 licentious propensities above-mentioned, disposed 
 the French to disregard the boundaries of law and of 
 established regularity. From this indifference to
 
 307 
 
 systematic equity, as from its proper root, we may 
 therefore trace that long train of spohations and 
 devastations, which, after having overrun the whole 
 Frencli territory, has, in its course, desolated the 
 best part of Europe. Licentiousness and rapacity, 
 stimulated by aversion from regular industry, could 
 not but produce a dearth of means, and dispose 
 men to desperate actions, and to invade the pos- 
 sessions of their neighbours. As the multitude of 
 individuals, who were in such circumstances, was 
 every day augmenting and becoming more formid- 
 able, terror, and military discipline, became at 
 length necessary, to retain them in their places. 
 A nation, so desperate, required leaders of the same 
 desperate character ; the conduct of such leaders, 
 could not but correspond with their circumstances 
 and character. Polite or scientific attainments, in 
 such a state of things, could be of little avail. To 
 obtain a sufficiency of those things that were most 
 necessary, was the great and primary object, which 
 those leaders behoved to have constantly in their 
 view. For this purpose, it was necessary, with a 
 strong arm, to collect, to press forward, and to point 
 the energies of the nation to that quarter, whence 
 the requisite supplies could be attained, to value no 
 acquisition short of the full attainment of these sup- 
 plies, and to regard no loss nor difficulty as commen- 
 surate with failure or disappointment, in these ra- 
 dical points. This rapacious and licentious spirit 
 was opposed by the regularly organized, but de- 
 generate governments of Europe, who did just c- 
 nough to provoke the hostility and contempt ol 
 
 2 Q 2
 
 308 
 
 these marauders, but stopped short precisely when 
 their exertions were beginning to be of avail. In 
 a moment of indignation, these governments rush- 
 ed into a contest, for which they had not sufficient- 
 ly purified and prepared themselves ; and when the 
 consequences of their rashness began to appear, 
 they, as precipitately, compounded for their own 
 safety, by abandoning that great cause, in which 
 their ultimate fate was involved. 
 
 The rapacity of the French, however, was only 
 whetted by these foretastes of their success ; and 
 the short cessation of hostilities that ensued, was 
 incessantly employed by them, in undermining the 
 resources, and distraining the power of their devot- 
 ed victims. This rapacity, now systematized, and 
 bent towards extrinsic objects, took a v/ider and a 
 higher, as well as a deeper, and a more tremen- 
 duous sweep of human affairs. To spoliation of 
 means and possessions, as was practised at home, 
 national subjugation, and absolute usurpation of 
 foreign territory was conjoined ; and all these ob- 
 jects were avowedly pursued, by the most violent 
 and degrading methods in preference to every oth- 
 er. It w^as in such exercises, that they deliber- 
 ately embarked their powers, while they poured 
 contempt on the employments of peaceful industry. 
 Here the support and stimulus of their appetites 
 were obtained; to these, therefore, as to their natural 
 avocation, did this nation at all times instinctively 
 betake itself ; by the views therefrom arising, its go- 
 vernment, in like manner, regulated its measures. 
 
 i
 
 309 
 
 Neither in peace nor in war, do these active pro- 
 pensities slumber. When the sword is sheathed, 
 the iron rod of oppression is laid heavy on the 
 shoulder ; and men and nations, feel themselves 
 enwrapped in mazes of treachery and intrigue, from 
 which they can no ways extricate themselves, but 
 by repairing anew, under the influence of despair, 
 to the ensanguined field. To make a common 
 cause with their known destroyers, to place their 
 best troops and their most precious resources, in 
 the front of that battle, of which the successful is- 
 sue seals their own destruction, and to receive 
 into their bosom, fiends, whose business it is, to 
 destroy and impoison every domestic and endear- 
 ing enjoyment, are a few of the many sad griev- 
 ances to which an intermission from warfare has 
 all along subjected the nations of Europe. It is 
 thus, that the powers and faculties of the French 
 are strenuously exercised ;,. and at present they know 
 no natural bounds to these exercises, except those 
 which our maritime power can place before them. 
 
 The cftects of this state of things, upon the na- 
 tions that have been unhappily involved under 
 their influence, are admirably illustrated, by the 
 following quotation from the author above noticed: 
 but which, as it regards only the affairs of Hol- 
 land, i)rior to 1802, must be held, to come iar 
 short of the true state of things at present. " Not 
 content with ruinous contributions, which they 
 every where levied ; with having borne down their 
 nation, from a height of grandeur and prosperity
 
 310 
 
 tiever before equalled, the result of their indefati- 
 gable industry and perseverance ; with doing away 
 their ancient, and much venerated laws and cus- 
 toms, in order to make room for their own iniquitous 
 regulations, and disgusting ceremonies ; and with 
 repeatedly overrunning their country with hordes 
 of banditti, whom their treasury and domestic pos- 
 sessions were successively distrained to maintain ; 
 the French, actually plundered Holland of all that 
 was worth the taking away. Not only their ships, 
 military and naval stores and arsenals, but the pa- 
 lace of the Stadholder, and his numerous and va- 
 luable cabinets of collections, and the house of e- 
 very individual, that was so unfortunate as to con- 
 tain any incitement to avidity, shared all in the 
 same fate." That the latter German wars were, 
 all concerted, conducted, limited, and restricted 
 by the views, which these representations imply, 
 appears to me, to be self evident. These wars 
 were all sedulously courted by the French. They 
 all procured for them, that financial and territori- 
 al spoils, of which they are so covetous ; they have 
 converted the native princes of that ill-fated em- 
 pire into government officers, through whose hands 
 men and money, are now thence drawn for the 
 French service ; and they have thus rendered that 
 immense territory, a still more convenient field for 
 exercising their desolating and debasing system u- 
 pon, than formerly. Having attained this object, 
 the French leave the old system of Germany to 
 its old course ; the same exasperated tyranny 
 and corruption, (with the accessions imposed by
 
 311 
 
 France,) still predominate throughout its whole 
 extent. 
 
 Thus it is, that the French revolution, the grand 
 developement of the system of feudalism establish- 
 ed in that country, has resolved itself into a great 
 military government, founded upon coertion of 
 the simplest kind, and maintained by a concretion 
 of her powers and means ; and that the boundaries 
 of this government, have been so augmented and 
 extended, that it now comprehends a territory, po- 
 pulation and resources, that render it capable of 
 commanding unlimited, and almost universal sub- 
 mission to its plans, wherever our superior nation- 
 al influence cannot be exercised. It is indeed, 
 restrained by the ocean on one side, and by the 
 immense Russian empire on the other, in so far as 
 its immediate operations are concerned. But by 
 its intrigues and machinations, there is no throne 
 nor dominion secure from its influence. It be- 
 longs to this government, to involve distinguished 
 individuals, and constituent members of distant 
 kingdoms, in its schemes, for the purpose of draw- 
 ing these, and all their connexions into acts of 
 turpitude ; and of involving these in its affairs, so as 
 to paralyze their arms when these oughttobe exercis- 
 ed, most strenuously, in behalf of their own best in- 
 terests ; and thus to secure in the country of others, 
 an ascendancy of high avail, in the execution of its 
 gigantic plans. France seems at length, to be en- 
 gaged in preparations, wliich are meant to give to 
 all her former attainments, an operation of the
 
 312 
 
 most unbounded nature. She has, in the first 
 place, so concentrated all civil and ecclesiastical in- 
 fluence, under one irresistable paramount domina- 
 tion, as to secure to the utmost for her own pur- 
 poses, the consciences, persons, and property, of 
 the whole inhabitants of her immense empire. 
 These she has sealed to her service, by converting 
 that great instrument in civilization, the press, in- 
 to the abject tool of all her designs ; and she is now 
 proceeding to confirm this advantage, by usurping 
 the province of educating, under military discipline, 
 her whole male population. She has already so 
 far succeeded, in bringing down the minds of her 
 people to her schemes, that privations and sever- 
 ities, political and personal, that could not former- 
 ly have been mentioned or thought of, are put up 
 with, not only without complaint, but with singu- 
 lar complacency. Commerce and industry, as well 
 as every great and national institution, move as 
 upon a mechanical pivoti at her command ; inso- 
 much, that the plans and the measures of men seem 
 to attract and to meet, to neutralize and to re- 
 pel each other, almost in perfect coincidence with 
 her views. The very hardships to which she is 
 subjected on account of her deficiency in naval 
 prowess, enable her to exercise her whole tumul- 
 tuous population, upon a common principle, un- 
 der her own eye and authority ; and to excite, al- 
 most universally, an aversion from British views 
 and British measures, that is almost insuperable 
 by our most unexampled generosity. In the mean 
 timcj by removing obstructions, and creating fa-
 
 IIS 
 
 exercises her different nations under one great de- 
 sign, she is gradually destroying those bulwarks, 
 which nature had opposed to the union of their jar- 
 ring interests and dispositions; and while, by means 
 of conjunct hostilities, and grand military and deso- 
 lating enterprises, she is assimulating their tempers 
 and habits to her own system, she fixes their re- 
 pugnance to us and our designs, on principles that 
 seem to render it needful for us to surmount all 
 this aggregate power, upon that very ground, and 
 upon those very principles, which she has chosen 
 to assume, as the basis of our contest, before wc 
 can either overthrow her system, or ameliorate its 
 nature. Wc cannot doubt of her intention to for- 
 tily and extend this system to the utmost ; for all 
 these measures are followed out in a way com- 
 pletely correspondent with the known character 
 of that concrete system, which she labors to esta- 
 blish. The conquered are transported out of their 
 own territories ; Helo|tism and domestic slavery 
 are instituted ; barbarities formerly unknown in 
 Europe arc practised; and the ears and minds of men 
 daily familiarized with turpitude and bloodshed, 
 are systematically preparing for that furious and 
 desolating warfare, and for that oppressive and o- 
 verwhclming governance, which she has determined 
 iniiversally to maintain. 
 
 As it is into these circumstances, that the seve- 
 ral developements of the feudal system, all over 
 Europe, have at last resolved themselves, it is pro- 
 per, before dismissing this subject, briefly to no-
 
 314 
 
 tice that line of connexion betwixt the political 
 conduct, and subsequent fate of its several nations, 
 wherein, theresolution of their fatal misconduct into 
 these consequences appears. It was not, perhaps, to 
 have been expected, that all parties should have 
 been prepared, and at their post, when these great 
 events began to disclose themselves ; nor amidst the 
 tumultuous and opposite sensations which pre- 
 vailed, that the leaders of the nations should have 
 found at once that precise attitude, by maintain- 
 ing which, their own and their constituent's best 
 interests could be secured. But, surely, after the 
 character of the revolution had been unfolded ; 
 when it manifestly appeared, that the better sense of 
 mankind was overwhelmed by opposite parties, who 
 set forth their pretensions, merely as covers to their 
 own wicked designs ; when it had it become evi- 
 dent, that it was only by rallying the sincere and 
 the upright round one common standard, that secur- 
 ity could be obtained; we might expect, that the im- 
 portance of the crisis, would have so composed the 
 minds, and regulated the procedure of the great po- 
 tentates of Europe, as to have inclined them to be- 
 take themselves to measures, correspondent to their 
 situation. From tlie example of Britain, they could 
 not but see, that their true happiness and security 
 was perfectly consistent, with having their conduct 
 subjected to the regulated control of the collected 
 wisdom, virtue, and wealth of their subjects. From 
 that of France, they must also have observed, that 
 it was needful to have proceeded to work, in this 
 business, with a steadv resolute demeanour; and cal-
 
 315 
 
 dilating and relying npon the high character whicli 
 this demeanor portended, to have drawn forth and 
 exercised the highest energies, and the utmost re- 
 sources of their subjects, under tiiis influence ; re- 
 pelhng vigorously every attempt to interfere with, 
 or prevent tlieir magnanimous measures. In doing 
 this, the German princes, mig]it have rested most 
 securely upon the moderate temperament of their 
 own subjects. By thus enhsting tlie higiiestand best 
 interests of tlie people, in the cause of a common le- 
 gitimate sovereign, they would at the same time have 
 attained, at once, to an authority over their persons 
 and means, incomparably more valuable, than any 
 that despotism or anarchy could have procured for 
 them ; an authority which would have expedited the 
 reproductive powers of the nation, at the same time 
 that it preserved these and all the means of the 
 country, steadily in their country's service; and 
 which would have endowed the capabilities of every 
 individual, with redoubled energy, while it plac- 
 ed these firmly under their country's banners. A 
 view of such high virtue, would haVe paralysed the 
 audacious arm of French licentiousness ; it would 
 liavc given such high countenance to all the wise and 
 moderate of that nation, as to have brought even 
 that people, gradually to a state, w^Iierein, the great- 
 est degree of political and civil liberty, consistent 
 with their character, could have been procured and 
 cnjoved ; and thus have saved mankind at large 
 from nnich misery and wickedness. 
 
 Tin: truth is, however, that the same dispositions 
 
 2 11 2
 
 316 
 
 and propensities, which predominated in France, 
 had also acquired the ascendancy in Germany, 
 and indeed all over Europe. Men were prone to 
 indulgence, regardless of moral obligation, and lit- 
 tle disposed to encounter hardships or difficulties 
 in any cause, but that which coincided with these 
 tendencies. Their governments saw this, but puf- 
 fed up with empty notions of their own importance 
 and self sufficiency, they threw out of sight the plain 
 and obvious duties which arose out of such circum- 
 stances ; and while abhorrent of the judicial mur- 
 der of a mild and merciful prince, they proceeded 
 to gratify all their own furious prejudices and pro- 
 pensities, as if their sole duty had consisted, in be- 
 ing the ministers of God's wrath upon earth — they, 
 at the same time, discovered themselves utterly 
 unfit for this duty, by the base aggrandizing pro- 
 jects, with which they accompanied their transac- 
 tions. Without pretending to reprobate too severe- 
 ly, feelings so natural to our race, it must, however, 
 be noticed, that such conduct too evidently impli- 
 cated the fate that has followed it, for us to admin- 
 ister to them that commiseration which is only 
 due to unfortunate virtue, or to underrate that in- 
 fatuated criminality which prevailed. When these 
 sovereigns v» ere about to shed rivers of their own 
 subject's blood, did it not become them to have 
 thought upon what they owed to their subjects, 
 upon the instability of all earthly things, and up- 
 on the high responsibility of their trust ? After 
 they had been again and again checked in their 
 desperate carreer, after the warfare had assumed
 
 317 
 
 that desolating character, which it has since retain- 
 ed, and was proceeding without end in the same 
 destructive train — did it not then become obvious, 
 that their subjects might be rallied round their 
 throne, if wise and vigorous measures were adopted, 
 if a high interest in its stability, that which results 
 from personal freedom, independence, and secur- 
 ity, had been accorded and guaranteed to them, in 
 in every legitimate shape ? But the sovereigns of 
 Europe, either could not or would not, take a full 
 and complete view of their condition. They trust- 
 ed to their own arm, and to their own political 
 wisdom, and turned a deaf ear to the clear though 
 mild suggestions of heavenly wisdom. Rather than 
 undertake the task of renovating their own system, 
 they had betaken themselves despairingly to that 
 of crushing an enemy, who had already far trans- 
 cended that sphere, in vvhicii they thought proper 
 to meet him ; and now that the certainty of this 
 had become palpable, they resorted to the hopeless 
 task of defending, and of quibbling about obsolete 
 rights, all of which were lying at their conqueror's 
 feet, in place of manfully and conscientiously raising 
 their claims to their country's confidence, upon the 
 glorious and exalted foundation of their direct la- 
 bors in its regeneration. lam far from meaning to 
 say that these sovereigns should have levelled their 
 measures to the capacity of the j)eopIe. On the 
 contrary, I think that they ought, with a steady 
 hand, to iiave adopted only that plan of reform, 
 which coincided with clear and full views of equity, 
 and ofthegcncrnl interest. I am equally far from
 
 318 
 
 wishing to insimiate, that these or any measures 
 could, of themseivjs, have been of much avail in 
 procuring the requisitt deliverance, otherwise than 
 as preparatory means tor exciting, unfoldinq", and 
 exercising tlie highest services of the people ; for 
 it was thereby alone, that this deliverance could 
 be atchieved. Besides, I hold it to be self evident, 
 that the governed, as well as their governors, but 
 too much needed a variety of endurances and 
 exercitations for the improvement and amend- 
 ment of their general character and deportment. 
 
 The consequences of these things are now fully 
 before our eyes ; the German nation, the mother 
 of nations, is now in a manner dissolved, or if not 
 thoroughly dissolved, it is, at least, so completely 
 permeated by the influence of the destroyer, that 
 it seems to exist, only by his tolerance. He does 
 not chuse as yet to rest the whole weight of his 
 authority upon the feelings of those, out of whose in- 
 fluence his power has arisen. The fictitious buoy- 
 ancy of kindred despots, still appears to him to be 
 necessary, in order to balance his power amidst his 
 usurpations; and to enable him to overawe and daz- 
 zle those compeers, whose services are alike essen- 
 tial and formidable to his fortunes. While such 
 apprehensions remain, Bonaparte may still set reins 
 to his projects of aggrandisement, he may curb 
 the voracity and impetuosity of his subjects ; and, 
 for the sake of a convenient triumph, he may also 
 occasionally exercise his sagacity and his prowess, 
 in traversing movements, that seem to coincide
 
 319 
 
 with his plans. Such conduct is so congenial to 
 liis system, that it neither retards its progress, nor 
 militates against its tendency. 
 
 Many people, I believe, are of'opinion, that the 
 connexion, betwixt Bonaparte's plans and his peo- 
 ple's propensities, would be dissolved by his death 
 or deposition. The foregoing statements, I think, 
 ought to go far in shewing how great the coinci- 
 dence, betwixt their principles and his, is ; that 
 there is a similar harmony betwixt their feelings 
 and sentiments, can as little be doubted, if due al- 
 lowance is made for the re]ati\ e situation of this 
 despot, and his slaves. He, no doubt, pushes his 
 plans generally to an extreme length, and resorts 
 to measures which are severe and oppressive ; but 
 he always spares French blood, and French trea- 
 sure, when this can be done, even while he destrains 
 those of his allies and dependents to the utmost; 
 and he ihus effects his conquests, and prosecutes his 
 spoliative usurpations, by one and the same means. 
 Sometimes, also, his plans outgo the national propen- 
 sities so tar as to seem to invert their operation. In 
 all such cases, however, he steadily maintains that 
 line, wherein these propensities naturally proceed, 
 and he never fails to conduct these, in the end, to 
 their appropriate objtct. And, on the whole, he 
 conducts the national encigies, in that course, 
 which his predecessors had laid open belbre him. 
 It belonged to France, age aftei age, first to de- 
 solate by its wars and preteiioioiu, the petty ad- 
 joining powers, and tiien after oppression and ty-
 
 320 
 
 ranny had become a relief from such miseries, to ab- 
 sorb them into her empire. Bonaparte is prosecut- 
 ing this plan, now in its full developement ; and he 
 now desolates Germany and Poland, Spain and 
 Italy, for the same purposes, that the Bourbons 
 devastated the petty states upon the Rhine. Nei- 
 ther Bonaparte's destruction, nor that of his party, 
 would therefore, I apprehend, materially affect the 
 measures of the French government, nor prevent 
 it from pursuing directly or indirectly, all those 
 great leading objects, towards which its strength is 
 at present bent. It would not make them relin- 
 quish the usurpations, that they have annexed to 
 their territory, nor abandon the influence that they 
 have acquired in Europe. And from what we 
 saw, during the late short peace, and have since seen 
 and known, we may also, infer, that until a new 
 and radical change in the principles and govern- 
 ment of that nation take place, neither the danger, 
 the difficulty, nor the criminality of the enter- 
 prize, would prevent the whole French nation from 
 overwhelming our country and our race, if a full op- 
 portunity of so doing presented itself. These are 
 awful and m.ost impressive considerations, and they 
 ought to enter deeply into every great political 
 measure, into which our circumstances may con- 
 duct us; for on this head, we are not left to wander, 
 in our conjectures ; the fact itself, being every day 
 rung in our ears. A merciful Providence, has plac- 
 ed barriers to our safety, which, while we stand at our 
 post, are to our enemies impregnable. By maintain- 
 ing this advantage, we shield many nations from the-
 
 321 
 
 desolating tyranny of the French. Shall we disman- 
 tle these bulwarks, lay open the path to our de- 
 struction, and give a flill vent to French principles 
 and French usurpations, for the sake of an insidious 
 truce, in order to gratify our covetousness and love 
 of indulgence ? Once we experienced the smart 
 of our supine neglect of this advantage, and we 
 cannot but perceive, that the usurpations and ma. 
 chinations of peace, were, at any rate, not less des- 
 tructive than those of war ; our cause having been 
 thereby rendered every way more hopeless and ha- 
 zardous ; and that it is by discharging our obvious 
 important and pressing duties, and not by shrink- 
 ing at their magnitude, that our ultimate safety and 
 security is to be attained. This matter requires 
 some farther exposition. 
 
 One age after another, has attested the restless 
 ambition of the French nation. The charge of aspir- 
 ing to universal dominion, ascribed to it under 
 the Bourbon family, though implying a conspiracy 
 against the rights and liberties of the whole human 
 race, was too grateful to the vanity, and too con- 
 genial with the sentiments of the people, to be se- 
 riously disavowed, even when their resources and 
 power were altogether unequal to the object. A 
 series of wars and treaties, however, were always 
 kept in motion, which tended constantly towards 
 this object. But Britain, was always at hand, and 
 always prepared to controvert these movements ; 
 and though frequently unsuccessful, as to the di- 
 rect point at issue, she incessantly displayed her su- 
 
 2 s
 
 322 
 
 perlor prowess, by overshadowing the highest ex- 
 altation of the French nation. The mild, though 
 licentious reign, of Louis the Sixteenth, threw 
 France far aback, in her ambitious carreer ; but it 
 gave birth to that revolution, wherein, her warlike 
 propensities and territorial resources were un- 
 folded with tenfold efficacy. Here the French na- 
 tion, now disengaged from law and from order, 
 gave full scope to its national propensities. Every 
 successive party, that reached the supreme power, 
 (the Girondist perhaps only excepted, who there- 
 upon became unpopular) pursued successfully the 
 same object, and amidst their excesses and fanati- 
 cal abuses, they steadily carried forward a train 
 of measures, that advanced their highest preten- 
 sions ; for it is a very curious fact, that even their 
 wildest and most extravagant vagaries, implied an 
 unequalified assumption of universal domination. 
 Great Britain, however, still supported her supe- 
 ]ior character, and although her allies have suc- 
 cessively perished in the contest, she still wards off 
 that final destruction and absorption, which France 
 has prepared for them ; holding out at the same 
 time, to their view, the prospect of future restor- 
 ation. Thus Britain stands as the guardian of those 
 rights, which France tramples on the ground ; and 
 her beneficence is displayed by the very means, 
 \shich illustrate the converse character of her foe. 
 Such conduct, in its principle, as well as in its con- 
 sequences, has excited against us the unbounded 
 hostility of the French. Their diplomatic skill and 
 martial power, now whetted to the utmost by uu-
 
 323 
 
 interrupted success, and goaded beyond tlie bounds 
 of nature by an insatiable vanity and tliirst after 
 ambitious display, are both on that account in full 
 array against our country. Under such influence, 
 the whole power and resources of this immense 
 nation, concentrated into one stupendous system, 
 in which every principle of hostility is combined, 
 with all the devouring and overwhelming energies, 
 that are peculiar to it, instigated by despair, am- 
 bition, and a consciousness of transcendent prow- 
 ess, are incessantly pressed forward for the pur- 
 pose of effecting our complete destruction. Our 
 name, our nation, every moral and religious per- 
 ception, all that we have attained of what is valu- 
 able and desirable to man, have been long since 
 thus devoted by the Fcench nation. That Carthage 
 must be destroyed, is their favorite theme. Now, 
 however, this destruction is deemed incommensur- 
 ate to our deserts; our persons, our characters, our 
 faculties, must all pass through a most degrading- 
 process, in order to prepare us for that humiliating 
 station, which has been allotted to our race and 
 nation. This bold declaration of Bonaparte, if ever 
 liis power were competent to his threats, would be 
 found to be only a mere echo of sentiments, that 
 have long since been prevalent in France. And from 
 wiiat we can discern of their procedure, these threats 
 are no other than what he and his nation would 
 most scrupulously carry into full elfect. 
 
 That such have long been their intentions we 
 cannot doubt, when wc bring to mind the proced-
 
 324 
 
 lire of the French nation, immediately after the 
 revolution, and during the subsequent short armis- 
 tice. Then, French consuls had different districts 
 of our country allotted to them ; wherein, they ex- 
 ercised parties under French influence; plans and 
 surveys of our harbours and fortresses, being at the 
 same time made out by individuals under their au- 
 thority ; and the measure of lawful subordination, 
 stretched, for the purpose of impressing the power 
 and principles of France, upon our character. 
 These, and many other considerations, that arise 
 out of the above statements, I think, lead us to 
 conclude, that a mere change of dynasty, without 
 some more radical reformation of character and of 
 circumstances, than any thing that such a change 
 could imply, would not by any means preclude 
 the chance of an immediate renewal of hostilities. 
 What events, are in tlie womb of Providence, we 
 know not ; and into what consequences, even the 
 most trifling contingency may lead us, we must 
 confess ourselves to be utterly unacquainted ; for | 
 during the whole of this great revolution, changes, " 
 the most important, have ensued from most un- 
 seemly causes. None of these changes, liowever, ma- 
 terially altered the reigning character of the nation, 
 or interrupted that profligate career, into which • 
 its powers and faculties w^ere directed. On the 
 contrary, although the opinions of this nation have 
 changed so far, as even to be in direct opposition 
 to those, for which they at one time contended 
 at the expense of all that was dear to man j yet for 
 these others again, they are now making similiar
 
 S'25 
 
 sacrifices. In all these circumstances, the reigning 
 character of the nation, its insatiable rapacity and 
 licentiousness, its contempt of every thing sacred 
 and respectable, and its lust after unbounded do- 
 minion, constantly advanced. Nay, we can trace 
 at each of these great changes, a steady progres- 
 sion in desolating principles, and a renovation of 
 energies and means, accompanied with a more fix- 
 ed determination to abide by their former conduct. 
 Thus it appears, that in all these successive changes, 
 a new momentum was given to the leading princi- 
 ple ; that every other principle in their civil con- 
 stitution, was only subsidiary to the grand lead- 
 ing principle, and to the object towards which their 
 energies were bent ; and that it is in establishing 
 a military despotism, by which their government 
 may control the whole human race, that the whole 
 tendency of the French system consists. 
 
 The sound of peace is so grateful to the human 
 ear, and that of eternal or indefinite war, so hor- 
 rible to all our feelings, that it seems necessary in 
 this place, to state two or three considerations, in 
 order to shew, that it is only by persevering in the 
 duty that has tluis devolved upon us, severe and un- 
 gracious as that seems to be, that we can success- 
 fully pursue that peace, which all of us desire, and 
 secure ourselves against that warfare, which is so 
 repugnant to our nature. 
 
 In the first place, as it is now abundantly manifest, 
 that the object of French policy is, to extend itsau-
 
 326 
 
 thority over the whole globe ; so it is no less so, 
 that, for this purpose, they will deliberately con- 
 sign nations to destruction, to desolation, and to 
 every calamity that can prepare them for absorption 
 into their military empire; andtaatin theattaiiiment 
 of this object, they will institute interiiO govern- 
 ments of such a simple structure, that w^hile through 
 their instrumentality they can draw from the peo- 
 ple the utmost extent of exactions that they can 
 bear, they may be able at pleasure, to annul the 
 constitution, that they have formed. It is farther 
 manifest, that all the crimes and corruptions, pe- 
 culiar to despotic governments, in ancient and 
 modern times, are not only consistent with their 
 system but will be anxiously and forcibly introduc- 
 ed, into all its departments. What could be more 
 absurd, or unnatural, than for this military Empe- 
 ror to surround his base-born satraps, with all the 
 gorgeous pomp and luxury of a Turkish bashaw ? 
 Yet these things are, not only awkwardly fitted 
 to the person of his lieutenants, but they are pa- 
 raded with all that vulgarity of display that coin- 
 cides with a thorough contempt of higher institu- 
 tions. This is the system forming by France for 
 the nations; and from what we know of its tyranny 
 in ancient and modern history, we may form some 
 idea of its tranquillity, should it ever be introduc- 
 ed into Europe. That it may become established, 
 unless firmly opposed by our nation, may be in- 
 ferred from the preceding statements. When the 
 press, the education of children, the modes of 
 thinking and acting, are subjected to the immediate
 
 327 
 
 and incessant inspection, of a powerful, vigilant, in- 
 defatigable government and police ; all sedulously 
 exercised towards one object, we can scarcely doubt 
 of its tendency to success. 
 
 But secondly, these tendencies are by no means 
 so n}uch dreaded by mankind, as their malignant 
 nature seems to import. Of this the French Em- 
 peror is fully sensible ; for he bitterly regrets the 
 incapacity to which he is at present subjected, of 
 mixing his subjects, on equal terms, with the en- 
 slaved nations of the east. Such is the state of things 
 in this world, such is the corruption and weakness 
 of human nature, and its proncness to seek relief 
 from its sorrows in external changes, tliat even in 
 our own country, the individuals who would, or 
 might be led to favor tlie innovations which he de- 
 sires are numerous. We are threatened with com- 
 plete irremediable destruction by the French ; and 
 yet we know, that there are British subjects, who 
 scrupple not to espouse and defend their grossest 
 pretensions. Can we therefore suppose, that these 
 individuals, and many others, if beset with French 
 arts, and enveloped in Frcncli licentiousnes, would 
 be proof against the seducing snares of that de- 
 stroyer, who effects his measures, by, peaceful as 
 well as by warlike measures ? Like wildfire, the 
 sj)irit of j)rofligacy and rapacity would spread it- 
 self, until it had superceded those habits which 
 arose out of industry and the discipline of a vir- 
 tuous intercourse. Thnughtlessmss and improvi- 
 dence are closely connected with these propensi-
 
 328 
 
 ties; and these, while they lead people to underva- 
 lue present advantages, fix their regard upon others 
 that can only be attained through a series of crimes. 
 Such matters are unfortunately too obvious to all 
 of us, yet as they lead directly to the following im- 
 portant general remark, they could not in this 
 place be passed over. 
 
 By the goodness of God, we have attained the 
 power of confining the range of French influence, 
 and of French principles, if not absolutely, at least 
 so completely, within the precincts of the ocean, 
 that it is as yet incompetent, to effect its daring pur- 
 poses. That power we cannot long possess, unless 
 we exercise it in direct opposition to the French go- 
 vernment ; for it is only while we thus strenuously 
 and incessantly avail ourselves of the advantage 
 thereby secured to us, that we are able to protect 
 ourselves, and the world at large, from the deso- 
 lating tyranny of France. While we thus exercise 
 it, we not only preserve the nations from French 
 domination, but we give stability to our peculiar 
 system, and we unfold the exalting nature of its 
 general principles. Nor is this all ; for we maintain 
 in reserve for the advantage of mankind, as a door 
 of hope and source of comfort, the former attain- 
 ments of the civilized world ; a task to which no 
 other kingdom is at present competent. Hence 
 we may warrantably expect, that all nations of men, 
 will sooner or latter cling to our cause with enthu- 
 siastic ardor. Let it be farther noticed, that our 
 enemv himself declares, that he has no desire to
 
 329 
 
 conclude any thing like a permanent peace with us, 
 though he might consent to an insidious truce, that 
 would enable him to collect and spread his desolat- 
 ing influence. Indeed, his projects are confessedly 
 so great, as to be evidently inconsistent with our 
 national independence. Besides this, he is aware 
 that his power consists in stimulating and exercis- 
 ing human corruption ; and that if he could but 
 come fully in contact with some of our own most 
 valuable possessions, he could find means for intro- 
 ducing its influence amongst them, so as to institute 
 a propinquity betwixt these and his own schemes. 
 And as he is little scrupulous, in sacrificing the blood 
 of his subjects, on such extraordinary occasions, so 
 if any such entrance into our possessions, was once 
 fully laid open to him ; or if his hand were but 
 fairly introduced amongst our concerns, he would, 
 whatever sacrifices it might cost him, persevere in 
 in his practices, until he had thereby achieved, 
 either our destruction, or his own. The question, 
 tlierefore, comes to be, shall we continue to fight 
 this enemy of our name and nation, full-handed 
 and strong-hearted, or shall we allow him to wrig- 
 gle out of our hands, our invaluable character and 
 resources? Shall we stand fortii boldly on that 
 imj)regnable post, to which the power of this ene- 
 my cannot reacii, or give him an influence, within 
 its walls ? Shall we preserve all that is estimable and 
 \irluous, on our side, and within the sphere of our 
 domination; or allow Bonaparte, tohavca I'uil chance 
 of involving tliese in his system, as a previous step 
 to our destruction. 
 
 2 T
 
 330 
 
 These considerations derive irresistible force from 
 their exact coincidence with the former procedure 
 of this nation, in every analogous situation. It was, 
 while all Europe was hushed into profound tran- 
 ({uility by the peace of Amiens, that Bonaparte 
 overturned the venerable commonwealth of Swit- 
 zerland, and brought that virtuous people under 
 his iron yoke. It was then, also, that he annexed 
 the kingdom of Italy to his titles ; and although 
 neither Tuscany, Naples, Rome, nor any of the 
 petty principalities of that country, had given him 
 the smallest pretext, for denuding them of their in- 
 dependence, he, at the same time, set agoing a maze 
 of intrigues and pretensions, which has, in the end, 
 converted this title into a possession. The fate of 
 Toussaint, waylaid into ah insidious reliance on 
 iiis protestations, took place during a pacific over- 
 ture. The destruction of Prussia, first insulted, 
 then beat to pieces, because she relied on his as- 
 surances, and the latter treacherous circumvention 
 of the royal houses of Spain and Portugal, were 
 accomplished, amidst professions of the most cor- 
 dial attachment, and of the sincerest friendship. 
 And, although these were preceded and followed 
 by crimes correspondent to the indelible infamy of 
 the transaction, France seems so insensible of their 
 extreme turpitude, that it consoles itself amidst its 
 disgraces, and shrouds its apostacy from all that 
 is honourable, by vaunting exhibitions of superior 
 tactical skill, and of transcendent military strength. 
 If, in such circumstances as these, when the incite- 
 ment was comparatively trifling, France, could
 
 331 
 
 burst asunder every moral and respectable obliga- 
 tion, what will she now do, if a simiiar opportu- 
 nity were afforded to her ? When the p'>ssession of 
 the immensely rich, populous, and extensive em- 
 pires of the east, and the no less precious treasures 
 of the west, are all at stake, can we suppose, she 
 will be more scrupulous ? At present, what would 
 she not do to obtain those colonial possessions, 
 from whence the most invaluable productions can be 
 drawn to an incalculable extent ? Would she then be 
 at a loss for pretexts, to lay her hand on objects thus 
 brought near, for which she so earnestly pants, and 
 towards which her licentiousness and rapacity, re- 
 pressed only by the terror of certain death, are ready, 
 at every turn, to burst forth with unbounded fury? 
 Let it be recollected, however, that to all those in- 
 citements, the secure possession, and full enjoy- 
 ment of all that has been already surreptitiously 
 acquired, would be added ; that maritime power, 
 the glory and the pride of ever}' great nation, would 
 thence ensue, and give Bonaparte a new counter- 
 poize, against the influence of his rival compeers ; 
 and that with all those, and many other advanta- 
 ges, the sweets of revenge against Britain in the 
 triumphant exercise of that power, which so long 
 kept his fortunes in suspense, would be conjoined. 
 Let it also be recollected, that as of all men, our 
 countrymen in the nautical service, are least con- 
 nected with the parent state, and as it is evident, that 
 Bonaparte would proceed to avail himself of the 
 opportunity of drawing these, by every incitement, 
 into his service; so we might here sustain irremc- 
 
 2x2
 
 332 
 
 diable loss. And as of all our resources, those that 
 appertain to our naval department, are most loosely 
 connected with our own territory, so there also 
 we might expect attacks. All these would not 
 only be grea', but »eading objects with Bonaparte. 
 Finally, let us remember, that while we most scru- 
 pulously tied up our hands, by our engagements, 
 the characteristic violence and treachery of the 
 French would, in a moment, burst asunder all such 
 eniaijgiements ; and seeing that they have got a 
 leader, fitted in all respects, to lead them on in their 
 unprincipled career, their whole energies and facul- 
 ties would start off, at every point, and, regardless of 
 the covenant, under which they have been brought, 
 they would not only seize upon that empire, which 
 we had left vacant to their hands, with all its im- 
 plied advantages, but, without ceremony, direct 
 its full force against ourselves. As we know, that 
 however, great we may be, while we wield the tri- 
 dent of the seas, we would, without this empire, 
 be of all nations the least able to stand our ground, 
 amidst our immense possessions ; so it behoves us 
 either to maintain all our advantages, or to bend 
 ourselves at once under Bonaparte's feet, in order 
 that we may thereby avert the extremity of our de- 
 struction, by the submissiveness of our deportment. 
 
 There is a third consideration, which it is pro- 
 per here to state, because it discovers to us the 
 nature of the advantages which we possess in our 
 present conflict, and because it lays open to the 
 humane and reflecting mind, the high importance
 
 533 
 
 of the duties in which we are now engaged. The 
 warfare, which we now wage is, in its nature, char- 
 acter, and effects, altogether different from that, 
 which occupies the French nation. The French- 
 man, for the sake of obtaining the means necessary 
 to his warfare, must tear asunder every bond of 
 social union, he must outrage every principle of 
 human nature, and, after he has thus collected and 
 embodied his strength, he must make it bear full 
 upon the vitals of his enemy. His myriads are 
 poured forth in the shape of a great torrent, which 
 successively levels with the ground, all that comes 
 before it. Every individual, the most tender, as 
 well as the most enfeebled, the man of science and 
 of peace, as well as the embattled warrior, feels the 
 weight of the Frenchman's arm. Having thus over- 
 whelmed his enemies, in the same way that Attila 
 and his Huns destroyed theirs, he, in like manner, 
 devours and tears up by the roots, every substance 
 and every establishment, that stands in the way of 
 his plans. Not only so, but while oppression crushes 
 the misery which it occasions, and blights the face 
 of nature with its baleful influence, the faculties 
 of the human being, are bent into a state of cor- 
 responding abasement ; turpitude is superadded to 
 calamity, and despair to consternation. On the 
 other hand, Britons betake themselves to the en- 
 sanguined conflict, with minds harmonized by re- 
 ligion, and animated by generous feelings. At a 
 distance liom the abodes of men, upon the wide 
 expanse, they seek their deadly foe. There, with- 
 out lacerating the heart, or convulsing the frame
 
 334: 
 
 of the tender or of the affectionate, they join the 
 gallant coiiilict, and amidst deeds of in'gh renown, 
 in which every individual exhibits personal heroism, 
 they achieve that generous victory, which is the 
 grand object of their desire. A triumph, which 
 seals the security of countless thousands, and which 
 fixes the enjoyments of the whole human race on 
 higher and nobler ground, may be thus obtained, 
 with comparatively little bloodshed. At all times, 
 the least possible injury to our species is inflicted ; 
 for whenever the vanquished ceases to resist, the 
 sword is sheathed, and the bowels of compassion 
 administer that relief to the afflicted's sorrows, which 
 indicates the highest tone of Christian sympathy. 
 No intrigue, no treachery, no licentious rites, no 
 cruel and humiliating degradations, mark the con- 
 queror's footsteps; the lamentations of the helpless 
 and forlorn are never heard ; no domestic comfort, 
 no paternal enjoyment, is traversed by British vic- 
 tories ; and the tear, that is wrung from the unfor- 
 tunate by doleful tidings, is not embittered by the 
 recital ofdeeds of brutality or revenge. Hence, while 
 amidst these victories, supreme gratitude to Hea- 
 ven, and the genial warmth of patriotic cordiality, 
 accompanied with a consciousness of personal exal- 
 tation, are the predominant feelings amongst the 
 conquerors; a complacency in the benevolent re- 
 gards, thus administered to their sorrows, sooths 
 the calamities of the vanquished. 
 
 Lkt it now be noticed, that this high national 
 spirit, and these characteristic feelings and dispo-
 
 335 
 
 sitions in our countrymen, particularly in those of 
 the maritime class, constitute a order of civil vir- 
 tues, to which in our present situation, we cannot 
 attach too much importance. Our institutions, our 
 education, our general habits, prepare us for ac- 
 tive and useful employments ; they enure us to obed- 
 ience and regularity, so that in all cases of public 
 emergencies, as well in our ordinary affairs, we can 
 be brought to conform ourselves to our circum- 
 stances ; for these have, in general, so disciplined 
 our propensities, that in a joint capacity, and even 
 under a military leader, as well as in the business 
 of life, all of us can on suitable occasions, discharge 
 our duty, with full effect. But it must be remark- 
 ed, that neither these habits, nor that constitutional 
 love of enterprize which is peculiar to Britons, nor 
 the terrors of invasion, nor even the advantages of 
 commerce, can form for us seamen, or give us nau- 
 tical warriors, of that fine edge of character which 
 we now possess, if French principles, and French 
 habits, should once permeate their lines. This 
 consciousness of superiority in all that is excellent, 
 this love of virtuous triumph, this animated ardor 
 and confidence in their country, friends and en- 
 dearing connexions, which make the seaman throw 
 himself in the front of every danger, for the sake of 
 obtaining acclamations, of which his conscience ap- 
 proves, would be all lost if any thing like a sense of 
 general degradation, and of enfeebling licentious- 
 ness, should relax his eflbrts. How necessary is it 
 then to preserve our advantages ! How superior arc 
 these to all the resources and means that wc could
 
 336 
 
 collect during a fugitive peace, and to all the force, 
 that we could prepare, in any extremity ! When we fix 
 our attention on the conflicts of those nations, who 
 under every advantage, have attempted to support 
 a defensive warfare against the French ; and while 
 we recollect the consequences of an overthrow, we 
 cannot but perceive that it is by maintaining our 
 present advantages alone, that many nations, and 
 our own amongst the rest, can be preserved from 
 being implicated in similar conflicts, and overtaken 
 by a similar overthrow. 
 
 There are two difficulties, that seem to be inse- 
 parable from our naval superiority, which we must 
 not pass over unnoticed, because they involve in 
 them, matters of the utmost magnitude to our pros- 
 perity, as a great and as a commercial nation. The 
 first of these is, the necessity under which we are 
 laid, of obtaining, by direct violence, those sailors 
 that are needful for our service ; the second, the 
 repugnance which neutral nations uniformly dis- 
 play to our exercise of these rights, which this as- 
 sumption implies. 
 
 With regard io the first of these, it is perfectly 
 evident, that as our fleets at present can no other- 
 wine be supplied with seamen, we have no alterna- 
 tive, but to abide by our present practice, and to 
 maintain it at all hazards, until a better can be found. 
 We may, and we certainly ought, and I hope in 
 general we do, not only asswage the severities to 
 ^vhich this brave race of men are unavoidably ex-
 
 337 
 
 posed, by every indulgence and favor, that it is 
 consistent with prudence to bestow ; and also re- 
 spect and protect all those rights and privileges, 
 to which either as men, or as warriors, they can 
 lay claim ; but we ought, in all extreme cases, to 
 relax the rigor of the conscriptive laws, and to re- 
 store to families and to society, those whose cir- 
 cumstances call loudly for such a concession. But 
 besides these mitigations to personal hardship, it 
 appears to me, that something more radical ought to 
 be attempted. That by regular and graduated means, 
 we might bring ourselves out of this oppressive 
 system, upon some plan, analogous to that which 
 was proposed by an eminent statesman, (who is 
 admitted on all hands, to have understood the con- 
 stitution and the true interests of his country, bet- 
 ter than most people) for the purpose of ameliorat- 
 ing the condition of the soldiery, is very evident. 
 Could any disadvantage ensue, although draughts 
 were made out of the army, upon the same princi- 
 ple, that they are taken for the regulars out of the 
 militia, for this very purpose ; their services being 
 limited to a term of years, and a discharge in the 
 fu'st instance, and thereafter, for farther services, 
 an annuity and certain privileges, being allotted ? 
 This ])lan, though, in part, carried into effect in 
 the army, has, there, it seems, been judged inexpe- 
 dient, because it is held to convert the warrior in- 
 to a selfish isolated being, who looks with such ear- 
 nestness to the day of hisdisciiarge, as to lose sight. 
 of his honourable employment. 15ut surely cocrtion 
 cOnld cure tliese, as v/cll as every other propen-
 
 338 
 
 sity, inconsistent with the personal character of sol- 
 diers ; and wlien a suitable mixture of ages and 
 classes is made, any solitary instance of this kind 
 that might occur, could not possibly have any gen- 
 eral effect. In whatever way, however, this plan 
 might operate in the army, a-shipboard, and more 
 particularly during a naval conflict, such feelings 
 could have no place, scarcely even with the merest 
 coward or novice ; they would be abominated by 
 such veterans as those, to whom length of service had 
 brought their discharge close into view. As man- 
 kind cannot be supposed, to give preference to a life 
 which is surrounded by death, without any prospect 
 of deliverance, or any hope to cheer the hour of dan- 
 ger, I confess, that I see incomparably greater ha- 
 zard, in the present circumstances of the world, in 
 relying solely on a system founded in despair, than 
 in anythingthat could possibly follow, from introduc- 
 ingthis animating beam of hope into our own system. 
 Every country, that we know of, admits this prin- 
 ciple more or less into its military organization. 
 Even our own, while any thing like a definite term 
 to our warfare could be contemplated, admitted it 
 in substance, in the universal discharge of soldiers 
 and seamen, that always took place at a general 
 peace. Now, however, when the prospect of in- 
 terminable hostihty is before us, it becomes us, to 
 administer the soothing consolation of hope to our 
 gallant defenders ; thereby, while we diffuse re- 
 newed energy throughout the whole military and 
 naval department, we will accord relief to the anx- 
 iety of friends, rational remuneration to patriotic
 
 339 
 
 adventurers, and appropriate grounds of confidence 
 to the young and enterprizing *. 
 
 * The adoption of this plan would forthwith lead to a registration 
 of seamen, a measure that could not but be of essential service to 
 our maritime system The following sketch of its operation may, 
 perhaps, be alike useful and necessary in this place. A book of 
 record is kept in every port, where there is any branch of the 
 custom-house, in which the name, birth, parentage, age, and gen- 
 eral designation, of every person who goes to sea, is entered ; a run- 
 ning number being affixed to his name at entry, and a docquet 
 given to the seaman. It is understood, that twelve years ser- 
 vice, in a ship of war, taken from the day of registration, (two 
 years for one, being always taken for one half of this time en ■ 
 ployed in merchant service; and every period, exceeding two months 
 spent otherwise, than on ship board, being deducted from the ac- 
 count) shall exempt a seaman from the conscription, and entitle 
 him to all the general privileges of corporation freedom ; that five 
 years more, spent in his majesty's service, shall give a right to an 
 annuity of ten pounds for life, and other five years service, to an 
 annuity of twenty pounds a year, for life. Ship officers being un- 
 der severe penalties, obliged to attend to the registration of their 
 men, and to the duties implied by their registration. There are 
 two difficulties in carrying this plan into effect, which require 
 consideration. 
 
 The first of these is, that of ascertaining the justice and validity 
 of the claims above noticed. Now, as it is well known, that not 
 only war-ships, but all merchantmen must keep a muster-roll v.t 
 their crew, which is occasionally examined, in an official manner, 
 it is only necessary, to have this muster roll regularly entered, b(»th 
 at outset and return, with the custom-house reports, taking into the 
 entry both the port and number, as well as the name of each mari- 
 ner, all for the sake of method, in separate columns. Amidst tlicBC 
 "cording officers, a regular correspondence could easily be main- 
 tained, which could establish to the satisfaction of the appropriate 
 court, the claims of each individual, without any very great trou- 
 
 2 U 2
 
 340 
 
 These views of our duty coincide so fully with 
 the general principles of our social organization, 
 that it seems unnecessary to defend them in a gen- 
 
 ble ; it being received as a general principle, that where there is 
 no palpable deficiency, the most favorable construction must al- 
 ■tf'ays be adopted. 
 
 The other difficulty arises from the addition that this would 
 make to the national burdens. Here, in the first place, I would 
 remark, that from the very nature of the case, from the casualties 
 to which seamen, above every class of men, are incident, and from 
 their being also peculiarly prone to change, the probability is, that 
 the burden, of supporting those who had passed through such length- 
 ened service, would not be so very heavy, as at first view it ap- 
 pears. Secondly, that the wages, and other allowances, made to 
 seamen in the regular way, in consequence of the superior compe- 
 tition, induced by the honor, privilege and profit, attached to 
 their calling, would also, most probably, fall so much in amount as 
 to compensate, in some measure, for this burden. Thirdly, this 
 plan would, of itself, throw open a door to improvements in the 
 navy ; it would be a check on false returns, and other abuses; and 
 it would throw the light of day, on the improper conduct of su- 
 perior officers, in their ordinary duty J a circumstance, which would 
 go farther, in advancing the condition of our navy, than any other. 
 These considerations are daily rising in importance, and in case of 
 any convulsion in the maritime world, they may become tantamount 
 to every other consideration. Fourthly, this plan is so consistent 
 with the whole frame of society, at present subsisting amongst us, 
 that even although the sacrifice were very considerable, we ought 
 to encounter it. Fifthly, it would forever set at rest, the difficul- 
 ties that take place, betwixt the American government and ours, 
 regarding their rights to detain our seamen, when these enter their 
 service. Seamen enregistercd as British subjects, are as much the 
 property of the nation, as the ships Avhich they navigate, and as 
 those may not be alienated by the deed of a foreign legislature, no 
 more can the seamen who appertain to them, lo this case> con-
 
 311 
 
 cral point of view. With us, every man is under- 
 stood to have a centre of his ovi^n, from which and 
 for which he acts and thinks ; his circle of friends, 
 of connexions, of affairs, are understood to be dear 
 to his heart, and paramount in his estimation to c- 
 very other consideration , excepting only a clear sense 
 of duty or of obligation. It is to this centre that 
 our incitements and retributions must be directed, 
 if we wish to preserve to our nation, its virtuous 
 ascendancy. Immediate, unbounded, licentious, ra- 
 pacious, gratification, are alike repugnant to our 
 
 sent cannot be obtained by the act of the seamen, for he is only 
 one of the parties, the covernment of the country being the other, 
 to whom he stands in the relation of a pupil under guardianship, or 
 an apprentice under an indenture ; one in whose person and ser- 
 vices, besides the claim of paternity, we possess the right of direct 
 or implied property. 
 
 In order to give full effect to the registrating system, all who 
 are not yet registered, ought to be instantly impressed, and record- 
 ed in the register of the ship to which they are carried. If thi* 
 plan should be thoroughly adopted, although it may perhapl 
 be impossible, in the mean time, to dispense with the conscription 
 laws, the hardships of these laws would be, in a great measure, re- 
 moved, and a door of hope thrown open, in the view of all mari- 
 time adventurers, sufficient perhaps, to induce a great a part of our 
 population, to betake themselves to this highly useful and hon- 
 ourable service. Besides this advantage, we must recollect, that 
 we would always have at hand, and ashore, under our direct com- 
 mand, a body of men, who, in case of any very great emergency, 
 would be as ready to serve their country in the sea service, as their 
 other fellow citizens would necessarily be, under a similar emer- 
 gency, in regard to the land service ; and who woulJ be at all times 
 strenuous advocates ftir their country's cause.
 
 342 
 
 system, and to our character. Above all things, it 
 becomes us, to maintain good principles inviolate 
 in our nautical heroes, for to them, above all others, 
 these are congenial and essential. Unlike the mere 
 soldier, who has his intervals of ease and domestic 
 comfort, and who is daily surrounded with gay and 
 fascinating objects, the sailor is cut off from the 
 sweets of society, and fixed down in the midst of 
 his indispensible duty ; a duty, which is incessant- 
 ly pressed upon his attention by the perils of his 
 situation. His nautical skill and discipline are e- 
 very moment in exercise ; and his hours of sleep 
 and refreshment, are short, disturbed and uncertain. 
 In the hour of danger, neither address nor presump- 
 tion will avail him without true intrepidity and per- 
 severing ardor and alacrity. Even the most for- 
 tunate contingencies are of no use to him, with- 
 out high displays of personal valour and talent. 
 Victory, which terminates the labor of the land 
 soldier, and which puts a stop to the effusion of 
 blood, only enforces upon the sailor a new set of 
 toils and duties, equally serious, and equally severe 
 with those which he has completed. The element, 
 in which he is enveloped, is armed with new dan- 
 ger, through the disasters of the previous conflict, 
 which burden him with increased duties, resulting 
 from the loss of assistants, and the damages sustained 
 by that vehicle, in which his fate is contained. His 
 enemies' misfortunes, and the cares which Christian 
 mercy and forbearance devolve upon him, add to 
 his burdens. Must all these severities and priva- 
 tions be borne by these self poised heroes, without
 
 343 
 
 either the hope of indulgence, or the prospect of 
 enjoyment, and without the possibility of relief, but 
 through the arms of death ? The seaman, let it be 
 recollected, from his habits, is so far from being 
 insensible of the social feelings of nature, that per- 
 haps, he is of all others the most susceptible of 
 them, and often, in imagination, anticipates the 
 prospect of gratifying his friends, in some propi- 
 tious hour, with his interesting narrations. In fine, 
 do we want to fire our youth with the love of such 
 exploits ? What more proper method of so doing, 
 than to plant among domestic scenes, venerable 
 warriors, whose appearance, whose circumstances, 
 and whose representations, must inspire their open- 
 ing minds with high views of the glory of their 
 country, and of the delights of adventure ! At pre- 
 sent, neither the pleasures of festivity, nor the at- 
 tractions of gorgeous apparel, nor the clangor of 
 gayful soun{ls, nor the fascinating influence of fe- 
 male smiles, are employed to emblazon this severe 
 service, nor to enchant the youthful adventurer in- 
 to its lines. The harsh coertion of the ancient 
 concretive system, is its solitary prop. Is not some 
 such rational prospect of ultimate rcmuneiation, 
 as that now noticed, not only congenial to, and 
 highly necessary, in such circumstances; but in all 
 respects, well becoming the paternal solicitude of a 
 dutiful parent, towards such well-deserving, yet 
 such improvident children, as our naval warriors 
 are known to be ? 
 
 Although, however, these, or some such legis-
 
 344 
 
 lative provisions, might remove or moderate the 
 difficulty above stated, and every other difficulty 
 that can arise out of our system, it is evident, that 
 with regard to the other class of difficulties, those 
 which arise from the opposition of neutral powers 
 to the exercise of our maritime claims, no such ap- 
 propriate remedy is at hand. The question, in 
 which these claims are involved, when viewed in 
 its simplest form, seems incapable of much tergi- 
 versation, and on full investigation, even in its pre- 
 sent complex and intricate appearance, it is seen 
 to derive its imposing aspect, entirely from the au- 
 dacity and subtlety, with which our enemy presses 
 his own assumptions. Nothing can be more indis- 
 putable, than that a great belligerent power has 
 a full right to oppose the interposition of neutrals, 
 in its regular plans of hostility, and to counteract 
 all those operations, which tend to circumvent its 
 plans. Though therefore, it is but fair and reason- 
 able, that neutrals should traverse the seas, the 
 channel of universal intercourse, and avail them- 
 selves of every contingency, either of war or of or- 
 dinary calamity, by which their services to their 
 neighbours can redound to their own advantage; 
 and thougli it be proper and necessary, for the gq- 
 vernment of those individuals, whose adventuring 
 spirit thus leads them in the way of profiting by 
 these contingencies, to stretch forth their protect- 
 ing hand, over the heads and over the properties 
 of their subjects, yet it is but just and equitable, 
 that the high belligerent parties should watch over 
 the exercise of this right, and satisfy themselves,
 
 345 
 
 that no undue advantage is taken of it. Tlieir cir- 
 cumstances are such, as to press tliis matter closs 
 upon their attention ; their dearest interests, their 
 very existence, may force them to examine every 
 particular business of this kind, with indefatiga- 
 ble assiduity, and to take strong and decisive mea- 
 sures to repel tiiose practices, which militate a- 
 gainst their interests. It is held, that the sea is 
 the common property of all nations; if it is so, why 
 are belligerents to be j)recludcd from exercising 
 a right, which unquestionably appertains to them ? 
 It is held also, that neutral flags ought to protect 
 all that property, which they cover ; but is that 
 flag neutral, can it be held to be any thing else 
 but a concealed enemy, which is every day found 
 covering property, which not only belongs to an 
 enemy, but which goes far in counteracting the most 
 justifiable modes of warfare ? Is it not enough, if the 
 regular course of distributive justice be uniformly 
 applied, in that way, which corresj)onds to the 
 circumstances of the case; and that no sweeping 
 class of measures or principles, which would frus- 
 trate the object of this application be resorted to? 
 As it is impossible, however, by these, or by any 
 such methods, to avoid inflicting hardships and dis- 
 tresses on the fairest trader, it becomes neutral 
 nations, to look well to the conduct of their own 
 citizens ; and not only to take care, that nothing 
 militating against those rules and practices, which 
 the belligerents have laid down ior themselves, be 
 tolerated within their own domination ; but to re- 
 strain, with a high hnnd, the exercise of their obvious 
 
 2 X
 
 346 
 
 rights, whenever any disposition to pass those bar- 
 riers, within which the conflicts of hostile passions 
 are avowedly engaged, is indicated. To neglect 
 this obvious duty, to call for favor when their sub- 
 jects are directly or indirectly abetting or thwart- 
 ing the measures of either party, is to require to- 
 leration to the culpable; it is to give a government 
 sanction to illegal practices. To destroy the boun- 
 daries of neutrality, to display an overweaning anx- 
 iety in favor of neutral interests, for the purpose 
 of protecting interlopers, is to commence hostili- 
 ties against belligerent rights, and to court a place 
 in the ensan<rin*ned conflict. 
 
 o 
 
 That such are clearly and necessarily the prin- 
 ciples, on which the conduct of neutrals ought to 
 proceed, appears to me to be altogether indispu- 
 table. A most tortuous policy, however, (already 
 so much reprobated in other cases,) has long actuat- 
 ed the views of neutral states, and disposed them 
 to bend their conduct to existing circumstances. 
 The conduct of neutrals during the harmonious re- 
 volution of Poland, and in that of America, evin- 
 ces that their own aggrandisement, and the abase- 
 ment of our exalted character, but too powerfully in- 
 fluence their general procedure. The appeals which 
 they affect to make to inductions from a crude 
 experience, and to abstract principles, connected 
 with apposition of circumstances, scarcely deserve 
 notice. For although principles may be deduced 
 from practices, that coincide with their views, yet 
 unless these principles embrace all the circumstan-'
 
 J47 
 
 ces of the case, the condLict of the one belligerent, 
 as well as that of the other, it must be held to be 
 unjust, to insist upon the application of the rule, 
 thus inferred. In the case before us, it is evident, 
 that the conduct of the French is so contrary to 
 the whole rules and laws of civilized nations, that 
 not only no precedent exists, whereby to compre- 
 hend the rules of warfare, which it could admit of; 
 but that a latitude is given to the measures of their 
 adversary, at least commensurate with the latitude 
 assumed by that nation. For it must be noticed, 
 that it is the constant practice of the French, to 
 set at nought all neutral claims, and to assume a 
 paramount ascendancy over every instituted forni, 
 that may impede her measures. Even the unna- 
 tural neutrality or rather friendship of Prussia, 
 could not save her territory from devastation, when 
 it happened to intervene betwixt their purposes and 
 a favorite object. In order to be on equal ground 
 with Bonaparte, Britain ought, not only to have a 
 full right to controvert his schemes, by every con- 
 sistent measure, but to have an election amongst 
 the whole class of measures, that may oppose his in- 
 terests. This is but fair, and as it is allowable in 
 every supposable case, why should it be refused 
 in one that implies the preservation of all that is 
 dear and sacred to man ? Although, therefore, it 
 were possible, which it certainly is not, for neu- 
 trals to ])rove that Britain exercises rights, that arc 
 altogether uncommon for belligerent nations to 
 exercise, in regard to the intercourse maintaiticd 
 betwixt n(Mitrals and her adversary, it would still rc- 
 
 2x2
 
 348 
 
 main to be proved, that the conduct of her adver- 
 sary did not admit of such an extension of her 
 rights. But as it is altogether indisputable, that 
 the conduct of France not only renders all the 
 measures, resorted to by the British nation, ne- 
 cessary ; but would justify an extension of belliger- 
 ent rights, far beyond any thing that has yet been 
 pretended to by that nation ; and as neutral nations, 
 not only tolerate, without remark, and even with- 
 out complaint, the much severer measures of France, 
 but in the most direct and unequivocal manner, add 
 their sanction to them ; is it not absurd as well as un- 
 just, to attempt tying up the hands of the opposite 
 party, according to obsolete forms ? In all such 
 cases, it is necessary to recur to a higher set of 
 rules and principles, such as will embrace the whole 
 circumstances of the whole case ; and if the princi- 
 ples adopted for this purpose, be correspondent 
 to the best feelings of our nature, and be applied 
 with a sedulous regard to the rights of humanity, 
 and of a common beneficent religion, the party re-j 
 sorting to these principles, may not only supercede 
 every inferior consideration, but insist upon it, that| 
 all who may be affected by them, shall conduct"! 
 themselves upon correspondent principles. 
 
 These considerations are not stated, because it 
 is usual, or necessary for Britain, to resist the ap- 
 plication of absolute standards of national right ; for 
 in all respects, her conduct breathes the purest spi- 
 rit of these; but because it is absurd to subject a 
 nation, whose principles, circumstances, and gen-
 
 349 
 
 eral procedure, challenge alike the admiration and 
 csteenn of the world, to far-fetched indigested max- 
 ims, formed amidst darkness and oppression. The 
 truth is, when Britain and France bring their mighty 
 energies, into hostile contact, fragments of wealth 
 and of power, fly off in all directions, which serve to 
 bewilder the perceptions of the rapacious and licen- 
 tious. For the sake of profiting by such accidents, 
 neutral nations scruple not to lend their flag to 
 cover hostile property. Hence, alone, originates the 
 plea that neutral bottoms protect all that they carry, 
 and that the guarantee of a government is a full 
 passport to every trading vessel. Britain has 
 swept the sea of her enemy's ships, and thus the 
 immense trade, which these ships supported, is left 
 open for the occupation of neutral powers. Here, 
 therefore, a bribe is put into the hands of neutral 
 nations, which carries all their favor into one side 
 of the question. It is in vain for Britain to ap- 
 peal to the arduous and desperate nature of the con- 
 flict in which she is engaged, to the magnanimity 
 and liberality of her conduct and views, to the im- 
 policy of supporting the enemy of the whole hu- 
 man race ; it is equally fruitless, to demonstrate 
 the absurdity of requiring a toleration in doing 
 that for an enemy, during hostilities, that would 
 not be permitted in peace ; or to point out the ab- 
 solute incapacity of the interloper to execute, with- 
 out this enemy's assistance, one tenth part of that 
 duty, which he, as a neutral, professes to accom- 
 plish ; or to appeal to the enactments and ordinan- 
 ces of the enemy, v/hich fetter dov. n tliese operations
 
 350 
 
 to his own service ; all these pleas are set aside, 
 and the neutral arm is raised with threats, against 
 all such claims and assumptions. The capture of 
 the Danish fleet, however, arose out of circum- 
 stances, still more imperious than those ; the nor- 
 thern powders, coalesced and concentrated, had al- 
 ready made a common cause witli the enemy of Bri- 
 tain, in the hopes of dividing with him, her immense 
 spoils. Necessity may have made these powers 
 set forward their claims, thus vehemently, in the 
 last instance ; but this necessity was induced by 
 pretences formerly set up, and deliberately defend- 
 ed, while no such necessity existed. 
 
 The circumstances, which led into these events, 
 are well deserving of our pointed regard, because 
 they disclose to us, in a very prominent form, the 
 line of policy, which that crafty tyrant, who now go- 
 verns Europe, pursues towards his assumed friends, 
 when these happen to be within his power. Russia 
 had concluded a calamitous war with France, and 
 entered into bonds of alliance with that power. In 
 doing this, hovvcver, she was necessitated, first, 
 io become a party with Bonaparte, in despoiling 
 their mutual, tranquil, but now forlorn and helpless 
 ally, Prussia j and, secondly, to turn her arms a- 
 gainst hei: magnanimous kindred friend, Sweden, 
 for the purpose of wrcncliing from her the best part 
 of her dominions. These manoeuvres, and the 
 course of events that was going forward, induced 
 Denmark to throw herself into the arms of France; 
 Avhence arose our hostility to that power, and our
 
 ii51 
 
 capture of its fleet. Thus we perceive, that in 
 consequence of the artifices of France, Sweden was 
 severely afflicted, and that by the hands of the 
 power, with whom her connexion was closest, 
 and by means that greatly embittered the severity 
 of the blow, and Denmark became subjected to a 
 similar treatment from Britain, her natural ally and 
 protector. It is thus, that France always avails 
 herself of her advantages ; she renders her allies, 
 the direct instruments of her most odious designs. 
 While she envelopes them in her schemes, she takes 
 care also to assume a control in their affairs, which 
 is even more useful to her, than their complete 
 subjugation to her yoke, could be. It was in this 
 manner, that she served the different continental 
 powers, during their disastrous conflicts with her, 
 inspiring them with mutual jealousy or hostility, to- 
 wards each other ; and it is thus, that she is now 
 attempting to serve us, in regard to America. As 
 the various events and circumstances, into which 
 the affairs of neutral powers have now been led, 
 have in a manner swept the seas of all neutral ves- 
 sels, excepting only the American, it is proper now 
 to advert to our situation, in regard to that pow- 
 er. This is, in many respects, different from that 
 in which we stand, in regard to every other neutral. 
 
 Bi:fork I proceed to trace the relations, in which 
 the Americans stand, in regard to our concerns ; 
 I judge it proper, to make a few remarks upon the 
 gcneial character of this nation, and upon that very
 
 352 
 
 peculiar situation which it occupies, in regard to 
 us, and our great continental adversary. 
 
 It will be remembered, that the inhabitants of 
 the United states, have sprung from our own blood ; 
 that they make use of the same language, laws, and 
 institutions; that their manners, customs, and pro- 
 pensities, are still very little different from our own j 
 that until within our own days, they lived under 
 the same government, and in the closest habits 
 of intimacy and connexion with ourselves ; and that 
 it is into their territory, that the best part of our su- 
 perfluous wealth and population, still resolve them- . 
 selves. Let it be farther recollected, that their se- 
 paration from us proceeded, in no small degree, 
 from our illiberal conduct towards them, and that 
 they preserve, in a purified and improved state, 
 many of our highest civil privileges and organic 
 establishments. These considerations are not stat- 
 ed, with any view to palliate that ungracious and li- 
 centious spirit, in which their rebellion against their 
 natural protector arose; for though the mother coun- 
 try had unquestionably no right whatever to tax 
 licr colonies, without their implied consent, nor to 
 restrain the expansive energies of their growing pow- 
 er, within the bounds of a narrow monopoly ; yet 
 America can never be vindicated for overlooking 
 the natural connexion by which she was bound to 
 Britain, nor for forgetting the vast sacrifices made 
 during a war, begun for her safety, in which the 
 best blood and treasure of Britain, purchased for 
 her, a tranquillity and provision, which ought to
 
 S53 
 
 have thrown the petty sacrifices that were requir- 
 ed on her part, entirely out of sight. Her turn- 
 ing the blessings thus derived from the bounty of 
 a parent, into the hands of the known enejnies of 
 freedom and independence, and her consenting 
 to become a party with them, when their whole 
 force was directed against the country of her an- 
 cestors, throws a shade over the transactions of the 
 revolution, and over the characters of those Vvho 
 stood in the front of its dangers, which no miscon- 
 duct on our part can justify. Neither are the fore- 
 going considerations meant to plead her cause 
 on the ground of propinquity; for America has long 
 since forfeited all claims on our indulgence, in that 
 point of view; at this very time, she is levelling, witli- 
 out ceremony, every hostile weapon that she can 
 wield against the vitals of her august parent ; while 
 this parent is in the very act of sheltering her from 
 the deadly attacks of the most envenomed ruffian, 
 that ever appeared in human shape. These, and 
 the foregoing considerations, are merely stated, in 
 order to bear it fully on our minds, that in the case 
 before us, there exists the strongest necessity for 
 examining the whole ground on which our transac- 
 tions w-ith this power proceed, and for digesting well 
 the measures which we may in consequence adopt. 
 
 roR this purpose, it is proper to begin with re- 
 marking, that the successful issue of the American 
 war, the tranquil establishment of its new govern- 
 ment, the rapid progress of general prosperity that 
 took place under its infliienre, and the ydvance- 
 
 2 ^
 
 354 
 
 ment of general freedom and improvement under 
 its auspices, raised the American states high in 
 tlie estimation of all nations, and diffused the prin- 
 ciples on which its constitution was founded, all 
 over the world. They had their ambassadors in 
 every court and their consuls in every great commer- 
 cial city. Their enterprising spirit gave an eclat 
 to all their peculiar qualities, and to the institutions 
 of Britain, under which they were formed. The 
 resources of the nation had a range of action, and 
 a capacity of expansion, that had never been ob- 
 tained, under the aristocratic commonwealths of 
 Europe ; and these received constant supplies from 
 every country under heaven. The Americans, 
 however, having given a notable proof of their de- 
 iiciency in a sense of moral obligation, at the re- 
 volution, have most unhappily for themselves, and 
 for all their connexions, continued to encrease in 
 tlie same malverse propensity; they, like the French, 
 under whose influence they have for some time 
 formed themselves, have little scruple as to the 
 means that they use, provided only, that the at- 
 tainment and the display be such as are acceptable 
 to their taste. On the whole, however, they, as a 
 nation, are more industrious and serious, than cor- 
 rupt and licentious. They are more prone to bois- 
 terous activity, than to superficial display ; and bet- 
 ter prepared for following out, under the dictates 
 of plain sagacity, the direct road to substantial at- 
 tainments, than to find their way amidst the wiles 
 of subtlety and intrigue. And it must be remark- 
 ed, that a variety of acquisitions, agricultural, com-
 
 355 
 
 riiercial, and histltiitional, are constantly forming 
 within the American states, which, while they in- 
 dicate the good sense of the people, and augment 
 the strength of those stamina, in which the nation- 
 al power is seated, contribute to improve the mor- 
 als, as well as the circumstances of the people. 
 Here, the nations of the world perceive individual 
 advancement, going hand in hand with public pros- 
 perity ; and personal acquisitions incorporated, in 
 the regular course of things, vsith national aggran- 
 disement. Here also, a direct proof is obtained 
 of the power of the developement of tlie human 
 character, in a situation, wherein, the freedom of 
 the rude state is incorporated with the refinements 
 of the civilized ; and the direct tendency of such ad- 
 vantages to amelioration, without the aid of politi- 
 cal restrictions, or qualifications, is perceived, by the 
 most stupendous processes developing themselves, 
 without either embarrassing or disturbing the com- 
 munity, or any of its establishments. 
 
 As the advantages, thus obtained, hr.ve arisen out 
 of their separation from Britain, and in consequence 
 oftheaidand support which they received from 
 I'Vancc, it can be a matter of no great wonder, 
 though the Americans should, in general, be dispos- 
 ed to give to the French interests the preference, 
 when these come in competition with ours. And it 
 jnust be noticed, that although we do not infringe 
 on their national independence, yet as the interest 
 of our contiguous empire and theirs arc constantly 
 coming into contact, all our subsequent commercial 
 
 2 Y 2
 
 ^56 
 
 connexions, never could allay the animosities ex- 
 cited during the revolutionary contest, nor bind 
 up the political wounds, that we had inflicted, in 
 that manner, which, from the known sentiments of 
 all parties, might otherwise have been expected. 
 To this cause of discord, others arising from the 
 peculiar circumstances and character of Ajnerica 
 and Britain arose. While we poured into their 
 hands our abundant treasures, it became literally 
 the business of the Americans, and of their govern- 
 ments, to defraud us of returns; the independence 
 of the several states of each other in a judicial ca- 
 pacity, rendering this not only an easy, but a secure 
 mode of acquiring property. The property, thus 
 writhed from us, served to maintain that intercourse 
 with other countries, that suited their purposes ; 
 and thus America, without real substantial capi- 
 tal fitted for circulation, contrived to render our 
 immense capital the instrument of her aggrandise- 
 ment. A strange fatality induced our nation to 
 consent to the admission of American traders into 
 our Eastern possessions, while we were excluding 
 our own private traders therefrom ; and thus, the 
 Americans could procure their productions upon 
 terms, that enabled them to undersell us at every for- 
 eign market, and even in our own, when the co- 
 ercive arm of the state coulti not be intervened, 
 llius we were placed, in a state of commercial rival- 
 ry with our former fellow-subjects, from the mere 
 unpolicy and inaction of our own government ; 
 which, by repressing our energies at home under 
 absolute monopolies, forced the best part of the
 
 157 
 
 capital and industry of Britain, into the service of 
 a power, that turned these acquisitions against our- 
 selves. And as this was done, at the very time, 
 when our political bickerings, and the blandished 
 artifices of the French nation and government were 
 rendering our nation and its interests, constant- 
 ly more and more disgustful to the Americans, the 
 marked predilection now she wn by that people, to the 
 cause of our enemies, is, no more than might have 
 been expected. Nay, as things were going on in this 
 manner, at the time when the French revolution 
 began, perhaps it ought rather to be a matter of sur- 
 prize, that the Americans exhibited so much supine- 
 ness at that great event. For although the Ameri- 
 cans are not very tenacious of their sense of obligau- 
 cy, nor prone to return the value of the services that 
 they receive ; yet as the fire and spirit of the revolu- 
 tion of France, were well calculated to kindle anew 
 a similar flame in America, and as the whole powers 
 of the old world were combined with one accord, to 
 crush the genius of freedom, a great deal more, than 
 the mere feeling of generous sympathy, might have 
 been expected to have been aroused in every kin- 
 dred breast. But, though it may be uncertain, wheth- 
 er, it was tiie excesses into which the French were 
 speedily hurled under the eye, and even within the 
 territory, of the American states, or the incapacity 
 of thcsL* new states for Rencountering external war- 
 fare, or the favor with which, as a commercial nation, 
 they were now every where received, or the exper- 
 ience acquired of the superficial, yet insidious char- 
 ' 'tcr of the French nation, or some or all of these
 
 25S 
 
 things, or, merely, that constitutional apathy to the 
 concerns of others, which is very soon confirmed in 
 characters, in whom the prospect of advantage ab- 
 sorbs every other consideration, whatever may have 
 been the cause of it, one thing is clear, that this great 
 event no vv'ays increased their animosity, towards Bri- 
 tain. On the contrary, while our intercourse was 
 thereby extended, those circumstances which had 
 formerly been matters of high importance were sunk 
 out of view ; and in spite cf the assumptions and 
 pretensions of the French agents, their influence in 
 the general affairs of the American states, was neither 
 augmented nor extended, in consequence of this 
 great change. Out of all these circumstances, how- 
 ever, connexions of another kind arose, which, for 
 the time, reconciled all parties to the neutrality of 
 the American states. These it shall now be my bu~ 
 f;iness to explain. 
 
 There are three very important advantage.^, 
 which Britain has obtained over France. First, she 
 has driven her ships off the seas; second, she has dis- 
 possessed her of her colonies ; and third, she has 
 secured to herself the most valuable part of her 
 trade and industry. These advantages are all ot^ 
 essential service to Britain, not only as a great bel- 
 ligerent power, but as a commercial and highly ci- 
 vilized nation. As it is not necessary for me, to 
 take these matters into consideration as advantages 
 resulting to Bricain in its warlike capacity, more than 
 as they are connected with commercial concerns, I 
 shall only briefly notice, in regard to all such advan-
 
 359 
 
 tagcs, that, as tilings now stand with us, whateveu 
 benefit might re;»ult from the attainments above stat- 
 ed, in a private or commereial light, these are utterly 
 unworthy of our notice, if they at all compete with 
 those higher considerations, which arise out of our 
 fundamental belligerent interests. Our attainments, 
 public or private, may be alike valuable and mo- 
 mentous, but if we do not hold them by a sufficient- 
 ly secure tenure, if, while they may be wrested from 
 us by our enemies, they in truth prove makebates 
 to the Frenchman, urging him forward in his des- 
 perate conflict, and deceitful lures to ourselves, 
 by inducing a listless activity, where our substantial 
 strength ought to be exercised — then, we ought to 
 consider them merely as obstacles on our way, as 
 things utterly unworthy of our attention. In stating 
 these considerations thus strongly, it is proper to re- 
 mark, that with us the meansof enjoyment, the sub- 
 stances that we possess, constitute the basis of our 
 national superstructure, the source whence our sup- 
 plies, naval and military, must be drawn ; and as for 
 this reason, to mar the value of these, is not only 
 highly impolitic, but in every point of vievv', abso- 
 lutely pernicious ; so, it isoniy, therefore, when the 
 circumstances of the case require us, to bring our 
 general security, and our means of aggrandisement 
 into mutual competition — it is only when our re- 
 sources burden our system, in place of adminis- 
 tering to its strength, that the value of such objects 
 becomes disparaged, and that the desperate nature 
 of the warfare, and tlie tremendous consequences in- 
 to which a neglect of its interests would infallibly
 
 360 
 
 lead, set every countervailing principle into the 
 shade. We may still therefore, thank God, enjoy in 
 peace, all that abundance that has been brought 
 within our reach ; but both these circumstances, the 
 denudation of France as a commercial nation, and 
 the restraints under which the commercial opera- 
 tions of Britain were necessarily laid, in conse- 
 quence of the paramount ascendancy of its belli- 
 gerent interests, threw into the hands of all those 
 neutral nations, that could avail themselves of it, 
 accessions of wealth and of power, of the utmost 
 importance to them, both as states, and as aggre- 
 gate societies of enterprizing individuals. 
 
 But, the trade thus forced into the hands of neu- 
 trals, was advantageous not only to them, but to 
 both great belligerent parties. The circulation of 
 wealth, is necessary for the support and excitation 
 of the reproductive processes. These processes, 
 thus excited and supported by the intervention of 
 neutrals, from the varied circumstances of the differ- 
 ent possessions of these belligerent powers, were 
 rendered subservient to the universal good ; they 
 were enabled to bring forward those supplies, to 
 which their circumstances were severally com- 
 petent, by which means these powers, though se- 
 dulously employed, in the work of destruction, 
 could still go a great wa}^ in compensating to the 
 world at large, that general injury which their hos- 
 tilities induced. As the commercial intercourse, 
 thus stimulated and supported, was impressed by 
 circumstances, which made it coincide exactly with
 
 361 
 
 the wants and circumstances of the country, there- 
 by affected, so the exchange of commodities, that 
 was produced, could not but be peculiarly adapted 
 to the welfare and advantage of each country. In 
 France, the stunted reproductive powers, that still 
 remained, and could maintain their ground, in spite 
 of the progress of destructive principles, could only 
 receive a moderated excitation and support ; but 
 this support was equivalent to her circumstances. 
 In Britain, however, the case was otherwise ; her 
 very extensive, and thoroughly established repro- 
 ductive processes, received her national powers, 
 and exercised these, under such advantages, that 
 any excitation whatever was sufficient to render 
 them so highly useful to the nation, and to the 
 world at large, that the general advantage, obtained 
 in consequence of every excitation, was felt all the 
 world over. This diversity of circumstances, in 
 tiie condition of the belligerents, gave rise to many 
 peculiarities of operation. As these may all be 
 classed under several distinct heads, which, in the 
 questions now before us, are of very great and of 
 universal importance ; and as it is only necessary 
 tbr us, to have a general apprehension of their di- 
 versified operations, I next proceed shortly to take 
 these into consideration, and to pursue them in that 
 light, which coincides most directly with the gene- 
 ral subject now before us. By so doing, we shall 
 attain to a satisfactory apprehension of those gene- 
 ral conclusions, which the conduct of the American 
 government naturally presses upon our attention. 
 
 2 z
 
 362 
 
 The first object that strikes us, on casting our eyes 
 upon this subject, are the advantages that result to 
 British industry, from the facihties afforded to it by 
 neutral carriers, in the disposal of its productions. 
 The reproductive powers of Britain, being, as al- 
 ready noticed, highly improved and concentrated, 
 it is therefore only necessary to make them feel the 
 stimulus of external and general support, in order 
 to render them competent to every demand that 
 can be made upon them. Disciplined into the most 
 incessant and efficient modes of exercise, and re- 
 pressed by the state of things in which they are 
 enveloped to these operations that are most truly 
 useful and valuable, inaction is, to them, worse 
 than any privation to which they can be subjected ; 
 and a regorgement of their productions, equal to 
 destruction itself. When the movements of the 
 belligerent powers were so formidable and so de- 
 solating, the intervention of neutral agents, whose 
 condition exempted them from their destructive 
 influences, was indispensible to all parties. The 
 wants of nations and of men require regular sup- 
 plies, in whatever condition they are placed; and if 
 it is in their power, to bestow any thing that can 
 be passed as an equivalent, neutral traders will, in 
 most instances, find the way to supply their wants, 
 and relieve them of their equivalents. The French 
 nation, at the commencement of the revolution, 
 could be at no great loss for equivalents, when the 
 whole property of their country was put into cir- 
 culation ; a great part of their means, from the cir- 
 cumstances of the times, could not but find their way
 
 363 
 
 through the hands of spoliators, into those of neu- 
 tral nations, from whom again, they passed into 
 those of the inhabitants of Britain. According as 
 the French spread their devastations, the multitude 
 of the equivalents at their disposal increased in 
 number, and in value ; and as their own reproduc- 
 tive powers, and even those of their continental 
 neighbours, could afford but scanty supplies to 
 men whose occasions were alike violent and in- 
 cessant; so their destructive operations, constant- 
 ly distributed the means, which could be circulated 
 wherever these supplies could be found ; and these 
 means also, for the most part, found their way al- 
 most directly through the same channel towards 
 the shores of Britain. For it is a curious fact, that 
 according as the French revolutionary career ad- 
 vanced, so the mass of property in circulation, 
 particularly the precious metals, constantly increas- 
 ed, and constantly tended into the coffers of the 
 industrious. In this way, the paramount influence 
 of Britain, over the wealth and power of the con- 
 tinental nations, increased ; until at length, it be- 
 came paramount to every other species of stimu- 
 lative influence that could be regularly exercised 
 upon the European continent. 
 
 Thus far, all was manifestly favorable to British 
 industry ; but it must be noticed, first, that the 
 value of this influence, was of no farther advantage 
 than as it could be regularly exercised ; and second, 
 that this advantage, in so far as the interests of 
 the industrious was concerned, was restrained by 
 
 2 / 2
 
 364 
 
 the natural course of things, within very narrow 
 limits. We will attain to a satisfactory apprehen- 
 sion of this matter, if we attend to what necessa- 
 rily follows, from the regular movements of produc- 
 tive industry. When any marketable article is pro- 
 duced, its value must, in the first place, be fixed 
 by the application of the market standard ; it must 
 either pass, or be held to have passed into the 
 hands of those, to whom it is in truth of this com- 
 parative value ; and this object the European mar- 
 ket, when placed in the circumstances above men- 
 tioned, could serve in the most complete manner ; 
 for there the merchant who was ready to receive 
 commodities at their accredited value, was to be 
 found. But it was further necessary, that the equi- 
 valent, or the powers of the person obligated to de- 
 liver it, should be equal to this value, in the hands of 
 the industrious. If the equivalent was delivered, and 
 was gold, this object could be effected at once, by 
 the transportation of tlie gold ; but if, (as was most 
 generally the case,) this equivalent was a personal 
 obHgation to deliver, at a fixed time, the stipulated 
 value, in the accredited medium of exchange ; then, 
 it was evident, that all these difficulties and dan- 
 gers, that could intervene betwixt the creation of 
 this obligation and its discharge, remained to be 
 discussed, before this received value could be held 
 to be absolutely delivered. And farther, if, in the 
 third place, this stipulated value was delivered iu 
 another marketable commodity, then all the hard- 
 ships and hazards, attending the realization of the 
 received value of this new commodity, remained, in 
 like manner, to be encountered, before the British
 
 S65 
 
 capitalist could hold in his own hands, the abso- 
 lute value of his own commodity. In a state of fu- 
 rious and savage warfare, the value of personal ob- 
 ligations of any kind was seldom equal to tlieir re- 
 ceived import; for it must be noticed, that though 
 the interponent was neutral, his merchant was in- 
 volved amidst the excesses of French violence. 
 Moreover, as the introduction into Britain of any 
 new article of consumpt would, for the most part, 
 merely traverse the movements of some native re- 
 productive process or establishment, the sale of 
 the produce of which, it precluded in the home 
 market ; and, as it was in those, that is in per- 
 sonal obligations of doubtful import, and in con- 
 sumable commodities, that by far the greatest part 
 of the value of our exports, behoved ultimately to 
 be realized ; so it is evident, that the absolute va- 
 lue of all the intercourse that could be supported 
 and carried forward by neutrals, could only be 
 beneficial to the general industry of the British 
 community, in so far, as that value could be resolv- 
 ed, with advantage, into the service of the British 
 community. 
 
 This will appear more manifest, if we attend to 
 the general effects of this resolution of this wealth, 
 that takes place within our own community. Who- 
 ever becomes possessed of such personal obligations, 
 or of such commodities, as we have been consider- 
 ing, may circulate their value, in virtue of that com- 
 mercial credit, which is held to be attached to the 
 circumstances of tlic holders of substantiated wealth.
 
 366 
 
 This value, he naturally passes, directly or indi- 
 rectly, into the hands of those, who have establish- 
 ments or reproductive processes, to support or in- 
 stitute. Thereby, the reproductive powers of the 
 community being augmented, have their hold over 
 foreign and domestic wealth, confirmed and increas- 
 ed. Whence it happens, that the quantity of com- 
 modities may be augmented, at the same time, that 
 the general demand for these commodities by the 
 consumer, may not be proportionally increased ; or 
 where this demand is increased at all, it may not be 
 accompanied, with a remunerative power, sufficient 
 to compensate to the general holders of these com- 
 modities, the value that has been invested in them. 
 The power of production is concentrated in one set 
 of hands; that of consumption, is placed in another; 
 unless therefore, the circumstances of the consum- 
 er are such, as to enable him to replace, constantly, 
 the value of what he consumes, to the producer ; 
 and unless the circumstances of the producer con- 
 tinue in such a condition, that the value of such 
 returns, as his consumer can give him, can be pre- 
 served and circulated at their proper standard va- 
 lue, then the advantage of all these different ac- 
 cessions to the reproductive powers of the nation, 
 must quickly diminish ; and the result must be, that 
 the producing party, not having sufficient induce- 
 ments to continue or extend his reproductive oper- 
 ations, these will rapidly fall off. It is probable 
 that the consumer*s means and circumstances will at 
 the same time, fall off with equal rapidity ; for, 
 the value of the commodities, which he himself
 
 367 
 
 can produce will, generally, in like manner, de- 
 crease. But whether this last effect be immediate- 
 ly produced or not, it is evident, that until some 
 kind of equal proportionment become established, 
 betwixt the producing and consuming powers of the 
 community, sufficient to preserve an equilibrium 
 in its movements, the condition of society must 
 remain constantly retrograde. 
 
 The circumstances in which Britain was placed, 
 with respect to her allies upon the continent of 
 Europe, during the early part of the present con- 
 tests, served, in some degree, to moderate the o- 
 peration of these obstructive tendencies. The mag- 
 nanimous policy of her cabinet, led it to contribute 
 liberally to the exigencies of the distressed nations 
 of Christendom, and as the greatest hardship with 
 these nations was the low state of their funds, the fin- 
 ancial aid of Britain was frankly accorded to them, 
 in that particular. The vast balances that were 
 constantly forming in her favor, in consequence of 
 the operations aforenoticed, placed at her disposal 
 a sum, that was particularly appropriate for such 
 purposes. This British wealth, substantiated un- 
 der the authority of the subsidized powers, when 
 transferred into the hands of native bankers, or ac- 
 credited agents, constituted a basis of finance, that 
 met the views, both of the subsidized and of the 
 subsidizing state ; and it enabled these bankers to 
 intervene their cmpledgments or bills of exchange, 
 as a new circulable capital, for the service of tlie 
 commercial world j which cmplcdgnienta, being re-
 
 368 
 
 gularly discharged from the deposits of the British 
 government in London, served to relieve the in- 
 dustrious, without the hazard and difficulty of a 
 substantial remittance, and to place, in the hands 
 of the subsidized government, its stipulated aid, 
 without any direct transfer of bullion. Out of these 
 extensive, and peculiar financial operations, others 
 of a more general nature arose; and new capitals and 
 new incitements to trade sprung forward, for the 
 service of the industrious, both at home and abroad. 
 On the strength of these, bankers could emit their 
 articulate obligations, all of which went to aug- 
 ment the circulating medium of the commercial 
 world, to support the reproductive processes, and 
 to cherish the spirit of enterprize. The prosperity, 
 which these general and diffusive advantages pro- 
 duced, have not only compensated to us, in many 
 respects, for the burdens which they induced, but 
 they mitigated the horrors of that war, into which 
 Christendom was then universally involved. 
 
 From the peculiar circumstances of the Euro- 
 pean continent, the paper currency, that could be 
 thus harmoniously and profitably emitted, was 
 not only much restricted, but, even, under these 
 restrictions, it required a more than ordinary sup- 
 port of metallic currency. Military business, above 
 all others, from its urgency and importance, and 
 from the multiplicity of details and transactions, 
 which it must comprize and permeate, with pre- 
 cision and with promptitude, requires a most co- 
 pious supply of the precious metals. Indeed, in
 
 369 
 
 consequence of the suddenness and violence, with 
 which confidence is withdrawn and destroyed; amidst 
 the ravages of war, gold must necessarily have 
 become an object of general appetency. These cir- 
 cumstances, together with that jealousy of our com- 
 mercial prosperity, in which our subsidized allies 
 indulged themselves, in common with our professed 
 enemies, made these, at length, require their subsid- 
 ies in bullion. Britain, led into the subsidizing sys- 
 stem from the support provided, as aforementioned, 
 by her industry for its maintenence, consented to 
 this deflection of her resources. Gold, for this pur- 
 pose, was drawn out of the hands of her industrious 
 citizens by every aperture ; and these, again, were 
 set adrift all over the world, to procure supplies to 
 replenish their constantly exhausting stores. In 
 such circumstances, as it was evident that this con- 
 cession, necessarily, embarrassed the movements of 
 British industry, and rendered the subsidy-remittan- 
 ces, a dead weight upon the nation, which, not only 
 drained it of its treasures, but circumvented the 
 movements of those reproductive processes, out of 
 which alone, supplies of this treasure could be 
 found ; was it not but reasonable and politic, that the 
 powers thus subsidized should so far meet the ex- 
 igencies of the case, as to give full access to, and 
 unbounded circulation within, their own territories to 
 the fruits of these reproductive processes ? It was evi- 
 dent, (and it was the ibundation of their policy,) that 
 these fruits should be thus circulated, because these 
 alone, could bring back to Britain, (the grand re- 
 ceptacle from whence their own stores were coiitinu- 
 
 3 K
 
 370 
 
 ally provided, and whence the vast supplies necessa- 
 ry lor the support of their general cause were drawn,) 
 that bullion, of which they and all parties were so ea- 
 gerly in quest. Was it nottherefbre proper to preserve 
 this grand receptacle always in a full and overflow- 
 ingstate? If any thing like good-will toour nation, or 
 even sincere zeal for that cause, in which their all 
 was embarked, had prevailed, the subsidiaries would 
 have met the wishes of the British nation, in this re- 
 spect, with forwardness. In place of this, however, 
 their old cold-blooded restrictions upon trade, re- 
 mained still unaltered ; and the ingenuity and pa- 
 tience of our merchants were kept constantly on the 
 rack, before they could either introduce their com- 
 modities into, or draw back their value from, the 
 territory of these subsidiaries. 
 
 The ostensible reason of all this was, to encourage 
 and protect their own native industry ; and this itwas 
 held, gold promoted, and our external supplies re- 
 pressed. If our trade had been productive of no 
 other effects, but that of supplying the wants, and 
 sparing the labors of their subjects ; and if gold were 
 the only stimulant to industry, the sole object of 
 desire, such policy no doubt, might have been jus- 
 tifiable ; but as we know, that every object of desire 
 held forth to view, that can only be obtained by 
 dint of regular industry, stimulates industry ; and 
 as we know also, that a continuation of such sti- 
 mulations is, of itself, sufficient to create industrious 
 habits, and to facilitate the process, and augment 
 the value of such industrv ; so, it is very evident, 
 
 1
 
 371 
 
 that our commodities, if really in themselves de- 
 sirable, (and if they are not desirable, their in- 
 troduction must be absolutely nugatory,) must pro- 
 duce industrious habits ; that these habits can only 
 be exercised on objects, that are generally useful and 
 marketable ; and that the industry, thus stimulated 
 and exercised, will find its way into establishments, 
 wherein the powers of individuals, and their im- 
 provements in the arts, being collected and organiz- 
 edjwill render them, progressively, more and more 
 efficient in the public service. Let it be noticed 
 farther, that these establishments, can never be sup- 
 ported by the metallic currency alone; because these 
 require an extension of commercial intercourse, 
 and a circulation of confidence, which implies an 
 universal facility of distributing every articleof va- 
 lue or of desire. Gold is an invaluable accessory 
 in such procedure ; but gold, to the requisite extent, 
 can never long be awanting in such circumstances. 
 To nations in a low, but rising state of improve- 
 ment, the protection of those processes, which it 
 is their determination to establish, is indispcnsible ; 
 but when this object is once attained, it is equally 
 absurd and unjust, to fetter that intercourse, to 
 which these or the circumstances of the country na- 
 tinally give rise, by any other rules, but those which 
 arise from the whole circumstances of the case. 
 In the case before us, no industry required protec- 
 tion more than that, which was connected with the 
 circulation and (listril)ution of the fruits of the soil, 
 and with the estai)lished habits of the people. As 
 = 'ir rircumjtanccs of the British merchants led
 
 372 
 
 them to relieve and confirm, not to circumvent, 
 the operations thence induced, the British inter- 
 course thus precluded, was beneficial, and the repres- 
 sion of it, detrimental to the improvement then go- 
 ing forward. By their overweaning anxiety about 
 the retention of bullion within their domains, these 
 powers, not only frustrated these beneficial opera- 
 tions, but they thereby laid themselves still far- 
 ther open to the artifices of the common enemy, 
 who found it no difficult matter to extract out of 
 the hands of these short sighted politicians, the 
 glittering acquirements, which they were thus so 
 warily appropriating to their own sinister purposes. 
 As this matter has been sufficiently illustrated, in 
 a preceding part of this treatise, it is only neces- 
 sary here to add, that the burdens thus laid on the 
 capabilities of Britain, for meeting the continental 
 exigencies, no ways overpowered her strength : the 
 masses of wealth under her control formed all over 
 the world, which her superior prowess still ena- 
 bled her to command for the use of these allies, 
 fully met all their demands. Whatever internal in- 
 jury she sustained, and whatever external sacri- 
 fices she made, for the attainment of these means, 
 the wants and wishes of these allies, reasonable and 
 unreasonable, were always fulfilled and anticipated. 
 If the continent is lost, it is not from the illiberality 
 or the incompetency of Britain, in fulfilling its part 
 of the general duty. Whether there was any defal- 
 cation in the cabinet, in the discipline or forma- 
 tion of the armies, or in the management or pro- 
 cedure of the chiefs of those nations, may still re-
 
 main uncertain, but that it never could be held to lie 
 with the party engaged to procure them financial and 
 naval assistance, is unquestionable. No one, there- 
 fore, can, with any pretensions to justice, say, that 
 the blame of this loss, can be attached to our com- 
 merce, our industry, or our financial operations. 
 
 The propriety of these remarks will appear, if 
 we attend to the comparative procedure of the dif- 
 ferent belligerents. "We perceive Britain, oppressed 
 with a national debt, that was universally held to 
 exceed not only her capabilities, but the capabil- 
 ities of every other nation in the world ; yet re- 
 lying on her industry, effectually providing for her 
 own, and for her allies' support, even while traversed 
 in the operations of this industry, by those very 
 allies. Amidst all these distresses, however, she 
 not only bore up under her burdens, but she most 
 scrupulously accommodated herself to the wants 
 and feelings of all, with whom she had any intercourse 
 or connexion. Shall a nation, thus conducting her- 
 self, be accused of violating the rights of others, 
 because she calls in question the pretensions of 
 those, who think proper to declare themselves neu- 
 tral in such a cause, and who it is evident, do this, 
 for the mere purpose' of palliating malversations 
 and inconsistencies of her adversary, which are, in 
 truth, repugnant to common sense ? Now, what is it, 
 that this adversary has done, on the footing of uni- 
 versal equity, to merit ail this favor from neutrals r 
 In the first place, let it be noticed, that he has re- 
 lieved himself of his national dc1/t^,aiid of every in-
 
 374 
 
 convenient obligation, by a mere act of his will. 
 In the next place, he lays his hand hard on the 
 whole property that he can grasp, both foreign 
 and domestic, and appropriates it, without cere- 
 mony, to his own purposes. How is it, that France 
 treats her allies, her neutral friends ? Switzerland, 
 Holland, Spain and Italy can tell this ; she drains 
 them alike of men, whom she places in the hottest 
 part of her desperate conflicts, and of means, which 
 she wrenches from their hands, in the most brutal 
 manner; and then she gradually tears them to pieces, 
 in order to incorporate them effectually with her 
 own essence. Even America, herself, must confess, 
 that year after year, she is defrauded of her returns, 
 insulted, degraded, and then obliged to become 
 the base instrument of inflicting those wounds on 
 the person of her august parent, which the power 
 of the inveterate adversary of this parent, cannot 
 reach ; that she is necessitated to express triumph, 
 at the success of his crimes and atrocities j and, that 
 to prevent worse usage, she must, in the accents of 
 exultation, shutting her eyes on her odious situation, 
 proclaim that conduct wise and salutary, which only 
 denotes her own subjugation to his nefarious system. 
 
 We are so accustomed to these things, that they 
 now pass over with little remark ; but where is the 
 reason, where is the pretext for favor, to a nation, 
 which has outraged every principle human and di- 
 vine ? Bonaparte is pleased to tell us, of his allies, 
 of his neutral friends, of his paramount ascendancy 
 over our system ; and he boasts of the spoittanc-
 
 375 
 
 ous, zealous, services of his friends in his cause ; 
 yet in the midst of their good offices to him, he 
 systematically denudes them, one by one, of their in- 
 dependence ; and placing them, more and more un- 
 der his military government, at length absorbs them 
 under his own autocratic sway. How has this been 
 effected ? was it by conquest ? If it was, this conquest 
 was achieved, while these, thus denuded, were fight- 
 ing under his own banners, and laying his enemies 
 at his feet. Was it from the incapacity of these na- 
 tions to govern themselves ? then this incapacity 
 was induced by himself, and he alone ever attempt- 
 ed to avail himself of it. Are they, and is the 
 world at large, merely baubles given him for exer- 
 cising his foul and furious passions upon ? Where 
 is the consistency of levelling every thing to his will, 
 while that will attempts nothing, but to destroy ? 
 Something, beyond the existence of his system, 
 it is said, is still looked for, even by his most de- 
 cided partisans ; and that this must explain the 
 enigma, which arises from so many individuals, 
 blindly adhering to his monstrous system. While 
 his power, however, triumphs over such a large 
 portion of the human race, no such pretensions in- 
 ferring remote Jesuitical contingencies, deserve our 
 consideration. The conduct of Britain, through- 
 out the whole of this arduous contest, towards all 
 nations, has been most generous and condescending; 
 meekly and wisely accommodating herself to the 
 feelings, as well as to the necessities of the weakest, 
 and also to those of the most powerful, — she has 
 raised for herself a monument of Christian forbear-
 
 376 
 
 ance and iiioderation, that is glorious to the cause 
 of humanity. Amidst the dark abyss, into which 
 the assumption of Bonaparte and his abettors have 
 sunk the nations, a glimpse of future relief and resto- 
 ration is thus accorded to them ; and a high example 
 and support, to their most strenuous exertions, is 
 seen to be provided ; so that an age, which above 
 most others, has been fertile in crime and perversity, 
 appears irradiated with the brilliancy of truth, 
 and with the energy of genuine virtue. How any na- 
 tion can, in such a cause, deliberately set its face a- 
 gainstsuch tendencies, or vauntingly place in oppo- 
 sition to these, the hollow fallacious claims of neutra- 
 lity ; and, while placing its ultimate hopes in over- 
 reaching an insidious destroyer, systematically sub- 
 serve his cause, must appear wonderful to posterity. 
 That such conduct, however, does not proceed from 
 a mere callousness of disposition to truth and vir- 
 tue, but from a sordid and blind attachment to the 
 same principles, in which the whole perversities of 
 the French revolution originated, will appear, if we 
 follow out, at some length, the conduct of the A- 
 merican nation, in the exercise of its neutral rights. 
 
 Let it be noticed then, that, making every allow- 
 ance to the feelings of the Americans, arising from 
 their prior connexions with France, and otherwise, 
 and from their prevailing dissentions with Britain — 
 we must take along with us, countervailing circum- 
 stances, which place all such considerations in the 
 shade. It must be still farther recollected, that 
 America, being placed at the distance of two
 
 377 
 
 tliousand miles from France, and being every 
 where surrounded and protected by the arms of the 
 British, has chosen that line of conduct which she 
 now follows, and which after full and mature deliber- 
 ation, she perseveres in without intermission. Other 
 nations were so beset by the French arms and in- 
 fluence, that their subserviency to French measures, 
 and their conduct, may be held to have resulted 
 most generally from necessity ; for certainly their 
 hostility was moderated by all the forms that their 
 circumstances could admit of. Whereas, in Ameri- 
 ca, the spirit of both government and people have 
 gone hand in hand in aggravating and outraging the 
 hostile feelings, which their conduct had excited. 
 Even before France had manumitted her colon- 
 ial slaves, and turned their arms against their mas- 
 ters, there was a general deficiency of colonial 
 produce ; which deficiency, as the propensities of 
 the French nation to consume such articles still 
 remained, and as their ravages procured for them 
 equivalents sufficient to induce neutral adventurers 
 to procure tlie requisite supplies, early transferred 
 that trade to the Americans. As it coincided witii 
 the views of the French government, to employ its 
 population in belligerent exercises, in preference to 
 every other, it set aside, in favour of the Americans, 
 those ancient laws and customs, wliicli fixed the 
 trade l)etwixt the mother country and her colonies, 
 in the hands of her own citizens. Hence it happen- 
 ed, that the interposition of these American traders 
 effectually preserved, forbelligcrent purposes, a nnd- 
 titude ot" seamen and soldiers, who would otherv.'ise 
 
 3 B
 
 378 
 
 have been engaged in sucii services. Tlie Ameri- 
 can government, for this purpose, not only permit- 
 ted these adventurers to interpone their neutral 
 claims, which, amidst a variety of devices, she con- 
 trived to render effectual, for the great purpose for 
 which they were interposed ; but it being under- 
 stood, that West India produce, transferred in neu- 
 tral bottoms from a French colonial port to America, 
 was neutral ; and that the same property was also 
 neutral, if but landed at an American port, and 
 re-shipped for France ; even this small tribute of 
 deference to tlie belligerent rights of Britain, was 
 systematically eluded, by double sets of shipping- 
 entries, which such vessels at all times carried along 
 with them, whereby, the Americans were enabled, 
 for some time, to carry their produce directly from a 
 French West India port, to its ultimate place of des- 
 tination in France ; and strange to relate, this claim 
 was at length set down, as a fair and regular mode of 
 transfer. Not only so, but as the deficiencies of 
 France were constantly extending, and came, in the 
 end, to reach to almost every necessary and useful 
 article of life ; and as the flag of America, was con- 
 stantly interposed to protect this trade, this flag be- 
 came, in the course of a few years, an indispensible in- 
 strument in the French system. Even the transfer- 
 ences of commodities, from port to port, within the 
 territory of old France was sheltered under this con- 
 venient subterfuge. The American ships, by these 
 means, soon covered the seas and crowded the ports 
 of France and all her dependent nations, so as 
 to render the naval superiority of Britain, near-
 
 319 
 
 ly nugatory ; a burden, not an advantage, to the 
 nation. Britain never did, and never could re- 
 cognize such practises as neutral ; but her hands 
 were then too much engaged, and lier hostile senti- 
 ments too much exercised about other objects, for 
 her to reprehend such procedure as it deserved. 
 She repressed it, however, by genera.1 regulations, 
 which went to declare her disavowal of these prac-; 
 tices, and her determination to prevent them. 
 
 As America received these intimations with all 
 the indications of hostility, that were compatible 
 with a consciousness of her incapacity to impugn 
 or oppose the execution of these regulations, con- 
 joined with a fixed resolution to circumvent them., 
 we may fairly hold her, as having given her so- 
 lemn protest against them. What did she do, howr 
 over, when Bonaparte, in order to follow out, a- 
 shore, (though in a most prc})(>sterous manner) the 
 «^ame principles to their extreme length, declared 
 it needful for all neutral vessels to bring along with 
 them, a certificate from one of his own consuls, as to 
 the place of origin of the commodities which wereim>- 
 ported, as the only means of preventing sucli goods 
 from being seized as Britisii property ? What did she 
 do in that case ? Why, she did nothing at all ; she 
 did not make a single ciYovt in defence of her com- 
 merce, until the British orders of council met the 
 artifices of tlie enemy of civil order, by rendering 
 all American vessels, who did not visit a Britisii 
 port, in order to give a full proof of tlieir reprehen- 
 sion of such principles, hiwfnl prizes. Then, but 
 
 r? R 2
 
 J80 
 
 not till ihcijj did the Americans assume any thing 
 resembling neutral ground. Yet still, they made 
 no distinctive provisions, correspondent to the dif- 
 ferent conduct of the different neutral powers. 
 They made no remarks, but those that were direct- 
 ed alike against them both ; they perceived not the 
 necessity of controverting the French decress by 
 British orders of council 5 they discerned neither 
 the order of promulgation, nor the characteristic 
 properties, operations, nor consequences, of these 
 great belligerent measures. They did not even ob- 
 serve, that the French decrees were to be executed 
 ashore, implying the subjection of neutral nations j 
 while the British orders of council could only take 
 effect at sea, in that arena, whereon all that is pacific, 
 and all that is hostile, have alike, the full right of ex- 
 ercising all their rights. The Americans drew no 
 line of distinction whatever, for with one sweeping 
 class of measures, they set both belligerent powers 
 at defiance. 
 
 Before we can duly appreciate the merits of the 
 conduct of the Americans in this instance, it is neces- 
 sary to take along with us those peculiarities in their 
 circumstances, which distinguish their case. In so 
 far as any thing like reciprocity remained, it might 
 be pled, that though the American flag had been, 
 out of all comparison, more beneficial to the French 
 than to the British interest, yet that this arose more 
 out of the circumstances of the case, than out of any 
 undue partiality to France. It might be stated, that 
 if Britain had been placed in the same circunistnn-
 
 381 
 
 ces with France, the conduct of America towards her 
 would have been similar. America was in the condi- 
 tion of a bystander, who could profit by the miscon- 
 duct or misapprehensions of two combatants, who 
 were engaged alongside of her, in working out each 
 others* destruction. To both she frankly offered her 
 services, upon the condition of receiving a fair and 
 equitable compensation. Though Britain happened 
 to have little occasion for these services, yet to that 
 extent which subserved her purposes, Britain unhesi- 
 tatingly used them. If to France, on the other hand, 
 these services were indispensible ; if in following out 
 these peculiarities, various questions arose ; was A- 
 merica to be subjected to the consequences induced 
 by these opposite circumstances of belligerent par- 
 ties, merely because one of the powers felt itself 
 more aggrieved, or less benefited, than it expected 
 or wished to be, by this neutral interference ? It is 
 admitted, to be as lawful for either of the belligerents 
 to intercept the supplies belonging to the other, 
 as it would have been to destroy those supplies, 
 when these had entered their enemies* premises ; 
 but does this at all imply a right to interfere with, 
 or repel the acknowledged rights, possessed by neu- 
 trals ? In the circumstances of the case, it is evi- 
 dent, that neutral ser\iccs had become more detri- 
 mental than beneficial to our interests ; must we, 
 therefore, assume a general right to set these aside, 
 or, on any pretext whatever, to deny their exis- 
 tence, because it appears evident that wc would 
 thereby, the more effectually promote or extend 
 our belligerent interests ? Although, in the cir
 
 382 
 
 '€umstances of the present contest, we may warrant- 
 ably infer, that it is bestowing no compliment up- 
 on the moral or rational feelings or perceptions of 
 the Americans, thus tolerate their assumption of 
 neutral ground; must we, therefore, arrogate to our- 
 selves, the privilege of contravening, in a direct 
 manner, their neutral operations ? All these circum- 
 stances, most distinctly press upon our attention, 
 the necessity of watching, most sedulously and in- 
 cessantly, over the exercise of neutral rights. To 
 this fill! extent therefore, let us receive them, but 
 while they admit of nothing more, let us respect, 
 on our part, the limits that we ourselves have ex.-. 
 pressly recognised. 
 
 Let us, however, sec into wiiat circumstances all 
 these peculiarities have led ; and then we shall per- 
 ceive, not only the character of the principles on 
 which they proceed, but that general line of conduct 
 which they lay open before us. The French, we know, 
 are not to be restricted to partial or implied advanta- 
 ges ; it is their fundamental maxim, that their sys- 
 tem must, in all cases, be displayed as paramount. 
 A little serious attention to this point, under these 
 views, will, I think, unfold the whole mystery of the 
 American neutrality ; and while it brings down our 
 contempt upon the imbecile movements of a power, 
 only half immersed in wickedness, it will lead us to 
 such views of our own interest in this particular, 
 and of our own duty as connected with it, as will 
 enable us, here, as in every other instance, to pre- 
 serve, with a high hand that general line of conduct,
 
 383 
 
 which, is most correspondent, with our circum- 
 stances, our character, and our best, and our higli- 
 est interests. It is necessary for us to cake fully 
 along with us, our highest principles ; but hav- 
 ing done so, it is only necessary to apply these to 
 our own kinsmen ; ungrateful and polluted indeed, 
 but still dear, and connected to us by ties which 
 we cannot, with impunity, dissolve. As by a close 
 and assiduous attention to the whole particulars 
 which these things involve, we must attain, not only 
 to a due apprehension of our present circumstan- 
 ces, but to a general idea of our future procedure. 
 I shall endeavour to bring these fully before us, 
 making, as I go along, those incidental illustrations 
 that arise out of, and arc connected with, our cur- 
 rent circumstances. 
 
 In the first place, ]et it be recollected, that Amer- 
 ica, during this contest, has thought proper to trans- 
 mit to France, the whole of that immense debt that 
 had been contracted by her to that power, during her 
 own revolutionary contest, and that she did this in 
 commodities, which were, at the time, of more con- 
 sequence to France, than if she had placed the 
 whole of her poj)ulation, and all their means, at the 
 entire disposal of tlie French government. Airferi- 
 ca thus recognized, in the most am[)]e form, the 
 new government of France, and bestowed upon it 
 all that aid that was consistent with her circumstan- 
 ces; and she did this in the face of all that armed 
 Europe could do, to revenge the injury done to 
 their cause. In the sccor.d place, the consuls, and
 
 384 
 
 other agents of France, were permitted to hold 
 courts, for exercising juridical power within the 
 American states, in respect to prize vessels, and cer- 
 tain privileges claimed by French citizens ; such as 
 were inconsistent, not only with the neutrality but 
 the real independence of the country. And this 
 was done, at the very time, that British subjects 
 Were subjected to every hardship and indignity, in 
 the exercise of their ordinary civil rights, that the 
 feelings of the American people themselves could 
 bear. Thirdly, while the Americans repelled, with 
 a violence and scorn more indicative of hostility 
 and vengeance, than of a sense of right, every hard- 
 ship and inconvenience sustained by them, from 
 the exercise of our maritime rights, they tolerated, 
 or rather they permitted themselves to be sunk un- 
 der, the spoliations and exactions of the French 
 government; these having been exercised without 
 end, and almost without measure, and the Ameri- 
 can government, scarcely venturing to express its 
 sense of wrong. Fourthly, the American govern- 
 ment entered so far into the French plans and prin- 
 ciples, as to accept of the Spanish provinces of 
 Louisiana and Florida from France, although it was 
 evident, that France had no more right to bestow 
 these upon America, than America had to seize 
 them at her own hands. In return for the service of 
 wrenching these provinces out of the hands of their 
 rightful proprietors, America again assessed her re- 
 sources, and poured these into the hands of France, 
 of a kind, and to an extent, that were out of all com- 
 parison, more valuable to France, than the most ac-
 
 385 
 
 tlve co-operation in belligerent measures. To men- 
 tion no more, in the fifth place, the American go- 
 vernment prostituted the sanction and authority of 
 a great and free people, to the sacrilegious and ini- 
 quitous procedure of the French government and 
 people, while it deprecated, without ceremony, the 
 mild yet dignified, the condescending yet command- 
 ing and meritorious, deportment of Britain. Amer- 
 ica even basely exercised herself, in culling and ex- 
 tracting from the multiplied intricacies of the exten- 
 sive transactions of the British nation, matters that 
 could serve her, in making out something resembling 
 a case of aggrievance, in justification of her partial- 
 ity to France. 
 
 In order to have a proper apprehension of the 
 magnitude and importance of these different indi- 
 cations of hostility towards Britain, and friendship 
 towards France, it is necessary to take along with 
 us those adjunct circumstances, wherein the char- 
 acter and import of these transactions arc made 
 more fully to appear. Although this has already, 
 in some degree, been incidentally effected, yet the 
 following particulars will serve to set the subject 
 more fully in its proper light. 
 
 First, let it be noticed, that the accommodation, 
 thus accorded to France, was virtually distrained 
 from the sinews of British industry. Here, I do 
 not allude to the ungrateful return made bv Amer- 
 ica, for the security and prosperity antecedently 
 purchased for her, by British blood and trcRsurc.
 
 386 
 
 nor to any thing connected witli her relative condi- 
 tion, though these are matters highly deserving 
 of pointed regard even in this more confined view 
 of the subject ; but to that perversion which takes 
 place, of the vast balances due Britain, in the way 
 of trade, to tiie service of the enemy of Britain, and 
 to the defraudation of the merchants of Britain. 
 This matter has already been, in some measure, 
 explained. It is necessary, however, to notice 
 farther, that when the industrious processes of Bri- 
 tain have been thoroughly excited by an external 
 and appropriate agent, that these not only move 
 in such circumstances, with a celerity and with an 
 effect that is competent to the highest demands 
 that can be made upon them, but that they give 
 rise to new, sometimes to greater and more improv- 
 ed establishments, which speedily render the a- 
 mount of the national productions, far beyond the 
 consumption of any regular market that can be 
 provided. This vast and unnatural accession to 
 the reproductive powers of the nation, originates 
 in the peculiarly tranquil and harmoniously fixed 
 establislunents, and organization of Britain. An 
 impulse, wliich sets in motion the reproductive 
 powers of Britain, at once animates the hopes and 
 consolidates tlie energies of that great nation. Com- 
 mercial credit, and high prospects of continued 
 success, thereupon, buoy up its exertions to the 
 highest pitch, and produce that mutual confidence, 
 -\vhich is the cause and consequence of superlative 
 and exuberant exertions. The great misfortune is, 
 ilial this unnatural production runs all intoapecu-
 
 38' 
 
 liar set of objects, which, with their concomi(ani 
 provisions, drawls away from other sets of objects e- 
 quallyoreven more essential to the public good, their 
 requisite resources. In order to manufacture on a 
 scale sufficiently extensive, muslins, or woollens, 
 or cutlery, the agricultural, the military, and the 
 naval departments are drained of hands, of capi- 
 tal, of means. But although this new destination ol' 
 labor sends forth a numerical value, far beyond 
 that, which any other species of domestic industry 
 could, for the time, procure ; yet, from the unna- 
 tural accumulation of the productions of this labor, 
 the real value of these productions, and amount of 
 that aggregate sum of money which can be drawn 
 out of these for the service of the country, effectually 
 fall ofFalong with this increase. Nor is this al! ; to this 
 unnatural production, an unnatural consumption is 
 soon superadded, whereby, even the reduced value 
 of the articles, thus depreciated, is, in a great mea- 
 sure lost to the producer, and to the country at 
 large. This arises from the incapacity to meet the 
 demands which they have created against them- 
 selves, to which, in such circumstances, merchant 
 adventurers ])ccomc liable. The vast accession oi 
 commodities, for whicli no regular merchant can 
 be found, allures into the fields of commerce, a new 
 race of adventurers, wlio have no adecjuatc capital 
 to cover the risks which they profess to undertake; 
 and tliese, while they attempt to force their goods 
 into every accessible market, squander away or de- 
 stroy that value, which ought to be remitted to the 
 producer ; and thereby, they not only induce ruin
 
 388 
 
 upon themselves and their connexions, but they 
 completely destroy those chances of success, which 
 the regular trader would otherwise possess. 
 
 That the loss which Britain has sustained, by 
 this course of things is immense, is attested by the 
 various tremendous shocks, which the circumstan- 
 ces of her American traders have, of late, so fre- 
 quently undergone. Indeed, if we attend, for a « 
 moment, to the real situation of things, we must M 
 perceive, that it is impossible that the matter can 
 be otherwise. When the spirit of the nation is 
 high, and commercial adventure has been for any 
 length of time successful, the credit of the mercan- 
 tile world becomes equal to almost every under- 
 taking, of which the transfer or investment of pro- 
 perty is the object. The credit which can be up- 
 held by the man of property buoys up, along with 
 it, the circumstances and the credit of the mere 
 adventurer; who again, on his part, by removing 
 out of the way these commodities which arc ready 
 to obstruct the course of reproduction, and by in- 
 troducing his credit and commercial reputation in- 
 to the service of the fabricating establishments, 
 gives a new stimulus and support to the reproduc- 
 tive processes. In such circumstances, tlie mere 
 transfer of commodities, or even the nominal trans- 
 fer of these, by the exchange of personal obligations, 
 serves as a medium of intercourse, a basis of sup- 
 port to the progression of improvement. Indivi- 
 duals, even of slender capitals, may, by this means, 
 set agoing, and maintain, a concatenation of estab- 
 
 I
 
 389 
 
 lishments, sufficient to enrich a whole country. 
 It is necessary, that these estabhshments be mu- 
 tually subservient to each other, that they bring 
 forward commodities, that will bear a value in the 
 general market, at least equal to the whole value 
 of the materials, labor, capital and skill, that is 
 bestowed upon them, together with a suitable sur- 
 plus to cover the risks and troubles, incident to man- 
 agement. When these appear to be secured, the^ 
 course of things, may for some length of time be 
 upheld, merely by means of mutual confidence, with- 
 out adequate and direct returns. Thence a profusion 
 of commodities for every accessible market is provid- 
 ed. Such advantages, however, soon work out their 
 own ruin. These successful movements of the re- 
 productive processes, not only overload the market 
 with commodities, but they give such facilities to 
 the mere adventurer, that a multitude of establish- 
 ments are instituted, which no possible augmenta- 
 tion of the market of consumption could embrace ; 
 along with these, others, dependent and connected, 
 spring forth ; and they give to the advancement of 
 prosperity a consistent texture, which, for some 
 time, assumes the appearance of solidity and secur- 
 ity. As all these appearances, however, depend 
 on the stability of a foreign market, and on the 
 certainty of adequate substantial returns ; ihingR 
 which of themselves, must rest on a most precari- 
 ous concourse of incidents, on the good fortune 
 of desperate adventurers, who are every day be- 
 coming more and more daring in their enterprises, 
 and on the continuance of a certaiii train of mca-
 
 390 
 
 aurcs which no one can aiFect or restrain, we can- 
 not be greatly surprised, at the fallacy which these 
 appearances occasionally disclose. Happily for us, 
 the general circumstances of the country maintain 
 in security those essential processes, on which the 
 best interests of the community depend. The fruits 
 of these have generally been at hand, to meet our 
 higher and leading exigencies ; the fate of adven- 
 turers, however, and of all their varied classes of de- 
 pendents, is involved in a much more tremendous 
 ruin ; their means, their wealth, and their establish- 
 ments, fall to pieces, amongst the hands of those, 
 who have acquired a paramount interest therein ; 
 so that the country has nothing arising out of all its 
 exertions, but a multitude of obligations, person- 
 al and real, andof depretiated commodities, which, 
 in various ways, overload the country without pro 
 ducing any real support to the remaining indepen 
 dence of the community. 
 
 There is, in the circumstances of America, a class 
 of advantages that draw thither with peculiar efficacy 
 these tendencies ; no other country, ancient or mo- 
 dern, having ever attained these to an equal extent. 
 Agriculture is not only the glory and the support 
 of her population, but it constitutes the pole-star for 
 her guidance in every great political measure. To 
 this paramount object, the views of the state, and of 
 every member of the community, are alike sacri- 
 ficed ; the manners, feelings, temperament, and 
 pursuits of these, being all severally bent forward 
 in its service. Does an individual acquire wealth. 

 
 391 
 
 in the way of trade ? he values it only as it can en^ 
 able him to find, amidst the retreats of rural feli- 
 city, a patrimonial possession, in which his name 
 and his family, may find an established and perpe- 
 tuated habitation. Does another return unsuccess- 
 ful from the paths of adventure? the manners and 
 circumstances of his countrymen will bear him 
 out, although he should snatch from the property 
 of his creditors, the means of effecting a similar 
 retreat in some distant province, wherein, a new 
 civil and municipal establishment, like the bar- 
 riers of the cities of refuge, can draw lines around his 
 person and possessions, which are impenetrable to 
 the attacks of justice. There, shrouded no less a- 
 midst the subtilties of legal procedure, than the 
 tieep recesses of the forest, he invests in the im- 
 provement of the general territory, that value, which 
 was originally extracted out of the sinews of Brit- 
 ish industry, and thus contributes at once to the 
 strength of the general empire, and to the resour- 
 ces of the community. 
 
 These same tendencies, are farther promoted 
 by certain peculiarities in the internal policy and 
 external relations of the British government. A- 
 griculture, though evidently the first of the arts, 
 and the most essential to man in every stage of 
 improvement, is itself intimately connected with, 
 and dependent on a free circulation of its fruits, 
 on an unencumbered exchange of its productions, 
 with those of the humbler and more dependent 
 arts. In America, commerce, tlie handmaid of a-
 
 392 
 
 griculture, distributes its produce over the whole 
 world, and brings back the riches of every clime 
 and country in the world, with a profusion, that 
 outdoes all the ordinary powers of consumption 
 of this extensive territory. But the commodities of 
 Britain entering very generally into this process of 
 intercourse, from their condensed value, augment 
 the profits of general trade. The policy of the Bri- 
 tish cabinet, has drawn a strong line of separation 
 betwixt the direct interests of the industrious, and 
 those of tlie superior orders of the community, that 
 is highly favorable to American enterprize. While 
 the whole intercourse, that subsists betwixt Britain, 
 and three fourths of the habitable globe, must pass 
 through hands, wherein various other motives, be- 
 sides those of the interests of the industrious, pre- 
 vail — motives, which generally countervail, and at 
 ail times traverse the movements of the commercial 
 spirit — the trade of America, can freely absorb the 
 greatest part of the productions of British industry. 
 There, the intercourse is direct, effective, and es- 
 tablished on a known basis, which corresponds a- 
 like with the circumstances, and the propensities of 
 both countries. The losses induced to the British 
 merchant, from spoliation, and circumvention, be- 
 ing divided amongst the adventurous, do not im- 
 mediately occasion a cessation in the movements 
 of that industry, from whence this trade draws its 
 support. The hopes of better fortune animate 
 other adventurers ; these the general credit of the 
 country bears up ; the calamities that ensue from 
 disappointed expectation, and ill concerted enter-
 
 393 
 
 prises, are tiiiis speedily repaired, and fresh eom- 
 modities for consumption replaced in greater and 
 greater quantities. The bankruptcies, that ruin 
 multitudes in our country, make way for similar 
 multitudes, who soon take their place at the head 
 of tlie overwhelmed establishments. Upon higher 
 ground, that is, w^th all the former facilities and ad- 
 vantages, with the same general provisions and so- 
 cial organization, procured on more favorable terms, 
 and exposed to less competition and hazard, in the 
 exercise of their advantages, thi:^ new race of ad- 
 venturers proceed over the same, perhaps over a 
 more extended tract of commerce ; continuing to 
 bring back those supplies, that are necessary to 
 bear tliem up in their procedure. And although 
 these supplies, frequently, in a general point of view, 
 add neither to the wealth of Britain, nor to the sta- 
 bility of its resources, but merely enable the mer- 
 chants to pass the value that has reached them- 
 selves into the liands of others, with advantage ; 
 yet, as all this time the dependant population, and 
 the fruits, which this population sends fbrtii for the 
 service of the community and of the state, not 
 only receive their nourishment and support, but 
 obtain an augmentation of staminal strength and 
 energy, and mcreased means of expansion and of 
 exercise, the country at large, amidst all these 
 losses and privations, advances in improvement and 
 in power. 
 
 In the mean time, however, none of tiie produc- 
 tions and commodities, that arc sent to America,
 
 394 
 
 can fail in advancing the progression of improve- 
 ment, set agoing within its territory. There, sys- 
 tematic industry is enthroned, and though the forms 
 of legal procedure, and the usages of the country, 
 sanction many gross and palpable acts of fraud and 
 rapine, yet the spirit of the commercial world is 
 so favorable to fair and equitable proceedings, that 
 these acts of injustice occasion no very important 
 cessations in the operations of trade. The value, 
 transmitted to America, may not be fully remitted 
 to Britain, but still it performs its offices within 
 the American territory; its substances in passing in- 
 to the hand of the American consumer, stimulate 
 his industry, and enable him to bring into the 
 general market, an accession of means. Nay, as 
 this stimulation and support powerfully affect the 
 improvement of the territory, every dispersion of 
 substances, which thus stimulate and support A- 
 merican industry, adds to the radical strength of 
 the American nation ; and this it does, as often as 
 the value of these substances is passed through the 
 hands of the industrious. With the fate or re- 
 sponsibility of the merchant, into whose hands the 
 British adventurer has consigned his property, the 
 value of sucii property, in so far as Britain is con- 
 cerned, rises or falls. If his fortune perishes, Bri- 
 tain loses so much of her accessory strength ; if 
 he returns her this value, she recovers it j but 
 all this time, the property itself will perform its 
 regular functions of stimulation, and of support, 
 within the American territory, most completely, 
 whether Britain loses or recovers her accessory
 
 395 
 
 strength. Thus the acquirements, possessions, and 
 privileges of" the American citizens, ultimately re- 
 solve themselves into the improvement of their own 
 country and territory, into the au^jynentation of their 
 radical strength, and into the extension of their 
 resources. Their population, and their means of 
 supporting it, of improving it, and of expanding the 
 general range of its operations, are at once increas- 
 ed and established. If we did not know and feel, 
 that along with these high tendencies to improve- 
 ment, the baleful vices of ingratitude, rapacity, and 
 overweaning boyish pride and conceit, implanted 
 at their revolution, had grown up and gatliered 
 strength, at least equal to all these ameliorating 
 influences, we might prize above measure, these 
 invaluable advantages, attending the circumstan- 
 ces and organization of the American states ; but 
 knowing as we do, that the same nourishment, 
 which is forced forward in the developement of pre- 
 cious productions, finds its way with equal readiness 
 into the most detrimental, we feel our complacen- 
 cy cooled, or rather, from tlie general aspect of the 
 case, changed into alarm and disgust. 
 
 This appears more clearly, when we lix our at- 
 tention on the commerce tiiat is going on be- 
 twixt France and America. France receives thence 
 not only American but British commodities, and 
 these, from the overstock of the markets, at rates so 
 low, as to enable the American merchant, to main- 
 tain the command of the French market, and to 
 draw thence all those supplies that ins occasions 
 
 3 D 2
 
 396 
 
 require. The necessity under which the Americans 
 have been thereby laid, of accepting of French wines 
 and other productions, has occasioned a vast con- 
 sum pt of these all over America, and rendered them 
 essential articles in their general economy. It is evi- 
 dent, however, that after this supply has satiated 
 the American consumpt, and such outlets as the 
 American trade can command, it would, if left to its 
 natural course, fall in value. France, however, pre- 
 vents this, by its seizure of American property, by 
 its demands on the American government, and by 
 the system which she maintains, which is so unfa- 
 vorable to internal industry, that the price of her 
 native produce never can fall below a certain rate. 
 With Spain, Russia, the Mediterranean states, and 
 the East Indies, America maintains an intercourse 
 on an equal basis ; and this intercourse, being less 
 clogged with embarassment and traversation, is 
 both more lucrative and less hazardous. In France, 
 the demands are more steady and more extensive. 
 In these other countries, the returns are more cer- 
 tain, but less valuable. With France, therefore, 
 America stands in a similar predicament that Bri- 
 tain does with America. France is always deeply 
 indebted to America ; and America is so to Bri- 
 tain. Britain feels her dependence on American 
 commerce precarious, yet such as in a great mea- 
 sure, to tie up her hands from hostile movements. 
 America does the same in regard to France. The 
 two extreme agents, Britain, the great producer, 
 and France, the great consumer, have betwixt them 
 forced America forward in the course of national
 
 397 
 
 importance ; but they do it by opposite means. 
 Britain regorges America with wealth ; France re- 
 lieves this regorgement. The losses, which ensue 
 from French spoliation, are more than made up by 
 Britain. Is it not evident, therefore, that the su- 
 perabundance of Britain serves to maintain the de- 
 pendence of America on France ; and in making 
 good the general losses of that neutral country, 
 enable it directly or indirectly, to pour into France, 
 all those extensive remittances, that are so es- 
 sential to her civil existence ? This brings into 
 our view, two very curious facts, that however 
 rich in commodities and power we may be, com- 
 merce obliges us to part with them to those, who 
 have need of them, whether they can pay for them 
 or not; and that when we want to prevent this ten- 
 dency of our means, we must resort to most deci- 
 sive measures in order to cut asunder those com- 
 mercial liguments, by which we are thus entangled. 
 
 It is upon this ground, and upon this ground 
 only, that the American sweeping prohibitory de- 
 crees can be justified ; but as it is evident, that 
 the intercourse, maintained by America with the 
 rest of the world, is nearly as much supported by 
 British means, as that maintained by her with 
 France, the impolicy and injustice of the measure 
 stares us in the face. The commodities of Britain, 
 owing to the restrictive policy of her government, 
 seldom rcacli consumers in a direct manner, and 
 never in sufficient abundance, to meet the de- 
 mands of those foreign states tliat have real occa-
 
 398 
 
 slon for them, are seriously disposed to accept of 
 them at their accredited price, and are in circum- 
 stances, to give these returns that their accepted 
 vakie imports. Of the trade, thus forced into the 
 hands of the Americans, those sweeping decrees, 
 completely denude their whole citizenship. Nor 
 is this all ; a great part of her own native produc- 
 tions are in a similar predicament with those of 
 Britain ; these also perish along with those other 
 extrinsic advantages, in consequence of her blind 
 reverence for French claims. America feels and 
 knows the full extent and value of these blessings ; 
 she is acquainted with the beneficent genius of Bri- 
 tish industry, and of her own when regularly sti- 
 mulated and supported ; she has enjoyed the com- 
 mand, which these can give over the whole float- 
 ing trade of the world. What therefore, but that 
 infatuation, which never fails to attach itself to ha- 
 bitual debasement of character, can induce her to 
 accommodate herself to the imperious power and 
 insidious policy of France ? a policy which crushes 
 the slightest, as readily as the most tremendous op- 
 position to its course ; a power, which is equally 
 regardless of the claims of gratitude and of fidelity, 
 which cuts asunder without hesitation every knot 
 that embarasses it, and resents upon the heads of 
 its insidious abettors, these vile and distressful arti- 
 fices, by which they'may have beguiled their natu- 
 ral friends, for its sake. Do we not here perceive, 
 the irrefragable connexion that necessarily subsists 
 betwixt perfidiousness and debasement, betwixt po- 
 litical profligacy and national humiliation ?
 
 399 
 
 This matter will still more forcibly appear, it' 
 we attend to the operation of those very measures, 
 in which this political tergiversation originates. 
 Our productions reach the American territory in 
 a profusion, that has enabled the American go- 
 vernment to bear the whole weight of its extrinsic 
 burdens, that has augmented her internal capabil- 
 ities in every direction, and that naturally resolve 
 their value and effects, into her aggrandisement and 
 security. The rapinous structure of her jurispru- 
 dential policy, however, has given this profusion 
 a new direction ; what she cannot consume regu- 
 larly, she can convey irregularly into the hands 
 of others. That wealth, these means, which, through 
 the instrumentality of base and fool-hardy adven- 
 turers, are transferred out of the hands of their 
 rightful possessors, into the custody of those, who 
 are prepared to abet their doleful procedure, creates 
 a ligumcnt, which binds up American advance- 
 ment with interests, which can be productive only 
 of ruinous degradation. Bonaparte makes America 
 regorge into his own hands, not only the produc- 
 tions thus writhed from British industry, but along 
 thercw ith those superior advantages, that have arisen 
 from her former iniquitous appropriation of these 
 advantages. Her own jurisprudential policy had en- 
 abled her, to usurp wealth and meansfbr which she 
 liad as little direct occasion, as lawful title. These 
 rapinous dispositions, however, are hereby level- 
 ed to the will of the great spoliator, who seems to 
 have obtained a paramount influence over all that 
 's acquired in an unlawful manner. .That high
 
 400 
 
 exaltation of national character, which arose oui 
 of institutions matured under every advantage, he 
 in the first place degrades, by making their gene- 
 ral affairs, pass under that humiliating ordeal, that 
 prepares it for his purposes. He next entangles the 
 national procedure of America, with his peculiar 
 plans ; and then, makes the government itself, un- 
 dergo along train of disgraces and calamities, which 
 exposes every weak and every despicable princi- 
 ple in its general character ; which discovers the 
 national proneness to vicious gratification, and its 
 apathy to virtuous renovation ; and which harmon- 
 ises it with his own system. In the meantime, these 
 dispositions and propensities, become universal 
 all over its citizenship. The American state is 
 not only habituated to this debased mode of civil 
 existence, but the propensities of individuals are 
 made to concord, more and more, with this condi- 
 tion of public affairs. Americans, become depen- 
 dent on these French luxuries, which they had for- 
 merly through necessity accepted of, as returns for 
 their supplies. French wines and oil must be had, 
 although the best fruits of American industry, 
 should be destrained anew, for their sake. Nay, 
 although twenty times the amount of that value, 
 which these wines could command in a fair mar- 
 ket, are lying hopelessly in the hands of French 
 subjects, in the shape of debts and obligations due 
 to American citizens, these must still remain un- 
 touched ; the luxuries of France, must have a new 
 price paid in hand for them ; and the subjects of 
 France must enjoy undisturbed, the fruits of their
 
 401 
 
 jurisprudential spoliations. Thus it is, that the 
 power of France remains unaffected by considera- 
 tions arising out of general justice or fitness ; it 
 must display, in all cases, its hideous ascendancy. 
 
 These statements bring clearly before us a most 
 important fact. It is not enough, that a state be gen- 
 erally rich and powerful; its citizens must be placed, 
 generally, in circumstances that render it alike 
 their duty and their interest to meet all the fair de- 
 mands that can be made upon them. This implies an 
 impartial jurisprudential policy in the state; it im- 
 plies also a deep sense of moral obligation, a just re- 
 gard to personal character, and a liberal and exten- 
 sive mode of thinking and of acting, in the commun- 
 ity; advantages, which are utterly incompatible with 
 a vicious or a despotic government. We may here- 
 upon notice, that America, taken by itself, is neither 
 so despicable nor so wicked, as she is when taken 
 in connexion with France. She is not only rich in 
 resources, and powerful from her commanding po- 
 sition, but she has realized within her territory, 
 wealth and means, national and individual, that 
 render her general circumstances and character, 
 in many points, respectable. Like the flocks and 
 herds of the patriarchal ages, her reproductive es- 
 tablishments have, from their innate energy, be- 
 come great and valuable. Her wealth is transfus- 
 ed amongst her citizens, by means and stimulant.*? 
 at once beneficent and powerful. The medium of 
 exchange, the emblem and the instrument of in- 
 dei)cndence, with correspondent means to support 
 
 3 K
 
 402 
 
 its operation, is no where more plentiful, and more 
 powerful, than in America. Her wealth, unlike 
 that of the German and Italian principalities, passes 
 not off in luxurious displays of exotic strength, it 
 enters into lier general system, it increases her phy- 
 sical strength, and, after enriching her citizens, it 
 becomes concentrated in processes, which augment 
 the radical stamina and energy of her system. Her 
 ample establishments, her invaluable national insti- 
 tutions, the abundance of her means for exercising, 
 gratifying, unfolding, and replenishing the corpo- 
 real and intellectual endowments of man, sufficient- 
 ly evince the superior efficacy of American improve- 
 ment, and attest, that these advantages have not 
 been altogether lost or perverted. Thus, we per- 
 ceive, that it is Britain, and her daughter America, 
 who perform the labor, and execute the drudgery 
 of the civilized world. And, although this is done 
 without those fair and candid acknowledgements, 
 which such high obligations evidently import, yet 
 we observe, that neither of these powers can be 
 defrauded of that peaceful security, and of that a- 
 bundance of every thing that is desirable, which 
 coincides with the exercise of useful industry, with 
 the faithful discharge of paramount duty. Along 
 with this, we discern a degree of respectability and 
 authority, attached to these powers, that is cor- 
 respondent to their relative characters and circum- 
 stances, and that indicates at once the superior 
 efficacy of true virtue, and the various difficulties^ 
 to which defalcations in it, expose nations as well 
 as individuals. Both these powers are, indeed.
 
 403 
 
 somewhat bent down, under the durance of tlielr 
 incessant exertions; and they are severally exercis- 
 ed under auspices, which evidently ai gment in place 
 of relieving their difficulties; but entangled though 
 they be with affairs, which indicate more a peculiar 
 solicitude for honorable deportment, than any apti- 
 tude for the dignities, Avhich necessarily flow from 
 such a deportment, neither Britain nor America, 
 can be held as averse from high and extensive views 
 of the general good, nor as buried amidst the ab- 
 struseness and complication of their affairs, nor as 
 constitutionally propense to rapacity or licentious- 
 ness. 
 
 But secondly — Let it be recollected, that it is 
 not our means, our superfluous productions only, 
 that are thus perverted, under American influence, 
 to the French cause, to the service of that power 
 which delights in destruction — our naval ascen- 
 dancy, our maritime interests, are also endanger- 
 ed, and are already in some measure undermin- 
 ed, by the very peculiar deportment of America, 
 towards our nation. Here, I allude chiefly to the 
 base artifices used by the Americans, for decoying 
 our seamen into their service, and thereafter em- 
 ploying the power and influence thus attained, to 
 to the prejudice of our country, in its belligerent, 
 as well as in its commercial, capacity. Every one 
 knows, and regrets the necessity under which we 
 are laid of compelling this brave class of men to 
 leave their homes, and to pass their lives hopelessly, 
 in fighting the battles, and extending the strength 
 
 3 li 2
 
 404 
 
 and glory of their country. To deprecate, in our 
 circumstances, the severity of their fate, is alike 
 cruel and absurd. Let it rather be noticed, that 
 repugnant as this plan of recruiting our marine le- 
 gions is, it is not more horrid than that of ensan- 
 guined hostility itself, the business for which they, 
 and all our warriors are expressly drawn out. In- 
 deed, compulsion seems to be a mode of constitut- 
 ing bodies, thus destined, more congenial to our 
 feelings than allurement ; in as much as the ideas 
 of contention and violence are more naturally con- 
 joined with martial movements, than those modes of 
 fascination and persuasion, which are usually adopt- 
 ed in the land service. In beating up for volunteers, 
 we play on the feelings and on the fancies of the 
 necessitous, and we as effectually entrap these in- 
 to a condition that is foreign to those sentiments, 
 which we have previously excited, as if we actually 
 impressed them. In seizing their persons by force, 
 and dragging them to foreign services, we merely 
 carry into full effect, that measure which seamen 
 must have had constantly in their eye, from the 
 moment they put themselves a-ship-board. I never 
 can mean to defend this system ; for in the preced- 
 ing part of this treatise, I have already laid down 
 a plan, for rewarding the exertions of seamen, that I 
 think, would not only enable us most completely to 
 dispense with the conscriptive system, but which 
 would also bind our sailors unalterably to our service. 
 If this plan were once fully adopted, and carried in- 
 to effect, I apprehend, that neither impressment 
 nor deception would be necessary to recruit our
 
 405 
 
 legions ; but as until that or some such method be 
 adopted, our navy and army must continue to be 
 filled up under the conscriptive system, and as all 
 those rights and privileges, that are connected with 
 it, must be firmly maintained, I shall proceed to 
 expose the nefarious and iniquitous measures, by 
 which the Americans have attempted to defraud 
 us of this our natural means of defence, and to ap- 
 propriate to their own use, this most invaluable 
 portion of our national treasure. 
 
 At first view, it must strike every one, that it 
 is a direct act of hostility, to attempt to raise 
 troops within the dominion of a foreign state. But 
 our seamen, when employed in the national ser- 
 vice abroad, are not only within our dominions, 
 but they are as precisely in that station, and in those 
 circumstances, which it becomes them at the time 
 to occupy, as if they were ashore and at home. If 
 these have any right to be where they are, and no 
 one will pretend to say that the case is otherwise, 
 then the absurdity of pretending to any right to in- 
 veigle our seamen out of cur employ, is equally self- 
 evident, with that of pretending to raise troops with- 
 in our territory ; and as long as the services of our 
 sailors are ours, and these (from their known cir- 
 cumstances, and from our sacrificing our general 
 principles of freedom and independence, ibr their 
 procurement,) are ours during their natural lives, 
 and in as far as our power can warrant our assuming 
 and defending cur national property, so long it is, 
 not only lav.llil for us to lay hold of their persons.
 
 406 
 
 wherever they can be found, but, it being absolute- 
 ly felonious to attempt attracting them from under 
 our authority, it is highly proper and necessary, for 
 us to do this even in most extreme circumstances. 
 The only question that remains, therefore, is whe- 
 ther or not it is competent for us to certiorate 
 ourselves of facts of this kind, that come to our 
 knowlegc, by a direct impeachment of the honor 
 or probity ofsuch a foreign power as America. As 
 it is admitted on all hands, that we may warranta* 
 bly inspect their merchant vessels, and take from 
 them our sailors, when we can find these aboard, 
 the question seems farther to be limited to this 
 point, — shall we, when the national seal is given, 
 by the declaration of government, and by the coun- 
 ter declaration of the ruling naval officer, venture 
 to demand a scrutiny for our seamen, on board of 
 American ships of war, under the peril of imme- 
 diate hostilities ? In solving this question, I would 
 disembarrass it of all quibbles and difficulties, a- 
 rising out of mere forms and pretensions, and ap- 
 peal at once to the known and received state of 
 things. Is it known, believed, and understood, 
 that American post-captains, under the authority 
 of their government, enlist British seamen? and as 
 this must be admitted, I have only farther ask, on 
 what grounds do you plead for exemption in this, 
 more than in any other kind of piracy? If an Ameri- 
 can vessel were to take one of ours at sea, and its 
 government should offer to give its pledge that the 
 vessel was not ours but theirs, would this satisfy 
 tis ? Certainly it would not j for we would forth-
 
 407 
 
 with set about ascertaining the fact, and then con- 
 duct ourselves, from our direct knowledge of the 
 fact; and if we found that tliis government, were 
 in the habit of carrying on such spoliation, to an 
 extreme length ; if we did not venture forthwith to 
 direct hostilities, we would proceed still farther, to 
 require satisfaction in every case, wherein it was 
 possible for it so to have conducted itself. As the 
 difference in the two cases, consists chiefly in the 
 greater palpability of the supposed case, I can see 
 no ground of distinction betwixt them, that can 
 for a moment prevent our coming to a similar de- 
 cision, in regard to the real one of seamen, inveigled 
 from our service. 
 
 When we look a little more clossly into this 
 subject, and into the circumstances, with which 
 this procedure of the American government is ac- 
 companied, we discover a degree of hostility and 
 animosity, that renders the patience and forbear- 
 ance of the British government in this case, ap- 
 pear at once surprising, and highly meritorious. 
 The palpable partiality of America to French in- 
 terests in regard to a point, wherein, our strength 
 so much lies, renders her whole procedure there- 
 anent suspicious ; and sets us doubly on our guard. 
 It is evident that in consequence of the destruc- 
 tion of the great naval powers of Europe, abun- 
 dance of seamen as well as of trade, are at the com- 
 mand of those who chose to apply for them in a 
 regular manner. While America, therefore, had 
 full reason to expect severity on our part, she had
 
 408 
 
 abundance of means lying at her hand, to enable 
 her to obviate this severity. The fact is, how- 
 ever, tliat our seamen, not only have the same lan- 
 guage, and are, from various considerations, (some 
 of which have been stated) peculiarly prone to 
 enter into the American service ; but being with- 
 al the best, the most trustworthy, and the most 
 indefatigable marine warriors in the world, they 
 have long been the great objects of American cu- 
 pidity. The Americans, (to their credit be it said,) 
 are peculiarly zealous of the rights of their citizens, 
 even of the lowest class ; and they take care that 
 those of their sailors be amply and duly respected. 
 But the Americans have, in this matter, shewn a spi- 
 rit which evinces that something beyond a mere jea- 
 lousy of their citizenship, prevails in their contests 
 in regard to the persons of seamen. This circum- 
 stance leads me to make two very important re- 
 marks. 
 
 First, the Americans, aware of the importance 
 of this point, early set themselves forward in de- 
 fence of it. Pretending that it was our practice, 
 to impress indiscriminately their native seamen and 
 ours, their consuls all over the world were instruct- 
 ed to maintain the rights of these citizens, with 
 a high hand. I call this a pretension, because it is 
 well known, there are very few native American 
 seamen ; the Americans being peculiarly averse 
 from a maritime life ; and because those few are 
 seldom of much value; those, who go to sea, sel- 
 dom making more than a voyage or two, and from
 
 409 
 
 their clamorous pretensions on ihe grounds of clti- 
 zenslu'p, being seldom of nuich use in their mari- 
 time capacity. As these consuls took it on them 
 to grant protections, and to exercise authority in 
 virtue of each other's protections, it is easy to con- 
 ceive that they could thus entrap a great propor- 
 tion of our seamen into their service. The fact is, 
 tliey not only did so, but they were thereby able 
 to render to France many great and essential ser- 
 vices. Of this, the timcous relief sent into France 
 by America at the commencement of the late war, 
 chiefly achieved by the superior manoeuvres oi' 
 British seamen, in the American service, forms a very 
 memorable instance. The truth, at this moment, 
 perhaps, is, that by far the best, and the most nu- 
 merous part of the American navy is manned by 
 British and Irish sailors ; whose claims to Ameri- 
 can citizenship, founded on their having resided 
 there, or having families there, have not been dis- 
 puted, or properly examined. These, and many 
 other artifices, resorted to by tlie American govern- 
 ment and nation, while they indicate their blind 
 cupidity, point out also the neopssity, under whicli 
 we are laid, of counteracting its procedure. 
 
 TuE second remark that these circumstances sug- 
 gest is, that while the Americans maintain this point, 
 with a vehemence and acrimony, that bears no pro- 
 portion whatever, to the relative importance of the 
 thing, in so far as tiiey nationally arc interested, 
 they entirely overlook countervailing circumstan- 
 i.fs, that render their fhiims unwarrantably severe.
 
 410 
 
 How many thousiincl emigrants are they receiving, 
 every year, from the British dominions, wliicii 
 much more than compensate for any little advan- 
 tage, that we might nationally receive, although 
 we could procure one half of their seamen. Disci- 
 plined in tlie school of France, they assume the at- 
 titude of oppressed innocence, even when they are 
 most atrocious in their depredations ; and they pre- 
 tend to defend, only,- that they may conceal the ag- 
 gravated nature of their impositions. Will any one 
 say, that all their grimace about the accidental death 
 of a seaman, proceeds from grief or sorrow for the 
 loss ? It is like the commiseration that followed the 
 infamous Marat to his tomb, and a mask to deep- 
 er malignity, than the world could patiently bear. 
 While they use the services of our deluded country- 
 men, in a cause, which they internally abhor, they 
 affect all this zeal in their defence as seamen, mere- 
 ly, that in conformity with their leading principles, 
 they may, thereby, the more effectually draw in- 
 to their own service, advantages of incalculable 
 value, and defraud the country of their ancestors 
 of those supporters, who are at once its greatest 
 glory, and its securest defence. 
 
 This subject is of such importance, that if it 
 were at all needful, the flagitious conduct of the 
 Americans, and the deep injury sustained by Bri- 
 tain, might be set fortii in most glowing terms. 
 But, as the slightest attention to the general sub- 
 ject, attests the higli value of the advantages that 
 are thus endangered, and tlic virulenccof that hos-
 
 411 
 
 tiiity, that would thus sap these vast advantages, it 
 is not at all necrssary to dilate upon this point. It 
 is enough to say ; First, that not only the safety, 
 power, and honor of Britain, are implicated in this 
 subject, but that the smallest disregard to it, mav 
 be fatal to her best interests ; that our internal re- 
 sources, being of that description, that without suit- 
 able external stimulus and support, such as we can 
 only receive through the medium of a most extend- 
 ed, thoroughly supported commerce, they would 
 speedily fall ofl'; and that, with these, our population 
 and general strength would decline with a rapidity, 
 that would soon place us at the mercy of our most 
 malignant enemies. And secondly, that no mea- 
 sures, more effectual for undermining and destroy- 
 ing these national advantages, could be thought of, 
 than those resorted to by the Americans. Our sea- 
 men are the flower of our nation, the glory of our 
 race ; yet they are subjected to hardships and pri- 
 vations, that render their attachment to us, more 
 a matter of surprize and gratulation, than of neces- 
 sary consequence or calculation. It is perhaps, a- 
 mongst the greatest virtues of this noble class of 
 men, that, in spite of tiie primary injustice inflict- 
 ed upon them by their impressment, their subse- 
 quent maltreatment, and constant disappointment, 
 and that, final neglect which terminates their labors 
 and sorrows, they still adhere to the country of their 
 kindred, and, amidst innumerable opportunities 
 to escape, and severe oppression goading them to 
 avail themselves of these opportunities, they so 
 generally cling to their lot. 'i'he lures set fbrtln
 
 412 
 
 by America, arc precisely of that kind, tliat cart 
 most affect such characters; personal deference, 
 individual importance, universal security, and the 
 pledge of a nation, having the same origin, language, 
 and institutions with themselves, that not one hair of 
 their head shall be touched with impunity, that every 
 right, claim, and privilege appertaining to them as 
 men and as citizens, shall be procured, respected, 
 and guaranteed to them and that, along with these, 
 high honor, ample provisions, and an ultimate retreat 
 amidst the shades of ease and innocence, always at 
 hand, await them. These are the incitements held 
 forth by America, and that they may not in time 
 affect even theforem.ost of our naval characters, we 
 neither can presume nor prevent, unless we early 
 and sedulously counteract their operation, by cor- 
 respondent provisions, by systematic improvement 
 in the circumstances of our seamen, and by vindi- 
 cating every just claim,, that we can regularly lay 
 hold of for their sake. 
 
 By demanding at the cannon mouth, the resti- 
 tution of our seamen, we run some risk of losing 
 for a time, some part of our trade, with having our 
 general resources maimed, and our commercial and 
 political greatness circumscribed ; we may even 
 find the world at large armed against our rights. 
 Let us recollect, however, that ail considerations 
 of trade and of wealth, of calamities and of priva- 
 tion, literally amount to nothing, if we cannot se- 
 cure that maritime strength, which, under the Divine 
 mercy and goodness, has been the instrument of 
 
 I
 
 41; 
 
 security, and of glory to our nation ; and that it 
 is only by basely abandoning the advantages, that 
 we have already attained, that our country can be 
 seriously endangered. Here, I would not be un- 
 derstood to presume too much on any mere earthly 
 object; but so long as we feel our navy to be our 
 strength ; so long as our internal and external, our 
 secret and avowed foes, level their darts at this 
 bulwark, let us defend our rights in, as well as ame- 
 liorate the circumstances, character and feelings of, 
 our seamen. Let us, by Qwary possible method, bind 
 them to our interests and to their country, and 
 in the language of the brave Nelson, let us, on our 
 part, do our duty ; let us be at our post, and earnest- 
 ly engaged in maintaining it. Indeed, when we re- 
 collect, that all our great advantages have resulted 
 from maritime prowess, from the days of the Spa- 
 nish Armada, down to the battle of Trafalgar; and 
 that amidst the loss of every thing else, a kind pro- 
 vidence has constantly sent us assurance this way ; 
 when we turn our attention to our insular situa- 
 tion, to the character and circumstances of the 
 rest of the world, and to that of the advantages and 
 duties, to which we are specially called, it appears 
 to be little short of madness, to listen to insinuations, 
 which, in the first place, go to convey the whole 
 advantages of our severe and arduous contests to 
 America ; and in the next, to leave our country a 
 helpless prey to French power and influence ; and 
 to be a species of political wickedness, known only 
 under the auspices of demoniac power and in- 
 fluence, to give wav to such insinuations.
 
 414 
 
 Let it, liowever, be farther noticed, in the third 
 tmd last place, that ber.ides these indications of par- 
 tiality towards France, and of hostility towards 
 Britain, there remains to be noticed, a feature in 
 the measures lately adopted by America, which 
 exposes not merely her tendency to that rapacious 
 and licentious character, so peculiar to the French 
 system, but her determined opposition to our gen- 
 eral welfare. The loss of trade, of wealth, of means, 
 in a national point of view, are not always serious 
 nor momentous losses ; but losses which goto weaken 
 the radical strength of a nation, and which induce 
 a progression of affairs, which would render this 
 weakness radical and constitutional, form a case al- 
 together different j and it discovers no ordinary de- 
 gree of enmity, in any nation, to induce such losses 
 amidst a cluster of circumstances that indicate ev- 
 ery conceivable propensity to hostilities. That 
 America, as a nation, had generally stood aback, 
 when Britain required her good offices, and had 
 forcibly displayed her readiness for action, when- 
 ever France was in a similar predicament, has al- 
 ready been noticed ; the high value, and the criti- 
 cal importance of the supplies sent to France, dur- 
 ing the early part of the French revolution, brings 
 this matter sufficiently before us. But what did 
 America do, -when Britain w^as cut off from her usual 
 supplies of naval stores in the Baltic ? Nothing 
 could be more clear, than tliat if America had 
 been suitably disposed, she could have made up 
 the deficiency most amply. She could have brought 
 into full play, thosf immense territorial resources^
 
 41. 
 
 which required only the stimiikis of a British fiiU- 
 handed demand, to make their appearance ; and 
 which, if once produced, would have rendered A- 
 merica the great mart for such stores, in all time 
 coming. Such an advantage was wortli all tlie at- 
 tainments that France, and the whole combined 
 world could have bestowed upon her; and this ad- 
 vantage was fully and absolutely in the power of the 
 American government, during the Northern con- 
 tests, so injurious to the interests of all parties. 
 Besides thus creating a new source of industry and 
 improvement, new mines of wealth and of power, 
 America would, thereby, have fixed herself for ever 
 in the friendship and good opinion of Britain. Yet 
 America, not only contentedly foregoes this advan- 
 tage, but lest, in the regular way of trade, in con- 
 sequence of the indirect, yet powerful stimulus of 
 of British capital and industry, slie should unwit- 
 tingly accord us our requirements, America sends 
 abroad her rescissory laws, by which her citizens 
 arc completely debarred from every advantage of 
 this stimulus. Thus, while we are amusing our- 
 selves with the minutiae of ceremony in these de- 
 crees, taken in connexion with those of the belliger- 
 ent powers, America detcrminately foregoes every 
 consideration whatever, that can interfere with her 
 hostile propensities towards Britain. It is unne- 
 cessary lo (piibblc about the matter. Whom docs 
 the want of naval stores, or perhaps of the neces- 
 saries of liii?, stare fully in the face ? Is it France, 
 having all Europe at her command, or Britain shut 
 iij) within her cold little island ? Wliat did Arner-
 
 416 
 
 ica do, when France was endangered by famine: 
 Did she stand stately off, on the ground of M. 
 Genet's presumptuous attacks on her independence? 
 No such thing ; she risked Ixjr all for the sake of 
 befriending France. Now, however, because she 
 has Britain prepared to receive her good offices, she 
 refuses that very intercourse, offered under the sus- 
 pension of the navigation act, and under every 
 conceivable advantage, which in its operation could 
 tend to advance her rapidly to the foremost rank 
 amongst the nations, to the possession of unbound- 
 ed supplies of naval stores, and of correspondent 
 wealth and power, merely, because she would there- 
 ])y accommodate Britain. 
 
 This subject might be carried much farther, and 
 the various aggravations attendant on American 
 measures, set forth at full length. Let us, how- 
 ever, stop short and reflect, that as it is while Amer- 
 ica is receiving the best part of our wealth, and 
 absorbing a most invaluable portion of our popula- 
 tion, that she thus keeps no measures with us, ex- 
 cept those which dire necessity draws around her ; 
 and before we conclude that there is nothing wrong 
 in our own temper, in our deportment, and in our 
 situation, in regard to that nation, put ourselves 
 at least so far in the place of America, as to ask our- 
 selves whether or not the extremity of the case does 
 not prove too much. Let us also review with care, 
 the line of conduct, into which friendship with that 
 power would naturally lead us, and the conse- 
 quences that we ought to look forward to, in to]-
 
 41' 
 
 lowing out that line of conduct. America jus< 
 now sets both France and Britain at defiance. Is 
 there nothing in these circumstances that attracts 
 attention, that points out to us those measures, 
 that will at once obviate direct hostilities, and lead 
 to harmonious union and co-operation? 
 
 Let us begin with tracing the circumstances, 
 wherein the true interests of America consist. To 
 account for the decided partiality shcw^n by the 
 American government and people, to the destroy- 
 ers of nations, merely on the grounds of prejudice 
 or of venality in the rulers ; or on those of abso- 
 lute infatuation, or of debasing licentiousness in 
 the people, appears to me to be not only illiberal 
 and unfounded, but preposterous, and opposite to 
 the clearest testimony. I would absolve tlie Ameri- 
 cans neither of venality nor of rapacity ; but Amer- 
 ica is neither so blind to her true interests, nor 
 so unacquainted with the mode of prosecuting 
 these with advantage, as most of us imagine. Let 
 us, for a moment, suppose that New Orleans and 
 Louisiana had still remained under French or Spa- 
 nish domination ; would not the American posses- 
 sions on the Ohio, all her back settlements, and 
 indeed licr general affiiirs, considered as a great and 
 growing nation, have been, in that case, placed in in- 
 secure circumstances? America saw well enough the 
 sanguinary and incessant wars, that arose in Fur- 
 ope, out of disputed and ill formed frontiers; and she 
 could look Ibrward, only to a continuance of similar 
 wars and intrigues with Spain, and, through her, 
 
 '3 r.
 
 418 
 
 with every power, that chose to declare itself the 
 ally of Spain, as the direct consequence of territorial 
 improvement, or of great augmentation of internal 
 prowess. It is in vain to minch the matter ; without 
 the free and uncontrolable navigation of the Misissi- 
 pi, and all its subsidiary streams, America must al- 
 ways have remained lame in her improvement, and 
 imperfect in her general establishments. She would 
 have been doomed to that very chaos of treaties and 
 of circumvention of treaties, which we so much exe- 
 crate at home. With the free navigation of that ri- 
 ver, however, she can extend her improvements and 
 her establishments, without fear, on either side. 
 Her territory is rounded and secure, and her pow- 
 er of ameliorating this territory, in every conceiv- 
 able mode, is now beyond the power of interrup- 
 tion. This acquisition has been procured for her, 
 by the new government of France ; and it never 
 could have been attained, under the obsolete jeal- 
 ous restrictive system of old European politics. 
 Now, however, that the deep and formerly impas- 
 sible line, drawn alongst the frontiers of the A- 
 merican possessions by European potentates, has 
 been set aside, we perceive at once the justice and 
 the propriety of the measure. She has contented the 
 legal possessors of these territories with equivalents, 
 on the same principles that her ancestors did the pri- 
 mary inhabitants of the American shores; sheen- 
 joys in peace the possessions thus purchased; and she 
 is alike respected and powerful in this possession. 
 And withal, the power of Spain, so little formidable, 
 yet so jealously preserved, is so far from having
 
 419 
 
 been curtailed, or weakened by the dismemberment, 
 that has taken place, that it is, on the contrary, for- 
 tified and concentrated, and being prepared for 
 harmonious co-operation with American improve- 
 ment, has become more beneficent and respect- 
 able in its general procedure. 
 
 The circumstances, above noticed, bring clearly 
 before us, certain principles that subsist in the po- 
 litical connexions of France and America, that are 
 of vast importance in the present view. And, al- 
 though we cannot but reprobate that political turpi- 
 tude, which could not only recognise, but sanction 
 the privileged knavery of France ; yet, when we at- 
 tend to the imbecility of the Spanish nation, audits 
 vain-glorious assumptions, and contemplate its abso^ 
 lute prostration, to the authority of those who ex- 
 ercised this knavery ; and when we reflect on the 
 chance that there was, of the appropriation of these 
 territories, to powers, that might have become most 
 troublesome neighbours to the United States, we 
 must at least give to the Americans, the praise of 
 political wisdom, in the use of their advantage. 
 And it deserves to be noticed, that even Spain her- 
 self derived certain benefits from this transaction, 
 that rendered it, in an extensive point of view, es- 
 sentially serviceable to her national interests. The 
 insatiable maw of Trench ra[)acity required a sa- 
 crifice from Spain ; tliis provuice served it in that 
 capacity ; and Spain was thereby enabled to exhi- 
 bit the benefit and advantage, that could be de- 
 rived by France, in case that power siiould con- 
 
 IJ G 2
 
 420 
 
 sent to permit her to retain her independence, upou 
 a respectable footing. On the whole, therefore, we 
 must assume it for granted, that the inducements to 
 a closs connexion with France, held out by these 
 considerations to America, were both powerful and 
 well founded, America, having satisfied all the de- 
 mands of each party, or at any rate met all those 
 views of their own interests, that either party con- 
 cerned could set up, might in consequence, there- 
 of warrantably enough infer, that her attainment of 
 Louisiana was regularly managed. As to the rest, 
 she was herself the oftspring of a revolutionary spirit; 
 revolutionary principles still maintained their as- 
 cendancy within her territory, they v/ere incorpo- 
 rated with her institutions, and blended with her 
 manners and customs. Her general circumstances, 
 accordingly, must be held to have developed them- 
 selves, as directly into the conclusion of this trans- 
 action which we are naturally led to reprobate, 
 as the pusillanimous policy of Spain, moving in 
 tame subjection to the will of the French despot, 
 and the prostrate servility of the French nation, 
 whose operations were merely indications of its ra- 
 pacious spirit, did in meeting these developcments. 
 The transaction itself proceeded on principles, that 
 were not altogether justifiable ; but it arose out of 
 circumstances, that rendered it necessary for A- 
 merica, either to avail herself of them, in the man- 
 ner that she did, or to expose herself to worse 
 contingencies. And, as she has brought the mat- 
 ter to a fair conclusion, we have no more reason 
 for reprobating the adherence of America to French
 
 421 
 
 interests upon this ground, so long as this adher- 
 ence proceeds on authorized principles, than the 
 Americans have to reprobate the friendly offices, 
 which Britain performed to the Dey of Algiers, 
 and the Emperor of Morocco, when America hap- 
 pened to be at war with these powers. 
 
 This acquisition of Louisiana, however, impor- 
 tant as it is, still served chiefly as a field of expan- 
 sion tor the laboriously cnterprizing; and, being now 
 accompanied with the port of New Orleans, a vast 
 territory has been circumscribed within the natural 
 frontiers of the United States, which belongs to 
 Spain, and which therefore, interferes with that cir- 
 cle of improvement, which naturally belongs to the 
 United States. On their southern frontier, the Flo- 
 ridas are separated from their government and at- 
 tached to that of Spain, by an ideal line, over which 
 individuals belonging to both nations, unhesitating- 
 ly extend their establishments. Many of the streams 
 and rivers of the United States* territory disem- 
 bogue themselves within the Floridas. And within 
 these provinces, all that deserves the name of im- 
 provement or establishment, has issued from the 
 resources of British or American merchants. It is 
 evident, that if this territory remains attached to 
 Spain, France may assume possession of it in the 
 same way, that she assumed possession of Louisiana; 
 and thereafter avail herself of it as an inlet to the 
 American states, and as a ground whereupon to 
 set up pretensions, for the re-establishment of hei 
 ancient empire in America. It is equally e\idenl
 
 422 
 
 ihat the interests of the American states require 
 that these provinces should be annexed to their 
 lerritory, in order to render it compacted in its 
 principal frontier, and in order to preclude the ne-' 
 cessity of their seeking transmarine establishments, 
 for the full supply of their general wants ; for the 
 expaiise of her national domains, would thereby be 
 extended over almost every climate. These, and 
 many other circumstances, render the project of 
 the American government, for annexing the Flor- 
 idas to its domains, not only natural and plau- 
 sible, but consistent with the laws universally ad- 
 mitted, in judging of such circumstances. 
 
 Perhaps we will be disposed to lend a more 
 favorable ear to the American wishes in this point, 
 if we attentively regard the peculiar line of policy, 
 into which the American affairs, naturally stretch 
 themselves. To America, the prosperity of the a- 
 gricultural processes, is paramount to every other 
 national consideration. Internal security, to a na- 
 tion which fixes its attention more upon indivi- 
 dual, than upon general interests, must, according- 
 ly, be in like manner of peculiar importance. The 
 free and unencumbered deveiopement of personal 
 attainments, the extension, improvement, and con- 
 firmation of national institutions and establishments, 
 which are all, also, severally in their places, much 
 greater objects of moment to the government of a 
 people, thus situated, than the rank which this go- 
 vernment can, as a sovereign state, maintain a- 
 monjxst the ancient nations of the world — these.
 
 423 
 
 things, together witli the extended, and otherwise 
 impenetrable recesses over which American prin- 
 ciples, and American institutions, naturally spread 
 tiiemselves, and other circumstances in the condi- 
 tion of America, render it needful for the American 
 government, not only to steer clear of the chaos of 
 European politics, but as much as possible, to shut 
 these out of view ; and to vindicate and defend their 
 own peculiar sets of principles, although they 
 should thereby incur the hazard of breaking with 
 every constituted domination upon earth. As 
 these views may warrantably be held to govern 
 the American counsels ; as they necessarily lead 
 America to seek the possession of Floridas, by any 
 regular method, that may present itself; as France 
 now weilds a power below which she bends irresis- 
 tibly every interest, over which it is stretched, and 
 ultimately resolves them into a conformity with 
 all her schemes ; and as France has cordially met 
 the views of America, upon this point, we must, 
 I apprehend, judge of the policy of the American 
 government in seeking this farther extension of ter- 
 ritory nearly upon the same principles, that we 
 judged of it in regard to Louisiana. If she has re- 
 gularly satisfied all the parties immediately inter- 
 ested, it is not incumbent on third parties, pre- 
 maturely to interfere in the transaction. 
 
 But besides this, the Floridas never received any 
 very material accession of population or of strength 
 from the Sjianish monarchy. Spain had too manv 
 high projects upon hand, to pay much attention (u
 
 424 
 
 those forlorn inhospitable provinces ; they were 
 long under British and American influence and 
 authority, and their whole consequence, since the 
 cessions of the Bahamas to Britain, and of Loui- 
 siana and New Orleans to America, arises from 
 their connexion with British and American inter- 
 ests. They, at present, can scarcely to held to be 
 at all conjoined to the Spanish monarchy, for while 
 they are protruded alongst the most important A- 
 merican frontiers, they are set apart from that un- 
 bounded field which has been already secured for 
 the genius and industry of Spain, within the finest 
 countries upon earth, and have become more a bur- 
 den, than an advantage to that monarchy. On 
 the whole, as it appears, that while there exists, on 
 the part of Spain, no motive whatever to induce it 
 to wish for the retaining of these provinces, and as 
 they are not only of high avail to America, but, in 
 some measure necessary, to cut off future grounds 
 of hostihty betwixt these nations ; so it becomes a 
 matter of very serious reflection and consideration 
 to those powers who think themselves w^arranted to 
 study the real interests of the Spanish monarchy, 
 and to prosecute these at all hazards, to determine, 
 with sufficient discernment, the true line of conduct 
 which they ought to adopt in regard to the Flor- 
 idas. It must not now be pretended that the Spa- 
 nish monarchy cannot be trimmed and balanced to 
 suit existing circumstances; it must not be held that 
 neither her possessions nor her influence can be 
 weakened, without endangering the established ba- 
 lance of colonial policy ; this balance has long
 
 425 
 
 since been destroyed, and it can never agafn be re- 
 stored. France has herself frequently trimmed the 
 European possessions of Spain. In the West Indies, 
 also, she deprived her of her portion of St. Domingo, 
 and transferred Trinidad to the British ; and she 
 gave the same sanction to the same principles when 
 she resumed the province of Louisiana, for the pur- 
 pose (as afterwards appeared) of enabling her to 
 manage her more important affairs with America, 
 with advantage. These, and many other circum- 
 stances, lead us to discern the true key, upon which 
 the harmony of American politics, can be found ; 
 they serve to dissipate our fears and our prejudices, 
 when we come to work these up to their proper 
 pitch ; and while they bring our ov/n opinions and 
 principles, into concordance with a widely extend- 
 ed sphere of things, they give us an impulse, which 
 we cannot consistently resist. 
 
 Let us, however, turn our attention from this 
 debasing view of Spanish policy, to the circum- 
 stances in which all these different affairs are en- 
 veloped. France, it must be noticed, not only 
 sees and knows these affairs in their bearings, and 
 by the cession of Louisiana, previously wrenched 
 from Spain, has dictated it as her opinion, that the 
 Spanish Monarchy may, with propriety, be trim- 
 med and balanced to suit existing circumstances, 
 but she has admitted the principle, that such matters 
 may be adjusted by means of equivalents. In regard 
 to the Fioridas, it is understood, that their dcsig- 
 
 S H
 
 426 
 
 iiated value has already been (icfermincd, and an 
 implied transference, of atieasl. West Florida, been 
 concluded betwixt France and America ; the price 
 of that province having been delivered, and the 
 remainder of the whole price of both Floridas hav- 
 ing been ascertained, to mntnal satisfaction. That 
 Spain itself, must be held as consenting to this 
 transaction, can scarcely be doubted, when we at- 
 tend to the circumstances in which she was then 
 placed in regard to France. The Spanish court, 
 so far from pretending to traverse the will of this 
 sovereign ally, in a matter of such triifling impor- 
 tance, never pretended to give any opinion on the 
 subject. That transcendent influence, that could 
 dispose of Trinidad, and of invaluable territories 
 in Italy and in St. Domingo, which usurped posses- 
 sion of her fleet, her army, her fortresses, her trea- 
 sure, civil and sacred, without ever deigning to 
 notice the clamant necessities of Spain herself, in re- 
 gard to these things, was not likely to pay much de- 
 ii?rence to its interference in a case of this kind. 
 Aware of the imperious temperament of Bonaparte, 
 Spain seems rather to have bent herself forward to 
 meet his wishes, and to have avoided most sedulous- 
 ly every discussion or pretension, that could excite 
 a spirit of contestation or ill humour. In regard to 
 the virtual transference of the Floridas to the A- 
 merican states, the matter ought therefore to be 
 held as settled, in so far as either France or the 
 Spanish government are concerned. The recent 
 changes that have taken place in the dynasty of 
 Spain, and in the counsels of Britain, in regard to
 
 42' 
 
 frliat nation, have indeed frustrated the dcHvery 
 of those tokens of power and possession, in which 
 complete delivery is generally held to consist ; and 
 have also afforded new displays of the characters of 
 various parties that are therein interested ; but 
 they are not to be held, as implying any circum- 
 stance that can strike at the root of a transaction, 
 so deliberately concluded. The principal parties 
 were most completely committed to it, in all its lead- 
 ing particulars, before Britain could be held as 
 committed for the integrity of the Spanish monar- 
 chy j for it must be noted that the Floridas, consti- 
 tuted no part of this integrity, when Britain came 
 forward in defence of it. France, to be sure, true 
 to her fallacious and insidious principles, pretends 
 to have annexed the Floridas to the crown of Joseph; 
 and the Spanish nation seems to be buoyed up with 
 the expectation, that Britain will, in effect, complete 
 all that France has undertaken to perform for the 
 Spanish nation, in case that nation had bent under 
 her supreme will. This doctrine is, however, alto- 
 gether illusory and fallacious. With similar con- 
 sistency, might it be expected, tliat Britain would 
 restore Gibraltar, which France has comprized in 
 her king Josepli's titles. Nay, as this understand- 
 ing would imply that Britain was, in some sense, 
 bound to reconquer West Florida from America, 
 ifitmustbc held to be necessary for Britain to 
 follow out the autocratic declamations of Bona- 
 parte, it might, in order to give full satisfaction to 
 the Spanish nation, with equal propriety be con- 
 tended, that Britain behoved to reconquer for the 
 
 3 H 2
 
 428 
 
 advantage ot'Spain, her Italian territories, and guar- 
 antee to her these alienated possessions. 
 
 There is a peculiar set of considerations, arising 
 out of these circumstances, that next claim our 
 regard. We perceive that a dilemma has occurred; 
 and the question comes to be, to whom is this un- 
 settled state of things beneficial, and to whom are 
 they detrimental ? What are the claims which each 
 several party, has to set up in favor of, or in con- 
 travention to, the plan of settlement, that seems 
 thus to be adjusted, and what can they severally do, 
 to prevent its completion ? In place of meeting all 
 these questions in a regular way, I shall proceed 
 to give those statements, from which a due appre- 
 hension of their answers may be drawn. 
 
 Let it then be remarked, that France has obtain- 
 ed certain very peculiar advantages, from this un- 
 settled state of things. In consequence of the pros- 
 trate condition of Spain, and the transcendent 
 authority of France, America was naturally led 
 to transact with this latter government, in regard 
 to this subject ; she neither could impugn the as- 
 cendancy of France over the Spanish counsels, nor 
 treat indirectly with this latter power. And having 
 thus consented to receive a Spanish province 
 through tlie hands of France, she was, in a manner, 
 disarmed, when the French dynasty was imposed 
 upon -the Spanish nation. America herself, the 
 daughter of revolution and overthrow, and now a 
 party in the change that had been effecting, com-
 
 4ii9 
 
 niitlcd as to an aHiiir of the greatest magnitude and 
 interest to herself, had no choice, but either to pro-' 
 ceed in subserviency to the views of France, or to 
 throw herself loose from lier proper concernments. 
 France, in the mean time, in perfect conformity 
 with her perfidious character, having thus fixed 
 the Americans in that line of conduct, which be- 
 fitted her views, proceeded next to defraud them of 
 that possession, the hopes of obtaining which had 
 been the main spring of their actions. For the pur- 
 pose of emblazoning the commencement of that 
 new dynasty, which she had fixed upon the Span- 
 ish throne, she not only annexed, in most express 
 terms, the Floridas to the crown of Joseph; but she 
 gave her pledge to the Spanish nation to m.aintain 
 these, and every former possession of that crown, 
 inviolate, in the hands of the ncv/ sovereign. Fol- 
 low'ing out her established system in regard to na- 
 tions thus thrown absolutely into her schemes, in 
 place of offering redress to America, she set up the 
 most audacious pretensions against her indepen- 
 dence; she would enforce the extremity of her au- 
 thority against commerce, and siie proceeded to 
 seize American citizens, and to plunder American 
 property, in the same way, as if America had turn- 
 fed completely round to the opposite side of the 
 question, and having determined upon hostilities, 
 had betaken herself to the most flagitious crimes in 
 support of these hostilities. The embarrassment 
 of America, in this case, it is obvious, is extreme. 
 To break witli France, is the same thing as to 
 Uirow herself into the arms of J3ritain5 and thus to
 
 430 
 
 abandon every hope of obtaining her purchased 
 possession ; and this it is equally obvious, is nearly 
 the same thing, as consenting to become a party 
 in the war, without any hopes of obtaining that ac- 
 quisition, which is, to her, of more value, than that 
 of all the American continent conjoined. She 
 knows well, that with Britain, it is a fundamental 
 maxim, that every possession and right, brought 
 under her care and protection by her allies, shall 
 be guaranteed to it. However traversed and cir- 
 cumvented, therefore, America may find herself to 
 be, in following out that tract of measures, which 
 she commenced under French influence, it is evi- 
 dent that it is now incumbent upon her, either to a- 
 bide by the revolutionary principles of France, or to 
 become a full party in the war, without the chance 
 of attaining any advantage, that can compensate for 
 the losses, to which, in consequence of this war- 
 fare, she may be exposed. It may be most de- 
 voutly her wish, to ward off the blow which France 
 Is meditating against the interests of the whole ci- 
 vilized world ; but she cannot put forth her hand 
 for this purpose, without meeting, herself, the full 
 force of that blow, in a way which of all others, 
 is the most prejudicial to her best interests. 
 
 This will appear more fully, if we review the 
 circumstances, whereby the American interests 
 can be most powerfully affected. America — know- 
 ing well the import of Britain's fundamental maxim, 
 to retain the whole claims and rights of all her 
 allies, at all hazards, in the same relative position.
 
 431 
 
 in regard to each other and to herself, that tlicst- 
 may have occupied, when they were first brought un- 
 der her charge, and perceiving the mischievous o- 
 peration of this maxim, during the revolutionary 
 wars in Europe — states devastated, and the wliole 
 frame of society subverted, merely from an undue 
 respect to obsolete claims, and decrepitated pow- 
 crs — hears the solemn announciation of the British 
 king, sounding in her ears, whereby every right 
 and possession appertaining to the Spanish monar- 
 chy, is declared to he inviolate, and the whole 
 power of Great Britain impledged and assigned over 
 to their defence. She sees also, the chiefs of the 
 Spanish nation, buoyed up under the insidious pro- 
 clamation, issued by Bonaparte, on the introduc- 
 tion of king Joseph, importing a similar but a 
 higher pledge of the same kind, on the part of 
 France, calculating upon this declaration of the 
 British government, not as the boon of a most li- 
 beral policy, to be exercised only in subserviency 
 to superior and more transcendent interests, but 
 as a right, necessarily arising out of their own cir- 
 cumstances, and recognized on account of the par- 
 amount nature of their own claims. America calls 
 also to remembrance, the facility with which Bri- 
 tain drops in favor of the common destroyer, those 
 interests that can no longer be defended, and the 
 sjiew of liberality, with which this destroyer dis- 
 tributes amongst his allies, the spoils thus acquir- 
 ed. Britain siie sees in possession of ships, com- 
 merce, and colonies, of transcendent national pow- 
 er and wealth, and of everv conceivable means for
 
 432 
 
 augmenting and extending these, in every direc- 
 tion, so as to make them productive to her own 
 subjects, of superior wealth and influence; while 
 before herself, nothing appears but the extremity 
 of Frencli vengeance abroad, and the machinations 
 of French partizans at home. Her interests are 
 felt to be thrown out of their usual sphere, and her 
 citizenship not only exposed to every evil incident 
 to infuriate warflire, but debarred, in consequence 
 of British politics, from deriving any countervail- 
 ing advantage from this warfare ; all the French 
 foreign possessions being in the hands of Britain, 
 and those of Spain being locked up, under the 
 terms of an inliospitable alliance. Do not these 
 things plainly discover to us, that there exists a 
 species of embarrassment in the counsels of Amer- 
 ica, that calls loudly for our attentive regard, and 
 which renders it needful for both the Spanish and 
 British governments, to weigh well the line of con- 
 duct, which they mean to adopt in regard to that 
 power ? 
 
 In the first place, let it be noticed, that Spain 
 herself, the ally of Britain, thus respectfully ad- 
 vanced on the foreground of nations, is at present 
 literally in the jaws of the commoii devourer of na- 
 tions. It is the greatest of all delusions, to regard 
 Joseph Bonaparte as the real sovereign of Spain. 
 This man is placed on the Spanish throne, with no 
 other view than that of making way for the annexa- 
 tion of the Spanish dominions to those of the Emper- 
 or 01 the West. He, like his brother in Holland, will
 
 433 
 
 reign no longer, than until he shall have played off 
 the strength of Spain, into the hands of Napoleon; 
 and until he shall have so denuded it, that to the 
 feeble remains of that monarchy, it shall appear 
 rather to be a boon and a privilege, than a disgrace, 
 to be absorbed into the French empire. We must 
 not allow ourselves to be deceived by the appa- 
 rent respect, with which France has treated the 
 old Spanish court, or its still more recent declara- 
 tions, as to preserving the integrity, and extending 
 the possessions of Spain, for we perceive that she 
 can, with the utmost facility and composure, act 
 in direct opposition to these, and at length distinct- 
 ly avow, that by so doing she, in conformity to 
 the new revolutionary code of morality, merely 
 gives way to the course of events ; that is, after, un- 
 der the subterfuge of crimes and follies, calamities 
 have been brought forward by herself, for the express 
 purpose of debasing her connexions, she will there- 
 in shield the nefariousness of the advantage, which 
 she thus renders it obviously necessary, for her to 
 take of this debasement. That Bonaparte will have 
 recourse to this very line of policy, in the present 
 case is a matter sufficiently obvious from his preced- 
 ing conduct. The motives of his former deference 
 to Spanish interests were fully unfolded, when the 
 Spanish fortresses filled with French troops, and 
 the seizure of the Royal family of Spain, announ- 
 ced a change of dynasty. As the necessity of this 
 new species of deference, evidently arises solely 
 from the rooted aversion displayed by the Spanish 
 uafion to French politics, it is only necessary, on this
 
 434 
 
 point, farther to remark, lliat as the sole way of en- 
 trapping both tlie European and American posses- 
 sions of Spain, manifestly lies through the insidious 
 course above noticed; so the most effectual method, 
 for precluding us from traversing his operations, 
 consists, in over burdening us with the pretensionfi 
 of the Spaniards, and in encumbering our exertions 
 in the general cause, with measures, which not only 
 exceed our strength, but which surpass the limits of 
 reason and propriety; and to point out as one of the 
 most distressful of these encumberances, the burden 
 of satiating the claims of America, without exas- 
 perating the pride of Spain. 
 
 When the preceding statements are duly weigh- 
 ed, and the conclusions, into which they necessar- 
 ily lead, are fully examined, I apprehend, that 
 there cannot be much uncertainty, as to the line 
 of conduct, which Britain ought to adopt in the 
 present crisis. It is evidently our interest, as well 
 as our duty, to tranquillize, if possible, the minds 
 of the Americans. The treachery of France, in 
 regard to the cession of the Floridas, leaves this 
 matter open ibr our good offices ; the recent and 
 repeated declaration of the French Emperor, that all 
 that ever has been French shall revert to France, 
 must have alarmed America, not merely in regard 
 to Louisiana, but in regard to the whole territory, 
 to the West of the Alleghany mountains, at one 
 time held to have been comprized within the 
 French American empire ; and as she cannot but 
 perceive, that if France should ever prevail over
 
 iJritain, the cession of the Canadian provinces 
 would be tlie immediate consequence, lier jealousy 
 of the ultimate des'igns of France must speedily 
 become extreme. The great difficulty, seems to 
 lie. in procuring the assent of Spain to this ar- 
 rangement. And as Spain, though bereft of her 
 whole natural strength and energy, is as jealous oi" 
 the merest shadow of her rights and claims, as ii" 
 the resources of the whole world lay at her com- 
 mand, this, it may be apprehended, will not easily 
 be obtained. 
 
 The troubles which have begun in Mexico, on 
 the river Plata and in the Carraccas, must now have 
 discovered to Spain, the feebleness of that hold, 
 which she has over her American subjects; These, 
 it is evident, may beat down one another, almost 
 at discretion, without feeling, either the power, 
 or the authority of the mother country. For Brit- 
 ain, to take up this business, in its fullest extent, 
 upon her own shoulders, would prove an under- 
 taking, not only to the last degree ungracious, and 
 thcreibre more likely to ruin than to serve the 
 cause, in which she would be embarked; but there 
 is too much reason to iear, that it would prove also 
 to be one, which would be above her strength ; for 
 it must be observed, tliat we must take along with 
 us, the vast extent of the resources, which such an 
 undertaking would, necessarily, though unprofita- 
 bly, occupy, and the danger that would result from 
 withdrawing these from services, which are more 
 immediately the objects of her care and attention.
 
 436 
 
 Britain lias, again and again, attempted to conquer 
 different parts of Spanish America, and she has 
 always found the conquest above her power. She 
 did this, when her vigor was fully concentrated, and 
 could be born with full effect upon these points, 
 and when the temper and disposition of the natives 
 were as Aivorable for her purpose as could ever be 
 expected. These circumstances, I think, would 
 warrant me to infer, that the present troubles W'ill 
 most probably terminate in the independence of 
 Spanish America. Without however presuming thus 
 far, I think, I may conclude that the pressing embar- 
 rassments in the present circumstances of the world, 
 must be highly dangerous and critical, that they 
 will prove extremely ruinous to the power and re- 
 sources of the allied nations ; the losses and calam- 
 ities on each side, being alike destructive to the 
 general cause on which ever side success may be 
 finally disclosed ; and that they will induce dissen- 
 tion and dilaceration, where peace and concord 
 are most desirable. 
 
 What Spain and Britain, however, cannot do 
 conjoined, these powers, with the co-operation of 
 America could, I apprehend, most easily effect. 
 We cannot suppose that the Americans could look, 
 without much alarm and distrust, upon a great 
 semi-barbarous independent state, placed on their 
 frontiers. It is evidently the interest of America, 
 after rounding her ov/n frontiers, to preserve the 
 whole of North America, under subjection to its 
 present owners, from whose tianquil dispositions,
 
 437 
 
 and moderate views in regard to territory, slie can 
 have nothing to fear, and every thing to hope. 
 America, therefore, it may be expected, if gratifi- 
 ed in regard to the Floridas, would frankly join 
 heart and hand with Britain and Spain, in main- 
 taining the depcndance of the whole states, which 
 lie npon the Mexican gulf upon the mother coun- 
 try. And if this great object were once fully affect- 
 ed by means of a tripartite treaty, the whole of the 
 islands, and the country on both sides of the isthmus 
 of Panama, including the whole extent of Peru on 
 the south, and Mexico on the north, might be held 
 as effectually secured to the Spanish monarchy. 
 The deep interest, which America has in this matter, 
 would ensure her cordial co-operation; the proxim- 
 ity of her resources would enable her to do this with 
 every advantage ; the impledgment of America, a 
 free independent state, would at once secure the 
 privileges and good government of the colonies, and 
 fix them in their allegiance to the mother country. 
 The fleets of Britain, and the force of Spain and 
 America, would, almost at once, silence opposition; 
 for in defence of the ancient government, all the 
 well disposed would forthwith declare themselves, 
 without hesitation. By which means, the resour- 
 ces of the civilized world would be extricated out of 
 that destructive struggle, which must otlierwise take 
 place. The apparent unpopularity of the measure, 
 I think, could not appal America ; for America 
 can have no more real interest in the success of 
 Miranda or his associates, than she can have in 
 that of the French despot. Both are children of
 
 438 
 
 H revolution, founded upon violence and deceit; 
 and both are implicated in a series of projects, 
 which if thoroughly successful, would alike effec- 
 tually traverse the prosperity of America, and the 
 means over which both preside ; their measures 
 and characters, being more suited to warlike en- 
 terprise, than to peaceful security. 
 
 There is something so delightfully fascinating, in 
 the idea of liberty and independence, that we instinc- 
 tively revolt at the smallest attempt to repress their 
 movements. We cannot, however, have forgotten 
 that the exquisite emotions, which the syren voice 
 of the French renovations excited, were quickly 
 converted into the hissings of a serpent, whose en- 
 venomed sting still rankles in our bosoms. How 
 is it, therefore, that the standard of revolt, raised 
 upon the plains of Cumana, has failed to appal us 
 with alarm ? Do we see nothing in the risings of 
 of this military republic, but the genius of liberty 
 raising the degenerate offspring of Iberia to the 
 exalted rank of freemen ? Let us not deceive our- 
 selves ; liberty and independence, though blessings 
 of the first magnitude, are of themselves valuable 
 only as they are subservient to improvement. Men 
 of debased and corrupted habits, will thereby only 
 become the worse; and those, who are of rude and 
 indolent tempers, will, in general, only increase so 
 much the more in pride and barbarism. Do we 
 not, already, see the ferocity and presumption of 
 demi-savage characters displayed in all the con- 
 testations of the Kispano- Americans? Do we not
 
 439 
 
 discern the workings of base and licentious propen- 
 .sities, conjoined with a cruel and blood-thirsty dis- 
 position, rising out of all their struggles towards 
 independence ? It was tluis, that the French re- 
 volution, was prograded to its fatal conclusion ; 
 we must not look here, for the dignified dissension 
 of the modern Italian republics ; for there, habits of 
 regular and severe exercise had been long and 
 thoroughly matured; and these, while they repressed 
 and regulated the fury of dissension, bent its vio- 
 lence forward in the course of duty. Far less 
 must we expect to find in these sultry shores, that 
 disciplined love of magnanimous exploits, which 
 shone with so much lustre in ancient Greece. In 
 place of this, a fervor, which knows no medium, 
 betwixt extreme violence and loose irregular in- 
 dulgence, already prevails amongst these sons of 
 revolt, and discovers their utter misapprehension 
 of the blessings of which they are in quest. 
 
 We are apt to suppose, that the Spanish Ameri- 
 cans, if freed from European influence, would gra- 
 dually form themselves upon the model, held up by 
 the British Americans in tlic United States. This, 
 however, is a gross delusion. The British Ameri- 
 cans were, from first to last, an industrious and se- 
 date race of men, nurtured under institutions 
 which formed their minds to a love of their duty, 
 and a zealous attachment to that line of conduct, 
 which coincided with their duty. They were not 
 only incessantly engaged in active and useful em- 
 ployments, but they were long accustomed to re-
 
 440 
 
 gard, with acuteness and precision, tliese general 
 measures, in which their interests were comprized. 
 Though their own affairs proceeded in the course 
 of moderated en terprize, they were well qualified 
 for discerning every great extrinsic object, by which 
 these could be affected. When the weight of the 
 British governance was removed, an expansion of 
 their energies took place ; but still it must be no- 
 ticed, that this expansion was impressed by institu- 
 tions, congenial to their habits, and that it proceed- 
 ed in a line, which coincided with their ordinary 
 employments. It is evident, that the case is wide- 
 ly different, in regard to the Spanish Creoles. 
 These are habituated to indulgence, not to busi- 
 ness ; their afliiirs, therefore, are more directed by 
 objects, the nature of which, they do not under- 
 stand, than by matters, which are managed by 
 their own personal endowments. That closs ap- 
 plication to business, wherein the regular and 
 steady management of affairs appears, is so very 
 inconsistent with the general habits of the Hispano- 
 Americans, that we can neither expect that cool- 
 ness of mind, nor that intrepidity and ardor of 
 execution, in which the proper superintendance of 
 great affairs consists. A few individuals, or a par- 
 ticular party, therefore, we must naturally dread, 
 would soon divide the government amongst them- 
 selves, and depressing the character of the nation, 
 below their iron sway, institute an order of things 
 favorable to their own aggrandisement, and coin- 
 cident with the worst habits of the people j but aL 
 together different from that which subsists in Brit- 
 
 I
 
 441 
 
 ish America. In regard to Spanish America, ac- 
 cordingly, the highest object of sohcitudc ought to 
 be the amelioration of its general system, under 
 European influence. This work would no doubt 
 be, in many respects, imperfectly executed, and 
 slow in its motions, but in each of these move- 
 ments, its progress would be secure. As this im- 
 mense territory behoved, of course, to be completely 
 freed from monopolizing restrictions upon trade 
 and industry, it would obtain a free intercourse 
 with the whole world, under suitable provisions, 
 calculated alike for the good of the parent and of 
 the dependent country. The paramount influence 
 of the mother country, whether exercised at home 
 or abroad, would, in such a case, know no step-child- 
 ren ; for as there would be held to be but one family 
 of Spaniards, the distinction of the place of birth, 
 would cease to be observed, and never be mentioned. 
 In such a case, the renovation of the mother coun- 
 try would be seen to be a matter of high importance 
 even to the colonies ; and the improvement of the 
 colonies, would become equally interesting to the 
 mother country. The whole set of jealous over- 
 bearing measures, would be banished from this 
 great society; and both tlie difference of complex- 
 ion, and the distance of territory, would serve a- 
 Hke to excite universal complacency towards the 
 general government, and good will to all its mem- 
 bers. That such high attainments are fairly with- 
 in our grasp, may be inferred from the present 
 conduct of Spain, at this moment, actively, zeal- 
 ously, and generously engaged in this work of retbr-
 
 442 
 
 matlon. In such circumstances, does it not become 
 us to pause, before we proceed any farther in a re- 
 volutionary career, and to call to mind, that it was 
 by attempting to pusii the work of'reformation faster 
 than the temper and character of the people could 
 bear it, that the whole work of the French revolu- 
 tion was lost and destroyed ? 
 
 The vast importance of these views will appear, 
 when we attend to the leading interests of the Spa- 
 nish monarchy, in regard to this point. It is evi- 
 dently for the advantage of the Spanish monarchy, 
 to have both Britain and America interested in pre- 
 serving that vast tract of country, which stretches 
 from the northern limits of Mexico, to the south- 
 ern extremity of Peru, and which comprises the 
 isthmus of Panama, and the southern and western 
 shores of the Mexican gulf, in dependence upon 
 the mother country. Britain is sufficiently impli- 
 cated in this matter, from the 'exposed situation 
 of her West India islands ; but America can only 
 be equally interested, by having the secure pos- 
 session of the Floridas guaranteed to her. Both 
 .the one and the other of these powers, might find 
 themselves farther concerned in securing for the 
 >Spanish colonists, a free trade with themselves ; 
 but, in every other respect, the general interests of 
 the Spanish monarchy could scarcely, in any way, 
 interfere with theirs. This free trade, it would be 
 the interest of the mother country to accord, for 
 the Spanish monarchy would, in such circumstan- 
 ces, seek the iiighest prosperity of her colonists, from
 
 motives of interest; and if, by this means, a moderate 
 revenue could be secured to herself, along with the 
 complacency of Britain and America, in the pros- 
 perity of her colonial possessions, and the active 
 co-operation of the industry of these powers with 
 her own in supporting that of her colonists, the in- 
 terests of all parties would, in consequence, become 
 incorporated in one great scheme of improvement. 
 With these, and all its natural and acquired advanta- 
 ges, the Spanish monarchy miglit become one of the 
 first powers upon earth j it would consist of a terri- 
 tory, which, for extent, situation, resources, and 
 splendor, would surpass the highest scale of nation- 
 al grandeur, that we have yet witnessed upon earth. 
 
 This will appear very evident, when we weigh 
 duly the nature and extent of the advantages pe- 
 culiar to the Spanish empire. It comprises a great- 
 er expanse of rich fertile territory, than ever was 
 under the dominion of any one crown. This ter- 
 ritory abounds with productions and resources 
 of the most precious and invaluable kind; and it 
 is possessed by a population, who are enthusiasti- 
 cally attached to their country and its institutions. 
 The extraordinary mildness and genial nature of 
 all its different climates add to all these advan- 
 tages, a value of the most transcendent kind. This 
 empire stretclics along the central regions of the 
 globe, and enjoys precisely that degree of security 
 and compactness, that is consistent v/ith its uni- 
 versal safety and general improvement. In Eu- 
 rope, its ports and rivers open to the great seas, 
 
 3 K 2
 
 444 
 
 under every advantage. Its possessions stretch a- 
 longstthe Canary islands to the West Indies; where 
 three islands which, of" themselves, might constitute 
 a great empire, conduct her power into that A- 
 merican expanse, wherein riches and territorial 
 advantages, sufficient, if powerfully managed, to 
 command the subjection of the whole globe, arc 
 at her disposal. That point of junction, betwixt 
 the eastern and western oceans, which prepares an 
 universal emporium for every thing great and va- 
 luable, is hers, with all the rich resources that are 
 connected with it. Nature has done so much for 
 Spain, that commerce with other nations, seems 
 scarcely to be necessary for her own benefit. Yet 
 this wide expanse of territory, v/hich opens secure- 
 ly to the eastern ocean, at a vast distance from the 
 busy part of the world, nourishes in silence, re- 
 sources, which, her connexion with Asia through 
 the Manillas, is slowly, though universally, ma- 
 turing for future greatness. If any nation may be 
 held as constituted for universal empire, it is that 
 of Spain ; but the loftiness of her character is so 
 extremely averse from intrigue and business, and 
 so prone to proudful display, that perhaps this na- 
 tion is, of all others, the least likely to embark in 
 any such baleful enterprize. She is, in a manner, 
 forced forward into action, by the intervention of 
 the seas, and by the distance and wide stretch of 
 her American empire ; and she is, therefore, most 
 likely, at all times, to preserve a most dignified 
 and commanding attitude, amongst the nations of 
 the world ; but no renovation of her system, it is
 
 445 
 
 probable will ever infuse into her character that rest- 
 less thirst for ascendancy, which has been so in- 
 juriously exercised amongst her neighbours. 
 
 Such considerations as these cannot but in- 
 cline us to wish, that some arrangement could be 
 formed betwixt the three great powers above men- 
 tioned, conformable to the circumstances of each; 
 and when we recollect the relationship that sub- 
 sists betwixt Britain and America, we can scarce- 
 ly envy the necessary advantage, which America 
 would thence derive. Perhaps, in consideration 
 thereof, America ought to abandon the whole back 
 territory that is connected with the river St. Lau- 
 rence, a concession which would set at rest endless 
 grounds of quarrel ; for it must be noticed, that Bri- 
 tain has nearly thesame interest in preserving the free 
 and uncontrolable navigation of this river, in her 
 own hands, that America has in regard to the Missis- 
 sipi. To balance this, we have only our naval supe- 
 riority ; and this naval superiority can only be exer- 
 cised in case of hostilities. It is evident, that some 
 time or other, unpleasant disputes will arise amongst 
 the settlers of the two nations upon the banks of 
 this river. Britain can never abandon her rights 
 upon tlicse banks, for she has no other communi- 
 cation with the Ocean. America has only to say 
 to her citizens, that these banks are not hers, and 
 her citizens, as things still stand, may thereby sus- 
 tain no damage ; they may move off to other quar- 
 ters, or become real members of the British com- 
 munity. In countries that are fully peopled, ri-
 
 446 
 
 vers frequently form extremely useful boundaries; 
 but in rising and thinly peopled countries, such 
 as those parts of America, to which I now refer, 
 the case is generally otherwise ; for the banks of ri- 
 vers will always be the first and the best occupied ; 
 and therefore, they must always be held to be the 
 most central points of the community ; while upon 
 on the other hand, the regions at a distance from 
 navigable rivers, will most probably remain for ages 
 unoccupied. 
 
 As things now stand, in regard to the territory 
 on the banks of the river St. Laurence, a few A- 
 merican citizens, would be introduced into the 
 Canadian citizenship'; and these, while they would 
 attain all the advantages that are inseparable from 
 the secure navigation of a great river, under the 
 paramount influence of the greatest naval power 
 upon earth, would contribute towards the main- 
 tenance of that balance of influence, betwixt the 
 ancient native, and modern British interests, which 
 is most beneficial to all parties; they would also 
 form a link of union betwixt these two nations, 
 and a channel for introducing amongst them both, 
 a neutralizing influence. They would, moreover, 
 constitute a bond of connexion, betwixt their new 
 connexions within the British states, and their 
 former connexions within the territory of the Un- 
 ited States. The harmony and prosperity, that 
 would thus result to the British American posses- 
 sions, could not but be great ; and the correspon- 
 dent advantages, that would flow to America, in
 
 447 
 
 consequence of her attention, and the general in- 
 dustry oflier scanty population, being concentrated 
 and exercised within a climate and territory, so 
 much mere favorable to the agricultural pursuits, 
 that are so congenial to America, than that which 
 they had abandoned, w^ould fully reconcile her to 
 this arrangement. 
 
 As it is enough for me, generally, to notice the 
 principles upon which such an arrangement could 
 proceed. I shall just farther point out a mode, by 
 which the high spirit of Spain, and the more ne- 
 cessary occasions of Britain and America, could 
 severally be made to coincide. The right, which Bri- 
 tish subjects have obtained of cutting wood upon 
 the shores of Campeachy, has always been a great 
 eye sore to the Spanish government. And, if wc can 
 suppose an equitable basis of intercourse to have 
 become established betwixt the nations above no- 
 ticed, it could be no great loss to Britain, although 
 this right were abandoned ; Spanish industry would 
 speedily take up what Britisli industry had left un- 
 occupied for its exercise; and the Spanish terri- 
 tory, thus compacted and sccuretl, would soon be- 
 come more and more accessible to general and 
 local improvement. This concession, by Britain 
 to Spain, though apparently small and unimpor- 
 tant, would as effectually round off and advance, 
 the great empire to be guaranteed to Spain in A- 
 merica, as the correspondent concessions licld to 
 be made of American territories to Britain on the 
 river St. Laurence, and of Spanish territories to
 
 448 
 
 America on its southern frontier, would be to 
 these other powers. As all these several powers 
 have elsewhere abundance of space for expanding 
 their energies, in every direction, they would there- 
 by remove out of the way, obstacles, which op- 
 pose their more harmonious co-operation, seeds of 
 jealousy and envy, that will sometime or other, 
 prove the cause of deadly rancour; and effect this by 
 the same means that they transfer to each other, 
 more ample grounds for mutual improvement, and a 
 more secure basis for mutual esteem. 
 
 As I would regard this tripartite treaty, in the 
 light of a real bond of union, I would not unneces- 
 sarily burden it with matters, that are of a contin- 
 gent nature. And such, the retention of the terri- 
 tories on the river Plata, in dependence on the 
 Spanish crown, must be held to be. The inhabitants 
 of these countries, have too long and strongly felt 
 their own power and innate vigor, not to make it ap- 
 pear that there is little ground for expecting, that 
 all the power, influence, and force of the British 
 and Spanish nations united, could not bring down 
 their turbulent dispositions, into any other than a no- 
 minal subjection to Spain, burdensome, not advanta- 
 geous. These territories, therefore, I would abandon 
 to their fate; contenting ourselves with impressing 
 them with a regular and equitable system of go- 
 vernment, such as will suit at once, the tempera- 
 ment of the natives, and their peculiar circumstan- 
 ces, in regard to the rest of the world. Something 
 resembling the constitution of America, would, I
 
 449 
 
 think, serve this object, unless tliey arc forced by 
 means of incessant warfare, into a mihtary state 
 and nation. To avoid this is our grand object, and 
 to tranquillize their minds, and to fix their affec- 
 tions upon, and incorporate their interests with, 
 the allied nations, is, perhaps, tlic utmost that we 
 should attempt to achieve. It must be recollected, 
 that if to preserve the grand line of empire, pre- 
 viously sketched out, comprises all that stretch to 
 which the strength of the allied nations can beheld 
 to be equal, so to attempt adding to this empire, 
 a forlorn and hopeless domination over Paraguay, 
 would be to endanger the whole scheme now pro- 
 posed. But besides this, such an attempt would as- 
 suredly create deadly enemies, where cordial friends 
 might otherwise be found, and fix in the interests 
 of Bonaparte a nation, that might, in time, subju- 
 gate America. If the La Plata Americans were 
 accommodated with an independent, liberal, and 
 equitable system of government, Spain would not 
 only derive from thence, all that advantage of ci- 
 tizenship, of intercourse, and of co-operation in e- 
 very great measure that could affect her interests, 
 but she would provide for her name and nation a new 
 and v;rf^t field of enterprizc and competition, in the 
 course of general improvement. She would set a- 
 going, within iier national influence, institutions 
 congenial to her character, such as would bear a- 
 Jike on her internal and external relations, and thus 
 return an hundred Ibid, the liberality evinced at 
 their manumission. This would, indeed, be a ran* 
 instance of national condescension to the circum- 
 
 f> I.
 
 450 
 
 stances of its dependent provinces ; but in the pre- 
 sent circumstances of the Spanish empire, it must 
 be regarded rather as a display of magnanimous po- 
 licy, than an indicatioii of any laxity in her gen- 
 eral system ; for Spain certainly cannot, even with 
 the assistance of Britain, maintain her ascendancy 
 inviolate every where. The American influence 
 could not be made to bear on these distant pos- 
 sessions. As for that of the Portugueze, the bare 
 proposal of it would kindle a flame, which would 
 put every other alternative, but direct subjugation, 
 out of the question. As in the present state of the 
 allied interests, nothing could be more unfortun- 
 ate, than the introduction of a coercive spirit into 
 \he transatlantic possessions, either of the one of 
 these powers or of the other, so almost every con- 
 ceivable sacrifice ought to be encountred, if there- 
 by this alternative can be avoided. 
 
 Although, however, I am thus impressed re- 
 garding the interests of the general cause, I do not 
 rest the merits of the measure, above mentioned, 
 upon that view of tlie matter ; the real advantage 
 that would accrue to Spain, from concentrating her 
 energies, is a thing of incomparably greater import- 
 ance. The means of Spain require excitation, not 
 expansion, and this excitation never can be ob- 
 tained, Vvhere that consciousness of exhaustion, 
 which is inseparable from extreme extension, takes 
 place. Here a jealous and vindictive spirit must 
 prevail ; and vv^herevcr such a spirit exists, there im- 
 ■])rovement and all its advantages must be laid un- 

 
 451 
 
 tier restraints that arc tantamount to its general 
 exclusion. Unless, therefore, we mean to depress 
 the resources of the new world, and to preserve 
 them under a system of debility and depravity, that 
 will prepare them for the reception of the destroy- 
 ing angel, who now desolates Europe, it must be 
 our first and our chiefest object, to draw forth the 
 highest powers of improvement in these distant re- 
 gions, to place them under auspices that are most 
 favorable to their developement, to render it ne- 
 cessary and adviseablc for the people, to receive into 
 their essence, and to incorporate vvith their sub- 
 stance, the expatriated talents of every country un- 
 der heaven. JSpain will still be the largest, the rich- 
 est, the greatest power in the world, and with 
 tlocse means, she will also imbibe the spirit of im- 
 provement; she will then become truly independent, 
 she will be powerful only to attract the more con- 
 fidence, and no less respectable on account of her 
 civil than on account of her territorial advantages. 
 
 Without laying too great stress on these views, 
 I think I may warrantably infcM-, that as America, 
 with all her perversities, is a land of freedom, is our 
 kindred ally ; and, in spite of the tergiversations of 
 Iier government, as the bonds of affinity betwixt 
 her citizens and our own, seem to be strong and 
 indissoluble, so it has become the duty of this 
 great nation, to relieve her from those dangers, 
 that would otherwise endanger her civil existence, 
 if it is at all cojnpctent for us so to do, so as to 
 place her in a situation wherein she may be able to 
 
 .'3 T, 2
 
 452 
 
 act upon free and independent principles. At the 
 same time, although we must remember tliat Spain 
 is our ally, bound to us by political and moral 
 cords, which we may fairly hope will never be cut a- 
 sunder, we must remember that it is our duty to open 
 her eyes to her true interCvSts, to bring her mind to 
 a just apprehension of these, to conduct her gent- 
 ly aloiigst that course which leads most assuredly to 
 their attainment, and to invigorate her at every step 
 of this course ; and while we expose to her the abso- 
 lute fallacy of all those gaudy acquisitions, with 
 which France would entangle her general proce- 
 dure, to discover to her the true value of attainable 
 advantages. For ourselves, we rest so entirely on 
 our colonial and naval superiority, that it is in vain 
 to propose maintaining our civil existence, if we do 
 not resolve to defend them to their utmost stretch. 
 We must, at all events, maintain our claims to the 
 persons of our seamen, and our other established 
 maritime rights ; and though we must, in like man- 
 ner, preserve, in dependence upon Spain, her gen- 
 eral empire, as just sketched out, we must not 
 endanger the leading parts of our great scheme, by 
 attempting more than this empire, duly defined, 
 can comprize. In general, we may counteract the 
 movements of both Spain and America, in case 
 these should adopt an illiberal or ungrateful line of 
 conduct, in regard to our general trade, by various 
 means, corresponding with, and founded on our ma- 
 ritime claims ; and wherever any tiling that out- 
 steps the range whereon such counteracting prin- 
 ciples can operate, takes place, it becomes us farther
 
 453 
 
 to adopt a full and clear view of our condilion and 
 of our resources, and determinately, and resolutely, 
 to follow out those measures, into which these views 
 necessarily lead. 
 
 It is impossible to dismiss this part of the sub- 
 ject, without noticing the peculiar favor manifest- 
 ed towards our nation, by that wise and beneH- 
 cent Being, who regards with pleasure all those 
 who sedulously follow out those plans of benignity, 
 which coincide with his own administration. It 
 has fallen to om* lot, to be instruments of protect- 
 ing one great nation, and of chastising another ; 
 and in both of these duties, we have been emi- 
 nently successful. A third great nation, by her nar- 
 row policy, has exercised our patience to a degree, 
 that evinces at once our magnanimous forbearance, 
 and the power that is connected with this great chris- 
 tian principle; and the froward captiousness of that 
 nation, with the impotency of that barbarous sys- 
 tem of policy, which springs from such procedure. 
 The impolicy of allying ourselves to the vices and 
 follies of corrupt courts, has been disclosed to us; 
 as also the mischief that necessarily results from 
 strengthening the bonds of corruption, and giving 
 way to those narrow views, that arise out of their re- 
 strictive systems. It becomes us, therefore, to main- 
 tain firmly that high ground, to which our supe- 
 rior virtue and prowess have raised us, to repress 
 with a steady hand the morbid viciosity of our al- 
 lies, as often as this evidently impedes our progress, 
 and to display an unqualified reprobation to every
 
 454 
 
 thing that is marked with depraved or corrupted 
 principles. In this line of conduct, we are animated 
 by the experience, which we have had of the gen- 
 ial power and warmth of patriotic virtue, when al- 
 lied to our measures, and by the transcendent ef- 
 ficacy manifested by popular energy, when combin- 
 ed with sound policy, and incorporated with the best 
 interests of all parties. In the case before us, these 
 general remarks convey fully to our minds, the 
 nature of our duty and situation. Our confede- 
 racy is not at present with courts, but with the 
 people at large. At length, there is no necessity 
 for distinguishing nicely in regard to the different 
 interests of the governors and governed ; for in the 
 circumstances in which we stand, these are all 
 in exact unison ; and in the general system which 
 we would establish, patriotic virtue and untainted 
 loyalty are inseparably conjoined. One great ob- 
 ject is to be achieved, and if we can accomplish 
 this object, in any way whatever, we create a coun- 
 terpoise to the power of the great destroyer, we 
 provide a support to our general system, our com- 
 merce, our industry, our national independence , 
 and civil liberty ; we lay upon earth, a new foun- 
 dation for social improvement, for our maritime 
 power and greatness, and we augment the efficacy 
 of that political and naval force, to which France 
 must ultimately submit, before the world can enjoy 
 that peace and security, for whicli it at present so 
 deeply groans. 
 
 WiiEx we look at the peculiar charactera and
 
 455 
 
 circumstances of those great leading powers, whose 
 relative bearings on the prosperity of each other, 
 we have been contemplating ; we perceive that a 
 decided bias to that developement, which coin- 
 cides most completely with the most beauteous har- 
 mony and proportionment of the general system, 
 would be provided, merely, by our following out 
 those measures, into which their several circumstan- 
 ces naturally resolve themselves. The true inter- 
 ests of all parties fully understood and adopted, ne- 
 cessarily induce a subserviency in the operation; and 
 a combination in the progression of improvement, in 
 each national system, that render all its movements 
 doubly efficacious. Spain and Portugal, proud and 
 dignified, possessed of the richest countries on the 
 globe, have a profusion of resources of the most 
 precious nature springing up into their hands, 
 which, when thus guaranteed to them, must enable 
 them to proceed alongst that lofty course of na- 
 tional progression, which is suited to their charac- 
 ter ; whereby they are enabled to enjoy in profu- 
 sion, the most exquisite productions of industry, 
 without burdening themselves with those vast move- 
 ments, which are peculiar to the British and A- 
 merican systems. These two last, less favored by 
 nature, but possessed of adxantages congenial to 
 their great and manly characters, thereby also a- 
 vail themselves of these jn a manner consistent with 
 their own peculiar characters and circumstances. 
 They can allure those more favored proprietors of 
 the soil, to part with their regorging wealth, as a re- 
 turn for the ingenuity, and power exercised in their
 
 456 
 
 vservice. It is here, that the ships, the commodities, 
 the artizans, and the seamen of Britain, may thence 
 receive their excitation and support; and that tliose, 
 whose peculiar classes of industry, and whose pro- 
 visions, are excited and supported by the wants and 
 circumstances of all parties, may be borne up in such 
 a way, that they severally cannot but enjoy, and 
 participate in the success and good fortune of each 
 other. In such a state of things, the whole repro- 
 ductive establishments of each state, like the pas- 
 toral flocks and herds of the primitive ages, would 
 be found to have ample fields for their exercise 
 and maintenance, fully provided for them ; fields 
 always verdant, liighly watered, secure from the 
 destructive inroads of the common destroyer of na- 
 tions, and progressively advancing in prosperity 
 and happiness, without being exposed to the dan- 
 ger of being either overturned in their course, or 
 retarded in their general movements. 
 
 It is here, no doubt, understood, that each of 
 these great communities shall sedulously betake 
 themselves to the reformation of internal abuses, 
 and to the amelioration of their peculiar systems ; 
 and that they will meet each other on the ground 
 of reciprocal good will and national fellowship. To 
 fetter down with mathematical precision, the peculi- 
 arities of each system, however, is neither looked for 
 nor expected ; but to adopt liberal principles of in- 
 tercourse, to establish a fair and solid system of 
 jurisprudential policy, and to give that security 
 and protection to the property appertaining to
 
 457 
 
 each, that is consistent with sound and equitable 
 principles, are points so important, that we can 
 neither suppose them in such circumstances, to be 
 overlooked ; nor being provided for, to be other- 
 wise than decisive, in regard to the prosperous ad- 
 vancement, and cordial harmony of all parties, in 
 their circumstances, and also in their characters. 
 
 Whkn such views as these are brought fully be- 
 fore us, we perceive, that the national spirit so apt 
 to be perverted and abused, is, in fact, the greatest 
 cement to social happiness, the most powerful sti- 
 mulant to universal improvement, with which we 
 are acquainted. When nations perceive and ex- 
 perience the value and the extent of the services, 
 which they can give to, and receive from, each other, 
 they gradually denude themselves of those narrow- 
 local prejudices, and of those stupid projects of sel- 
 fish aggrandisement, which had clung to their char- 
 acters, at the time that they had been accustomed to 
 act from private and solitary motives. Such ad- 
 vantages bestow on all concerned, dignified appre- 
 hensions of lunnan nature, and of that grand order 
 of society, which, having been instituted by divine 
 ordination for the good of the human race, arises 
 out of our sympathetic feelings and rational per- 
 ceptions, and which difi'uses blessings and enjoy- 
 ments of the purest and noblest kind to all, who 
 are prepared to receive them, besides giving to e- 
 very enjoyment its finest edge. So far, therefore, 
 is the principle of nationality necessarily produc- 
 tive of repugnant feelings, that it is a stimulant of 
 
 .'i M
 
 458 
 
 the highest order to generous and virtuous actions ; 
 it puriiies the social mind, by raising it above mere- 
 ly selfish considerations, to these great paramount 
 objects, in which the best propensities of our na- 
 ture are exercised ; and it gives to the ennobled 
 character thus produced, a substantial existence, 
 correspondent to its nature. Discord and corrup- 
 tion are but too apt to incorporate themselves 
 with the essence of this spirit, and to render it 
 more detrimental than beneficial to the interests 
 of human society. But having witnessed the ex- 
 alted and heroic sentiments, with which it has 
 been accompanied in Spain and Britain, and the 
 diffusive influence of that dignified conduct which 
 has been inspired by it ; may we not hope, that 
 the era has at length arrived, when, under the cel- 
 estial influences of our pure and beneficent religion, 
 alliances and courtesies will take effect amongst 
 the nations, wherein universal complacency in each 
 other's welfare will prevail ; and a system of har- 
 mony, concord, and general improvement, sanc- 
 tified by benevolent and heavenly principles, and 
 excited by generous and purified propensities, will 
 ultimately obtain the ascendancy ? 
 
 As for the French system of conquering peace, 
 of levelling every thing to the will of a mere mor- 
 tal, and thereon instituting an empire, not less uni- 
 versal in its extent and operation, than powerful 
 and subtile in its principles and procedure, it may 
 suit the palate and amuse tlic minds of the daringly 
 ambitious, of those whom vice or folly have ren- 
 
 1
 
 459 
 
 dered base and timorous ; but in the view of all 
 those who fear God, who have full confidence in his 
 administration of human affairs, and who seek the 
 gratification of the nobler propensities of their na- 
 ture, such a project must appear to be at once dis- 
 gusting and absurd. It is evident, that it cannot sub- 
 sist without the prostration of every exalted princi- 
 ple in human society. It would produce in the go- 
 verning party, an unbounded propensity to the gra- 
 tification of all the lower passions of the soul, pride, 
 revenge, lust and cruelty ; and it would leave no 
 retreat from the effects of these, open to men on 
 this side of the grave. Gross ignorance and de- 
 pravity, general misery and wickedness, could not 
 but soon become universal, when every stimulus 
 to high exertion was withdrawn, and the way to 
 security and advancement, lay through the dark 
 labyrinths of human corruptibility. In place of 
 institutions correspondent to the peculiar attain- 
 ments of each nation, all most systematically cal- 
 culated for the promotion and increase of every 
 thing great and glorious in human nature, the iron 
 rod of oppression would be seen every where a- 
 round, bearing all down before it. In place of 
 myriads of societies, severally cmulously instigating 
 each other in the practice of all that is great and 
 honourable, and sedulously advancing every object, 
 wherein renown or advantage was to be obtained ; 
 a cowring terror, that would shroud every noble 
 disposition, would prevail, and blast even the feeble 
 joys, that could in these circumstances raise their 
 heads aloft. It is absurd to calculate on the tranquil- 
 
 3 M 2
 
 460 
 
 lity of such a scene ; for though thousands of satraps 
 should seal the debasement of mankind, with their 
 hermetical touch, the irruptive power of forlorn 
 wretchedness and depravity would, frequently, with 
 volcanic force, burst asunder the charm, and dis- 
 cover to mankind, that even the horrors of death 
 and destruction, were more tolerable than such 
 abject bondage. That such virtuous boldness, 
 and heroic magnanimity would absolutely lose their 
 diffusive power, we cannot suppose to be possi- 
 ble, even in the worst circumstances of man upon 
 earth ; a continuation of bloodshed and desolation 
 might, therefore, be expected to follow every such 
 irruption. Every thing that we see convinces us, 
 that the most High, has made ample provision a- 
 gaivist this dilemma. Studded with islands and con- 
 tinents, our globe itself seems prepared with sanc- 
 tuaries for national independence j the inhabitants 
 of some one or other of which, being always in 
 readiness in case of any such emergency, to shake 
 off the brazen yoke of universal domination, in or- 
 der to make way for the restoration of the world. 
 
 We cannot observe, without singular compla- 
 cency, the various methods, by which, under the 
 Divine government, the natural boundaries of men 
 have been marked; for the distinctions of race, of 
 manners, ot" languages, of climate, must be held to 
 be barriers, raised by his sovereign hand, in de- 
 fence of national rights. Our own feelings incul- 
 cate the same lesson, in the horrors which we feel, 
 wlien we perceive nations maliciously exercising
 
 461 
 
 themselves, to set aside these boundaries. In 
 such cases the sliortness and precariousness of hu- 
 man life, which render every advantage of this 
 sort vain and nugatory, would appear to be a sub- 
 ject of congratulation. As our own age, above all 
 others, has illustrated the certainty of these truths, — 
 that violent and sinister practices are no ways com- 
 petent to the attainment of any real political good, — 
 and that a magnanimous and liberal pohcy, when 
 inspired by benign wisdom, and invigorated by un- 
 daunted heroism, is more than a match for all the 
 force that such practices can bring against them, — 
 may we not hope that these perceptions will soon 
 become alike universal and powerful ? 
 
 In applying these remarks to the case before w^., 
 it is necessary, however, to notice, that each of 
 these great nations, whose case has been unfolded, 
 has duties to perform within its own precincts, be- 
 fore its internal security and national independence 
 can be held to have been fully provided for. It is 
 not enough to be valorous, in our cause to be cordial 
 and sincere in our attachments, we must purge out 
 those principles of destruction that operate within 
 our own system. Will America say, after seeing 
 the end and resolution of all that wealth, which the 
 perversity of her juridical system has enabled her to 
 extract from British industry, that she may still go 
 on with impunity, with those practices which re- 
 gorge her system with wealth, beyond what it can 
 regularly absorb ? Will she not sec, that by giving 
 full effect, all over her territory, to equitable laws,
 
 462 
 
 she can not only prevent this regorgement, which 
 binds up her interests with those of her adversa- 
 ries, but infuse a salutary principle of renovation, 
 into her whole system ? Will she not discover that 
 by strengthening the arm of British maritime as- 
 cendancy, in place of attempting to bring it down, 
 she procures for herself and the civilized world, 
 a safeguard, for which a few unsubstantial tokens 
 of supremacy are but an insignificant return ; and 
 that Britain may thence receive the deference due 
 to a parent, without provoking the jealousy of an 
 unnatural rival ? As the relative circumstances of 
 both America and Britain are such, that neither the 
 one nor the other can have any questions subsisting 
 betwixt them, but those wherein a direct appeal to 
 their unbiassed feelings, and sense of duty and in- 
 terests will resolve into new principles of union, 
 may we not also hope, that this perception will 
 become as powerful as it is just and salutary? 
 
 When we turn our ears to the lofty strains of 
 patriotism that flow from the ancient nations of 
 Iberia, the advantages that result from a high na- 
 tional spirit arrest our attention, and make us 
 hope, that the work of reformation, so necessary 
 in their circumstances, will neither be a difficult 
 task, nor a distant object. We must recollect, how- 
 ever, that these advantages are connected with, 
 and arise from, an undue attachment to institutions, 
 that are repugnant to improvement, and even un- 
 friendly to those finer developements of the gene- 
 ral system, wherein the beauteous harmony of gen-
 
 463 
 
 eral reformation is disclosed. The civil and eccle- 
 siastical organization of Spain, is not only radi- 
 cally depraved, but this depravity is intimately 
 combined with tlie social and political existence of 
 the Spanish nation. As the national energies, 
 however, will continue to develope tliemselves, in 
 the service of fanatical ignorance and barbarous 
 oppression, until this reformation can be effected, 
 it becomes us to certiorate ourselves concerning 
 the means that are within our power which may be 
 rendered directly applicable towards the accom- 
 plishment of this object. 
 
 In the first place let it be noticed, that the spi- 
 rit which now prevails is highly favorable to the 
 work of reformation. A people, who rise so far a- 
 bove their prejudices and personal feelings, as to be 
 able to embrace, with enthusiastic ardor, one great 
 common cause, in concert with a nation, from 
 whom they were most completely alienated, both 
 in their civil, political, and ecclesiastical capacities; 
 and whose interests and whose dispositions, w^ere 
 as repugnant to their own, as it is conceivable for 
 them to be — may be held to have already broke 
 down the main barrier, by which their depression 
 and degradation have been protected, and to have 
 allied themselves to principles, which, if steadily pur- 
 sued, must soon enable them to operate their own 
 complete deliverance. Acting in concert with Brit- 
 ain, and witnessing the transcendent efficacy of her 
 civil and religious institutions, she cannot but in.- 
 bibe a prcdeliction for them, and at lengtii come to
 
 464 
 
 discern the baseness of that fanatical ignorance, and 
 the insidious texture of those vile machinations, 
 on which her ancient corrupted and oppressive 
 system is established. To pretend to impose upon 
 a nation thus situated, a peculiar set of ordinations 
 and institutions, calculated for their complete de- 
 liverance from intellectual bondage, would be no 
 less arrogant than absurd ; but to lead them alongst 
 that line of circumstances, wherein their highest 
 interests, and their most indispensible duties, will 
 alike operate, in removing those shackles of super- 
 stition and national prejudice, in which they have 
 been so long involved, is not only truly delectable, 
 but judicious; for, thereby, a reformation in the 
 character, as well as in the circumstances of the na- 
 tion, both in its individual and in its collective capa- 
 city, may be expected to take place, not rapid and 
 universal indeed, but gradually and steadily pro- 
 gressive ; such as will ameliorate the fixed institu- 
 tions and establishments of the country, as well 
 as renovate the habits and deportment of the com- 
 munity and of all its members. 
 
 But, secondly, there is in the circumstances of 
 Spain, something that renders some such refor- 
 mation of her general system, as that which we 
 have been contemplating, not only expedient, but 
 indispensibly necessary, in order to preserve for 
 her, an independent existence amongst the nations. 
 Her system being at present, in complete diserder 
 it must at all events undergo some kind of renova- 
 tion ; and her dangers, being all of that kind that
 
 465 
 
 call loudly for the heart and hands of all her citi- 
 zens, to set about amusing these with stale views of 
 their national importance, when their persons, their 
 properties, their whole rights and enjoyments, as 
 men and as citizens, are trampled under foot, would 
 be alike presumptuous and nugatory. It has, there- 
 fore, at length, become necessary to make every 
 Spaniard feel and know his own personal importance, 
 and to lead his propensities forward to those classes 
 of objects, wherein, rational and manly perceptions 
 of these are to be found. As we all know, and a^s 
 the Spaniards themselves now sec, that religious in- 
 tolerance and an illiberal system of policy, are ab- 
 solutely inconsistent with national and individual 
 improvement, and that, without such improvement, 
 no earthly blessing is either valuable or secure, 
 the feelings of the multitude, the first and greatest 
 enemy to renovation, may be held to be not only 
 subdued, but to be enlisted under the banners of 
 regular improvement. 
 
 The circumstances above mentioned, favorable 
 as they are to a renovation of the Spanish sys- 
 tem, are accompanied with others, of a similar and 
 coincident tendency, that are still more conducive 
 thereto, in consequence of the chaotic state ol' 
 ail her laws, institutions, and ordinations, a mul- 
 titude of bulwarks, arising out of the prejudices oi' 
 the people, and the power of corruption .'uul de- 
 pravity, enthroned and encanopied in defence of 
 systematic abuses, have already been swept away ; 
 und the principle of compensation, that, which above
 
 466 
 
 all other received principles, is the most friendly to 
 the progress of reformation, must, from the general 
 posture of things, necessarily, be admitted into the 
 arrangement of public affairs. Without admitting 
 the principles of compensation and indemnification, 
 as the regular basis, on which every abuse, civil, 
 as well as ecclesiastical, is to be removed, it is both 
 wicked and absurd to point out public grievances, 
 or new modes of improvement. Such procedure 
 can only whet the public avidity to no good pur- 
 pose ; it may instigate a spirit of animosity, per- 
 haps, of rapacity, that may precipitate the best 
 scheme of reform, into a mere revolution ; or with- 
 out producing any direct object, it may pass off, 
 after exciting chagrin and distrust towards those, 
 against whose interests this spirit, may have been ex- 
 cited. But, when the principle, above noticed, are 
 fairly and fully admitted and rested upon, as the 
 basis of improvement, so far is there from being any 
 impropriety or hazard, in scanning public affairs 
 with the utmost freedom, that, on the contrary, the 
 more freely and completely such affairs are canvas- 
 sed, so much the more, will the circumstances of 
 the individuals concerned, as well as of society at 
 large, be ameliorated and improved. The reason 
 of this is so obvious, as scarcely to require pointed 
 notice. There arc numberless personal and gene- 
 ral rights and immunities, existent amongst all na- 
 tions, and more particularly amongst the Spanish 
 nation, which are decidedly inimical to improve- 
 ment ; yet the individual possessors of these rights, 
 have the same property in their obnoxious rights
 
 46^ 
 
 that every other member in the community has on 
 his own property ; and they arc eqaally well war- 
 ranted to maintain and defend them to the ii^inost, 
 with those whose rights are most beneficial to the 
 pubhc. It is evidently competent, however, for 
 every state to rescind and annul every claim tiiat 
 is obnoxious or pernicious to its interests, provided 
 only, that the individual possessors of those claims, 
 can be duly compensated for the personal loss, 
 which they may thereby sustain. These two op- 
 posing claims and interests, can meet only on the 
 basis of compensation. When, in such a case, com- 
 pensation has been accorded, no individual what- 
 ever, not even tlie person denuded of his rights, has 
 any ground to complain ; for, while his indemnity 
 neutralises his claim, he himself, as a member of the 
 community, derives his full share of the public ad- 
 vantage thereby produced, and transmits the same 
 to his descendants and to all his connexions. 
 
 When we direct our attention to the dreadful 
 devastations, that are desolating Europe, and wither- 
 ing up the roots of civil existence in every country 
 that is accessible to the arms or influence of France, 
 the common interest and well-being of the human 
 race, seem to be implicated in the fate of Spanish 
 America. There, an immense tract of fine rich ter- 
 ritory, favored by nature, and protected by the 
 seas, is prepared and laid open as a retreat to the 
 cause of civilization and improvement. Jn these 
 vast districts, space is given to the expansion of the 
 energies of man, and resources provided, on wliicii to 
 
 i3 N 2
 
 468 
 
 exerci<;e these energies, that are no wliere else to 
 be found. There too, barriers to the progress of 
 fraud and oppression are thrown up, which, we may 
 still hope will be found to be impregnable to their 
 dark and subtile assailants. Above all things, let it 
 be recollected, that our own nation has a paramount 
 interest, in thus protecting the remaining resources 
 of the civilized world. It is enough for us, if peace 
 and concord, and the progress of improvement, be 
 preserved ; these must always ally themselves to 
 our cause, and arrange themselves on opposite 
 banners from those of the destroyers. But Spain 
 is connected to us by bonds, that are still more 
 indissoluble than even these are ; she has felt and 
 endured that malignity, which we have warded oft' 
 from our own territory j and she is still more deter- 
 mined in her hostility against the common foe than 
 we seem to be ; Spain has therefore a peculiar in- 
 terest in drawing closs her connexion with us, and 
 in maintaining, for the common good, the integrity 
 of our power and maritime supremacy. These, and 
 many other circumstances, that must readily occur 
 to every one, evince to us the propriety of achiev- 
 ing the general renovation of the system of Spain, 
 and the advantages that must therefrom necessarily 
 result. Perhaps, it is only necessary here farther 
 to notice, some of the most direct and impor- 
 tant of these results. First, her jurisprudential code 
 would be renovated, a measure, of the utmost mag- 
 nitude to the mercantile and industrious world; 
 in general, in as much as this renovation is neces- 
 sary to procure that safety to the Spanish nation,
 
 4H9 
 
 and that protection to all who may have intercourse 
 with it, that are so essentially necessary to render 
 commercial enterprizes with them, secure and pro- 
 fitable. Secondly, civil and religious freedom, so 
 requisite for placing all these advantages on their 
 proper ground, would also thence ensue. Thirdly, 
 an unbounded supply of the precious metals, and 
 of those inestimable commodities, with which Span- 
 ish American is replete, would thereby be obtain- 
 ed for the service of the mercantile world. And 
 lastly, a market, limited only by the circumstances 
 of the country, for receiving the productions of 
 the general industry of the world, and for replac- 
 ing to the enterprizing the value of these produc- 
 tions, would also be procured, by a liberal renova- 
 tion of the Spanish system. 
 
 When we fix our eyes on the circumstances, in 
 which the reproductive energies of the British na- 
 tion would be placed, in the event of some such 
 general arrangement, as that which we have been 
 contemplating, being brought about betwixt the se- 
 veral powers above mentioned, we perceive that a 
 class of most inestimable advantages, similar to that 
 which existed during the patriarchal ages, would be 
 provided for them. Our highly concentrated repro- 
 ductive powers require a powerful excitation and 
 support ; and here that excitation and support, at 
 least a certain degree, would be securely provided 
 to them. Spanish and Portugueze America, the Un- 
 ited States, and the other foreign possessions of these 
 and of our own nation, would thereby be laid open
 
 470 
 
 ibr the reception of these productions, and therefrom 
 returns of the most valuable kind, would, with every 
 advantage and facility, be also diavvn back, for their 
 service. It is a truth, that can be most satisfac- 
 torily demonstrated, that mercantile intercourse 
 with nations, in a rising state of civil existence, is 
 much more lucrative to a nation that is highly ad- 
 vanced in the arts, than intercourse v/ith nations, 
 whose circumstances are similar. As this considera- 
 tion carries more weight with it than at first ap- 
 pears, and is of particular moment in our present 
 researches, it shall here be briefly illustrated. 
 
 In the first place, it is self evident, that the in- 
 tercourse that could subsist betwixt Spain, Britain, 
 and America, from the extremely diversified char- 
 acter of their several circumstances, and from the 
 very great facility, with which the reproductive 
 powers of each, could be fitted and rendered sub- 
 servient to each other, would, if allowed to proceed 
 in a regular manner, greatly augment the force 
 and range of their several productive processes, and 
 induce improvements in the construction of those 
 processes, and aggregations in the powers by which 
 their movements are impelled, that would be high- 
 ly advantageous to those interested therein, and 
 render the substantiated wealth, emitted therefrom, 
 much more extensive than it could otherwise be. 
 From these begun improvements, and augmenta- 
 tions, as from a new basis, a new series of improve- 
 ments and augmentations would constantly arise, 
 for the use of every several party ; the means and
 
 471 
 
 energies appertaining to each, would, oF conse- 
 quence, increase with a combined rapidity, cor- 
 responding to their respective circumstances and 
 attainments. As the reproductive powers and au- 
 thorized consumption of these parties would, in 
 in such a case, stimulate, support, and relieve each 
 other, in a way correspondent to the capabilities 
 of each; so the whole wealth, that would spring forth 
 from these processes, would be almost immediately 
 substantiated. Rivalry and competition, could not 
 take place betwixt them for centuries; for the con- 
 catenations of interests, that would thence constant- 
 ly arise, would necessarily bend the progress of each 
 process of improvement, into that course, which 
 coincided most directly with the joint interest of all, 
 and thus render the general advantages, that there- 
 from result incomparably more valuable to each of 
 them, than that which could be procured, in case 
 of any contrariety and opposition in their repro- 
 ductive powers. Such advantages are inconsistent 
 with the state of old settled countries, whose go- 
 vernments, and whose establishments are at per- 
 petual variance with each other. In these, super- 
 fluous wealth is, for the most part, already resolved 
 into fixed establishments, whose fruits are drawn 
 forth in the shape of rents, taxes, and immunities ; 
 which, though they stimulate, support, and relieve 
 the reproductive processes already instituted, nar- 
 row the channel through which general wealth in- 
 cessantly flows, and render the erection of new esta- 
 blishments, and the formation of new aggregations 
 of wealth, matters of extreme difficulty.
 
 472 
 
 IxV the second place, the commodities and pro- 
 ductions, arising out of the productive processes 
 of the countries, whose case we have been consid- 
 ering, are generally of that kind, that most direct- 
 ly stimulate, support, and advance each others' 
 circumstances, and resolve themselves most direct- 
 ly into an advancement, and extension of these. 
 The precious metals, and invaluable fruits and re- 
 sources of Spain and its colonies, are precisely these 
 things of which we stand most in want ; and our fin- 
 ished commodities, and the productions of America, 
 all severally, tally, in like manner, with the circum- 
 stance of Spain, and with those of each other. This 
 is a most important consideration, incomparably 
 more so than either Dr Smith or any of the great 
 writers on political economy seem disposed to ad- 
 mit. This direct subserviency and resolution, not 
 only abbreviates the labor and expense of inter- 
 course betwixt nations, but it sets forward their 
 several accumulative processes, wdth a power that 
 is proportioned to the velocity of the intercourse, 
 which this abbreviation produces. Of this we have 
 had most astonishing proofs in the trade, that at 
 present subsists betwixt Britain and her colonies. 
 The value and extent of the productions of Demer- 
 ary and Dutch Guiana have, wdthin our own da}\ 
 been brought to equal those of all the rest of the 
 West Indies conjoined, merely, in conseqdence of 
 the juxta-position of the resources, which each se- 
 veral reproductive process requires, being secured 
 to it. The consumption of rum, in Canada alone, 
 has risen to the extent of near 10,000 puncheons
 
 473 
 
 annually, owing to the same circumstance, combin- 
 ed with an increased demand for the wheat, tim- 
 ber, and other productions of that rude though ex- 
 tensive colony. 
 
 In' the third place, the range of developcment 
 of those })rocesses, and their power of excitation, 
 increased by the intercourse that must subsist in 
 such circumstances, would spread their influence 
 over employments of every kind, so as to include 
 these in their general operation. Wherever a great, 
 a rising and regular demand for commodities exists, 
 there an extension of all the principles of improve- 
 ment, connected therewith, and a concentration 
 of the force of these, and of all kindred principles, 
 must take place. A multitude of dependent and 
 connected establishments are formed, in the tirst 
 place; and these, of themselves, gradually constitute 
 new sources of wealth and improvement ; by w^hicli 
 means, the interstices of the social body are filled 
 v.'ith j)iinciples of improvement, which not only be- 
 come profitable to the individual owners of establish- 
 ments, but advantageous to the general circumstan- 
 ces of the country. How many agricultural and ter- 
 ritorial improvements have originated, solely, from 
 the vast aggregations of particular fabricating pro- 
 cesses, that our connexions with demi-civilizcd 
 nations have produced ! I apprehend, that the pre- 
 sent high pitch vA' national strength and that the sta- 
 bility which we now possess, have arisen out of the 
 necessity to which we were at one time subjected, of 
 accouunodatiiig ourselves to the circumstances of 
 
 3 o
 
 474 
 
 our American brethren. Hence, improvements and 
 extensions that could not have been procured from 
 any other quarter liave been effected in our manu- 
 facturing processes ; hence too, our national insti- 
 tutions and provisions, have received principles 
 of renovation, and accessions of strength, and our 
 territorial advantages that real value and importance 
 which are now made to appear. Out of all these 
 concurrent attainments, and the social energies to 
 which they gave birth, our commercial prowess, 
 our maritinie strength, and consequent capability 
 for profiting, by the chaotic revolutions that have 
 taken place in Europe, have originated. If, during 
 the preceding century, our commercial intercourse 
 had been confined to such exchanges of superflui- 
 ties, as could naturally have arisen out of our own 
 circumstances, and out of those of the established 
 nations of Europe ; so far from being able to in- 
 sinuate our highly improved commodities and pro- 
 ductions, into the general system of every kingdom 
 in the world ; and possessing stupendous establish- 
 ments, for receiving and improving their best re- 
 sources J we would not even have held in our hands, 
 the means necessary for maintaining a dignified 
 rank amongst the nations. We might have been 
 a brave and independent people, but like most of 
 the ancient nations of Europe, a listless forward- 
 ness in the prosecution of our best interests, ac- 
 companied with a general incompetency to every 
 thing great and magnanimous, would, most pro.- 
 bably, have marked our character.
 
 475 
 
 In my opinion, the circumstances of Britain, 
 Spain, and America, are at present precisely in 
 that state, wherein, their respective independence 
 as nations, and their general interests as associates 
 in a great common cause, most completely coin- 
 cide. Spain is palpably deficient in those things, 
 which both Britain and America can bestow, and 
 she possesses in profusion, those objects, of which 
 these other powers are severally in want. Nor is 
 this all ; Spain is at present in a situation, that 
 calls loudly for all that assistance, which those pow- 
 ers can give ; and she possesses means that may en- 
 able her to reward the assistance accorded, in that 
 way, which coincides most completely with the 
 liighest interests of the governments of those na- 
 tions. Here, I do not refer so much to the terri- 
 torial wealth of the Spanish dominions, although 
 it is evident, that even in this light, the wine, wool, 
 oils, gums, drugs, and dyewoods, together with 
 the profusion of the precious metals, with which 
 Spain is replete, are, in themselves, most invaluable 
 acccsions to the strength of the general cause. I re- 
 fer to those peculiarities in the circumstances o." 
 each power, which render the accession of the gen- 
 eral means of Spain to their interests, a matter of 
 the highest importance. Wliat is it that renders Bri- 
 tain so flourishing? is it not the full glow in which 
 her national spirit is at all times maintained, in conse- 
 quence of the intimate connexion that subsists be- 
 twixt the interests of the governors, and those of the 
 governed ? Does not that reciprocity of good office?, 
 which extends through the whole connexions botii 
 
 3 2
 
 476 
 
 of the one class and of tlie other, bring forward the 
 aggregate strength of the people, individually and 
 collectively, on the basis of tlieir country's welfare ? 
 The very same advantage, on a scale vastly more 
 extended, and proportionally more powerful and 
 efficient, would be procured, by including all those 
 interests, in thir> augmented and enlarged range of 
 affairs. To us this matter is of immediate moment ; 
 for the prosperity of Britain, always marred by the 
 retrenchment of its developements, is now seeking 
 anev/ field for the display of these, a field, wherein 
 their strength and their luxuriance may alike be 
 disclosed. Cut off from our wonted connexion 
 with the continent of Europe, our commercial, our 
 naval, our military, our financial prowess, are with- 
 ering up, from the mere want — of suitable em- 
 ployment — of a space of expansion and exercise 
 for their overpowering growth and energy. We 
 have been attempting to extend the influence of 
 our attainments all over the globe, but restric- 
 tive systems have blasted their power, and render- 
 ed all their vigorous displays, worse than useless. 
 Now, Spain is ready to receive these benign in- 
 fluences, and in receiving them, she cannot but re- 
 turn their value to us ; for she thereby becomes the 
 more capable of increasing the value and the ex- 
 tent of these returns ; a similar regorgement ena- 
 bling and disposing her to bestow upon us corres- 
 pondent influence. The great sovereign powers, a- 
 bove noticed, therefore, find themselves in circum- 
 stances similar to those which existed during the ages 
 of primeval reproduction. Their innate power ad-
 
 477 
 
 vances apace; and in the direct course of advance- 
 ment, without any efibrt on their part, they find con- 
 stant supplies for the establishments appertaining to 
 their own subjects. Their possessions, like the flocks 
 and herds of those times, may, in a similar way, ob- 
 tain the means of their subsistance, and facilities 
 for appropriating these means to their own use, 
 regularly provided and so much at hand that, their 
 innate vigor may be constantly increasing and ex- 
 tending itself. It is needful for these powers to lay 
 open suitable communications with each other, for 
 the purpose of facilitating and expediting the inter- 
 course, that is correspondent to their respective 
 circumstances. But having done this, the process 
 of increment and improvement will progressively 
 advance and extend itself, from the mere innate 
 power and animated entity which it comprises. 
 
 I APPHEHEND that if thosc great powers would 
 fairly and fully review their relative situation, in 
 regard to the common destroyer of nations, and 
 weigh well all the advantages, that must result from 
 an union of their powers and interests, the diflicul- 
 ties to this union, which now bulk so much in their 
 eye, would forthwith disappear. If Britain is, at 
 this moment, the main prop and support of the ci- 
 vih'zed world ; supplying it, by her incessant indus- 
 try, with the most invaluable commodities, and 
 v^arding off by means of the wealth derived from 
 the commerce, to which this industry gives birth, 
 that dreadful destruction, that is now raised over 
 all their heads, (and who that seriously reviews tlie
 
 478 
 
 matter, can doubt of the truth of these positions ?) 
 every inferior consideration is unworthy of atten- 
 tion. It is the business of every nation to main- 
 tain its independence, and the free exercise of all 
 its national rights. To this full extent, the feel- 
 ings and sentiments of Spain and America must 
 necessarily be respected. But after these things have 
 been secured and guaranteed to them on a solid 
 and irrefragable basis, there can exist no reason 
 whatever, tor any belligerent power, such as Bri- 
 tain is, to burden itself with meeting every fasti- 
 dious objection, which nations, in the circumstan- 
 ces of Spain or America, may oppose to the amp- 
 litude of those measures, that are needful for gen- 
 eral safety. The maritime superiority of Britain 
 must be maintained at all events, and better were 
 it for us, to rank both these powers, amongst the 
 list of our enemies, than to enter into any alliance 
 with either the one or the other of them, that might 
 endanger our independent existence. The mari- 
 time ascendancy of Britain seems to be so essen- 
 tial to the safety of the general cause, that it is im- 
 possible to conceive any thing like alliance betwixt 
 these powers, without its unqualified admission, at 
 least, during the period of the present war. Bri- 
 tain, from the deference which she uniformly pays 
 to the wants and circumstances of her allies, has a 
 good right to require a corresponding deference in 
 the present case. When Austria and Russia drew 
 forth their population and territorial resources in 
 support of this same cause, did not Britain not only 
 set aside all her former jealousies, but pour into
 
 479 
 
 their hands, all those supplies which it was possi- 
 ble for these powers to receive from her ; unmind- 
 ful of the hardships and distresses, which slie there- 
 by inflicted on her own subjects, and regardless of 
 these inferences that might be made, as to the tri- 
 bute thus accorded ? Yet the military prowess of 
 these powers was never of such moment to the 
 general cause, as the maritime ascendancy of Bri- 
 tain. Without this ascendancy, the general cause 
 would long since have been lost, and the name and 
 power of every European kingdom would have been, 
 by this time, effectually buried in the dust. While 
 Britain, therefore, chuses to burden herself with the 
 maintenance of this powder, and to wield it mag- 
 nanimously for the universal safety of the nations ; 
 while she, single handed, can brave the storms of 
 the ocean, and on these make the cause of civiliza- 
 tion ride triumphant, it is alike the duty and the 
 interest of botii America and Spain, to withdraw 
 their hostile and futile opposition to her power, and 
 their exceptions to her glory. 
 
 It does not seem to be necessary, to go far in 
 order to establish and elucidate ti)ose principles, 
 on which Britain's maritime ascendancy, may be 
 maintained and defended. Tiie whole world is 
 now aware of its importance to the general safety. 
 Every nation has participated more or less of its 
 blessings; for, thereby, she has kept the ocean, the 
 channel of universal intercourse, secure from the 
 power of the common enemy of nations ; she has pre- 
 served in circulation, those means that are most
 
 480 
 
 needful for improving and civilizing every race of 
 men upon earth. This is a species of empire, that 
 can never be exercised for purposes of destruction ; 
 for it exists only by the universal excitation and 
 circulation of the general strength of the world ; 
 its power is founded upon unbounded commercial 
 intercourse; and this intercourse cannot exist with- 
 out a superabundance of commodities and produc- 
 tions, the result of incessant well directed industry. 
 It is therefore, the business of Britain, and her truest 
 interest to support every species of improvement, be- 
 cause thence her own strength is drawn, and into 
 these it must be resolved, in order to extend its own 
 basis. The exercise of this empire, implies no yoke 
 upon the nations, it consists merely in an unsub- 
 stantial deference to her flag, and in acknowledg- 
 ing her right to maintain, what it would be crimin- 
 al to dispute — the authority of a parent over the per- 
 sons of her children — that of a master in the sub- 
 jects which constitute his property. As for neutral 
 trade, this would of course fiiil to the ground, a- 
 long with the neutrality of our confederates ; but, 
 in so far, as any illegitimate intercourse might sub- 
 sist, Britain behoved still to interfere with her na- 
 val influence ; yet this interference would consti- 
 tute a privilege, not a burden ; for it would place 
 the belligerents in much more secure circumstan- 
 ces, in regard to each other, and in regard to trade, 
 than they could have been without it. 
 
 In effect, both Russia and America, have evinc- 
 ed their hearty accordance in our maritime ascen-
 
 481 
 
 (lancy, when this coincides with their ordinary pro- 
 cedure; tlie profusion of naval stores, jioured into 
 our ports by Russia, indicates not only licr good- 
 will to our nation, but her great confidence in the 
 maritime power, which she thus contributes to estab- 
 lish. America and Britain now go, hand in hand, 
 in abolishing the slave trade; and America mag- 
 nanimously recognizes the right of Britain, to en- 
 force her own laws against those who violate the 
 ordinations of the United States, in regard to this 
 point. Cannot America extend this magnanimous 
 confidence so far, as to recognize the right of Bri- 
 tain to search her own vessels, and to take from 
 thence, those men and commodities, that ought 
 not, according to certain received and well defined 
 regulations to be thus employed. This accordance 
 would soon place things on their proper footing ; 
 for where both governments disavowed the aggres- 
 sions of their citizens, the practice itself would 
 soon come to an end. As it is impossible, until this 
 matter shall be set at rest, for disputes and dissen- 
 tions to cease, some such adjustment as that which 
 has been pourtrayed above, ought forthwith to be 
 effected, in which the nations ought thenceforward 
 faithfully and harmoniously to coalesce. 
 
 It remains to be noticed, however, in regard to 
 Spain, that a jealousy and captiousness, respecting 
 her national rights, at present, prevails, and is 
 countenanced by us, that is totally repugnant to 
 this harmomous combination of interests. This is, 
 indeed, one of the severest trials, to which our na- 
 
 3 P
 
 482 
 
 tional spirit, has as yet been subjected. Wc find 
 a nation — accustomed to the most debased and ig- 
 nominious treatment, literally rescued from de- 
 struction, by our generous patient forbearance and 
 incessant good ofKces, and even placed on the 
 foreground of the nations, by dint of our arduous 
 national struggles — pursuing all her pitiful little 
 schemes of aggrandisement, with as much earnest- 
 ness, as if by her own means, she could set "the 
 world at defiance, and reach the object to which she 
 aspires, by such left-handed practices. But Spain 
 ought to know, that by filling her colonies with 
 enslaved Africans, she is endangering not only the 
 safety of her own colonies, but that of every other 
 i^uropean and civilized power in that quarter of 
 the globe. Spain has abundance of slaves, more 
 than she can profitably occupy ; and it ought to be 
 our first, our immediate duty, to make her consent 
 to tie up her hands, in regard to this odious traffick, 
 in the same way that both Britain and America 
 have done ; and to transfer to Britain, the same 
 power of carrying into effect the final laws that she 
 may thereupon institute, against such traffick, that 
 America has done. 
 
 Along with this concession, it seems to be in- 
 dispcnsibly necessary, to insist upon the same right 
 of search, that we have always done in regard to 
 America, and the same authority for carrying this 
 right into full effect. It is not by amusing Spain, 
 in regard to her national rights ; it is not by admin- 
 istering plentifully to her fastidious pride and jea-
 
 483 
 
 lousy, that Spain is to be benefited ; it is by lead- 
 ing her in the direct course of improvement, by ac- 
 customing her to retrenchments, privations, and 
 extreme exertions, to moderate views, to enter- 
 prises becoming her strength, her situation, her re- 
 sources ; by making her give way to the spirit of 
 renovation, to imbibe its influence, and to receive 
 into her system,"" salutary a'.id beneficent principles; 
 and by administering to her projects, only that aid 
 which coincides with the great good, of which it 
 is held, that she is heartily in quest. These views 
 of the procedure necessary in regard to Spain, are, 
 no doubt more severe than is consistent with that 
 conciliating spirit, which at present prevails ; but 
 thus, I apprehend, wt must ultimately conduct 
 ourselves, if we would preserve that power, for 
 the general good of the civilized world. Our com- 
 placency in the fervent patriotism of the Spanish 
 nation, must not make us overlook that fanati- 
 cal ignorance, with which their best qualities are 
 connected, nor forget these dismal eftects, which 
 have resulted from similar ])ro))cnsitics in former 
 ages. V/e know well, that this same high national 
 spirit, thus supported, at one time, desolated one 
 (juarter of the globe, and made the most tremen- 
 dous struggles for the complete establishment of a 
 concrete fanatical tyranny, of which we have any 
 instance upon record ; and that we have too much 
 reason to fear, even at present, that if ever the 
 Spanish domination, supported by the vast ac- 
 quirements and improvements now matured for 
 its service, should succeed in rearing aloft, that 
 cause to whiclj it still adheres ; we woidd find that 
 
 3 p 2
 
 484 
 
 we had superadded to the other miseries of this 
 world, a dark vindictive governance, of deadly 
 weight and transcendent siibtilty. 
 
 This is a matter of high moment to us, for we 
 know well, that France, of herself, has no power 
 that can bear directly against our colonial and ma- 
 ritime resources, and that she can never do this 
 effectually, otherwise, than through the medium of 
 Spain. It is evident to us, that the Spaniards re- 
 gard our ascendancy, with equal, or perhaps, with 
 more jealousy, than tiiey do that of France. At 
 present they are aroused, by the horrid crime com- 
 mitted by France, against their sovereign ; but they 
 regard this, more as a projected change of dynasty, 
 an attempt to meliorate, under French influence, 
 their general system, than as an attack on their 
 race and nation. The transcendent wickedness of 
 France has not yet opened their eyes to the cri- 
 minality of that power, nor alarmed them sufficient- 
 ly for their national honor and independence. If, 
 in such circumstances, France and Spain should 
 again coalesce ; or if the institutions of Spain should 
 imbibe the Jacobinical tenets of France ; or even if 
 Spain herself, deprived of the counterpoise of France 
 should remain the prey of a fanatical Jesuitical do- 
 mination ; the repugnance of their general institu- 
 tions to ours, would speedily disclose itself, and, 
 on the high ground of their consolidated and re- 
 animated system, introduce a mode of warfare, 
 that might be still more infuriate, and incompara- 
 bly more destructive to our best and highest inter-
 
 485 
 
 csts, than any that we have as yet experienced. It is, 
 at present, in our power, by infusing into the Span- 
 ish system, the principles of liberal and magnani- 
 mous improvement, so to renovate the national 
 spirit, so to incorporate its best interests, with 
 those of the world at large, and so to identify the pro- 
 gression of its commercial, territorial, and govern- 
 ing establishments, that the stability of the general 
 system of Spain, will be concatenated with that of 
 our own, and of the civilized world at large. And, 
 as the connexions and liguments thence produced, 
 would be no less beneficent than powerful ; invi- 
 gorating the character, as well as renovating the 
 circumstances, both of the government, and of 
 the nation ; the advantages to be procured, would 
 sooiybe perceived to be so salutary in their opera- 
 tion, as to render the difficulties and dangers, atten- 
 dant on their introduction, no ways important. 
 
 I AM aware, that there are certain objections 
 against the whole scheme of improvement now laid 
 down, of the most radical kind. Of these, perhaps, 
 the most formidable arises from its inapplicability 
 to the pressing exigencies of the mercantile world, 
 for whose service it is primarily held to be calcu- 
 lated. It must be admitted, that the great difficul- 
 ty at present lyes, in the want of an adequate mar- 
 ket for receiving our colonial produce, and for 
 realizing it into absolute value, that this wliole 
 scheme goes to increase the amount of this produce, 
 and that it does not set forth any adequate maiket 
 for their reception. Of what use, therefore, it may
 
 486 
 
 be said, are all these excitations, provisions, and 
 accessions of means, when the community, is al- 
 ready overburdened with a profusion of such things? 
 Direct access to the European market, peace with 
 Bonaparte, and a free trade to his dominions, would 
 prove at once a sure, and an immediate relief to 
 our system ; it would enable us to convert our su- 
 perfluous commodities into absolute wealth, and 
 and to obtain that powerful excitation for our lan- 
 guid reproductive powers, which they at present 
 so much want, without burdening ourselves with 
 those extrinsic operations that are so little appro- 
 priate to our circumstances. As this is the great 
 argument of those, who are inimical to the present 
 system of government, and as it carries them so 
 far, as to render them desirous of peace, almost on 
 any terms, it requires very pointed animadversion. 
 
 In the first place, let it be noticed, that we have 
 no such option left to us, as this which is here sub- 
 sumed; Bonaparte seeks not peace for its own sake, 
 but only on account of the advantage w^hich peace 
 would give him, in prosecuting his ulterior schemes 
 of aggrandisement. We might amuse ourselves, 
 with dismantling our navy, with paying off our 
 troops, and with consigning into his hands, those 
 distant possessions, the sources of our wealth, for 
 tlie sake of peace. In consequence of the redun- 
 dancy of our commercial facilities, we might also 
 force up a factitious commercial currency, and 
 pour into his territory, that superabundant wealth, 
 those precious productions and commodities, which 
 now overload our system; calculating on receiv-
 
 487 
 
 ing in lieu of them, returns equally valuable to us, 
 with those transmitted to our enemies. But would 
 Bonaparte meet us upon this ground ? Would 
 he feel equal complacency, in this peaceful inter- 
 course ? Does his former procedure warrant us to 
 indulge these expectations ? What did he do, dur- 
 ing the Amiens armistice ? Did not our ships en- 
 ter his ports, only to become subjects of hisspolia- 
 tive and restrictive measures ? Let us not again 
 deceive ourselves, Bonaparte now, as then, would 
 inform us, in case of complaints on this score, that 
 our only choice lay betwixt immediate hostilities, 
 and hostilities at a subsequent period; betwixt these 
 in present circumstances, and these under the chan- 
 ges to be produced by the operation of his system. 
 It never will be his wash, to give us any relief, com- 
 mercial or financial, that he can possibly withhold 
 from us. Our colonial productions, and our manu- 
 factured commodities, would be placed under ten- 
 fold restraints ; not so much for the sake of ensur- 
 ing employment to his own people, and bringing 
 forward his own internal and external resources, 
 as for that of depressing our system. We would 
 be relieved of our colonial pressure, merely by 
 surrendering our colonial establislunenls, and all 
 the wealth, which appertains to them into his hands. 
 Our seamen, our artists, our merchants, all the 
 ingenious and improved amongst us, would be ei- 
 ther allured, or terrified out of tlicir attachment 
 to their own establishments, and then decoyed into 
 his power. After working into the hands of his 
 ])eople, the several acquirements thus secured, these
 
 488 
 
 forlorn outcasts would be denuded alike of their 
 wealth, and of their respectability, and be plunged in- 
 to unmitigated abasement. Along with these, those 
 dignified and opulent individuals, whose hereditary 
 and possessory honors and riches, at present pent 
 up within our island, animate our industry, and 
 diffuse happiness and prosperity over our terri- 
 tory, these, allured by the charms of French li- 
 centiousness, and by those fascinating attractions 
 which are so ensnaring to the votaries of fashion, 
 would flock to his shores in thousands, and convey, 
 along with them, a great portion of our floating 
 wealth, to be laid out in debauching their minds, 
 and destroying their constitutions, and in enabling 
 them to transfer with a high hand, the vices and 
 follies of France, into our blissful territory. So far, 
 therefore, from finding these advantages from peace 
 which is vainly looked for from it, we would only 
 denude ourselves the more completely of our wealth 
 and power, place ourselves hopelessly beyond the 
 range of systematic improvement, and throw our 
 national character and independence, and, with 
 these, all that is valuable in our civil organization, 
 unreservedly at our enemies' feet. 
 
 Nor is this all ; while we would, with our char- 
 acteristic proneness to industry and improvement, 
 be sedulously patching up the fragments of wealth 
 and power, that lay still amongst our hands, and 
 be busily engaged in accommodating our reproduc- 
 tive- powers, to our renovating resources, Bona- 
 parte, with his usual vindictive policy, would pro-
 
 489 
 
 ceed to play off his artillery of wiles and intrigues 
 now laid fully open to their power, he would tra- 
 verse every scheme of improvement, and snatch 
 their premature fruits from us, for the mere pur- 
 pose of defrauding us of the wages of our industry. 
 Thus, we would speedily discover that we had only 
 abandoned our impregnable situation, in order to 
 enable our enemy to entrench himself upon it; and 
 obtained that relief, which tlie panting, worn-out 
 deer finds, when he lays himself down before his 
 pursuers. Was it not, while they reposed them- 
 selves in his bosom, that Spain and Italy, the Swiss 
 and the Dutch republics, received their destruc- 
 tion ? Give Bonaparte a secure access to regions 
 beyond the seas, and you will presently find his 
 name, decorated with the designation of Emperor 
 of Greece, Autocrate of tlie Mediterranean shores, 
 and Protector of the Ocean j a title, which he will 
 soon discover to the nations, implies quite another 
 thing, from these nameless ensignia of honor, with 
 which Britain contents herself, wliile blessing the 
 nations with her support and protection. That 
 Bonaparte and his nation have such procedure in 
 their: eye, we have already been forewarned. As 
 peace would enable Bonaparte, to plant his eagles 
 on the coasts of Hindcstan, and enable him to set 
 fully in motion, upon this summit of our empire, 
 his wonted train oFassumpLions and encroaclnnents; 
 as it would give him an ample opportunity for 
 worming us out of all our territories, in this part 
 of the world j and put it in his power, to introduce 
 his baleful influence into the French colonies of 
 
 '3 g
 
 490 
 
 Canada and Nova Scotia, into the Dutch colonies 
 in Guiana, and even into our own most ancient 
 West India possessions ; and as it would enable and 
 dispose him to pervade with the force and velocity 
 of lightning the irresolute Spanish and American 
 counsels; — can we, for a moment, doubt of the im- 
 potency of peace, as the means for effecting our 
 relief? Let but the bulwark of British maritime 
 supremacy be removed, and the intrigues and emis- 
 saries of France, seconded by that enfeebling ter- 
 ror and consternation, w^hich are the most redoubt- 
 ed v.'capons of its government, will be in motion, 
 all the world over, for the purpose of bringing 
 down the whole human race, to the disgraceful 
 yoke of French despotism. 
 
 It is a most deplorable delusion to suppose, that 
 there is any real distinction betwixt the views and 
 designs of Bonaparte, and those of the nation whicli 
 he governs. France is not destitute of peaceful, 
 well disposed, well informed men ; but these are, 
 at present, deprived of all power and influence, 
 and the nation from one end of it to another, is 
 so contaminated with licentious principles, as to 
 be incapable of submitting to the governance of 
 any other, but violent and ambitious men. France is 
 utterly incapable of wielding power for any other 
 purpose^ but for that of extending its rapacious 
 and licentious domination. France must, there- 
 fore, be taught lessons of moderation ; she must 
 learn to seek the advantages that are peculiar to 
 peaceful industry, and to discover as much repug-
 
 491 
 
 nance to war and cleceitfulness, as she now does 
 to tranquillity and fair dealing ; before we can ven- 
 ture to denude ourselves in her favor, of any con- 
 siderable part of these advantages, which, as a na- 
 tion, we at present enjoy. 
 
 The above considerations derive vast importance 
 from this circumstance, that the nations of Eu- 
 rope, are noways alarmed about the matter ; bent 
 down under the yoke of France, they have already 
 been taught, to conform themselves to her debas- 
 ing system. They seem, in general, to be incapa- 
 ble of making any farther efforts for their own de- 
 liverance. If we throw up our advantages, their 
 absorption into the French empire, will follow as 
 a thing of course ; the name of Europe will be lost 
 in that of the Western Empire ; and its various na- 
 tions will, thenceforward, be consigned over to that 
 unmitigated bondage, which coincides w^th the 
 military system, indurated by a concretion of its 
 parts, and by the defalcation of all these pure and 
 beneficent principles, that had arisen out of the 
 Christian and feudal systems, out of a consciousness 
 of individual worth and personal independence. 
 
 Secondly, we are by no means certain, that com- 
 mercial intercourse with Europe, was ever really 
 beneficial to our nation, to the extent which is here 
 subsumed. While our allies and our armies were 
 drawing their supplies from thence, it was higlily 
 useful and necessary for us, to have balances of 
 money, realized within these regions; for upon these, 
 
 3 Q 2
 
 492 
 
 our nation could raise a most advantageous finan- 
 cial superstructure, in support of their peculiar exi- 
 gencies. When our nobles consumed their wealth 
 within the precincts of the great cities of Europe, 
 it was most desirable to have wealth at hand, and 
 at the command of the industrious, whose claims 
 thus relieved the country of this unnatural pressure. 
 But as we all know now, that, since our allies and 
 our armies, our nobles and our men of fortune, have 
 been v/itlidrawn from Germany, that not only the 
 balances to be remitted to Europe have been sinking 
 in amount, but that this amount has been constant- 
 ly ial ling off in value J and as we know that the 
 American continent, if duly stimulated and sup- 
 ported by British capital and industry, would fur- 
 nish us most abundantly, with every European 
 commodity that we can desire ; the value of our 
 intercourse with Europe, necessarily sinks in our 
 estimation. The power of incipient improvement, 
 has again and again been noticed. This power 
 raises new establishments, and commutes the pow- 
 ers and productions of old ones. Let but a door 
 be laid open to the industrious and ingenious of 
 the oppressed countries of Europe, in the fertile' 
 plains of America, and these will fly off to the pos- 
 session of resources, whereon their powers and fa- 
 culties, fully exercised, will produce for our service 
 every thing upon which we can set our mind. The 
 stimulus of British capital and industry, would soon 
 find its way to those regions, and more than com- 
 pensate for all the advantages which the industrious 
 bad left behind them. Thus supported, Mexico and 

 
 493 
 
 Louisiana, Peru and La Plata, within less time 
 than has been necessary, to drain the marshes of 
 Guiana, would be brouglit to produce every pro- 
 duction and commodity that we now receive from 
 Europe, either in a finished state, or in a state fit for 
 meeting our powerful concentrated processes. Be- 
 sides this, though we had no alternative but to re- 
 sort to Europe for certain supplies, and therefore had 
 the strongest inducements to form in our favor, ba- 
 lances of trade, the idea of shutting ourselves out of 
 our own affairs, for the purpose of obtaining this ad- 
 vantage, would require deep consideration; especially 
 when it is noticed, that the powers of chemical 
 and mechanical improvement, reach not the corres- 
 ponding reproductive processes in Europe ; and that 
 while, under the influence of the renovated system, 
 these would reach all these new establishments, they 
 would institute at home, a new progression of cor- 
 responding improvements, and render those already 
 instituted, more valuable and more productive. 
 
 Assuming the introduction of such a state of 
 things, we must take along with us, this advantage 
 concurrent thereto — the industrious processes of 
 our allies, and all their facilities, would stand in 
 such direct want of our continued aid and inter- 
 course, that none of our own commodities would 
 want a merchant, over whose occasions they could 
 not exercise an equitable power, and that the pow- 
 er thus exercised, would necessarily resolve itself, 
 into a production of supplies congenial to our own 
 circumstances. This would give astinuihition and
 
 494 
 
 support, of the most direct nature, to our repro- 
 ductive processes; and it would, at the same time, 
 procure for the benefit of its own class of establish- 
 ments, a similar excitation and support. In Europe, 
 how much wealth is lost in the courses of exchange, 
 in the bankruptcies of individuals, in the spolia- 
 tion of states, and in the long circuit which commer- 
 cial wealth must describe, before it can reach the 
 coffers of the merchants, every step of which is 
 beset with difficulty and danger j and yet the whole 
 weight of the merchants, rests so implicitly on the 
 stability of this intercourse, that even delay and 
 disappointment may occasion their total destruc- 
 tion. In the circumstances that have been sup- 
 posed, all this hazard, all these hardships would be 
 saved ; the medium of exchange would be constant- 
 ly at hand, while the v/hole principles of the sys- 
 tem would operate, in the direct way of social and 
 individual advancement. We want but a relief to 
 our reproductive processes, a new source, whence 
 our European supplies may be drawn. How deserv- 
 ing of our highest regard, in this point of view, is 
 this great design ! 
 
 There is a third circumstance, coincident with 
 the foregoing views, that may be here adduced, 
 for the purpose of establishing this fact — that what- 
 ever the deficiencies attendant on the preceding 
 scheme of improvement, when taken as comprizing 
 all the interests to which it is here held to be ap- 
 plicable, may be ; yet that, in regard to those special 
 affairs, to which our present attention is more im-
 
 495 
 
 mediately directed — the deficiency in the medium 
 of exchange — this scheme is of most pecuhar im- 
 portance. As the procurement of a basis, on which 
 commercial intercourse may proceed with facility 
 and with security, must, in the most direct manner, 
 counteract that desolation that has proceeded with 
 such rapidity and effect, amidst the reproducti\c 
 powers of the nation, this scheme, even in this more 
 confined point of view, evidently meets this evil in 
 the teeth. It must be farther noticed, however, 
 that the financial relief, procured by this scheme 
 to our systehi, is of the most radical kind, and em- 
 braces the two great objects, without which no 
 very eflfectual financial relief can be at all acquir- 
 ed. First, it places within our power the means 
 for substantiating any financial system, that our 
 circumstances may render it necessary for us to 
 uphold J and secondly, it renders the reproductive 
 processes infinitely more beneficial to the commun- 
 ity at large, than they would otherwise be; it pro- 
 vides an ample field of expansion, into which they 
 may constantly resolve and expend themselves. Al- 
 though the value of such advantages has been already 
 fully illustrated, it is necessary to bring into view, 
 some of these circumstances, wherein these advan- 
 tages would, in this case, most powerfully operate, 
 in order to perceive at once their value and impor- 
 tance when they are thus procured. 
 
 However valuable, however indispensible, many 
 European commodities may be to our system, yet 
 it is well known, that hcrctolbrCj there has not onlv
 
 496 
 
 been no deficiency in our supplies of these commod- 
 ities but that there has not been even an apprehension 
 of any very immediate deficiency. On the contrary, 
 our system is almost as much regorged with Euro- 
 pean, as with native productions. The value of 
 our connexion with Europe, therefore, rests not so 
 much on that of the supplies, that we may thence 
 obtain, as on that resolubility of our own commodities 
 and productioijs, into absolute value, which there- 
 from results, and for which the relation in which 
 Europe stands in regard to us, so completely adapts 
 it. It is not here meant to say, that the sup- 
 plies, which we draw from Europe, are of any very 
 great moment to us ; or that it is seldom any real 
 advantage to our nation to possess large balances of 
 funds, in the hands of European merchants, upon 
 which we may operate at pleasure. But it is most 
 distinctly asserted, first, that the most valuable 
 part of those supplies may be produced under the 
 great scheme of improvement above sketched out; 
 so as to supercede the necessity of resorting to this 
 market for these supplies ; and so as to render us 
 in a great measure, independent of those supplies : 
 and secondly, that these balances, that remain due 
 to us in Europe, are of little national utility; they 
 seldom meet our great and general exigencies in 
 tliat way which we now hold them to do ; they too 
 frequently perish in the hands of the individual, 
 with whom they are held to exist j and they are 
 most generally replaced to the country, in com- 
 modities and productions, which merely go to sup- 
 plant others of a native kind. Direct access to the
 
 497 
 
 European market, enables us to convert our com- 
 modities into absolute value ; this is its great ad- 
 vantage to us, individually and collectively. It re- 
 mains to be noticed, however, that at present, and 
 indeed for a long time past, this value has been, for 
 the most part, lost in its progress homeward, that 
 the project which is here delineated, goes to relieve 
 our system from the evil hence induced, and that 
 it does this by interposing a substantial basis to 
 our commercial transactions, which operates in the 
 double capacity, of a basis to our financial opera- 
 tions, and a most profitable receptacle for the fruits 
 that may be hence produced. Both of these ad- 
 vantages shall be considered in their order. 
 
 In the first place, our financial operations may 
 be thereby substantiated. Our productions and 
 commodities, in virtue of that free and immediate 
 intercourse wath the Spanisli settlements in Amer- 
 ica, which we hold to liave been thus secured for 
 their service, must obtain that command over the 
 precious metals, which are therein to be found, to 
 that full extent, which' their value imports. This 
 is a most important consideration, not so much for 
 the real use that may be made of it, as for the im- 
 plied advantage, whicli it connects with our system. 
 It is, as has been already shewn, never tlie interest, 
 and seldom the wish of any merchant, to burden 
 himself with the task of receiving and delivering 
 the precious metals, in all his mercantile transac- 
 tions, when their substitute, a paper currency, can 
 serve tl«e same purpose. In the circumstances 
 
 3 rt
 
 498 
 
 which \vc now suppose our general system to be 
 placed, it is evident, that this substitute, a validated 
 paper currency, must derive a stability no other- 
 wise attainable. Being held to be absolute wealth, 
 it, as such, commands all these commodities and pro- 
 ductions and properties, that are in tlic common 
 market. Tliese various commodities .again, from 
 their access into the Spanish- American market, 
 must command the precious metals to their full a- 
 mount. We may apprehend, that our commodities, 
 in case of their superabundance, may depreciate, 
 may command less absolute value in these markets 
 than their pria:ary distination imported ; but what- 
 ever that absolute value is, which our commodities 
 can command in such circumstances, we can be un- 
 der no apprehension respecting its being substantia- 
 ble, at pleasure, in the most accredited form j for 
 there is known to be at hand, for the service of the 
 opulent, an unbounded supply of the standard me- 
 dium of excliange, of that instrument to which all 
 may, with full eiiect, in every emergency appeal ; 
 and this knowledge, while it will, and must, dissi- 
 pate those chimiCrical apprehensions, w^hich arising 
 out of the uncertainty of the case, are daily so de- 
 structive to the enterprizing, paralyzing their pow- 
 ers, and withering up their means, will direct the 
 attention of the industrious, and of those on whom 
 the industrious are most dependent, to the real cir- 
 cumstances in which they stand, and enable tliem to 
 send fbifcli their respective productions, under the 
 most favorable auspices. 

 
 499 
 
 Let it now be recollected, tliat it is upon the 
 stability of our general financial system, that our 
 national industry and commerce necessarily turn ; 
 that upon these, accordingly, our whole possessions, 
 privileges, and powers, are completely dependant j 
 and that without these, our personal independence, 
 happiness, and improvement, would be without 
 any radical support. Nor is this all ; we must re- 
 member, that the stability of our great financial 
 system, is tantamount to that of that great system, 
 by which the power of our nation is maintained ; and 
 that in the fidi of this great general system, that of 
 our nation and race are most completely involved. 
 Now we know, that in spite of all oiu' fictitious props, 
 our financial system is still shaking to tlic foun- 
 dation, and that it never can obtain that substan- 
 tial basis and security, which are so necessary to 
 its stability, while it rests so completely on the c- 
 ventual support of a continent under our enemy's 
 power. In those days, when gold and substantial 
 wealth could enter our territory and pass from it, 
 in perfect harmony with the general movements 
 of a common system of reproduction and expendi- 
 ture, wc might discover little soli(!itude about the 
 situation of such affairs; for the financial operations 
 that were induced, took ])lace in a manner so sub- 
 tile and so irresistible, that neither the jealousy nor 
 the influence of states, could greatly retard them, 
 nor derange their ultimate resolubility. Then too, 
 when the interests of states, were held to involve 
 those of their subjects, it became the duty and the 
 practice of nations, not only to keep measures with 
 
 .'3 R '2
 
 500 
 
 each other, someway correspondent to their relative 
 situation ; but to meet the distressful emergencies, 
 that arose out of the contingencies of trade, by salu- 
 tary and appropriate provisions. Now a-days, how- 
 ever, we have to contend with an adversary, to whom 
 the losses and afflictions of his people, are matters 
 of no moment whatever, when these are subser- 
 vient to the prosecution of his hostile procedure. 
 Amongst the causes of our present distresses, per- 
 haps, the most prominent is, the destruction of pro- 
 perty appertaining to individuals subjected to his 
 power who had become our debtors j for these, de- 
 nuded of their all, can neither discharge their en- 
 gagements to us, nor relieve us of those commodities 
 that we have prepared for their use. Indeed, it 
 is this circumstance, more than all his restrictive 
 measures, that has deranged our financial system ; 
 and, so long as things are kept agoing on this foot- 
 ing, we can have no security, either for repayment 
 of the balances that may become due to us, with- 
 in his domains ; nor for a fair and suitable market 
 for those commodities that we may prepare for their 
 service ; and of course, we can have no stable basis, 
 on which to rest our financial system. With the 
 individual debtor, in whose person the sums of 
 money that are due to us resides, these sums must 
 stand or fall ; and with the fall of the wealth thus 
 represented, that circulating medium, which this 
 wealth upholds, and all that are dependant upon 
 it, must also in like manner stand or fail. It is 
 evident, therefore, that we are necessitated to seek 
 out a new support to our system, and that the
 
 501 
 
 project now before us, which promises so fair f'oi: 
 this purpose, comes very appropriately to our hand. 
 
 This matter is of much greater moment, than 
 we are at first disposed to admit. While our gen- 
 eral process of consumption and production, rests 
 entirely on that of the country, under Bonaparte, 
 we must not only encounter all the evils that be- 
 set the operation of two systems so unnaturally 
 united ; but we must sedulously meet those that are 
 peculiar to our own. Our system is upheld by, 
 and involved in, an immense consumption of pro- 
 ductions, foreign and domestic, that are brought • 
 into our hands for tliis purpose. In consuming 
 these, while we, nationally, presuppose our having 
 met, or prepared ourselves for meeting, the obliga- 
 tions which iheir procurement implies ; we, individ* 
 ually, consume French wines and silks, whether 
 Bonaparte will accept of our cottons and sugars in 
 return for them or not; and our merchants pay for 
 their wines and silks, whether the purchasers of Bri- 
 tish cottons and sugars, will discharge their counter- 
 claims to us or not. As Bonaparte may consign to 
 death and slavery, the individual who violates his 
 ordinations, by attempting to meet his engagements 
 with British merchants, he can, in the person and 
 effects of his debtor, destroy the claims of our 
 merchants, upon his subjects. But to this loss, 
 Britain has to add another, not less mischievous. 
 She had procured French commodities, in the hopes 
 of thereby obtaini.ig a remuneration for her own 
 exports; she had satiated her own consumption.
 
 502 
 
 by foreign means, to the exclusion of those of her 
 own territory, in the view of leiilising wealth, creat- 
 ed abroad within her enemy's control. While the 
 ilestriiction of the French merchants, therefore, an- 
 nihilates our foreign wealth, the expected remun- 
 eration; the British nation must pay, and does pay, 
 for the French commodities, which it had, in con- 
 sequence of this expectation, consumed. Gur go- 
 vernment rejoices not in the destruction of any 
 of its subjects, however these may be employed j 
 the whole advantages of our national laws and in- 
 stitutions, are as fully within the power of the 
 French, as of the British merchant, who can se- 
 curely carry on every legitimate traffic of export 
 and import, whether the value of this traffick, re- 
 solves itself into the service of the British, or into 
 that of the French general system. That the evil at- 
 tendant on these combined losses, must be tremen- 
 dous, is obvious. Bonaparte has annihilated our 
 claims upon France, by the destruction of British 
 productions; in which productions, the property 
 of the debtors of Britain was invested. Britain, 
 however, like America, having by habit necessi- 
 tated herself to make use of certain French com- 
 modities, and having also, accustomed herself to 
 rest on the means in the hands of these debtors for 
 discharging her ovv'n counter obligations, is sud- 
 denly deprived of these means. The debtors to 
 France, cannot set up the fall of these counter deb- 
 tors, because the laws and customs of Britain ad- 
 mit of no such thing, and because the merciful go- 
 vernment of Britain would rather shelter their
 
 503 
 
 forlorn creditors and all their connexions from, 
 than expose them to, new persecutions from their 
 vindictive government. Britain therefore, like A- 
 merica, pays double for her foreign supplies ; first, 
 in the losses which Ik)naparte's spoliative system 
 occasions ; and secondly, in the price delivered for 
 commodities, which she was led to consume in the 
 view of extinguishing her foreign debts; all of which 
 commodities, she might have supplanted, either by 
 some native, or more convenient foreign commodi- 
 ties ; if the French had not been held to be solvent 
 debtors. As the balance, thus created against us, 
 has generally been discharged in gold ; and as there 
 is a growing tendency towards the consumption of 
 French commodities, whicli is gradually placing us 
 in similar circumstances of dependance, in regard 
 to commerce with that country, with those which 
 have already been so fully illustrated, in the case of 
 America; and as there has subsisted for along time, 
 a most injurious concatenation of our productive 
 establishments, with those of subjugated Europe-; 
 some such relief to our commercial and financial 
 operations, as that now under consideration, seems 
 to have become indispcnsibly necessary. 
 
 The importance of the acquisition, here unfolded, 
 will appear still more remarkable, when we consi- 
 der the operation of the second class of advantages, 
 to be procured lor our financial system, by the great 
 scheme of improvement above illustrated ; namely, 
 the direct resolubility of tlic fruits of industry, in- 
 to the augmentation and extension of the powers
 
 504 
 
 of reproduction, which thus become a most profit- 
 able receptacle for the value of their own fruits. For 
 this purpose, let us attend to the financial and com- 
 mercial operations, that are supported, by one of 
 those vast sugar and coffee establishments, that have 
 been recently set agoing, under British influence, in 
 Dutch Guiana. When a proprietor of one of these 
 estates wishes to be reheved of his burden, and 
 to carry home his wealth, he does not expect to 
 find a purchaser, who can pay down to him its re- 
 puted value. If he can get one, who will disburse 
 to him, but one twentieth part of this price, and 
 give him security for two or three twentieths more, 
 to be paid within a year or two thereafter, he sel- 
 dom scruples to extend the term for payment of 
 the remainder, to a convenient period. As each 
 estate extends several miles backwards into a rude 
 and uncultivated country, and is susceptible not 
 only of vast improvement, but of great extension; 
 it becomes evidently the interest of the new proprie- 
 tor, to attach himself to some substantial mercan- 
 tile house in Britain, who upon the security, which 
 a right of reversion to his property can afford, will 
 accommodate him with means, for procuring all his 
 requisite supplies ; accepting of the emoluments, 
 that may result from his consignations, and other 
 transactions to which the connexion may give birth, 
 as a fair consideration for the accommodation thus 
 bestowed. In this manner, upon the slender capi- 
 tal of a thousand pounds or two, a property may be 
 created, which, within a few years, will send forth, 
 annually, produce to twice the value of the capi-
 
 505 
 
 tal thus sunk. Upon a foundation so stable, arti- 
 culate obligations, that are tantamount to the au- 
 thorized currency of the country may, to an indefin- 
 ite extent, be issued by the various parties inter- 
 ested in this business, including alike the different 
 owners of the estate, and every individual through 
 whose hands, any right to it, or to any of its fruits 
 nnay pass; and it is perfectly evident, that if none 
 of those, who are thus interested, miscalculate or 
 misapply his own proportion of this value, it will 
 remain as well secured for his service, asif it were 
 substantiated by a corresponding deposition in gold. 
 The vast strength and importance of this financial 
 basis, may be conceived from this circumstance, 
 that drafts and bonds, thus validated, having seve- 
 ral years to run, are frequently passed as payments, 
 under the mere deduction of the current discount. 
 
 We all know, however, that sugar establishments 
 have been so multiplied and enlarged, that their 
 produce has become superabundant ; and that hence 
 a diminution in the estimation of the financial o- 
 perations, which they support, has taken place. In 
 the case before us, however, no such danger can 
 warrantably be apprehended ; for our consumption 
 of flax, hemp, naval and military stores, of the pre- 
 cious metals, and of the more valuable dyewoods, 
 gums, wines, and oils, is not likely to be overdone 
 for some generations. But besides this, the difficulty 
 and expense, attending the construction of cstab- 
 lisliments for the procurement of such articles, 
 and the natural imbecility of their highest reproduce 
 
 3 s
 
 506 
 
 tive powers, even when improved to the utmost, 
 do not lead us to apprehend anysucli overwhelming 
 supplies, as those which have been obtained from cor- 
 responding improvements, vested in establishments 
 for producing cotton, coffee, or sugar. And, let 
 it be recollected, that although some diminution of 
 value should ultimately take place, we will still have 
 secured for our own use, the whole advantages 
 which this progression of improvement may pro- 
 duce, in favor of our internal reproductive proces- 
 ses. Our domestic establishments, kept in motion 
 by such powerful external excitation, must have 
 sent forth aggregated wealth of no ordinary capa- 
 city ; and this wealth, from the peculiarly stable foot- 
 ing on which it has been held, must have become 
 alike powerful and substantial. 
 
 It will be noticed, that these advantages are ut- 
 terly unattainable at present from any intercourse 
 that we may maintain with subjugated Europe; for 
 these advantages imply not only a reproductive ba- 
 sis, but a safe and equitable mode of intercourse ; 
 both of which are completely awanting in the inter- 
 course, which we maintain with the dominions of 
 France. Besides as our intercourse v/ith Europe con- 
 sists merely in perishable commodities, which, in the 
 course of distribution and consumption, can do no 
 more than supply the current wants of each com- 
 munity, so the intrinsic value of these commod- 
 ities, and of the intercourse which they support,, 
 is seldom any more than that which they can 
 obtain, in the eves of the consumer. It is for his.
 
 507 
 
 ©rcasions, that they arc calculated ; and his occa- 
 sions correspond with a state of things, wherein 
 the processes of consumption and reproduction, as 
 nearly as possible, balance each other. In such 
 circumstances, it can serve no very great purpose 
 to augment the stimulus and support that are or- 
 dinarily administered ; for the compressed con- 
 dition, into which the whole devclopements, aris- 
 ing out of the characters, circumstances, powers, 
 and means of the European communities, ar-e ne- 
 cessarily received, and their ultimate results, are so 
 lost, absorbed, or traversed, as to be of no substantial 
 avail. How very different these circumstances are, 
 from those which we warrantably consider as re- 
 sulting from the influence of the new system that 
 has been pourtraycd, we may readily conjecture. 
 There, an unbounded range is secured for every 
 devclopement of industry, character, and condi- 
 tion ; there, no stimulus need be lost, for it can 
 operate alike powerfully, in every direction ; every 
 acquisition, necessarily resolving itself, into an aug- 
 mentation of the aggregate process of reproduc- 
 tion ; and, besides calling forth its present value, 
 (and this it generally obtains most amply,) becom- 
 ing the germ of greater and higher acquisitions. 
 When in consequence of successive accessions of 
 these, the reproductive establishments have been 
 concentrated and concatenated, each of these seve- 
 ral establishments, like so many sell' moving prin- 
 ciples of reproduction, will send f()rward, in such 
 profusion, every different species of wealth, that the 
 whole wants of tlic community, will not only be a- 
 
 3 s 2
 
 50S 
 
 bimdantly supplied, but from their mutual co-opera- 
 tion, be made to balance each other, and to support 
 those incrementive and distributive operations, on 
 which our financial system is founded, and render- 
 ed profitable and secure. Here, every thing may 
 be held to resolve itself into reproductive powder ; 
 and here, accordingly, every nominal accession of 
 wealth, like the flocks and herds of ancient times, 
 will possess an augmentative, as well as an articulate 
 value. While it circulates, its innate value is dis- 
 played; and even in possession, its real and substan- 
 tial validity and excellence is unfolded in the fruits, 
 which it is perpetually sending forth for the ser- 
 vice of its possessor. While it advances in stability, 
 and in the increase of its productive force, it will give 
 forth substantiated wealth, in a perpetually aug- 
 menting ratio ; and uphold a financial superstruc- 
 ture, which will become enlarged in capacity and 
 vigor, in proportion to this increase and extension. 
 
 This remark serves to introduce into notice, 
 two very peculiar excellencies in the financial sys- 
 tem to be thus upheld. First, a mass of funded 
 property is produced, which is, in some degree, inde- 
 pendent of the ordinary operations of trade. The 
 funded property, that is vested in, and rests upon, 
 our commercial intercourse with Europe, has 
 scarcely any other support, but the exuberance of 
 productions and commodities, above the direct con- 
 sumption of the producers and fiibricators. The 
 wealth, that is thus created, is represented by the 
 fruits of industry that have been, or may be pre-
 
 509 
 
 pared for delivery and consumption ; and with the va- 
 lue of these fruits its value rises or falls. Hence pro- 
 ceed those trepidations in the course of exchange, 
 and in the profits of trade, that are so vexatious and 
 ruinous, even in the most flourishing circumstances. 
 The funded property, however, which arises out of, 
 and is upheld by investitures in reproductive estab- 
 lishments, placed in such circumstances, rises above 
 these contingent trepidations ; it combines the ad- 
 \antage of an inheritance, with that of circulable 
 wealfeli. Every addition that is made to the repro- 
 ductive power of these establishments, every in- 
 stalment that is discharged by their operations, ren- 
 ders the basis of the finance that is thus upheld, 
 more valuable and efficient. Our circulating me- 
 dium, we know, consists chiefly of direct impledg- 
 ments, emitted by bankers and other men of wealth. 
 The wealth of these parties, we also know, consists 
 chiefly of articulate obligations, received in the 
 way of discount from men in trade ; for it must be 
 noticed, that in general, the aggregate value of all 
 the funded and landed properties of these parties, 
 disappears, when compared with the amount of the 
 obligations with which they are burdened. As these 
 obligations arise from, and must ultimately be re- 
 solved into, and discharged out of such operations, 
 it is evident, that the whole fabric of finance, that is 
 thus upheld, rests on the validity of these articulate 
 obligations — or, in other words, that the substantial 
 excellence of our circulating medium consists, at 
 jHcsent, in the capabilities of men in trade, of men 
 who traffick in commodities iind productions, (o
 
 510 
 
 meet their engagements — of men who rest on the 
 value of the fruits cf industry, and whose effects are 
 of the same perishable nature with this value. By 
 the new system, however, a condensation of the 
 powers of increase, is provided for the support of 
 financial operations ; upon this basis, articulate 
 impledgments may, at all times, with perfect safety 
 be uttered. The public mind, relieved of dubiety 
 in regard to the ultimate resolubility of these im- 
 pledgments, may in all cases, even amidst emer- 
 gencies of the most extreme kind, securely rest u- 
 pon the substantial value of these impledgments. 
 The destruction of the fruits of industry, or their 
 increase, cannot destroy the value or ultimate re- 
 solubility of these impledgments, it cannot inva- 
 lidate their current acceptations ; wherefore in such 
 circumstances, it must daily become more and more 
 manifest, that whatever the trepidations of value 
 that affect productions and commodities may be, the 
 radical incremental power, the accumulative facul- 
 ties, vested in reproductive establishments, thus 
 stimulated and supported, must substantiate and 
 fill up the denominative wealth of these impledg^ 
 ments ; the validity of which, accordingly, must al- 
 Avays be in a progressive state, so long as the fruits 
 of our establishments, can command the range of 
 wealth, which the three vast empires, which are 
 thus held to be combined, necessarily comprizes.. 
 But these impledgments not only rest on the basis 
 of a permanent property, they also necessarily re- 
 iiolve themselves, into the augmentation of this ba- 
 sis. And let it also be noticed, that while within
 
 511 
 
 this basis, are comprized the interests of three great 
 empires, all advancing in power, severally apart, 
 on the ground of their nationality, the progression 
 of improvement, thus instituted, must consolidate 
 this basis, and render the extent and number, as 
 well as the strength and validity of the implcdg- 
 ments uttered, proportionably greater. Such a sys- 
 tem will not soon be affected or destroyed by con- 
 tingent calamities. It may be proper to devise 
 some method, for advancing direct impledgments 
 to the foreground of financial intercourse, on prin- 
 ciples similar to those that are in practice, betwixt 
 West India owners and their merchants ; who oc- 
 casionally circulate articulate obligations, that have 
 several years to run ; but as this financial advantage 
 may fairly be calculated upon, as one that would, 
 of its own accord, arise out of these circumstances, 
 it is unnecessary in this place to burden ourselves 
 with its elucidation. 
 
 The other peculiar excellence attendant on the 
 operation of this scheme of finance, has already 
 been in some degree illustrated. It consists in the 
 solidity and irrcfragability of the financial basis, 
 already unfolded. It is not merely the destruction 
 of wealth and means, that we have to complain of, 
 in regard to our foreign losses ; it is the cmbarass- 
 ments that arise out of the disappointments which 
 originate in these losses. These are by far the 
 most extensive and calamitous of our misfortunes. 
 Our bankers, calculating on an increase of the re- 
 productive capabilities of the nation, fiankly in-
 
 3V2 
 
 terpo.^c their impledgmcnts for the service of* the 
 industrious, and thus set these forward in their re- 
 spective courses, with accelerated strength ; but 
 when disappointments and irreguhirities take place, 
 the bankers must (as at present,) retain their im- 
 pledgmcnts, and thus render our reproductive es- 
 tablishments, doubly liable to complete destruc- 
 tion. By the operation of the above system, how- 
 ever, a two-told advantage is secured ; first, there 
 is provided a financial basis, whereon the movements 
 of industry may proceed, with little chance pf such 
 interruption ; and this, it must be noticed, would be 
 a vast acquisition. What mischief arises from un- 
 substantiated notes being circulated as cash, their 
 proceeds applied to present exigencies, and little ac^ 
 count taken of the chance that remains of their final 
 irresolubility ! In consequence of this, one slight 
 disappointment is often the occasion of many 
 much greater ; and a number of such, sometimes 
 bring to the ground the strongest establishments. 
 From these embarrassments, our financial system 
 must, in general, be exempted, in consequence of the 
 substantial medium of intercourse, on which its oper- 
 ations turn. Secondly, the security, thence obtain- 
 ed, must not only induce bankers and others, to ut- 
 ter, with more discernment, and with greater safety, 
 their impledgmcnts ; but it must attract men of 
 real capital and experience into the field of enter- 
 prize, and thus render any interruption, that may 
 still ensue, of little general moment. These, at pre- 
 sent, from the vast numbers of incalculable risks, 
 that on all hands beset the course of trade, arc gen-
 
 5VJ 
 
 craily kept aback ; yet they are involved in the con* 
 sequences of trade, at least to a certain extent, while 
 tlie foreground of commerce is occupied by the 
 merest adventurers. Tlie present scheme, however, 
 prepares tlie way for their admission into the fields 
 of enterprize; a lengthened credit is needful; and 
 the person, who cannot give or obtain this, must a- 
 bandon that foreground of enterprize, which is now 
 so injuriously maintained by him, in favor of the 
 wealthy and substantial, who, tenacious of their pro- 
 perty, will examine the course in which this proper- 
 ty must move, before they permit it to leave their 
 hands. These combined advantages, will gradual- 
 ly strengthen the whole chain of commercial and 
 financial operations, and ultimately render their re- 
 sults, both more lucrative and more substantial. 
 
 Therk is a fourth circumstance, that must be 
 taken into account, in judging of the capacity of 
 this great system for meeting the exigencies of trade. 
 Whatever its inunediate effects may be, in j)roduc- 
 ing a surcharge of certain commodities; it must 
 ultimately operate such relief, both to the Euro- 
 pean system of reproduction and consumption, and 
 to our own, as to place these on that basis, which 
 is most correspondent to the reciprocal wants of 
 each. JSo long as we continue to surcharge the 
 European markets with connnoditics, that go to tra- 
 verse the course of native industry, so long we 
 maim their power for remunerating our services, 
 and tor repaying to us our debts. It can serve no 
 good end, to introduce articles of value into a for- 
 
 3 T
 
 514 
 
 eign market, unless equal value is to be drawn 
 back, in return for it. While we press our com- 
 modities upon the European market, and super- 
 cede the improvement of indigenous resources, 
 we must be content to let the arrears, that therein 
 become due* to us, perish amidst bankruptcies, los- 
 ses of exchange, and the other necessary attendants 
 on unbalanced intercourse. By the scheme now 
 set forth, however, a relief to our overflowing re- 
 productive powers is obtained, which, while it pro- 
 fitably exercises our reproductive powers, relieves 
 us from the necessity of dependence upon a hostile 
 market. But this new system does more than this ; 
 it enables and disposes the inhabitants of Europe, 
 to cultivate their own reproductive powers, to ac- 
 cumulate property and funds to command the pro- 
 perty thus created ; and thus to become qualified for 
 meeting us on fair terms, in our own market. 
 
 These are considerations of great and radical im- 
 portance, not only when viewed in a commercial 
 light, but when taken in that light, which it be- 
 comes us, as engaged in hostilities, to adopt. If we 
 cease to surcharge the European system with our 
 commodities, the spirit of rapacity, which preys up- 
 on such spoil, must want its appropriate food. The 
 genius of industry and of fair dealing would, there- 
 upon, become seated on its proper throne, and it 
 would not only dispose and enable the European sys- 
 tem, to provide and send forth commodities and 
 productions, correspondent to its circumstances, 
 but it would effectually curb the career of that li-
 
 515 
 
 centiousness and corruption, which are at present 
 so formidable. In the circumstances tliat have 
 been supposed, we would not only be relieved from 
 the losses incident to this spoliative system; but we 
 might become the arbiters, in place of the servitors 
 of the general market ; our commodities would 
 command a fliir price, and this price might be laid 
 out, with suitable deliberation, to the advantage of 
 the proprietor. It might most advantageously com- 
 mand its value in the choicest commodities in the 
 European market; for our commodities would not 
 only command their relative amount of absolute va- 
 lue, but this absolute value would become profitably 
 substantiated within our territory — it would reach 
 our coffers in its full and received import. Thus we 
 would, indirectly, contribute to the renovation of 
 the European system, at the same time, and by 
 the same means, that we advanced our own. 
 
 I AM fully aware, however, that all these advan- 
 tages would not only be lame and slow, but \ery 
 limited, in their operation. There would thereby 
 be provided, a strong and irrefragable basis of fin- 
 ance ; there would be procured an ample field of 
 improvement for resolving its fruits and its strength; 
 and the advantages, that might therefrom result, 
 would be alike momentous to our system, and to 
 our individual interests. Still, however, it must 
 be noticed, that there remains another most formi- 
 dable objection to this scheme of improvement, 
 in so far as it has been developed. Its operation 
 is neither connnensurate to, nor competent for, all 
 
 3 T 2
 
 516 
 
 the great matters, which our exigencies require. 
 It is necessary for us, not only to extend the range 
 and the influence of improvement, for the purpose 
 of securing to ourselves ample means and abun- 
 dant scope, on which to exercise our faculties, the 
 power of producing and that of commanding all the 
 resources, that are necessary for our own peculiar 
 wants and occasions; but it is farther needful for 
 us, to accomplish these objects, under such circum- 
 stances, that their whole advantages may be made 
 to bear, with full effect, upon our highest duties and 
 most important concernments ; so as not only to 
 contravene the hostile and insidious dispositions 
 of our enemies, but to set a-going the improvement 
 thus instituted, in a secure and commanding pos- 
 ition. It would serve a very bad purpose to pro- 
 duce high energies, that might speedily be seized 
 by the common destroyer, and rendered direct in- 
 struments in augmenting the common ruin. Yet 
 in what other circumstances, would all our trans- 
 marine possessions be, if the whole shores of Eur- 
 ope, with all the resources of that vast continent, 
 were impressed by the influence of the great de- 
 stroyer ? Would not our abandoning those inti- 
 mate and ennobling connexions, which bind up 
 our interests with those of Christendom, and out 
 betaking ourselves, thus unhesitatingly, to a sphere 
 of action, which goes to traverse these interests, not 
 only prove injurious to our natural allies, but dis- 
 pose them to enter with the most determined hostil- 
 ity, into the measures of the great destroyer. Such 
 procedure, would enfeeble our own system, aug^
 
 517 
 
 ment the difficulties and dangers, with which it 
 might be beset, and render the restoration of peace- 
 ful harmon and security, both more remote and 
 more contingent. 
 
 But besides this, are we to leave behind us so 
 large, and so valuable a portion of our race, as the 
 inhabitants of the European continent unquestion- 
 ably are? In place of contributing our whole force 
 and resources towards their recovery, are we to 
 withdraw from their vicinity and from their service 
 those means and energies that are at hand, to re- 
 claim them from their debasement, and to restore 
 them to their pristine happy condition ? Do their 
 kindred interests, their native earnestness and zeal 
 in a common cause, so long and so arduously, 
 though so unhappily maintained along-side of us, 
 not plead strongly and irresistibly in their behalf, 
 and discover to us, that any scheme of improve- 
 ment, which leaves out any part of Christendom, is 
 altogether imperfect ? What do we gain by transfer- 
 ring to remote regions, that great process of improve- 
 ment, of which we are the immediate conductors, 
 if we remove out of the way, that power of which 
 our enemy stands so much in dread, if, while we 
 advance these regions on the foreground of general 
 improvement, we instigate the common enemy 
 to do his utmost for the establishment of his own 
 system ? The eastern world is still before him, and 
 he may bend the whole force of his empire towards 
 this great object. By this means, he may be ena- 
 ])led to consolidate his destroying energies, to or-
 
 518 
 
 ganise all Europe under a military government, and 
 to institute a system of coertion, wherein power, un- 
 mitigated by any generous principle, may goad on 
 the whole faculties of man, and the whole resour- 
 ces of nature in its service. To mention the pos- 
 sibility of such a thing, plainly indicates the impor- 
 tance of those considerations to wliich it is attach- 
 ed. If ever the energies of Europe, its progression 
 of improvement, its reproductive powers, should 
 be disciplined into such subjection, as is here sup- 
 posed, every thing that has tlie name and appear- 
 ance of generous emulation, and dignified enter- 
 prize, must resolve itself into the augmentation 
 of those malignant influences ; the name and the 
 appearance of Christianity and independence may 
 sink out of view, and the whole social and civil, 
 territorial and institutional resources of this most 
 invaluable portion of the globe, may become con- 
 solidated in fixed establishments, that are natively 
 inverted against tlie common cause, and directly 
 subversive of those influences, out of which this 
 cause at first originated. Knowing as we now do, 
 the dreadful operation of such advantages, when 
 thus perverted and indurated, does it not become 
 us to take care, least amidst our great schemes of 
 improvement, principles of deterioration, infinitely 
 more inimical to social and individual improvement 
 and advancement, than any that have as yet dis^ 
 closed themselves, should make their appearance ? 
 
 These considerations discover to us, the neces- 
 sity of comprising in our plan various other prmci-
 
 519 
 
 pies, besides those that have heretofore been noticed. 
 Europe, or more properly speaking Christendom, 
 has been the scat of every thing great and digni- 
 fied in human nature ; it has been the parent, the 
 fosterer, and the guardian of every improvement, 
 of which we are possessed. We are ourselves, but 
 the advanced guard of this high progression of 
 things ; and it is but of yesterday, that we became 
 this advanced guard. We owe it, therefore, to our- 
 selves, to Europe, and to the world at large, to cher- 
 ish our primitive principles in their native soil ; and 
 in the present important crisis, to do our duty 
 to the leading interests of Christendom, and in spite 
 of dangers and calamities, of terror and misfortune, 
 however aggregated or concatenated, to prosecute 
 to the utmost all those measures, into which this 
 duty may conduct us. To abandon the cause of 
 Christendom, for the sake of any advantage wliat- 
 ever, is a kind of national treason to our supreme 
 duty ; to abandon it for the sake of any projected 
 scheme of improvement, merely indicates that fren- 
 zy and infatuation are added to tliis treasonable 
 disposition. This is a duty, that has been laid on 
 us by a superior hand; and we can no more plead 
 exemption from its obligancy, than individuals can 
 from the duties that they owe to their parents and 
 kinsmen. AVe must not be disheartened at the 
 prostrate state of the European nations, nor at our 
 former want of success ; for though our co-operation 
 in the common cause, in this view, has not been 
 prominent, it has served the great purpose of dis- 
 playing the superior power and excellence of the
 
 520 
 
 Christian and feudal systems, and secured in our 
 favor, the confidence and best affections, even of 
 those who fight under opposite banners. These 
 considerations deserve our regard, and they cannot 
 but animate us to the discharge of these impor- 
 tant duties. 
 
 Happily for us, the great leading interests of 
 Christendom do not interfere with those of the 
 great sclieme of improvement that has been un- 
 folded. It is not the interest, and it cannot now 
 be the wish of any of the European nations, (France 
 only excepted,) to infringe on our maritime rights, 
 to restrain the progress of improvement across the 
 Atlantic, or otherwise to circumvent the leading 
 objects of the great scheme before us. Their main 
 solicitude has been directed towards objects, in 
 which we could have no real concern ; such as the 
 boundaries of their respective territories, and the 
 rise and fall of kindred dynasties of greater or les- 
 ser name. These things, have frequently exhausted 
 their, and our several resources ; indeed, without 
 such objects as leading matters, our several resour- 
 ces have seldom been exercised together. Though 
 such things have now little general interest, they 
 are by no means unimportant ; for when these mat- 
 ters can be set at rest on a stable foundation, oth- 
 er disputes of greater note will, of themselves, disap- 
 pear; but as this subject, which is evidently of a very 
 complex nature, noways encumbers the principles 
 on which this great scheme of improvement pro- 
 ceeds, nor impedes its general movements, it is
 
 521 
 
 unnecessary, at present, to burden ourselves with 
 its investigation. 
 
 In the meantime, however, let it be observed, 
 that we may warrantably expect, that the leading- 
 principles of this scheme will, also, ere long, be ex- 
 tended to the oppressed nations of Christendom. 
 Until of late, the procedure of the British cabinet, 
 in regard to these nations, was perplexed by the 
 intricate views and plans of corrupt and effeminate 
 courts ; our alliance with which implied, in general, 
 the most direct opposition to those great and lead- 
 ing interests of the people, which it is the business of 
 this scheme to promote. At length, however, the 
 wickedness and fallacy of these alliances has been 
 disclosed ; and the advantages, inseparable from 
 leaguing popular with constituted claims have been 
 fully established and recognized. It is only neces- 
 sary to give the principles, already adopted by us, 
 suitable extension, in order to envelope the whole of 
 Europe, more or less, under the influence of our sys- 
 tem. It is true, that for the present we must con- 
 tent ourselves with very moderate views on this 
 head; a dark gloomy tyranny forbids the entrance 
 of those benign principles, within these once favored 
 regions, which are essential to the system that has 
 been developed; the influence therefore, which 
 these principles can, in such circumstances, exer- 
 cise over them, is at once indirect, irregular, and 
 precarious. All these, however, and every such 
 desponding consideration, must disappear, when 
 we consider, that improvement possesses an wi- 
 
 3 u
 
 522 
 
 .fluence or radiance, which, Hke the beams of the 
 sun, cannot be entirely precluded by human inter- 
 ference. So long as we can display to these :ia- 
 tions the transcendent excellency of our own gener- 
 al system, and the hideous deformity of their own, 
 so long will its superior influence be felt and ac- 
 knowledged i\v them. Thence, our unbounded re- 
 sources and power are seen to be drawn, not only 
 without difficulty, but in perfect harmony with its 
 vast movements. Therein, benignity and improve- 
 ment are seen and felt to be conjoined. These con- 
 siderations evince to ourselves the character of that 
 power, which we possess ; for we perceive that we 
 can affect our enemies, and paralyze their animos- 
 ities, even when they are arranged under hostile 
 banners. But this is not all ; in consequence of 
 the wealth and advantages, seen to be derived from 
 intercourse with nations replete with means and 
 beneficence, the very pressure of the governance 
 of Bonaparte, may ultimately drive his subjects for 
 relief into our arms. Bona]>arte never did, and he 
 never can deprive ns of the influence thus acquir- 
 ed over his subjects. We have always exercised it in a 
 greater or lesser degree ; and it must increase with 
 the extension of our system of improvement. Our 
 foes, allured into the flelds of industry and enter- 
 prize, from the prospect of the ample remunera- 
 tion lliat is thus prepared for their service, will not 
 always be restrained from throwing ihemselvcsopen 
 to that equitable intercourse, which can at once re- 
 lieve their wants, and mitigate their sorrows. As 
 lUKlcr the advantages which arc held to be procur-
 
 523 
 
 c(l by this scheme to the general system, tlie sti- 
 mulus, by wliich European commerce is affected, 
 must necessarily be rendered more steady and e- 
 quable, we may look forward to much real advan- 
 tage from such an intercourse. But wlicther the 
 profits of his traffick meet our wishes or not, one 
 thing is certain, tliat the profusion which we may 
 possess, and the independence under which we may 
 enjoy and distribute this profusion, will not weak- 
 en the force of that ligument, by v.hicli commerce 
 binds our interests with the nations of Europe ; 
 it will lead these nations to perceive the value of the 
 blessings of which they are deprived, and dispose 
 them to meet our views, in order to advance to- 
 wards the attainment of similar blessings. 
 
 TnESE considerations are of \ast importance to 
 us every way. It may be Bonaparte's wish, to in- 
 corporate the interests of his people with liis own ; 
 but as his power is founded on usurpation, is up- 
 held by mihtary force alone, and is, therefore, a- 
 like repugnant to social and to individual improve- 
 ment, to estabUshed and to independent industry ; 
 as it must stimulate the spirit of rapacity, by ex- 
 trinsic allurements, and find direct su})port to this 
 spirit, amidst incessant violence and warfare, so it 
 cannot be expected, that either improvement or 
 industry should advance far under his auspices. 
 This circumstance evinces the transcendant cfH- 
 cacy of our system, in the view of its belligerent o- 
 ])eralion. By its means, our power and resources in- 
 crease, independent of all Bonaparte's manoeuvres; 
 
 3 u 2
 
 524 
 
 it counteracts his desolating tendencies, at the same 
 time, and by the same means, that it shakes his 
 authority to the centre ; and it excites and sup- 
 ports principles of opposition to his system, in the 
 very centre of his power. This is accompHshed, too, 
 not only without difficulty or danger, but with ma- 
 nifest advantage. We allure his subjects into the 
 paths of peaceful industry, foster their kindred ex- 
 ertions, and amply remunerate these exertions. 
 This we do, by disburdening ourselves of some 
 part of that profusion, which v/ould otherwise over- 
 load our system. All these advantages neces- 
 sarily flow from the operation of systematic im- 
 provement; and they ultimately assimulate every 
 other object to their nature. 
 
 If any one will direct his unbiassed attention 
 to the progress of a system, of which improved in- 
 dustry, thus stimulated and supported under emu- 
 lous and independent principles, thus extended, and 
 thus supported, is the basis, he will find little diffi- 
 culty in admitting, that amidst the harmonious o- 
 perations of such a progression, we may warranta- 
 bly hope for and expect a restoration of tranquillity 
 and concord. Here, the wants and supplies of men, 
 which necessarily attract each other, and form bonds 
 of union which tyranny will in vain attempt to dis- 
 solve, must bear upon each other, without restraint. 
 This connected chain coincides with Christian 
 charity and magnanimity ; for while it asswages 
 human calamities, it stimulates and supports con- 
 genial affisctions. Under the influence of such a
 
 525 . 
 
 system, may we not warrantably liope for the spe- 
 cial blessing and protection of Heaven ? 
 
 There are, however, several other objections 
 that seem to militate against these sanguine views 
 of the operation of this system, that cannot be very 
 easily obviated. This scheme is founded on the 
 advancement of Britain to a kind of paramount 
 influence over the nations ; and it is rested upon 
 the implied concession of Spain and America, to 
 our maritime ascendancy. It may, therefore, be 
 required, by what means, and in what manner, can 
 such an arrangement be accomplished ? The very 
 suspicion of its being possible for us to reach mari- 
 time supremacy, rouses the animosity of the nations, 
 and disposes them, rather to run the risk of falling 
 into the hands of the common destroyer, than to 
 be anyways accessory to our procurement of this 
 advantage; what can we expect, therefore, to fol- 
 low, in case such intentions should be formally and 
 systematically avowed and prosecuted by us ? AVill 
 the advantages allotted to themselves, or any tem- 
 porizing consideration whatever, reconcile them 
 to our assumptions, or set at rest those jealous and 
 indignant feelings, which have been already so fully 
 excited? The very mention of such a thing dis- 
 covers its fallacy. However proper it may be to 
 carry along with us their high national interests ; 
 however fully we may thereby advance their views, 
 it is evident, that a great deal more remains to be 
 done, before the powers, held to be allied, could be 
 reconciled to anv such scheme. These nations must
 
 526 
 
 not only perceive and feel the advantages that re- 
 vSLilt to themselves from the regular exercise of our 
 maritime claims ; but they must discern the im- 
 possibility and absurdity of attempting to contro- 
 vert our power ; they must know, that it embxaccs 
 objects, that place it altogether beyond their sphere 
 of counteraction ; and that it cannot be attacked, 
 without inferring extensive general injury. 
 
 We are not left to wander long in the fields of con- 
 jecture, in quest of means to accomplish this great 
 object, that of reconciliating the feelings, the wishes, 
 and the interests of both Spain and America to 
 our naval superiority j for in the form of another 
 formidable objection to our great system, a chain 
 of objects advance boldly upon our notice, tliat are 
 every way appropriate for our purpose. In regard- 
 ing this class of objects with attention, we perceive, 
 that it is necessary for us to liberalize our own sys- 
 tem ; to extend the sphere of its influence ; to com- 
 prize the highest considerations within its power ; 
 and it is seen also, that this expansion can be effect- 
 ed, without either difficulty or danger to our na- 
 tion, or to the general cause.^ 
 
 The subjugated nations of Christendom, though 
 at present arranged under the banners of the com- 
 mon destroyer, are our brethren, the friends of 
 that system of independence and improvement, out 
 of which our own has arisen ; and they are its best 
 supporters. They have received the advantage of 
 education under Christian and feudal institutions,
 
 oT 
 
 and their minds and habits, arc still, more or less, 
 imj^ressed with this primitive influence. They 
 have, indeed, been torn asunder, or rather the ele- 
 ments of society have been dissolved and subli- 
 mated, so as to reduce these principles into a state 
 of chaos ; but still they cling with ardor, to their 
 ancient combinations ; they pant after those primary 
 blessings, that appertain to that frame of society, 
 which, at one time, embraced the whole of Christen- 
 dom. The hand, that now holds them in durance, 
 that would impress them with the influence ofa new 
 system, evidently perverts their native tendency ; 
 when he directs these against us, and when he ex- 
 ercises them under his destructive banners, he 
 embues them more with an abhorrence of, than 
 with any attachment to, that system which he labore 
 to establish. These, it must be noticed, are not va- 
 pid dispositions; for on every suitable occasion they 
 burst forth into activity, and disclose to us their 
 inherent strength and vigor, with the advantages 
 that might ensue, from our adopting and following 
 out extensive plans for giving to these dispositions 
 their higliest operation. We cannot, we dare not, 
 disregard these important indications of brother- 
 hood ; wc have never yet done it ; and it becomes 
 us now, after so many abortive attemp^ts to rescue 
 them out of the jaws of their oppressors, to digest 
 with care, the measures into which sucii important 
 considerations necessarily conduct uv, ; to adapt 
 these more precisely to existing circumslances than 
 has ever heretofore been attcaM^tcd, and io burden 
 ourselves v.ith no other views, but those whicli com-
 
 528 
 
 cide with these circumstances. In particular, it is 
 indispensibly necessary for us, to let these brethren 
 know and sec, the benignity and the cordiality of 
 our regards for them ; and, while we stretch out 
 our hands for their deliverance, to disclose to them, 
 the immense value of those national advantages, 
 which we hold in reserve for their use, in case they 
 should duly avail themselves of our profered friend- 
 ship ; at the same time pressing on their notice the 
 vast and substantial interest which they have in the 
 system of improvement, which we are maturing for 
 general good. To come more clossly to this point, 
 we must not only hold these nations as our brethren 
 in name, but we must conduct ourselves towards 
 them as our brethren in truth and sincerity. Di- 
 vested of prejudice we must enter into their views 
 and their feelings, introduce them into our advan- 
 tages, and extend over them the protecting arm 
 of an attentive and affectionate parent, joined to 
 the zeal and cordiality of a brother. This we 
 ought never to pretend to do, while wx exclude 
 them from direct intercourse with our colonial 
 possessions^ and draw a rampart of absolute sepa- 
 ration betwixt the interests of their reproductive 
 processes and our own. That to extend to every 
 nation in Europe, upon free and equitable princi- 
 ples, the privilege of commercial intercourse with 
 our foreign possessions, and to do this, upon con- 
 ditions that shall imply not nugatory, but essential 
 benefits to each several race and nation of the 
 Christian world, is a measure of substantial justice 
 and sound policy, as well as one, into which our cir-
 
 529 
 
 Gumstances necessarily lead us, must appear indis- 
 putable to all of us, if we attend to the danger that 
 impends around them. Discomfiture in the pro- 
 ject, of delivering the civilized world out of the 
 hands of the destroyers, implies our own irretriev- 
 able ruin. Success in this project, according to 
 the measures now pursued, merely implies the es- 
 tablishment of a triumvirate, in place of this horrid 
 governance. Yet amidst the dark and sinister coun- 
 cils that prevail amongst our allies, these dreadful 
 evils are concealed from our view ; as also the in- 
 conceivable advantage that would ensue from our 
 holding up before the nations, the prize of uni- 
 versal intercourse, of unbounded access to the re- 
 gions of improvement, conjoined with indepen- 
 dence. What would the nations of Christendom 
 not do, for such a prize ? Having attained it, what 
 would they, severally, not do, and suffer for its in- 
 terests ? 
 
 I AM perfectly aware, that I am here touching 
 upon the tcnderest spring of tlie character of na- 
 tions, and that to attempt drawing exact lines of 
 dcmarkalion, for the several national claims and 
 privileges, that, in the view now before us, seem ta 
 require adjustment, is not only a difficult, but, in 
 many respects, a most dangerous undertaking. This 
 consideration impresses us, with the necessity of 
 proceeding with great caution and delicacy, in the 
 treatment of this subject; it discovers the propriety 
 of keeping closs to clear and indisputable princi- 
 {)les ; but it cannot supercede those higher consid- 
 
 3 X
 
 530 
 
 erations that now press themselves on our atten- 
 tion. It Is inclispensibly necessary, to have a right 
 apprehension of the interest, which the different 
 nations of Europe may warrantably consider them- 
 selves as holding in our general system, of the 
 claims to which this interest may give birth, and 
 of the consequences that must result from our fol- 
 lowing out that direct line of policy, into which 
 these considerations necessarily lead us. The great 
 tendency of the foregoing system is, to advance 
 Spain, Britain, and America, on the foreground of 
 the nations ; and to draw into their service, the en- 
 ergies and resources of the civilized \vorld. May 
 it not therefore, be enquired, whethei* or not the 
 other nations of Christendom have not a direct, 
 as well as an indirect interest, in the advantages 
 that are arising out of those combined exertions of 
 the civilized world, which we are thus sedulously 
 appropriating to our purposes ; and whether or 
 not, our refusing to admit this plea may not ex- 
 pose us to worse evils, than those which we would 
 avoid ? It may not seem derogatory to the honor 
 of the nations, and, at present, it must certainly ap- 
 pear to coincide, most completely, with their high- 
 est interests, to recognize and support the naval 
 predominancy of Britain ; because their respective 
 independence requires this protection ; and because 
 this power can be, and for the most part, it is exer- 
 cised with all due deference to their national spirit. 
 But it is certainly quite another thing, to assume 
 that marked superiority and importance, that pe- 
 culiar overw^eaning potency, and predominance of
 
 531 
 
 interests, that are implied in the vigorous mainten- 
 ance of the colonial system. 
 
 Nothing can be more indisputable, than the ri<r]it 
 which independent nations have to regulate their 
 own internal and external concerns, according to 
 existing circumstances. In doing this, it is in- 
 cumbent on them, to take the whole range of their 
 foreign relations along with them, their fears, their 
 claims, their expectations, their obligations, and 
 their apprehensions of these ; and to digest their sub- 
 sequent procedure, from a full review of the con- 
 siderations, therein involved. iStill, however, it 
 must be noticed, that in doing this, nations must 
 be held, to possess the full liberty of acting from 
 doss views of their own substantial interests, and 
 with a direct eye to those principles of reciprocity 
 and mutual subserviency, which coincide v/ith their 
 separate and independent existence. Taking along 
 with them these considerations, nations must not 
 only be held to be disposed, but by some means 
 or other, to be capacitated to maintain this ground, 
 and to carry forward those measures, that are ne- 
 cessary for their establishment upon this ground. 
 It is but fair and reasonable, that all the territorial 
 possessions that have been acquired by Spain and 
 Britain, in the way of colonization, conquest or 
 otherwise, should be regarded as the inviolable pro- 
 perty of these nations, as sacred in their hands, as 
 the best established rights of the most ancient na- 
 tions ; but surely such possessions, ought not to 
 be esteemed as more inviolable, and as more sa- 
 
 3x2
 
 53'j: 
 
 cred than those of' their neighbours. The right which 
 Britain has to Demerary and Jamaica, and that 
 which Spain has to Mexico and the Philippines, is 
 as unquestionable and irrefragable, as that which 
 Russia has to the Ukraine, and Prussia has to Sile- 
 sia ; and this right has, accordingly, in all cases, re- 
 ceived similar deference. But on what principle, 
 can we attach to the acquirements of Britain and 
 Spain, the exclusive right of diverting (o the ser- 
 vice of the mother country, the whole intercourse, 
 which results from colon iaUvealth and of prohibiting 
 direct access to these colonial territories, to every 
 nation but their own ? It will no doubt be ans- 
 wered, that this forms an essential part of the co- 
 lonial system. I would, however, again venture 
 to ask, whether this system be, in these respects, 
 consistent with the principles of equity, and sound 
 policy. 
 
 As it is not necessary for me, in this place, to 
 enter into the illustration of this subject, more than 
 is necessary to evince the necessity and propriety 
 of raising the nations of Europe to their ancient 
 level, and of establishing something like a counter- 
 poise to the great system, that has been developed 
 in favor of America, Spain, and Britain, I shall 
 content myself, with adhibiting two or three gen- 
 eral remarks, in which the nature and operation 
 of the concessions that are here required, will be 
 nnfolded : thereby, I hope the true state of these 
 questions will be unfolded.
 
 533 
 
 In the first place, let it be noticed, that I am 
 not referring to forts, or factories, or military sta- 
 tions, which arc procured and maintained at vast 
 expense, and which, being distined for the service 
 of certain classes of interests, must be maintained 
 at all hazards, under the direct control of, and in 
 complete subserviency to, these interests; although, 
 even here, that exact severity, which the monopo- 
 lizing spirit is so apt to impose, seems to be un- 
 necessary. I refer to those immense territorial pos- 
 sessions, wherein empires and continents, and whole 
 races of men are comprized, and which comprehend 
 within their range, political, as well as commer- 
 cial interests, of the most stupendous, and of the most 
 complicated kind ; possessions of such extent, that 
 the very idea of binding up their energies, by the 
 maxims of merchants, indicates a stretch of pre- 
 dominancy that cannot be justified, and implies a 
 degree of coertion, that is inconsistent with the 
 I'ree exercise of national rights. 
 
 In the second place, it is not at all meant to say, 
 that the same principles should be maintained, in 
 tlie intercourse to which transmarine possessions 
 give rise, in regard to aliens, and in regard to the 
 dominant territory. This would not only tend to 
 defeat one of the great objectsof colonial establish- 
 ments; that of thereby providing a stimulus and sup- 
 port to domestic industry ; but it would go to en- 
 danger the connexion, that subsists betwixt the 
 motlier country, and her transmarine possessions. 
 A thoroughly regulated, and completely protect-
 
 534 
 
 ed intercourse is necessary, to preserve tranquillity 
 and harmony, within such loosely organized com- 
 munities, as colonial possessions necessarily are. 
 To attempt the accomplishment of this object, by 
 means of a heavy military or civil establishment, 
 would infer an expense and hazard, out of all pro- 
 portion to the advantage to be procured. The adop- 
 tion of such a direct species of governance would, 
 besides, repress the progress of improvement, and 
 traverse the best interests of all parties. Noth- 
 ing that could render such measures necessary, is 
 here contended for. It is merely an admission of 
 this principle, tliat in making national arrange- 
 ments, in framing commercial treaties, the colon- 
 ial powers should introduce direct intercourse 
 with their transmarine territories, upon such con- 
 ditions as suit their own circumstances and those 
 of their allies, amongst the items of their agree- 
 ment; taking along with them, the advantage which 
 this concession thus secures to these parties, as a 
 ground for requiring more favorable conditions, 
 in adjusting the direct intercourse, to be carried 
 on, betwixt the principal countries. AVhen we re- 
 flect on the radical superiority of British industry, 
 and the vast importance of conciliating our allies 
 to our general interests, together with the neces- 
 sity under which we are laid, of incorporating the 
 wliole views and interests of our colonists with our 
 own, we cannot, I apprehend, doubt of the super- 
 ior prevalency of such liberal and magnanimous pro- 
 cedure, steadily maintained, nor hesitate in giving 
 our sanction to such moderated universal inter-
 
 335 
 
 course, as is here implied. We may form some 
 idea of the consequences of such a train of mea- 
 sures from the advantages which we perceive to 
 be derived from the traffick, which is at present 
 carried on betwixt the possessions of Spain, in the 
 western world and our own ; which operates relief 
 not only to the colonies, but to the parent state. 
 
 Taking along with me these two limitations, I 
 remark, in the third place, that it is a very gross 
 error to think, that the admission of foreigners into 
 our transmarine possessions, would any ways en- 
 danger their dependence upon the parent state. 
 Foreigners are, of all others, the least disposed to 
 attempt the overthrow of the government, under 
 which they live. On the other hand, a mass of co- 
 lonists, of the same class and nation, pent up in 
 regard to their general intercourse, may be held to 
 be peculiarly disposed to make such an attempt. 
 The truth of both these positions has been again 
 and again manifested in our own days. Perhaps 
 the dependence of both Canada and Hindostan on 
 the British crown, and that of the American con- 
 tinent on the crown of Spain, is, in no small de- 
 gree, preserved by the multitude of aliens, who, 
 in the capacity of slaves, or dependents, occupy 
 these territories. These, like a neutralizing princi- 
 ple, prevent the factious and discontented from be- 
 ing able to consolidate their interests. Nay, I will 
 venture to say, that the United States would not 
 so soon have been dissevered from Britain, if a free 
 trade with tlie whole world, had been accorded to
 
 S36 
 
 them, and if that consequent commixture of aliens 
 and citizens, of commercial and territorial inter- 
 ests, which would necessarily have arisen out of 
 such circumstances, had taken place. These con- 
 cessions are of vast importance in another light ; 
 while they indicate our marked deference to the 
 views and interests of the colonists, they admit of 
 such an extension of our commercial operations, and 
 of the financial system which these operations can 
 support, ;as will greatly overbalance all the sacrifi- 
 ces that are thus made, and all the advantages that 
 are thus abandoned, for their procurement. 
 
 This leads me to remark, in the fourth and last 
 place, that if ever the general industry of the world, 
 the reproductive powers of nature and art, should 
 be so harmonized, with the whole circumstances 
 of the human race, as to bind up their commercial 
 interests into one general system, it must be by 
 the operation of such a liberalization of the prin- 
 ciples of intercourse, as is here supposed to be es- 
 tablished. If the nations, who seem least favored, 
 can once be persuaded, that their relative wants 
 are fairly met on an equitable basis, and that their 
 respective interests are taken into account upon 
 honorable principles, then we may expect, that the 
 industrious processes and commercial intercourse 
 will, forthwith, of their own accord, severally ad- 
 vance with a steady and equable movement ; that 
 the wealth, whicli may arise from such peaceful in- 
 dustry, will become the bond of universal tranquil- 
 lity ; and that the progress of improvement, and of
 
 537 
 
 social advancement, will universally follow on with 
 regular steps, so, as in the end, to comprize all na- 
 tions under its iniluence. The importance ofthese 
 considerations, in our present view, will appear, 
 if we attend to this circumstance, that since there 
 is a superabundance of certain classes of objects, 
 provided by us, which cannot be resolved into abso- 
 lute value ; and since there are certain consequent 
 difficulties in our progression of improvement, and 
 in our modes of enjoyment ; so, if we can but place 
 our intercourse on a fair and honorable basis, these 
 difficulties must disappear, the various nations of 
 the world must necessarily give way to the claims 
 of our superior improvement. It is now altogether 
 indisputable, that if free access into any country 
 be accorded to us, our commodities and produc- 
 tions will command a market. "We ourselves, there- 
 fore, need neither prohibitions nor restrictions, ex- 
 cept in so far as the interests of the public revenue 
 render these necessary ; it is our interest, and it is 
 our duty, to permit the wants and claims of nations 
 to balance each other, and to expose to the world 
 the nugatory and fallacious nature of illiberal modes 
 of intercourse. Our example will do much ; and 
 when the wants and claims of nations can find 
 their level, when these can severally meet upon a 
 common arena, the struggles occasioned by une- 
 qual production and consumption must subside ; 
 for then, wealth and enjoyment, in conformity with 
 their respective circumstances, and proportioned to 
 the value of the means which each several nation 
 can produce, will be secured to them respectively. 
 
 3 Y
 
 538 
 
 In whatever degree, these advantages may be 
 procured for us, one tiling is certain, that a vast 
 class of interests must be created, to which the 
 three great powers, above mentioned, must seve- 
 rally pay unqualified deference. These powers 
 declare themselves parties in a common cause, of 
 which various great nations are main constituent 
 members. Their respective possessions are held to 
 be guaranteed to them; but this is done upon condi- 
 tions, that imply all that deference to general prin- 
 ciples, that the high concernments of all these va- 
 rious nations can demand. The naval preponder- 
 ancy of Britain may be somewhat unpleasant to 
 Spain and America; though necessary, it may ap- 
 pear to be, a real object of distrust. The other na- 
 tions of Europe, however, can consider this power 
 neither as obnoxious, nor as dangerous : it is the 
 immediate shield of their hopes, it is the constant 
 vehicle of their blessings, it has preserved and nur- 
 tured their mutilated energies, and it must re- 
 store and protect their rising improvements. To 
 such a voice, both Spain and America must give 
 way; and in giving way, they must find their honor 
 and safety, so much the better provided for. A 
 triumvirate must always be a temporary establish- 
 ment ; such a triumvirate, as that now under con- 
 sideration, would be the certain forerunner of an 
 unmitigated, universal, autocracy. 
 
 However necessary our naval supremacy may 
 be, in time of war, it can be of little importance, 
 when peace shall be restored. At present, it in-
 
 539 
 
 ters certain concessions and understandings, onthr 
 part of the nations, (hat are allied to us; because 
 these, in the existing circumstances of the world, 
 are highly proper and useful to all whom tliey can 
 affect ; but these concessions and understandings 
 are evidently of such a nature, that, whenever cir- 
 cumstances shall be changed, all the burdens, that 
 they may have induced, must also, of their own ac- 
 -cord, cease and determine. W'liilc hostilities exist, 
 the British maritime power circumscribes the range 
 of these hostilities, and defends belligerents in the 
 exercise of certain important rights ; but no sooner 
 will these hostilities have come to end, but the rights, 
 that WTre exposed to infringement, and, with tiiesc. 
 the power of defending these rights, must cease to 
 have any existence. As to the rights that we claim 
 in regard to the persons of our seamen; these, like 
 every other ])ersonal right, nnist, in tlie first place, 
 be regulated by the implied, or avowed concur- 
 rence of the persons, that are to be afJ'ected by 
 them. While we retain our seamen in onr ser\ ice, 
 it is evident, that they cannot leave it, without 
 being implicated in the crime of desertion ; luL if 
 we do not thus retain them, then it is equally evi- 
 dent, tluit we have no more authority over their 
 persons, than over those of our artists and men of 
 capital. Even in cases of desertion, (Uke as in those 
 cases of gross criminality, wherein, though govern- 
 ments become mutually bountl to each other not 
 to afibid a sanctuary to the culprits, yet each go- 
 vernment reserves to itself, the right of judging 
 respecting the claims, that are made thereupon) 
 
 3x2
 
 540 
 
 as an express tolerance is requisite, before theimplied 
 obligation can take effect, in any one instance what- 
 ever — so, it is evident, that a very different prin- 
 ciple is established from that, whereby the officers 
 of a foreign government, are permitted to seize, at 
 their own hands, persons placing themselves un- 
 der its protection ; as is done by us, in the exercise 
 of our naval rights. In regard to this most impor- 
 tant particular, therefore, the matter on the return 
 of tranquillity, must stand briefly thus. — We must 
 either make systematic provisions for the purpose of 
 retaining our maritime warriors, voluntarily, and 
 constantly, in our service, or in our interests, in some 
 such way as that sketched out in a preceding part of 
 this treatise — or take our chance of procuring them 
 again in the usual way, whenever their services may 
 again become necessary. At all events, our bellige- 
 rent allies will find their interests in this, as well 
 as in every other particular of their relative situa- 
 tion, securely preserved for their advantage, pro- 
 vided only, that they do not mar the operation of 
 the general system, and render the restoration of 
 peace impossible, by paralyzing and traversing our 
 generous efforts in the common cause, with their 
 unavailing animosities. For, at the restoration of 
 peace, they will find, not only, that the means of 
 universal intercourse have been preserved for their 
 service, but that their power of availing themselves 
 of this advantage, to the utmost, has been most 
 effectually advanced v.nd substantiated. 
 
 It remains for tiie British nation, however, to
 
 541 
 
 take into account, the nature and circumstances 
 of the change which may thus be produced. Bri- 
 tain, as a territory, is evidently inferior to most of 
 the great kingdoms of Europe ; and if these last 
 shall have been raised to the enjoyment of all the ad- 
 vantages peculiar to Britain, it becomes a serious 
 question, by what means, shall Britain maintain her 
 proper station amongst them ? she has liberalized 
 her whole system, and procedure so as to commun- 
 icate to every country, all the blessings that can 
 flow from all her possessions ; and she has render- 
 ed it, her own duty, and her own interest, to con- 
 vey all the benefits that can therefrom result, to 
 each of these countries, as far as their circumstances 
 can receive the benign influences thereby produced; 
 but is there no paramount duty that she owes to 
 herself? are there no special sets of interests of her 
 own, which force themselves upon her notice? 
 
 Thkse questions are easily ansv/ered. There is 
 the greatest possible danger, that out of all these 
 advantages and blessings, procured by Britain for 
 the service of the civilized world, there may arise a 
 more deadly enemy to her name and cause, than any 
 that has yet appeared. It is of the nature of states 
 as well as of individuals, to Ibrm projects of ag- 
 grandisement, which have for their object, the sub- 
 version of the power and rights of other nations. 
 Neither gratitude, nor generosity, nor sound policy, 
 can at all times restrain them from attempting to 
 accomplish their object, by any means that seem 
 to promise them ultimate success. It is, therefore.
 
 542 
 
 indispensably necessary, that every nation, and par- 
 ticularly every great, and splendid nation, should it- 
 self be able to defend all its rights, against this bale- 
 ful influence. Britain must be great, or she can be 
 nothing; she must display and exercise her strength 
 on the ocean, or her power cannot maintain her 
 greatness. This strength is essentially connected 
 with extensive colonial possessions. There, she 
 must retain her power; and upon these, she must 
 impress the full image of her authority. The whole 
 trade of these, for the good of the world, she throws 
 open. But this good requires not the surrender 
 of the sovereignty of these. This sovereignty, there- 
 fore, may in all cases, be exercised in the fullest 
 acceptation of the word, wherever our power has 
 become established, and our national standard been 
 displayed as triumphant. 
 
 Upon this sovereignty, and upon the system that 
 may with propriety be connected with it, Britain, 
 I apprehend, may with much confidence, repose her 
 commercial claims, and national power. There- 
 by she can, at all times, restrain the overweaning 
 pretensions of her colonists ; and thereby also, she 
 may circumscribe the usurping influence of for- 
 eign governments. Although Britain, however, may 
 consistently enough, rest her commercial interests 
 in her colonies, upon the advantages that may 
 readily be admitted, to be connected with the en- 
 joyment of sovereignty over them, yet it is evident, 
 that the exercise of this sovereignty must be mi- 
 tigated by all these paramount considerations, that
 
 543 
 
 arise out of the parental character, with which she 
 must be held to have been invested. It may be 
 proj)er, because it is for the good of all parties, 
 that this paternal sovereignty should be clothed 
 with all those ensignia of power and dignity, that 
 are inherent in its nature ; that it, accordingly, re- 
 press the smallest indications of repugnance, and 
 even of disrespect for its high rights and immunities; 
 and that, when the case requires it, it make the gen- 
 eral power of the whole empire bear upon its in- 
 terests, with unbounded force; but the great lead- 
 ing expression, of our grand colonial system, ought 
 to be, its protecting aspect. This appearance we 
 ought to substantiate, by a conciliating and venera- 
 ble demeanour ; we ought to silence the refractory 
 and disobedient, by overt proofs of our solicitude for 
 the general good in every point ; and we ought to 
 display to the world, as well as to those under our 
 authority, that our main solicitude is to bring for- 
 ward, the power and resources of every class of our 
 dependents, and to mature these under every advan- 
 tage. — The great end of all our coercive and restric- 
 tive measures, decidedly tending, notto the establish- 
 ment ofa concrete system of governance, but to that 
 of one founded on a conciliation of particular, with 
 general interests ; to the harmonizing of local with 
 universal good, and to an identification of the ob- 
 ject and tendency of our own national improve- 
 ment, with those of the grand system of social ad- 
 vancement, in which as a people we are known to 
 he implicated.
 
 544 
 
 These are a few of the leading ideas of this 
 great scheme of improvement, to which it is pro- 
 per in this place to advert ; and we perceive that 
 a way lies open before us, in which, the best inter- 
 ests, and highest views of nations, may be united j 
 and that our nation is, as it were, placed on the 
 foreground of that vast scheme of improvement, 
 which may, on pursuing this way, be found to lie 
 open for the human race. By discharging our 
 duty as we ought, our allies, and our dependents, 
 must be attracted under our influence, and exer- 
 cised in those duties, that are most conducive to 
 their and our social and national advantage. These 
 will be led, not only to conform their procedure 
 ■ to that course of things, that coincides most com- 
 pletely with our general interests ; but they will 
 necessarily become solicitous, about these very ob- 
 jects, which it is our highest duty, to impress up- 
 on their minds ; their national spirit will lead them 
 forth, into high exercises of national power, which 
 exercises will furnish them with resources and en- 
 ergies, fitted for the substantiation and exaltation 
 of this power. Thus, their national independence 
 will be completed and secured, and their recipro- 
 cal intercourse become equally dignified, and mu- 
 tually beneficial. The commixture of different na- 
 tions, which the interests of commerce or industry 
 may produce, in place of counteracting the pro- 
 gress of improvement, as now generally takes place, 
 will be found, to accelerate this progression ; for it 
 must be noticed, that in these circumstances, the 
 presence of foreigners, like that of a neutralizing
 
 545 
 
 principle, will serve to defecate acrimonious ele- 
 ments, that would otherwise disturb general har- 
 mony, interpose its unaccommodating influence be- 
 twixt the designs of the factious and their object, 
 and thus allay their virulence, before its destroying- 
 consequences can be unfolded, 
 
 I\ particular, it deserves to be noticed, that the 
 operation of the improvements that have thus been 
 delineated, if thus extended and invigorated, would 
 afford a strong basis for a vast financial superstruc- 
 ture ; for it must be noticed, that it is in the free 
 circulation of commodities, in the force and mo- 
 mentum by which these can be distributed and con- 
 sumed, and their value replaced, that financial o- 
 perations consist and are substantiated, and that 
 absolute wealth is realized. This matter having 
 been already illustrated in the preceding statements 
 it is only necessary here to notice, tliat as we have 
 supposed an equitable system of intercourse to be 
 provided for the nations, comprized within the range 
 of the improving system, we cannot hold ourselves 
 to be any ways circumscribed, in regard to the ex- 
 tent of the developements of wealth that must fol- 
 low. The reproductive processes, we hold to be set 
 forward under every advantage, and their fruits and 
 results to be received, amidst the most improved 
 and advancing progression of human society. This 
 improvement and advancement, we also hold to 
 rest, not upon mere force of personal character, but 
 upon the genius of melioration, generated under 
 feudalism, and nurtured by the Christian system 
 
 S z
 
 546 
 
 — operating on individual independence by the pro- 
 pensities of men and of nations, severally animat- 
 ed with those exalting views, which Christian light 
 and truth have placed before them, being impressed 
 by institutions, ordinations, and provisions, that 
 are congenial to these benign influences. That these 
 are not mere hypothetical views of such a course of 
 events, must appear from this circumstance ; that 
 even, at present, in our own land, and indeed, where- 
 ever a free and equitable commercial intercourse 
 is maintained, (the state of society, being held to be 
 prepared for receiving and resolving the fruits of 
 this intercourse, in the service of the Christian and 
 independent system,) and wherever such advantages 
 have become established, there the blessings which 
 have been pourtrayed, always flow around. These 
 are, no doubt, repressed in their operation, by the 
 weakness and imperfection, the depravity and cor- 
 ruption that prevail ; still, however, their nature 
 is sufficiently unfolded to display their character, 
 and their effects are seen to harmonize with those 
 that are held to flow from the above system. 
 
 It is thus, that I would set at rest the diflicul- 
 ties that now embarrass the civilized and indus- 
 trious part of the world, and unite their whole en- 
 ergies in one common cause, of which high im- 
 provement in social and civil life, would be the di- 
 rect object. I would take up the claims of belli- 
 gerent, and of neutral nations, upon that precise 
 ground, which, in truth, they have always occupied ; 
 but which, from the imposing assumptions of our
 
 547 
 
 enemy, neutrals have always been able to tlirow 
 behind them. The Importance of belligerent rights, 
 in the present contest, I would display, by advanc- 
 ing their interests to that exalted position, which 
 their vast magnitude and universal interest have 
 prepared for them. In this situation, I would ar- 
 range them, according to their relative importance; 
 reserving to the nations, in the most complete man- 
 ner, their independence and separate existence, and 
 securing to each of them, the full exercise of e- 
 very national right and privilege. I would set at 
 rest their claims on each other, by admitting and 
 following out clear and fundamental principles, in 
 their natural course, upon established grounds ; by 
 giving to them, severally, ample room and space 
 for the extension of their respective systems of im- 
 provement, and by ascertaining and limiting all the 
 rights, that might thence become established, by 
 rules universally applicable, and universally respect- 
 ed. Following out our advantages, I would, at the 
 same time, bestow all that superior regard and re- 
 spect to the great paramount influence of the com- 
 mon cause, that is implied in its primary impor- 
 tance, and arrange the offices to which this cause 
 gives birth, according to those rules, that coincide 
 most necessarily and most completely, with the legi- 
 timate operation of tliis paramount influence. In 
 particular, I }jold it to be a most essential point, 
 to provide, in the fullest manner, for the exercise 
 of British maritime supremacy, and to recognize 
 its right to all that deference, that is necessary 
 for its regular exercise. This is the bulwark of the
 
 548 
 
 common cause ; and under the principles that have 
 been laid down, it is the grand support of the com- 
 mercial and industrious energies of the world, the 
 medium of universal improvement, as well as of 
 public safety. 
 
 With regard to the other class of interests — those 
 appertaining to neutral nations — I would circum- 
 scribe their claims within their natural bounds. I 
 would permit nothing to assume that name, that 
 was not, in truth, neutral ; I would repress with a 
 high hand, every exercise of such rights as interfer- 
 ed with the high belligerent interests of the great 
 common cause; and I would run all hazards, in sup- 
 porting every belligerent right, that was travers- 
 ed by their operations. The ground, on which I 
 would rest such procedure, is, not only the supe- 
 rior and universal importance of the great cause, in 
 which the belligerents are engaged ; and the conse- 
 quent deference to this, which the common dan- 
 ger, with which they are so fully charging them- 
 selves, for the good of the whole world, imperiously 
 requires ; I would also take along with me the falla- 
 cious and nugatory nature of all reutral claims when 
 taken in comparison with these paramount rights, 
 and the extrinsic hollowness of those pretensions, 
 that would prey upon the common good of man- 
 kind, while contributions for their general safety 
 have become so needful; and upon both these 
 grounds, I would give to the whole class of mea- 
 sures, that might in consequence be adopted, both
 
 549 
 
 an enlarged sphere of action, and an irresistible en- 
 ergy within that sphere. 
 
 By means of the system thus established, I would 
 expect, that the incremcntlvc and accumulative 
 powers of art and of nat are, that appertain to tiie 
 different nations implicated in the common cause, 
 would respectively increase and extend themselves 
 with a vast and accelerated force ; that their deve- 
 lopements would be valuable, would be powerful, 
 and would universally bear along with them that va- 
 lue and power, which their nature implies. I would, 
 moreover, expect, that many of the opposite party, 
 now ranged under hostile influence, would, by the o- 
 peration of this system, be gradually drawn off from 
 their destructive standards; and, being brought with- 
 in the influence of systematic improvement, would 
 contribute towards the establishment and advance- 
 ment of the great cause. Farther, I conceive, that 
 the various nations, thus participating in, and enjoy- 
 ing the various benefits of our renovating system, 
 would, on the basis of their respective nationalities, 
 severally set forward, a system of improvement, 
 peculiarly their own. By means of which diversity, 
 the national spirit and genius of every different peo- 
 ple and country would be extended and exercised 
 upon its own peculiar ground. Tliese would severally 
 support each other, in higher displays of character ; 
 check and counteract that virulence or morbidity, 
 which are so apt to become generated in isolated 
 nations; they would neutralize asperities in each 
 others' temperament, and infuse ardent and genial
 
 550 
 
 emulation on principles of national and individual 
 beneficence, coincident with the operation of the 
 general system, and coirespondent to the respec- 
 tive circumstances and condition of each nation. 
 
 If we can suppose sucli a vast system set agoing, 
 in such favorable circumstances, I apprehend, we 
 need fear neither the animosity of our enemy, nor 
 the ordinary desolating course of contingencies. 
 Perhaps, it is not possible to set bounds to the im- 
 provement and advancement, which might thence 
 be expected to follow. We may, however, attempt 
 to trace out some of its consequences. Hence, an 
 absolute profusion of all that is estimable, both in the 
 productions of nature and of art, and in those higher 
 attainments that characterise the efforts of mind, 
 unfolding itself with all the force peculiar to inde- 
 pendent and beneficent principles, behoved ne- 
 cessarily to flow. These procurements and at- 
 tainments, being all fixed in institutions and estab- 
 lishments, calculated for concentrating, extending, 
 and augmenting the power and value of their re- 
 spective objects, the blessings thus prepared would 
 be universally diffused ; and they would, in conse- 
 quence, raise the whole fabric of human society, 
 to higher and nobler ground. The employments 
 of men, relieved by art and ingenuity, and enli- 
 vened by excitations, coincident with their respec- 
 tive character and circumstances, would acquire 
 an interest, proportioned to the degree of genius 
 and of beneficence, that could be brought into ex- 
 ercise. Upon such a system, a superstructure of
 
 551 
 
 finance, bold and extensive, as the basis which up- 
 held it, might be raised j comprizing alike the pro- 
 visions necessary for the operations of the body-po- 
 litic, and those establishments that are needful for 
 giving the most effectual support to individual im- 
 provement, and independence. Means and resour- 
 ces, of the most valuable kind, would on all sides 
 be found, concentrated and prepared for every ser- 
 vice. Individuals and societies would be enabled 
 to display their innate power and resources, under 
 every advantage ; and, as the ruling orders of so- 
 ciety, would thereby be disposed and induced, to 
 extend every where, the protecting arm of a libe- 
 ral and powerful juridical and municipal policy, se- 
 curity and stability to all these advantages would 
 there also be procured. 
 
 Having now brought fully into view, the great 
 and leading objects, into which the improvement 
 and extension of that system of industry, and com- 
 mercial intercourse, which has for ages, character- 
 ized Christendom, naturally resolves itself; and 
 having pointed out, the general circumstances, by 
 which this system may be affected, while thus re- 
 solving itself, upon an enlarged and renovated scale, 
 I apprehend, that both the nature and operation 
 ofthat vast financial scheme, which, it was propos- 
 ed to uphold by its means, must, at the same time, 
 have been abundantly illustrated. Beibrc I pro- 
 ceed, however, to lay down the outlines and prin- 
 ciples ofthat particular plan of finance, that I would 
 recommend to my countrymen, it seems to be pro-
 
 552 
 
 per to bring under one view, the various conclusions 
 which the preceding statements have prepared for 
 our use. 
 
 In the first place, let us remember, that labor and 
 solicitude have become indispensibly necessary for 
 the supply of human wants, that the qualities of in- 
 crement and accumulation have become no less ne- 
 cessarily attached to the successful exercise of hu- 
 man powers, and that, by the same means, the char- 
 acter and condition of men are both renovated and 
 advanced/ In our highly improved state of social 
 existence, when the wants of man, and the means 
 of supplying these wants, have become so extended 
 and increased, our incrementive and accumulative 
 powers, still go on, and perpetually supply us with 
 fresh accessions of strength, that more than coun- 
 terbalance all the demands, that can be made up- 
 on them ; it therefore follows, I apprehend, as a 
 matter of course, that whatever provisions, we 
 may resort to, for the purpose of upholding the 
 industrious processes, of making the burden of their 
 support and the advantages of their results alike com- 
 mon and alike beneficial, ought to be founded on a 
 due regard to these characteristic properties of hu- 
 man industry. In other words, it must be a lead- 
 ing object with us, in digesting our financial scheme, 
 to take care, that its operations shall not, as at pre- 
 sent, be so fully implicated in the movements of in- 
 dustry, as to become necessarily inefficient, the mo- 
 ment these movements are retarded; that it become 
 not most incompetent to the public service, at the
 
 553 
 
 time, when the calls of tliis service upon it are most 
 imperious. We know that a renewal of our means, 
 from the plasticity of our industrious processes, 
 may, in the most hazardous circumstances, be fair- 
 ly calculated upon ; and as there is, in such a crisis, 
 the best of reasons for administering financial sup- 
 port, to those engaged in courses of industry, in 
 so far as they are prepared for receiving this sup- 
 port ; so we ought to rest upon this renewal of our 
 means, a financial superstructure sufficiently ample 
 to meet all the pecuniary wants of the public. 
 
 Secondly, in the beginning of this treatise, it 
 was demonstrated, that the deficiency of the me- 
 dium of exchange, towards which our attention was 
 so earnestly drawn, by the course of events then 
 passing around us ; or in other w^ords, those finan- 
 cial embarrassments, which at that time, so greatly 
 traversed and paralyzed our industrious processes, 
 arose, not so much fiom any real scarcity of the 
 precious metals, the standard as well as the instru- 
 ment ot"connnercial intercourse, or from any defi- 
 ciency in our power of commanding a convenient 
 supply of these, as from the difficulty, in some in- 
 stances the impossibility, of resolving the fruits of 
 our industry, oiu' real substantial wealth, into ab- 
 solute property or circulable wealth. It was far- 
 ther noticed, that though the want of the precious 
 metals was a great evil, yet that it was only a con- 
 tingent and accesory one, which would disa!)i)ear, 
 whenever the stagnation oi'foreign intercourse, the 
 nieans by which the fruits of our industry are con- 
 
 4 A
 
 554 
 
 verted into absolute property, could be removed ; 
 or whenever some other method of obtaining the 
 same advantage, should be procured. It was also 
 noticed, tliat the bankruptcies, and other desolations 
 that were taking place in our industrious proces- 
 ses, having the farther effect of destroying that 
 commercial confidence, in which tlie strength and 
 stability of our medium of exchange consisted, the 
 evil behoved necessarily to proceed, until it was 
 stopped in its progress, by some more substantial, 
 some irrefragable instrument of intercourse. It 
 was thereafter incidentally demonstrated, that the 
 faculties of increment and accumulation, inherent 
 in our thoroughly established, and highly improv- 
 ed industrious processes, gave us a substantial ba- 
 sis, on which such an iiistrument of intercourse 
 might, with certainty, be rested, while, our present 
 perilous circumstances imperiously called upon us, 
 to have recourse to some such instrument. 
 
 TmnnLY, it was noticed, that in digesting a plan 
 for converting substantial wealth into absolute and 
 circulable wealth, it is necessary that we take a- 
 long with us, not only the augmentative quality 
 inherent in the industrious processes, but the re- 
 solubility of their fruits into objects of higher va- 
 lue. From the illustrations that were given un- 
 der this head, it became evident, that the augmen- 
 tative faculty of industry derived its chief value 
 from the rcsolubility of its fruits. The food and 
 raiment, that are procured by the industry of one 
 part of the community, are seen to be doubly es-
 
 555 
 
 timable, by their applicability to the circumstances 
 of all its members, each of whom obtains his ap- 
 propriate portion of these, in consequence of his 
 services to the public. In consequence of this state 
 of things, the necessaries and conveniences, pro- 
 vided for the benefit of all, may be held to be re- 
 soluble into a new mass of higher and greater ac- 
 quirements. It is tlius, that the nobler arts of life 
 are supported, advanced, extended ; that establish- 
 ments, for the service of those, and of industry of e- 
 very kind, for that of science, for the maintenance 
 of civil order, for the preservation of general safety, 
 are universally procured; all of these attainments 
 being so many ulterior resolutions of the primary 
 powers of industry. This great effect is, in our days, 
 brought about by the intervention of the princi- 
 ple of absolute value, into which, by means of the 
 medium of exchange, all parties are eager to re- 
 solve the fruits of their industry. Posse'ssed of this 
 advantage, individuals are enabled to maintain them- 
 selves in independent circumstances, while they are 
 bringing forward those higher social acquirements, 
 into which all wealth whatever tends to resolve it- 
 self. It is here, that the value of the augmenta- 
 tive power of wealth is unfolded, and it may be 
 held to be here also, that its power is concentrat- 
 ed, and rendered most truly serviceable to the 
 commonwealth. Hence, the importance of bestow- 
 ing due attention on the ultimate resolutions of our 
 general industry [)Iainly appears. In truth, these 
 resolutions are substantially the ultimate objects 
 of all our productions, and of all our attainments. 
 
 4 A 2
 
 556 
 
 Whatever our wealtli and our means may be, it is 
 only according as they can be ur^cfiilly and profita- 
 bly resolved, that they can be either serviceable or 
 advantageous. It is under this view, that the pre- 
 ceding system of improvements, is set forth to meet 
 the public embarrassments. 
 
 Tub resolubility of wealth was accordingly illus- 
 trated at considerable length, in a review of the gen- 
 eral course of industry, from its earliest stages. As 
 long as the fruits of increase could arise, in a direct 
 manner, into the hands of those to whom of right 
 they appertained, and as long as these fruits could 
 be distributed in a simple form, amongst those 
 whose claims and services established their right 
 to their respective allotments of these ; so long 
 might the industrious processes go on, without the 
 intervention of any instrument for measuring the 
 value of their fruits, and so long might wealth in- 
 crease, and become substantiated, without any ex- 
 press resolution of its value into higher acquire- 
 ments. In such a state of things, simple barter, 
 or some direct application of power or of influence, 
 vs^ould serve to adjust the claims and wants of man- 
 kind. And as tlie processes of production and con- 
 sumption would do little more than balance each 
 other, those ulterior resolutions of value, those 
 higher and superior acquirements, which represent 
 wealth in the abstract, would be but few in num- 
 ber, and of no great extent ; and what we call pro- 
 perty or relative wealth, would only appear, as it 
 -was substantiated by real acquirements. It must,
 
 557 
 
 however, be noticed, in regard to the state of so- 
 ciety at large, that thougli in these rude times, 
 man was inert, nature itself was powerful ; that 
 though the means decocted for the special prupose 
 of meeting his own powers were scanty ; yet, that 
 those whose value was recondite, and whose applica- 
 tion to this service was matured witliout human aid, 
 were immense and unbounded. We have no rea- 
 son, therefore, for making the low state of the arts, 
 and of social intercourse, the measure of the intel- 
 lectual prowess, or of the relative happiness of 
 mankind in those days. And as we know, from 
 the best authorit}', that though these M^re then 
 of a peculiar kind, yet the human apprehension of 
 things, and their application of these apprehensions 
 to tlicir own circumstances were appropriate ; so 
 we cannot but perceive, that advantages of a very 
 valuable kind were connected with the most simple 
 resolutions of property. 
 
 At an early period of society, cattle became 
 the medium of exchange, and the standard of ab- 
 solute value. Their universal utility and impor- 
 tance in the affairs of life, prepared them for this 
 service. But besides the quality of representing 
 and measuring wealth, and that of meeting the 
 most cogent wants of man, cattle possessed, in an 
 eminent degree, the faculty ol" increment, and tlius 
 united in tliemselves, the great leading qualities 
 of absolute wealth. Moreover, the possession of 
 cattle, carried likewise along with it, the inherent 
 dignity and power, that appertains to superior
 
 558 
 
 rank ; for it comy)nzed tiiat higher resolution of 
 wealth, wliich, in latter ages, has been appropriated 
 to baronial domains. Thus, cattle not only sub- 
 stantiated wealth and {)ower, represented and mea- 
 sured their value, but they constituted their ulti- 
 mate resolution. And, as these were objects of fair 
 enterprize and regular competition, they brought 
 the whole range of human affairs within the com- 
 pass of personal peaceful emulation ; so that the man 
 of successful industry might look forward to the 
 time, when, through its means, he might be able, 
 not only to display his splendor, but to exercise 
 his power and influence, on the most momentous 
 occasions. 
 
 When the power of concrete authority, however, 
 had superceded the suasive influence of the patriarch 
 and chieftain ; when the arts were exercised and 
 improved, to meet the fastidious appetites of the rul- 
 ir;^ orders of society ; and when the way to wealth 
 and honor was beset, on all hands, with the stern 
 and vindictive arm of coercive powder; then the 
 necessity of some portly and appropriate emblem 
 of wealth and of power appeared. No sooner were 
 the precious metals universally recognized for this 
 purpose, but cattle, the ancient, simple, powerful 
 emblem of wealth, sunk in value, and retained only 
 their relative power and importance, as subjects of 
 utility, as means for meeting, in a direct manner, 
 the wants of man. Every object, whose value re- 
 quired to be measured by the metallic standard, be- 
 hoved, thenceforward, in the first place, to be resolv-
 
 559 
 
 cd into this medium, before it could command, for 
 the service of its owner, a correspondent value in 
 any other commodity. In the mean time, a strong 
 barrier was thrown up, betwixt the power and ir.- 
 fluence comprized within the natural possession 
 of wealth, and that power and influence, wliich was 
 connected with civil authority and with the lionor 
 resulting from patrician dignity. Mere wealth might 
 command, in the course of its resolutions, a variety 
 of valuable objects ; but personal prowess and po- 
 litical influence were farther necessary, in order 
 to make way for the claims of indi\'iduals, in the 
 higher departments of civil life. Thus, the whole 
 fabric of the patriarchal system w^as split asunder, 
 and a new concrete organization of the social body 
 was instituted. In this state of things, the process 
 of industry was stimulated, more by coertion than 
 by emulation; its developements, accordingly, were 
 destined and restricted to the service and to the 
 views of those, who could exercise this coercive 
 power. As such a course of things was favorable 
 to high improvements in the flncr arts and sciences, 
 those, accordingly, reached a high degree of im- 
 provement ; but as it went to degrade and brutify 
 the finer perceptions of the soul, these were almost 
 universally sunk out of view : he who presided over 
 the concrete system, became insensible to the en- 
 nobling enjoyments, connected with genial sym- 
 pathy and heroic condescension ; and he who suf- 
 fered under its iron yoke, became indurated alike 
 in his moral and in his intellectual ieelings. These 
 matters have been so amply illustrated, that it
 
 560 
 
 seems only to be necessary now to notice, that 
 whatever the acquirements of the social body, dur- 
 ing this epoch were, the circumstances and charac- 
 ter of the great bulk of its members were by no 
 means enviable. During the patriarchal ara, the 
 sudden irruptions of human ferocity might at times 
 overwhelm whole communities, and all their ac- 
 quirements. During the concrete system, this e- 
 vil was, indeed, to a certain degree remedied ; but 
 in place of this, a constant system of durance pre- 
 vailed, and the character of mankind was bent down 
 to a conformity with its coercive procedure. In 
 this, the Pagan, as well as the Jewish world, were 
 involved; and history, as well as observation evinces, 
 that the splendor of this aera noways compensated 
 for the evils, with which it was necessarily accom- 
 panied. 
 
 It was not until the introduction of the Chris- 
 tian system, that the natural wants of our race, be- 
 came primary objects of regard, and that it be- 
 came the greatest honor and ambition of the high- 
 est as well as of the lowest, to exercise themselves 
 for the sei vice of mankind ; and that improvement, 
 thenceforward, proceeded in a variety of paths, 
 formerly unheeded, and never before explored, with 
 systematic accuracy. The divisions of Christen- 
 dom, into a multitude of nations, gave, to the en- 
 ergies set in motion for this purpose, a multitude 
 of springs of actions, and gave to those energies an 
 inexhaustible fund of means and resources ; it gave 
 also to the course in which these energies respec-
 
 561 
 
 tively moved, a determination, corresponding to 
 the beneficent principles which then prevailed. It 
 is out of this system, that all our personal acquire- 
 ments have arisen. We must substantiate our right 
 to our share of those acquirements, by our person- 
 al attainments ; and those attainments must be re- 
 solved into the medium of exchange, before they 
 can command this share ; but the profusion, with 
 which we are surrounded, ensures to each of us, 
 our respective proportion of these on easy terms. 
 
 In consequence of these advantages, the human 
 character unfolded itself, with constantly increas- 
 ing vigor ; and improvement in every department 
 of civil and social life, followed on with accelerated 
 force. The energies of mankind, thus extended 
 and invigorated, were exercised on a multitude of 
 objects, alike precious and important ; which ob- 
 jects, thereafter, continued to stimulate and rein- 
 force the energies thus employed, and to enlarge 
 and advance the course of improvement thus pre- 
 pared, in every direction. The talents and means 
 in exercise were of the most diversified kind; for 
 they comprized the whole circumstances of man. 
 The range of exercise, which these embraced was 
 of the most unbounded nature ; for it implicated the 
 whole concerns of all the nations of Christendom, 
 and tlie whole affairs of every class of men, in each 
 of these nations ; it was clossly filled up with ame- 
 liorating processes, some of these of the most com- 
 plicated, and some of the most powerful kind. The 
 developements, which these sent forth, indicated 
 
 4 fi
 
 562 
 
 the transcendent character and energy of the sys- 
 stem, in which they were enveloped, and the supe- 
 rior energy of that organization of the social body, 
 which had its foundation in individual indepen- 
 dence, above that, which rested on a mere coercive 
 concretion of the human powers. 
 
 The acquirements of the various nations of Eu- 
 rope, were correspondent to their respective char- 
 acters and circumstances. One kingdom stretched 
 its empire over a new world. Another fixed its 
 power on the seas. The finer developements of the 
 arts raised one country to superior wealth ; the 
 steady and austere character of its inhabitants, 
 raised the power of a second country to eminence ; 
 while the loyalty and restlessness of those of a third, 
 checked and counterbalanced these influences. In 
 all these, and in many other circumstances, prin- 
 ciples, that coincided with the character of each 
 nation, and of each class of mankind, were develop- 
 ed, which rendered Christendom at once the great- 
 est field of individual improvement, and the most 
 complicated engine of social advancement, that 
 this world had ever contained. Concentrating es- 
 tablisliments and institutions received all these en- 
 ergies, and exercised them with systematic advan- 
 tage ; and these severally tended to exalt the pro- 
 gress of the social body, and to fix its footsteps on 
 a stable foundation. The powers and means of na- 
 ture, thus augmented, that lay at the disposal of 
 princes and potentates, enabled these to carry for- 
 ward projects and designs, correspondent to their
 
 563 
 
 respective circumstances, and to display tlie pow- 
 er of this state of society, in all its splendor and 
 force. Over all these affairs, a vast financial system 
 stretched itself, which may be held to be the com- 
 mon property of every European nation. It con- 
 sisted of transfei^ahle capital and credit, and it univer- 
 sally stimulated and supported the industrious. The 
 powers and the fruits of industry peipetually re- 
 solved themselves into an augmentation of its 
 strength and extent ; and it was by these pov/ers, 
 and the fruits to which they gave birth, that the 
 commercial system, witli all its dependent processes, 
 was every where displayed and upheld. In short, 
 Europe, in spite of the restrictions and monopolies 
 with which its industry was traversed, and in spite of 
 oppression and misgovernance, formed one vast 
 sphere, perpetually devolving itself into one great- 
 er and higher ; there, wealth, industry, and genius 
 met, as in a common market ; there, they stimulat- 
 ed and supported the course of improvement that 
 was induced; and, there, they advanced themselves 
 and each other, in every great and useful attain- 
 ment, upon beneficent and ennobling principles. 
 
 But amidst all these grand developements of the 
 social body, a multitude of deteriorating principles 
 obtained a place. These gradually unfolded them- 
 selves, and gathered strength and stability from 
 the plenitude of provisions, which lay around them; 
 and they have always tended, more or less, to con- 
 sume and counteract all those ameliorating proces- 
 ses in which they could obtain a place. Corruption 
 
 4 B 2
 
 564 
 
 and depravity, on the one hand, and licentiousness 
 and perversity, on the otlier, like the tares among the 
 wheat, have grown up into strength, from the sup- 
 port and nourishment which they could extract from 
 this vast progression of improvement. In certain 
 cases, the broils and desolations which these occa- 
 sioned, have produced in the world such havoc and 
 dismay, that the very character of the whole sys- 
 tem, out of which they had arisen, seemed to have 
 become doubtful and precarious. 
 
 But, besides this, however grand and estimable 
 this vast concatenation of improvement, this benign 
 devolution of the ameliorating tendencies of compli- 
 cated industry, may be, there is attached to these 
 very peculiarities of the system, certain difficulties 
 that are inherent in its character. In consequence 
 of the implication of a multitude of individual and 
 social interests, within the movement of the same 
 vast machinery, every embarrassment and obstruc- 
 tion, that can affect any part of these interests, 
 must, necessarily, spread its influence every where 
 around. Hence it happens, that though individual 
 independence be systematically upheld, and though 
 provisions for maintaining it be every where set 
 down, yet this blessing is liable to become more 
 a disadvantage than a benefit. The means for en- 
 joying this independence are not unfrequently cut 
 off, and multitudes are left to prowl in search of 
 supplies, amidst objects, which, from the circum- 
 stanced of the case, are sealed up from their use.
 
 565 
 
 Both these classes of evils have been brought 
 into high operation in our own days. The French 
 revolution, with whatever insignia of respect and 
 power it may have become invested, is essentially 
 a congeries of desolating energies, which, having 
 become systematically combined, can spread their 
 desolations and obstructions over an immense ex- 
 panse of human affairs. In consequence of the im- 
 plication of the concernments of whole nations and 
 of whole classes of men, within the range of the 
 system, over which this destroying angel presides, 
 the ravages of the French revolution have not only 
 been great and extensive, but deep and intimately 
 combined with our highest and most valuable so- 
 cial acquirements. 
 
 The operation of these calamities has received 
 redoubled potency, from the circumstances, in 
 which the medium of exchange is necessarily plac- 
 ed. This medium, taken in its proper abstract sense, 
 is neither more nor less, than commercial confi- 
 dence, which is circulated amongst those held to 
 be entitled to this confidence, upon certain princi- 
 ples, which involve in themselves the circumstan- 
 ces of the country, and of all its concerns. When 
 these latter fall off, the former and the instrument 
 of exchange, commercial credit, which they upheld, 
 necessarily falls off at the same time. When these, 
 on the other hand, advance, commercial confidence, 
 and the standard of value, in like manner, improve 
 and become powerful. At present, these arc in 
 a most precarious state, we have sustained various
 
 366 
 
 calamities, and are exposed to a multitude of others. 
 Our commercial confidence vacillates with our ap- 
 prehensions, and these apprehensions powerfully af- 
 fect the value of the fruits of industry. And as these 
 fruits, with their value, must, necessarily, within a 
 given time, perish, if not consumed, and thus carry 
 off with them the commercial confidence which 
 they upheld, the vibrations in the state of the com- 
 mercial world, are not only frequent, but exces- 
 sive, and most destructive. 
 
 All these considerations necessarily direct our 
 attention to three objects, which in their implica- 
 tion and consequences, comprize all those views, 
 on which our plan of finance must be founded. 
 
 First, It directs our attention to the resolutions 
 of property, which being at present, to a certain ex- 
 tent, traversed or destroyed, it has become neces- 
 sary that some fresh measures be adopted, in regard 
 to our modes of foreign intercourse and colonial po- 
 licy ; these being the great fields, wherein these 
 resolutions at present devolve themselves. In or- 
 der to meet this object, it will be recollected, that 
 enlarged views of the subjects which these embrace 
 have already been laid down ; and a liberal and 
 comprehensive plan in regard to these, involving 
 all the concerns that can be contemplated in this 
 view, have been set forth and illustrated. 
 
 Secondly, Our attention is next directed to the 
 medium of exchange itself. It was seen, that this
 
 567 
 
 ought to rest, not on the fruits of industry alone, 
 but on these fruits, together with the industrious 
 processes, by which these fruits can be obtained. 
 Like the pastoral instrument for effecting this ob- 
 ject, our medium of exchange ought to comprize 
 an incrementive, as well as a circulatory and dis- 
 tributive faculty. It ought to increase in substan- 
 tial value, in the hands of the possessor ; and though 
 its real estimation should always remain unalter- 
 ed, it was shewn, that this estimation should con- 
 stantly advance in the character which it bore. 
 
 Thirdly, As the importance of our belligerent 
 interests render these, and every resolution of pro- 
 perty by which they can be affected, matters of 
 super-eminent regard, so every other consideration, 
 it was shewn, should give way to those views which 
 these interests imply. These processes of resolution, 
 and those measures, into which our financial con- 
 cerns conducted us, it was seen, should, therefore, 
 advance, in subordination to this great adumbrat- 
 ing object. Our belligerent interests involve our 
 existence, our all ; they are in a most precarious 
 situation ; they most powerfully affect and are affect- 
 ed by our general trade and finances ; and we can- 
 not but obey tlieir paramount influence. 
 
 In making these considerations, and the illustra- 
 tions that have preceded them, bear with full ef- 
 fect upon the subject more immediately before us, 
 we find, that a financial project, that may serve our 
 present most pressing occasions, naturally arises
 
 568 
 
 out of them, which is well deserving of our imme- 
 diate attention. This scheme of finance will not, 
 indeed, embrace all those consequences, that we 
 may warrantably hold as resulting from the great sys- 
 tem of improvement that has been proposed ; but it 
 will meet every ordinary occurrence with manifest 
 advantage. The want of a stable, circulatory, ex- 
 tended, financial basis, into which, as into gold, e- 
 very other circulating object may be resolved, it was 
 seen, is to be found in the value, concentrated in our 
 reproductive processes ; the only question, therefore, 
 seems to be, by what means can we set aside and 
 apportion this value, so as to make it answer this 
 most important object? 
 
 It is evident, that such a validated appretiation 
 of these processes may be found, as will neutra- 
 lize the apprehensions, even of the most timorous. 
 Landed property, and reproductive establishments 
 of indisputable value, set aside for this purpose, 
 might be appretiated upon certain fixed principles 
 and in the most cautious manner; then, from the va- 
 lue thus found, a deduction of from one to two thirds, 
 according to the nature of the case, might be made, 
 so as to give a basis of substantiated property, con- 
 cerning which, there could be no doubt or uncer- 
 tainty whatever. The establishment, thus appre- 
 tiated, might thereafter be mortgaged in the hands 
 of a certain board, thereto appointed by the legis- 
 lature; to be by it held in security of certain circul- 
 atory impledgements, to be delivered into the hands 
 of those, thus mortgaging it. It is into these im.
 
 569 
 
 pledgements that I would have all the other circu- 
 latory objects of the country rendered ultimately re- 
 soluble ; these impledgements being thus received 
 as the fixed and substantiated medium of commercial 
 intercourse, concerning the validity of which, it 
 would be unlawful to setup any objection whatever. 
 Within the influence of this ordination, I would 
 comprehend the whole concerns of the Bank of Eng- 
 land, as well as those of every provincial bank, and 
 render it necessary, both for the one and for the 
 other of them, to be prepared to resolve all their 
 notes into these validated impledgements, under 
 the severest penalties. 
 
 For the purpose of rendering the business of 
 banking, an object deserving of the attention of 
 the more independent classes of the community, I 
 would, in the first place, afford every possible fa- 
 cility and accommodation, in the resolution of fix- 
 ed property, into these circulatory impledgements ; 
 and, thereafter, provide most effectually for the com- 
 plete security of all, who may be affected by the 
 emissions of these that might be made ; both in re- 
 gard to fraud, and in regard to contingent mis- 
 fortunes. For instance ; a landholder or stock- 
 holder, having got his property valued, and one 
 third deduced from it, and having thus ascertained 
 its validated acceptation; or the proprietor of some 
 burgage tenements, having, by deducing one half of 
 their valued amount, obtained the same advantage ; 
 or the owner of some fabricating establishment, 
 liaving by subtracting two tliirds from its received 
 
 4 r
 
 570 
 
 value — been placed in similar circumstances — all 
 these having, severally, thereafter, executed an as- 
 signation of their respective properties insecurity — 
 I would hold them entitled, not only to receive cir- 
 culatory impiedgements to the ascertained amount, 
 in that precise form, which suited their views and 
 circumstances ; but warranted to continue in the 
 full enjoyment of the same rights to their pro- 
 perty, that they had before it was mortgaged ; the 
 public being held to be sufficiently secured against 
 fraud, by the registration of all such mortgages in 
 an appropriate office to be erected for the purpose ; 
 and by those, who circulated the impiedgements, and 
 represented the property mortgaged, having also giv- 
 en their personal security, along with the heritable 
 assignation above mentioned, for the farther safiety 
 and relief of the holder of those impiedgements ; 
 which engagements, being homologated by an ex- 
 press obligation drawn out upon the body of the 
 circulated notes, would thereto be efficient in every 
 particular case. The government of the country, 
 I would also understand as being rendered respon- 
 sible for the ultimate resolubility of those impledg- 
 ed notes, by a similar express obligation. 
 
 It does not seem to be necessary, that the im- 
 piedgements, thus created, should be the only cir- 
 culating medium of the country ; it is enough, that 
 all other paper sliould, in the option of the holder, 
 be reducible at maturity into such impiedgements. 
 In order to meet the views and circumstances of 
 the public, it would be proper, that the impledge-
 
 571 
 
 merits of each district, should have their authorita- 
 tive circulation circumscribed within the limits of 
 that district ; Vv'ithout, however, attempting any vio- 
 lence on the inclination of individuals, who may 
 chuse to receive and pass them beyond these bounds. 
 It would certainly be highly proper and necessary, 
 to have these impledgements regularly drawn off 
 from the course of circulation, within a given time, 
 and at different specified periods, (perhaps a tenth 
 part every year might be removed, till every im- 
 pledgment was retired,) and that each impledgement 
 should bear in its import, the date and circum- 
 stances of its ultimate resolution. It might some- 
 times be proper, to permit new impledgements to be 
 uttered, in lieu of these that are withdrawn ; but, in 
 general, it would be proper to allow several courses 
 of impledgements to run off, before any renewal 
 on the same basis should be accorded. Thus, the 
 incrementivc power of establishments would go on, 
 substantiating the fund circulated on the basis of 
 their accredited value ; and the financial support 
 afforded to the community, would render their pow- 
 ers of reproduction, constantly more and more effec- 
 tual. Individuals would hold in their hand, an em- 
 blem of wealth more valuable than gold, because 
 substantially more excellent; one, that like the flocks 
 of antiquity, increased constantly in its validity 
 without inferring trouble to the holder. 
 
 For the purpose of facilitating all this business, 
 it would be necessary to constitute a board, with sta- 
 tiitary powers, for carrying into effect every par- 
 
 4 c 2
 
 572 
 
 ticular measure of this kind, for superintending the 
 general procedure in regard to these measures, and 
 for drawing these respectively to their appropriate 
 conclusion. The first object of this board, would 
 be to examine into the cases laid before them, and 
 to give forth those impledgements which these cases 
 required, on receiving the requisite security. Its 
 next object would be, to attend to the resolution 
 of these impledgements, and to interpose its pow- 
 er and means on all necessary occasions, in relief 
 of the holder of impledgements, and for the advance- 
 ment of the common good. Its ultimate object 
 would be, to watch over the circulatory process, to 
 take care that there was no surplusage, and that no 
 undue advantage was taken of existing laws and pro- 
 visions ; and to make such reports to the legislature, 
 as all these circumstances should point out. It is 
 very evident, that sucli a multitude of circumstan- 
 ces, would soon present themselves to the notice of 
 this board, that a class of provisions, every way suit- 
 ed to the occasion, would soon be brought forward, 
 prepared, matured, and digested, under legislative 
 influence for the service and advantage of the 
 public and of all concerned. To attempt to go 
 closser into this subject in this place, seems, there- 
 fore, to be altogeth er unnecessary. Piinciples have 
 been laid down, on which any general plan of the 
 above description must necessarily proceed ; and 
 experience alone can furnish the materials, by which 
 this plan can be rendered complete in all its parts. 
 
 It must be noticed, however, that the above plan
 
 57ii 
 
 must, in our present circumstances, be held to be no 
 other than a temporary arrangement, made to meet 
 existing contingencies, and to be calculated only 
 for meeting the first movements of that progression 
 of improvement that has been proposed. It is evi- 
 dent, that we can neither presume on the concur- 
 rence of our own, nor of any foreign government, to 
 all the arrangements that have been subsumed as the 
 l3asis of this progression, without possessing some 
 more ample means for enforcing our claims, than 
 any that have yet been adduced into notice. To car- 
 ry our commercial and financial operations forward, 
 as far as possible, in their natural course, is, however, 
 a primary object; to secure present attainments, be- 
 fore we attempt to build on higher ground mustthere- 
 fore be a primary duty. It is for this purpose, that 
 the above project is now presented. And, when wc 
 attend to the rapid growth of the concrete system a- 
 mongst us, we cannot but perceive the necessity of 
 some such set of provisions for immediate relief To 
 deliver society out of that bondage, which luxury, 
 bankruptcy, heavy taxes, and juridical imposts, 
 have imposed upon it, is not only a pressing, but 
 a deeply interesting consideration. How few are 
 there now-a-days, whose dependence on the favor of 
 the great, or on the will of those whom circumstan- 
 ces have placed over them, do not bear down and 
 oppress ? It is not ministers of state, or parliamen- 
 tary influence alone, that we have to complain of, 
 for those frequently come forth like refreshing show- 
 ers to reanimate hope. The concrete authority
 
 574 
 
 of bankrupt factors, of privileged lawyers, and of a 
 whole system, whereof direct coertion is the basis, 
 is ten times more destructive. This withers up e- 
 mulation, pervades the circumstances of the whole 
 community, and influences alike those occupations 
 that are of the most secret and domestic, and those 
 that are of the most public and extensive nature; 
 thus rendering the virtue, happiness, and security 
 of individuals and of society, for the most part, the 
 mere sport of accident ; matters, against which, 
 every calamity may prevail. 
 
 It is by no means the object of such establish- 
 ments, to restrain the public in the regular use of 
 the precious metals, either as the standard of ab- 
 solute value, as the medium of ordinary commer- 
 cial intercourse, or as the instrument for expedit- 
 ing foreign transactions. These are inviolable char- 
 acteristics of our process of exchange, and must not 
 be infringed upon, on any account whatever. The 
 great and leading object in view, is to provide a- 
 bundantly for the ordinary procedure of mercantile 
 business, to place within the power of the mer- 
 chants, a secure foundation for his commercial 
 transactions, and to accord to the industrious pro- 
 cesses that support, which their circumstances re- 
 quire. The necessity of preserving in circulation, 
 for this purpose, a sufficient proportion of the smal- 
 ler denominations of coin, is so evident, that no 
 one can dispute the propriety of rendering it a 
 special article, in the constitution of the circula- 
 tory establishments above described, that one hour
 
 of each day should be set apart, for the purpose of 
 converting a proportion of their notes into such coin, 
 and that most express provisions should be made 
 for securing this advantage to the pubhc. Our in- 
 tercourse with foreign countries, and the ordinary 
 occurences of hfe, point out, in like manner, the 
 propriety of laying a similar obligation on these es- 
 tablishments, in regard to coin of a higher name. 
 In this last case, however, I would not only restrict 
 the obligation, by making the sum thus resoluble only 
 one third of that provided for, in the preceding case, 
 and the time for resolving this sum into coin, only one 
 hour of each week ; but I would fix the place and cir- 
 cumstances of this resolution ; I would have these 
 exchanges, made only at one fixed place, in certain 
 centra] towns, for behoof of all the bankers within 
 a specified district. The obligation, thus restricted, 
 will answer all the purposes of foreign intercourse, 
 and preserve in full vigor, the ideal standard of our 
 own circulating medium. By these means the occa- 
 sions of the public will be met, without overbur- 
 dening the bankers, and the real advantage of the 
 precious metals will be secured, without any ways 
 traversing the circulatory processes. 
 
 But besides meeting in the most ample manner 
 the occasions of tiie public, the above provisions 
 will tend to place the funds of country bankers and 
 great financiers, in very independent circumstan- 
 ces. At present, however rich or respectable any 
 of these establishments may be, they are neces- 
 sarily so completly involved in the fate of their
 
 576 
 
 London agents, in whose hands their funds are de- 
 posited, that the fall of these latter generally pro- 
 duces that of the former. But, in place of having 
 their funds thus locked up in the hands of these 
 great London money dealers, whose transactions 
 and whose fortunes take the full sweep of the whole 
 commercial world, the country banker would, by 
 these means, rest most absolutely upon his own 
 resources. In place of being obliged to be in con- 
 stant readiness, to resolve his notes into London 
 paper, he would hold in his hands the means of re- 
 solving these without either trouble or difficulty ; he 
 would be circumscribed, only by the limits of his 
 real property ; nay, he could receive supplies from 
 his neighbours, without inducing any risk, that was 
 not seen and known, at the time, in its full extent, 
 by all parties. Besides this, even in the worst of 
 times, any person, of ordinary prudence and cre- 
 dibility, might procure new circulatory impledge- 
 ments from the great national board, on the basis 
 of his personal credit ; for fixed property to sub- 
 stantiate thescj could never be av/anting to any in- 
 dividual of extensive connexions, the basis of whose 
 establishment was good. In such circumstances, 
 it is evident that no such thing as general confusion 
 or bankruptcy could possibly take place. 
 
 In the meantime, the holders of these impledge- 
 ments would be as secure, as it is possible for 
 them to be ; they would hold in their hands, not 
 only a proper emblem of value, but an instru- 
 ment, that could effectually command this value.
 
 511 
 
 With the fate of the banker who uttered tliese im- 
 pledgements, they would be but little concerned ; 
 for the government of the country not only guaran- 
 teed the validity of this instrument, but retained 
 in possession for^his purpose, that very substantial 
 article of value which this instrument commands ; 
 an article which cannot perish with the fruits which 
 it produced, but which must continue to send forth 
 its fruits without intermission. These are advan- 
 tages, not only tantamount to all that appertain to 
 gold and silver as a medium, but equal in value 
 to those that characterised the flocks and herds of 
 the patriarchs, the ancient pastoral medium. Nay, 
 they exceed even these, in as much as reproductive 
 establishments, thus validated and supported, are 
 in themselves more secure and valuable objects 
 of possession, than subjects that are doomed to 
 perish, within a very limited time, and that are 
 exposed to accidents of the most destructive kind. 
 
 A iMosT formidable objection to this scheme oC 
 finance arises out of the very advantages, tliat ren- 
 der it so estimable. If faciiiticrs, almost unbounded, 
 for converting fixed into circulable wealth, be thus 
 produced ; what security have we, that tlie course 
 of business will not be overpowered with a pro- 
 fusion of the instrument of exchange? In such a 
 dilemma, would not that personal industry and as- 
 siduity, which are tlic source of all our attainments, 
 become relaxed ? The feelings of men, are natur- 
 ally averse from that incessant labor, out of which 
 so many of our personal comforts arise. Would 
 
 4 n
 
 578 
 
 not a plenitude of the instrument of independence 
 raise the feelings of those who labor for subsistence, 
 above that pressure, which is necessary to urge them 
 forward in their severest exertions ; and thus gra- 
 dually withdraw from the community, these arti- 
 culate acquisitions, which are most valuable ? Or, 
 if the evil should not proceed thus far, would not 
 a variety of the most important articles of civilized 
 life rise so high in the general estimation, from 
 the mere force of that competition, that would 
 be excited amongst the multitude who could pro- 
 cure these articles, that a great proportion of the 
 community would be deprived of their usual gra- 
 tifications ? Experience readily suggests an an- 
 swer to these demurrings; for the cupidity of men 
 in a state of advanced improvement, when urged 
 forward by domestic claims and emulous ambition, 
 is seen to create a stimulus to his industry sufficient 
 to induce incessant exercise to his faculties ; while 
 the circumstances of society invariably fix down 
 the exercises thus induced, to these avocations that 
 are most beneficial to the individual himself, and 
 to all with whom he may be connected. Besides, in 
 the present state of society the employments of men 
 are constantly becoming more and more decorated 
 and respectable; so that from the feelings which our 
 respective circumstances induce, and the influence 
 which improvement, concentrated and reinforced 
 by external agency, exercises over these feelings, 
 there never can, for any length of time, be any 
 important deficiency or imperfection in any part 
 of our general economy.
 
 579 
 
 There can be no doubt, however, but that an 
 indiscriminate and inconsiderate application of the 
 above scheme to existing circumstances, would 
 lead to some such disorder, as that which lias been 
 described, especially at the outset ; and that this 
 disorder might lead into consequences that are of 
 the most serious nature, if not timeously checked 
 and counterbalanced. In particular, I apprehend, 
 that the inducements held out to men of fortune 
 and family, to convert their fixed into circulable 
 wealth, would introduce into the upper depart- 
 ments of life, a licentious and profligate turn of 
 mind. And as vice of every kind is epidemical, 
 and, when once introduced into the character, seizes 
 upon the whole frame, corruption of principles, and 
 depravity of heart, might speedily ensue. Besides 
 this, we know that the inferior orders of society, 
 are but too prone to tread in the footsteps of those 
 above them, and that wickedness, when nurtured 
 amidst profusion, soon spreads its force and effects 
 over a community. Is there not, therefore, great 
 danger of thereby introducing into our body-politic, 
 the same rapacious and libidinous propensities, that 
 marked the early stage of the French revolution ? 
 These are most important considerations, but that 
 the effects contemplated can only be produced by 
 very criminal neglect in the superintending power, 
 shall presently be shewn. 
 
 It will be recollected, that it is understood, that 
 tliis whole business is to be placed under the direct 
 control and management of a board, thereto consti- 
 
 4 n 2
 
 580 
 
 tilted by legislative authority, regularly acccnntiiig 
 for all its conduct in open parliament, and busily en- 
 gaged in collecting and digesting materials, for en- 
 abling it to improve its procedure in every depart- 
 ment of its office. For the purpose of enabling 
 
 this board to accomplish this object most complete- 
 ly, I would farther propose, that its whole procedure 
 should not only be published, and discussed in open 
 parliament, but that its views and designs should 
 embrace a variety of connected objects ; all of 
 which should, in like manner, be published and 
 discussed before their adoption. Taking these ad- 
 vantages along with us, and remarking, at the same 
 time, the precision that pervades every department 
 of the excise, of the customs, and of other general 
 boards, that affect the course of industry and im- 
 provement, to most of which, the public eye has 
 little access ; and seriously reflecting on the deep 
 and universal importance, of the affairs submitted 
 to this great financial board ; can we for a moment 
 doubt of corresponding exactitude and fidelity in 
 the conduct of this board ? On its conduct, the eyes 
 of t!ie whole nation must be constantly and necessa- 
 rily fixed ; in the consequences of its procedure, 
 every one feels his whole interests to be involved. 
 If every difiiculty and complexity in its movements 
 be thus effectually expiscated, may not the whole 
 nature and object of its duty, and the consequences 
 that must therefrom necessarily result, be expect- 
 ed to become matters of as much precision in 
 forethought, as in their experienced effects, and 
 ultiuiatcly fix themselves aright ?
 
 581 
 
 In discussing this point,- 1 have, as is universal- 
 ly (lone in such cases, subsumed it as a fact, con- 
 cerning the truth and certainty of which there 
 can be no doubt, that the instrument of exchange 
 is the invariable object of our solicitude, and that 
 it aloue commands all other marketable objects. 
 It will be recollected, however, that it has been al- 
 ready shewn, that the instrument of exchange, in 
 any form whatever, does not make its appearance, 
 in one of many hundred of such transactions. Our 
 whole business, mercantile and national, almost in- 
 variably turns, upon what is called, mercantile credit 
 or conjidcnce. If our mercantile and industrious 
 processes turn upon this object, it is in vain to as- 
 sert, that the scarcity or plenty of the medium of 
 exchange, is the cause of the rise or fall of the price 
 of labor, or of the force of enterprize. It is the 
 strength or weakness of mutual confidence, that de- 
 termines both this, and the limits of that profusion 
 or parsimony that appear in our ordinary modes of 
 living. In order to certiorate ourselves of thi« 
 point, let us ask these questions. Towards wiiat 
 do our marketable commodities and productions 
 necessarily tend ? For what object are they produc- 
 ed? Arc not these commodities incessantly pour- 
 ed into the hands of an accredited merchant, whose 
 obligation, written or implied, enables and encour- 
 ages us to carryforward those processes,out ofwhich 
 they arose ? Possessed of this advantage, are not 
 these processes not only supported, but advanced, 
 extended, and rendered doubly efficacious ? Thus 
 the bare transmission of our fruits, into accredited
 
 582 
 
 hands, nourishes and augments the basis of our gene- 
 ral wealth. It is this commercial confidence, in fact, 
 that resolves, as well as circulates the greater part 
 of the wealth, that is therein produced. It is thereby 
 that the wealth attained, can again stimulate and 
 advance that very commercial credit which consti- 
 tutes the ultimate resolution, nay, the very essence 
 of this wealth. The medium is, no doubt, ultimate- 
 ly received ; but in what shape is this done ? it is in 
 the shape of impledgements, which rest for their 
 validity on the credit which is thus circulated. 
 
 These considerations bring into notice a most 
 important fact. It is not the standard of value, 
 the precious metals ; it is not even the representa- 
 tive of these, an accredited paper currency, that de- 
 velopes our national resources, that supports our 
 reproductive establishments ; it is commercial cre- 
 dit, it is confidence in the capabilities of individuals^ 
 to meet their engagements, that procures for us 
 these advantages. Our wealth, therefore, as things 
 stand at present, has no other basis, but the per- 
 sonal responsibility of the parties concerned in the 
 business of upholding it ; and it is a circumstance 
 well deserving of notice, tliat this personal respon- 
 sibility is seldom at par with money ; it rests on 
 so many extrinsic objects, that there is generally a 
 shade of dubiety as to its validity. Still, however, it 
 circulates, for commercial credit is superabundant, 
 and ready money is scarce. Parties dispose of their 
 property and services to others, on the basis of the 
 responsibility of those other parties, because these
 
 583 
 
 cannot be disposed of otherwise. The instrument 
 of exchange being scarce, personal credit supplies 
 its place ; for when these others accept of this 
 property, and of these services, on the proferred 
 conditions, they do it, because they can, without 
 difficulty, part with a certain portion of their credit, 
 while they must husband their money. This fact 
 deserves much attention, because it is not less cer- 
 tain than important. It is an old adage, that the 
 possession of money, like the dropsy, breeds a thirst 
 for more of that thing, whereby the disease has been 
 produced. Can we, therefore, be under much ap- 
 prehensions respecting the plenitude of that object, 
 which thus in a manner absorbs itself? We have 
 already contemplated the situation of the Jews in 
 king Solomon*s times, when, amidst abundance of 
 means, and abundance of the medium of exchange, 
 the people, in peace and comfort, enjoyed every 
 thing desirable. Let it now be recollected, that 
 we have subsumed the existence of a state of socie- 
 ty, that corresponds very nearly with that which ex- 
 isted in that monarch's days. Our energies, though 
 most powerful, are all held to be fully exercised in 
 improving the world ; our capabilities, though im- 
 mense as distended, in receiving and maturing the 
 resources of other nations. From the very nature 
 of such a case, therefore, a vast extension of com- 
 mercial circulation must unavoidably take ])hice. 
 The question, therefore, is, shall the instrument for 
 expediting this circulation, be merely mercantile 
 credit, or shall it be this credit substantiated by an 
 accession of real financial strength ? Let it be no-
 
 584 
 
 ticcci, that the species of industry, presupposed as 
 provided, must require a vast extension in the terms 
 of credit, such as may not be rendered circulable 
 as at present ; the length of the voyage, and the cir- 
 cumstances of the accredited, ahke forbidding par- 
 ties from relying so implicitly on the results of their 
 enterprizes, as to dispose them to assume these re- 
 sults as the basis of mercantile intercourse, without 
 some stronger support than any that could, for 
 some time, arise out of the trade itself In such cir- 
 cumstances, therefore, I apprehend that some such 
 new financial basis, as that under consideration, 
 must be admitted to be indispensible. 
 
 There is a concluding consideration, in regard 
 <to this point, that it is necessary now to bring fully 
 into view. However tenacious we may be of our 
 property ; yet when any great object of enterprize is 
 before us, there are few of us, who will not avail our- 
 selves to the utmost of our commercial credit, for 
 the sake of doing ample justice to the object of this 
 enterprize. This is a law of our nature, and it arises 
 from the predominancy of hope and desire, of am- 
 bition and self-confidence, in the constitution of our 
 minds. In the circumstances that we have suppos- 
 ed, we cannot but imagine, that thousands of indi- 
 viduals, are all ready to throw themselves afloat in 
 the field of adventure. Of these, people of little 
 capital, and slender capacity, will always be the 
 foremost, and as they can neither, from their own 
 means, meet the demands created against them at 
 home, nor stand out against the difficulties of their 
 situation in a foreign market, the double evil of des-
 
 6S5 
 
 iwying every chance of making profit for tliem- 
 selves, or their country, abroad ; and that of over- 
 whelming in their ruin, all who have confided on 
 them at home — must necessarily follow, from leav- 
 ing the foreground of enterprize to them. This is 
 a most serious consideration, for it strikes closs 
 at the root of our national prosperity ; it throws into 
 the hands of foreigners, all the aggregate advanta- 
 ges resulting from our national capabilities, l)y the 
 very means, by which it produces overwhelming 
 embarrassment, amongst the most industrious class 
 of our citizens at home. 
 
 As it is indispcnsibly necessary to take fully a- 
 long with us, clear and precise ideas of the power 
 and operation of commercial credit, it seems to 
 be proper to illustrate the above positions by a 
 familiar example. A warehouseman disposing of 
 ^lOOOof commodities to a reputable merchant at 
 a credit of nine months, is immediately in circum- 
 stances to repair to the manufacturer, "from whose 
 stock he may procure commodities to a similar a- 
 mount, at six months credit ; for the bill, previously 
 attained, when six months run, v.ill enable him to 
 obtain at his banker's, the means for meeting this new 
 cncfacjement to the manuflicturer. The manufac- 
 turer, in like manner, is tlicrcby capacitated to 
 make similar additions to his stock, on the faith of 
 the resolubility of this obh'gation, at tlie distance of 
 three months. All this time, it will be noticed, that 
 most important transactions have taken place ; and 
 that though much property has been turned into 
 
 4 !■;
 
 586 
 
 absolute value, the medium of exchange has not 
 once been intervened. Commercial credit has done 
 the whole ; and, in ordinary cases, each party re- 
 mains as well satisfied with his situation, during the 
 currency of these obligations, as if his property had 
 been converted, under a fair discount, into bullion. 
 
 It is no doubt true, that each of these parties, 
 must ultimately discharge their respective engage- 
 n^ents in accredited impledgements, and that their 
 bankers must be able to meet the impledgements, 
 delivered into the hands of these parties, in tlie cur- 
 rent medium : but it is equally true, that those em- 
 pledgements are ultimately resoluble into each 
 other, and that so long as those who emit them 
 can maintain a fair character, so long there can be 
 no difficulty m procuring a change of paper, or 
 €ven bank of England notes, in order to effect this 
 object. In the mean time, however, it must be ob- 
 served, that the value of the notes of liand, which 
 these bankers had discounted, rests entirely on the 
 capabilities of the parties who are pledged to sub- 
 stantiate them at maturity ; and, that their own ca- 
 pabilities for relieving their own notes, have no real 
 support, but these extrinsic capabilities, which, 
 as formerly illustrated, rest on the general trade of 
 the countr^^ As things stand at present, therefore, 
 the general credit of the country not only upholds 
 commercial transactions, but serves to substantiate 
 our general wealth. Yet this credit is the sport of 
 accident; it rests on the state of the country, on 
 tliat of individuals who have attained to mercantile
 
 58^ 
 
 eminence ; it is liable to a thousand accidents ; it 
 frequently implicates the responsibility of indivi- 
 duals, who arc unequal to the weight that is thus 
 laid upon them ; and at times, this credit, with all 
 the wealth that can be represented by it, is sudden- 
 ly subverted and destroyed, in a variety of ways. 
 
 But, as the instance above stated is taken from 
 those commercial transactions, that arc tlie most 
 unimpeachable and the most regular, we must take 
 this fact also along with us, that such is the value 
 of untainted commercial credit to merchants, and so 
 vast are the advantages that are to be derived from 
 it, that transactions of the most complicated, and of 
 the most desperate kind, are frequently resorted to 
 by individuals, for the sake of its preservation. For 
 the sake of propping up a fallacious credit, goods 
 are purcliascd and mortgaged, and circulable paper, 
 where no real value has been exchanged, is passed 
 from hand to hand ; nay, it is known, that in the 
 view of obtaining possession of drawbacks and boun- 
 ties, goods have been shipped off on forlorn adven- 
 tures. As the existence of the property, thus en- 
 dangered, is necessary to substantiate the funds 
 which it has circulated, the loss of individuals be- 
 comes the loss ofthe public. When such individuals 
 tumble into ruin, they sink property out of view, 
 and bring down along with them, not only a vast 
 mass of circulable credit, but the whole indus- 
 try wliich this credit could uphold. The mischief 
 in this case is palpable ; its origin is obvious ; but it 
 
 connected so intimati'ly v.ith all the finer spring? 
 
 4 K 2
 
 588 
 
 of our present system, that any thing like an at- 
 tempt to remedy it, in existing circumstances, 
 Avould endanoer our ^\hole financial fabric. 
 
 In consequence, however, of tlie ample supply 
 of funds, that we must suppose to be provided by 
 the institution of the financial system unfolded in 
 this treatise, we may warrantably assume, that by 
 its means, it is competent for us gradually to draw 
 ourselves out of this embarrassing dilemma ; and, in 
 the eml, to substitute an universal system of finan- 
 cial intercourse, correspondent to our best interests. 
 It is from the want of a specific circulable object, 
 of real and substantial value, more than from any 
 other imperfection in our system, that commercial 
 confidence is rendered thus diffuse. Let the means 
 of circulating real property, in independent circum- 
 stances, be provided, and that indefinite credential 
 medium, that vacillating instrument of commercial 
 intercourse, now in use, will assume a new appear- 
 ance. Well-poised mercantile credit will then deve- 
 lope itself in its natural course ; it will in truth, as 
 well as in appearance, prove the genuine support 
 of commercial enterprize : we will be able to look to 
 the issue, as well as to the object, of our transactions. 
 The mist, which hangs over all our projects, will be 
 dispelled, for no man will adventure into untrodden 
 paths, for the sake of an uncertain support to his cre- 
 dit, when he perceives, tiiat this support can only be 
 found among domestic affairs, and that it may be 
 found therein its utmost plenitude, provided that his
 
 589 
 
 schemes coincide with its object, and that his nib£)is 'Vt^^^nn 
 can resolve themselves into its service. 
 
 While these considerations discover to us the vast 
 power and importance of commercial credit, and 
 the dependence of our mercantile and industrious 
 operations upon its complicated movements, theycali 
 upon us, in a most imperative tone, to set in earnest 
 about lowering this power and importance, and to 
 proceed to substitute, in place of this fallacious 
 principle of confidence, that more stable and sub- 
 stantial medium of intercourse, which has been so 
 fully exhibited in the preceding context. That our 
 reproductive processes, our commercial intercourse, 
 our national prosperity and influence, and every 
 thing into which our public and private means 
 and resources necessarily resolve tliemselves, ought 
 not to depend on the circumstances and motions 
 of a principle, which is the creature of adventure, 
 and which, in spite of our highest and wisest mea- 
 sures to maintain its stability, may be propitious 
 to-day, and adverse to-morrow, is abundantly evi- 
 dent. The fate of our national resources must not 
 be thrown loose to the wind; these ought to be 
 bound up with our most valuable possessions, and 
 to have their object secured to them by every fair 
 and legitimate provision that can be devised. 
 
 While it is thus manifest, that our invaluable 
 powers of reproduction, are as often the instrument 
 of perdition as of prosperity to their owners, from 
 the mere want of a solid support, that can render
 
 590 
 
 the reward which of right necessarily appertains to 
 all those individuals, by whose means and exertions, 
 they have been produced, not a matter of contingen- 
 cy, dependent on the chequered fortune of the auda- 
 cious adventurer, but, in some degree, a matter of 
 calculation, the necessary result of their ordinary 
 movements ; we cannot but perceive that the evil 
 is radical, and has no tendency to work out its own 
 remedy. Nay, the uncertainty of the thing only 
 begets more inordinate cupidity and boldness in 
 the children of adventure ; and this inordinate cu- 
 pidity and boldness, instead of checking the pub- 
 lic mind, only inflames the more its false confidence 
 and presumption, in the fate of these adventurers. 
 Conunoditics and productions are not only pro- 
 fusely thrown into their hands, but property of every 
 kind, and schemes of the most rational and unam- 
 biguous description, are sacrificed or set aside, 
 for the mere purpose of instituting new establish- 
 ments for producing superabundance of these com- 
 modities; insomuch, thattheformof society, as well 
 as the face of the country, becomes marked with 
 the strangeness of the prevalent delusion ; and 
 the course of general prosperity seems studded 
 with all the vacillating fortunes and circumstances, 
 which a progression, in such a vast, yet such a fra- 
 gile system of unbalanced enterprize, necessarily 
 produces. 
 
 But, although there be no remedy to this evil, 
 in the case itself, it is possible for us, by withdraw- 
 ing some of the fictitious props on which this falla- 
 
 I
 
 591 
 
 cioiis confidence rests, to circMmscribe its power, 
 and to bring forward, in the process of intercourse, 
 a principle vvliich will tend to renovate the commer- 
 cial character. The medium of intercourse, held 
 to. be provided by the foregoing sclicme, appearf< 
 opportunely for our service. It is necessary, how- 
 ever, to render it universally and indispensibly 
 necessary for all parties to have frequent resoursc 
 to this medium, and to hold its validated character 
 as fully recognized and established. 
 
 As all these considerations must come fully un- 
 der the eye of the great financial board, held to be 
 constituted for carrying the general plan into ef- 
 fect, and as every object, that can at all affect the 
 process of commercial intercourse, must be consid- 
 ered as subjected to the revision of this board, it 
 is not necessary to enter very fully into the detail 
 of these measures, that appear to be most proper 
 for restraining the influence of commercial confi- 
 dence within its proper bounds. It maybe proper, 
 however, to state some of the most leading and re- 
 markable of those circumstances, towards which, it 
 may be naturally supposed, that the attention of 
 this board will be drawn, together with those prin- 
 ciples, by an adherence to which, an amendment of 
 
 -isting evils may, it is appreiiended. bemostefTcc- 
 
 wallv attained. 
 
 And let il bi- tuujced, in liie outset, uia^ ii n. a 
 tnatter of primary im})ortance to dispel those mists, 
 mder which personages frequently transact with
 
 59S 
 
 each other. We have already many advantages for 
 so doing. The authoritati'-e statements of exports 
 and imports, given in the newspapers ; the detailed 
 report of our general markets, of bankrupt subjects, 
 of remarkable law proceedings, together with the 
 various discussions and animadversions thereanent, 
 that are ))y the same means, placed before every in- 
 dividual ; these, and many other similar provisions, 
 are all highly conducive to this most important ob- 
 ject ; while the private intelligence procured in cof- 
 fee-houses, and other places of general resort, and 
 the ordinary train of occurrences around us, enable 
 individuals to apply the mass of information, thus, 
 procured, to their own affairs. Still, however, it 
 must be noticed, that it frequently happens, that in- 
 dividuals cannot regularly attain that knowledge of 
 which they stand most in need, and that they are laid 
 under the necessity of acting amidst much obscu- 
 rity, in affairs of the greatest moment. It is fre- 
 quently of the greatest consequence to them, to 
 know precisely and completely, what the circum.- 
 stances of the individuals, Vv^ith whom they trans- 
 act, are, while they can obtain no advice respecting 
 this object, but the declarations of uncertain rumor. 
 Thus it is that merchants, being necessitated to act 
 promptly, and pressed by the urgency of their affairs, 
 into a fatality in transacting some way, readily adopt 
 the most flattering view of every advantage that is, 
 for the moment within their power. Nay, as the 
 uncertainty of the case frequently augments the 
 pleasing feeling thus excited, the magnitude of the 
 interest involved, the boldness of the person trans-
 
 593 
 
 acted with, and the splendor of his cnterprizes, all 
 of which ought to produce hesitation and reflec- 
 tion, for the most part, serve only to augment the 
 delusion, and to lead individuals more rapidly and 
 more completely into its vortex. 
 
 Fon the purpose of dispelling this dubiety, in re- 
 gard to persons transacting with one another, T 
 would propose, that, in every instance, wherein a 
 company-designation, or firm as it is called, is made 
 use of, that the whole individuals, wlio are implicated 
 in this'firm, should have their implication noted in 
 a public register kept for the purpose, and regu- 
 larly published for the general good. I would en- 
 force this measure, by rendering it not only imlavv- 
 ful for any individual to share directly or indirect- 
 ly in the profits of a concern, in which his impli- 
 cation was not thus avowed ; but I would, in every 
 case of discovery, levy a severe penalty, both on 
 the concealed partner, and on his associates, pro- 
 portioned to their respective conditions in society, 
 and to the circumstances of the case. By following 
 out this principle, it is probable, that many of those, 
 who now support the hopes and fortunes of the in- 
 dustrious and adventurous, and Avho otherwise do 
 much real good, would sinic along with others of in- 
 ferior name. It must be noted, however, that in their 
 room, others of no less substantial merit, and posses- 
 sed of far greater real resources, would spring up. 
 That false conridence, wliicli, arising out of the un- 
 certainty of the case, increased with the presumption 
 of the person confided in, would disappear ; that ec- 
 
 4, F
 
 694 
 
 claircisscment, whereof, the wealth and hopes of the 
 nation sunk for ever in folly and infatuation, mnst ne- 
 cessarily form the sole expositors, would be avoided. 
 In place of those sources of vexation, the national 
 pov/ers and resources, always bearing their full value 
 at home and abroad, abundantly resolved, though 
 generally circumscribed in their resolutions, would 
 be displayed. Individuals would be more wealthy, 
 and do more good in the application of their wealth. 
 And, as the field of fair enterprize would not be 
 blighted i)y immature undertakings, nor dependents 
 and competitors overwhelmed with confusion, in 
 the begetting of which they had no share ; as the 
 real interests of society v/ould not be lost amidst 
 the irretrievable blunders of those who had never 
 any right to be capacitated to produce these blun- 
 ders ; we may hope, that the energies and resources 
 of the nation, proceeding along the line which real 
 property, circulated on equitable principles would 
 give, would at length attain to a more splendid, as 
 well as to a more substantial form, than ever they 
 had done ; and that they would give forth their 
 (levelopements with lustre, as well as with strength. 
 
 TuKSF, remarks are made, not so much in the view 
 of the consequences that may be expected to flow 
 from the direct operation of the above measure, as 
 in that of those tliat may result from other mea- 
 sures of the same class, into which the adoption of 
 the above measure may lead. I apprehend, that it 
 is no ways difficult, to institute a class of measures, 
 bv v/hich the de<jree of commercial confidence, to
 
 595 
 
 wliicli individuals are respectively entitled, might 
 be determined with great precision ; so as to render 
 any important mistake in regard to this essential 
 particular, scarcely possible, without gross inatten- 
 tion. This advantage, however, can only be attained 
 by giving publicity to private business, such as our 
 feelings could not at present well bear. The splen- 
 dor of fashion, and the magnificence ofwealth,derive 
 much of their influence from the veil, under which the 
 affairs of their votaries are shrouded. Until the mer- 
 cantile character, under tlie influence of systematic 
 improvement, shall have attained to independence j 
 and, until merchants shall have learned to place 
 their reliance more on their individual prowess, than 
 on the factitious prop of public opinion, we must 
 content ourselves, with a very moderated use of 
 this publicity. It may be remarked, however, that 
 this age, more than any other, has witnessed the fra- 
 gihty of unwarranted assumptions, and attested the 
 stability of substantial endowments. Our excise and 
 custom-house establishments have carried the liglit 
 of day, tiu'ough many labyrinths, in wliicii, a recon- 
 dite virtue was supposed to be lodged ; the incomer 
 and consolidated assessments have severally follow- 
 ed up the advantage, thus procured, into other de- 
 partments of civil life : while the multiplied cala- 
 mities and bankruptcies of iiidividuals l^aveled to 
 jnivate disclosures, that have in a manner dissolved 
 the mystic charm. Already we perceive esteem 
 and respect following individuals, who have earned 
 a title to public confidence, even amidst the great- 
 est bereavements, and refusing their honours to ih^, 
 
 4 I- '2
 
 596 
 
 darlings of fortune, though surrounded by the most 
 fascinating displays. If ever the spirit of manly inde- 
 pendence, operating under christian principles, and 
 possessing all the advantages of an organization of 
 society constituted for its service, shall attain the 
 ascendancy amongst the mercantile and industrious 
 pai t of the community, we may hope, that their mor- 
 bid sensibility in regard to their affairs, which is, in 
 truth, the main cause of their depression, will give 
 place to a soundness of nerve, that v/ill enable and 
 dispose them, to eye every part of their concerns 
 with the most steady earnestness. 
 
 It is impossible to leave this subordinate part of 
 the subject, without adverting, very particularly, to 
 a matter, that may, without any impropriety, be 
 brought under the review of the great financial board 
 now held to be constituted. It regards that un- 
 derstanding that subsists respecting bills of exchange 
 or notes of hand ; all who receive, pass, or indorse 
 which, being held as impledged for the resolution of 
 these documents at maturity, and considered as ob- 
 ligated, in case of failure on the part of the acceptor 
 and prior indorsers, severally,in their order, to make 
 good the amount, for which they stand thus impledg- 
 ed. Nothing can be more obvious than the advan- 
 tage that follows from having this understanding 
 universally attached to foreign bills of exchange ; 
 it augments the security of general intercourse, and 
 it is the main prop of the commercial world ; for it 
 is the understanding of every civilized nation, and 
 it is universally protected by laws and customs, and
 
 )97 
 
 feelings, that render this iindcrstianding an obliga- 
 tion, of the most sacred and urgent kind. But, 
 why should this understanding be extended to notes 
 of hand, or domestic bills of exchange, which, in the 
 main, are merely circulable vouchers of debt, mar- 
 ketable objects that may be disposed of, under the 
 deduction of legal discount ? It is proper, that e- 
 very one who passes such an obligation, should war- 
 rant its tenor and import, in the same way, that a 
 vender warrants the circumstances of the commo- 
 dity that he delivers ; and that he should, for this 
 reason, attach his testimony to its genuine charac- 
 ter, by a simple indorsation ; but is it at all neccs- 
 sar}^, to understand that all through whose hands 
 a voucher of debt may pass, should be held as 
 pledged for its validity, and as responsible for its reso- 
 lution ? The similarity betwixt foreign and domes- 
 tic bills of exchange, perhaps, has led to this under- 
 standing ; the necessity, under which bankers and 
 others, who discount such paper, are laid, of exer- 
 cising their avocation, under the proHt of a mere 
 deduction of the legal interest from these vouchers, 
 has given currency and consistency to the obliga- 
 tion thus established ; but the transference of such 
 paper, taken as a class of transactions, certainly 
 stands on no higher ground than that of the transfe- 
 rence of any other marketable commodity; and while 
 we do not warrant the ultimate resolution of these, 
 the practice, and the principle by which tliis prac- 
 tice is supported, arealike objects of fair animad- 
 version, and may be subjected to tliat renovation, 
 which existing circumstances nuiy require.
 
 598 
 
 I AM aware that the great object, as well as the 
 direct tendency, of the understanding at present 
 established, in regard to these circulable vouchers 
 of debt, is to provide validated documents of rx^al 
 value, for the purpose of expediting the general 
 process of commercial and financial intercourse ; 
 a,nd that as things now stand with us, every facility 
 for expediting this process, every circumstance 
 that can confirm the validity of transferable obliga- 
 tions, is a real advantage to the community. In 
 making this admission, however, it is proper to take 
 along with us, the multiplied sinister contrivances, 
 to which individuals may and do resort, in order to 
 obtain, for their own use, the benefit of the advan- 
 tage thus procured; and the extremely nugatory na- 
 ture of all our attempts, to detect these contrivan- 
 ces, and to repress them when detected ; together 
 with the deplorable consequences, that necessarily 
 ensue from the final disclosure of those unsubstan- 
 tiated appearances of wealtli, that are thereby im- 
 posed upon the pubhc, and circulated with per- 
 fect impunity. In setting forth a great plan of im- 
 provement, whereof individual independence and 
 universal amelioration are the great leading objects, 
 and in proceeding to take to pieces the great frame 
 of society, held to be established amongst us, for 
 the purpose of purifying its general principles, and 
 removing its tendency to direct and unmitigated 
 concretion, it becomes us to clear away every prin- 
 ciple that must traverse its operation ; and, above 
 all things, to draw without its range, practices that 
 arc totally subversive of its grand design. If this im-
 
 599 
 
 plicatlonof obligations, be one of those things, which 
 of all others, tends to bind up in one mass, the 
 whole energies of society, and to protrude them 
 thus bound up, into one common destruction ; (and 
 who that looks attentively at the matter, can have 
 any doubts upon the subject ?) the concretivc in- 
 fluences, now before us, cannot be too completely 
 expelled from our system ; and, since we hold our- 
 selves to be already provided most amply with vali- 
 dated paper, and with such other substantial means 
 for expediting general intercourse, as necessarily 
 render the intervention of these implicated obliga- 
 tions in this view, in a great measure, useless"; it 
 becomes us also, to take up the subject with that 
 earnestness which its importance deserves. 
 
 TuKSE considerations, it is apprehended, discover 
 to us plainly, that liowever well established the rules 
 respecting the obligations incurred in indorsing bills 
 may be, yet that those rules rest upon no principle 
 that can preclude such alterations in regard to them, 
 as may be necessary for our plan. Taking up the 
 matter at this point, I proceed to propose a very 
 simple modification of these rules, which, in my opin- 
 ion, must, without infiinging upon any established 
 principle, produce very important and very beneficial 
 effects upon the process of general intercourse. In 
 place of holding every indorser as responsible for 
 liquidation, who has not accompanied his indorsa- 
 tion wilh an express exception to this rule, I would 
 have the law to be, that no indorser who tlid not, by 
 aformal declaration, assume responsibility, was re-
 
 600 
 
 sponsible for more than the tenor and import of the 
 note that he indorsed. Under this modification of 
 the general rule, ail parties would possess the same 
 option of guaranteeing, or refusing to guarantee 
 bills, that they do at present. The difference pro- 
 duced by the alterations proposed, arises from this 
 circumstance, that the new obligation incurred by 
 guaranteeing, would thereby be expressly declared, 
 in place of being indirectly implied. At present, few 
 indorsers make exceptions as to the bills which they 
 pass ; because such exceptions are held to indicate 
 either something captious or invidious in the parties 
 transacting, or some irregularity in the circumstan- 
 ces of the transaction itself; insomuch, that a single 
 exception of this kind w^ould go far, not only to ar- 
 rest the progress of a bill in its circulation, but to 
 discredit all who were implicated in its support ; 
 matters that could not fail to produce great disad- 
 vantage to all concerned, and much animosity on 
 the part of those who had been thus disparaged. 
 For these and other reasons, exceptions indorsations 
 being seldom adhibited, the general rule, that indor- 
 sers are responsible for liquidation, goes on, as if 
 there were no exceptions whatever to this rule ; and, 
 I am hence led to infer, that under the proposed 
 alteration, a corresponding practice would take 
 place. In ordinary cases, few indorsers would chuse 
 to adhibit their credit, in support of any circulato- 
 ry obligation ; and I apprehend there are fewer 
 still, who would venture to require any other per. 
 son so to do. Their so doing would argue manifest 
 distrust in the prior obligants ; it would be requiring
 
 601 
 
 the other party to assume a very peculiar degree of 
 priority and importance. 
 
 It must be observed, liowever, tliat these views are 
 set down, expressly, in the prospect of drawing into 
 action, real and repressing fictitious instruments of 
 exchange. Domestic bills and notes of hands, may 
 be transferred as subjects of value, with great pro- 
 priety ; for it is not at all meant to interfere with 
 their character in this capacity. When the}' arc 
 passed as ordinary transferences of value, I am far 
 from wishing any party unnecessarily to limit his se- 
 curity in his commercial transactions; it is necessary, 
 and it is proper, that both parties take the whole 
 circumstances of their transactions before them, and 
 regulate their mutual obligations accordingly-. In 
 such circumstances, the party transferring the obli- 
 gation, ought to be willing to remain personally ob- 
 ligated, until the obligation transferred be liquidated, 
 if so required l)y the party witli whom he transacts. 
 He disposes of a piece of property, which brings him 
 its value ; if there is a cjuestion as to the absohite va- 
 lidity of the pledge wliich represents this property, 
 tlic question ought to be set at rest in express terms. 
 But, in general, I apprehend, that the best way of 
 effecting this object, is to create some new obli- 
 gation apart from the original document. The 
 act of obh'gating one's self, wliere admitted dan- 
 ger is incurred, requires deliberation, it places both 
 parties in circumstances that may render very spe- 
 cilic and circumstantial limitations, as to the ex- 
 t.ent of the risk incurred, necessary. In general, the 
 
 4 <>
 
 602 
 
 party receiving a bill might, with propriety, require 
 from him who passes it, an express oLiigation e- 
 qiiivalent to a validating indorsation j admitting 
 his obligation to the extent of the sum implied in 
 the transferred obligation, in case that obligation, 
 should not be liquidated ; and I can see no good 
 reason, wiiy this separate obligation should not be 
 couched in such terms, as to infer as immediate ex- 
 ecution, as in the case of an indorsation. All that 
 I contend for, therefore, is, that in ordinary cases, 
 this obligation form no part of the original note of 
 hand, that it be only effective in the hands of the 
 party who receives it, and that its obligancy cease 
 if not forthwith, in a bona-fide manner, enforced, 
 and that of course it form no constituent part of 
 the process of transfer or circulation. Hereby, 
 neither party can receive from the other, any in- 
 jury or disparagement ; hereby, no obligation can 
 be circulated otherwise than on its own intrinsic 
 strength. By this simple regulation, also, many c- 
 vils, to which multiplied acts of parliament do not 
 at all reach, would be remedied most completely. 
 
 It is evident, that there are necessarily a multi- 
 tude of cases, in which it is no ways necessary to re- 
 sort witii these dormant obligations. In regard to 
 bankers, it is their business to circulate accredited 
 paper, and therefore their express obligation may ac- 
 com.pany every bill that passes through their hands, 
 without at all dispaiaging prior obligants. In the 
 ease of foreign bills of exchange, a special excep- 
 tion from the general rule is, as has been already
 
 603 
 
 noticed, indispensible, not only from the nature ol' 
 the case, but from the general circumstances con- 
 nected therewith. Vv^ith regard to unaccepted drafts 
 on London, and indeed, with regard to"aTl bankers 
 drafts, and drafts for special purposes, in which the 
 drawer is held to be the principal party, the general 
 rule may be preserved without any inconvenience, 
 merely by having the term " 7^ecourse being aln-aijs 
 had 071^** placed immediately after the words, " t^a- 
 lue received,'* in the face of the draft. In these, 
 however, and in all cases, wherein responsibility is 
 implicated, it seems to be indispensibly necessary, 
 to have the designation and place of residence of 
 the person obligating himself, engrossed in the obli- 
 gation. The great object of indorsation being held 
 to be a warrant simply as to import and not at all 
 as to validity, any thing beyond this warrant ought 
 to be most distinctly set forth. 
 
 It is impossible to dismiss this part of the sub- 
 ject without adverting more particularly to two 
 corollaries that have already been hinted at, a^ ne- 
 cessarily flowing from the creation of these separate 
 counter-obligations. These obligations it will be re- 
 membered, serve only to warrant to the party ih. 
 whose hands they arc lodged, tiie validity o^ thcsu 
 notes to which they refer. One of these corollaries 
 is, that these counter-obligations ought not to be 
 transferable. It is competent to every one who 
 wishes to give his responsibility along with his in- 
 dorsation to do this, in express terms, upon the bill 
 itself i but it is altogether improper to permit the 
 
 4 G 2
 
 604 
 
 circulation of indirect obligations, that may be ef- 
 fective or latent in the option of those who hold 
 them. The other corollary is, that these counter- 
 obligations should only have effect, by delivering, 
 ■within a short limited time, and in a bona fide man- 
 ner, the principal bill along with the accessory ob- 
 ligation. If a person is compelled to refund a par- 
 ticular sum, it is proper, that the instrument which 
 represents the sum, should be put into his hands, in 
 order that he may be able to operate his own re- 
 lief, in the, same, or m some other way: and if he 
 does not do this directly and immediately, it is pro- 
 })er to understand, that he departs from tlie warrant 
 wliich he holds. Accompanied with these advanta- 
 ges, the general plan, besides relieving the process 
 of commercial intercourse from the perils insepara- 
 ble from the circulation of fictitious paper, preclud- 
 ing pernicious and unnecessary commercial entan- 
 glements, and, when accompanied with suitable pro- 
 visions, maintaining reproductive establishments, 
 in a state of comparative independence, must con- 
 duce much to the relief of those in embarrassed cir- 
 cumstances, and to the amelioration of bankrupt 
 subjects. As things stand at present, the holders 
 of obligations distrain from all obligated, as much 
 as these can pay, and they make the total sum bear 
 with full force upon each obligant successively ; ac- 
 cording to the proposed phm, however, none who 
 are not expressly pledged thereto, can be at all as- 
 sessed, without the dehvery of the original obliga- 
 tion, which necessarily imports similar means of 
 redress to the person obligated. It is evident, there-
 
 605 
 
 ibre, that following out these regulations, direct 
 responsibility will seldom be enforced, and when in- 
 forced, will seldom be so pernicious as it now is. 
 
 Although these are simple, they are on the whole 
 highly effective provisions ; they tend to produce 
 caution and hesitation in the formation of obliga- 
 tions ; as such, they must not only interpose weigh- 
 ty obstacles to that concretion of property, which 
 arises out of the complication and multiplicity of 
 obligations ; but they must fix down the public at- 
 tention to the principles of fair dealing, and render 
 economy and assiduity in the application of acces- 
 sible resources indispensibly necessary ; while they 
 preserve individuals and establishments necessarily 
 in a state of comparative independence, and con- 
 tribute powerfully to preserve the means of society 
 from the depredations of unprincipled adventurers. 
 
 It is proper, however, in order to preclude mis- 
 apprehension respecting the operation of the above 
 rules, to take a closser and nearer view of their cha- 
 racter and tendency. In regard to the rules now 
 in existence, it is evident, that they are productive 
 of some salutary effects. In the first place, they 
 serve to bear up the value of all circulable obliga- 
 tions, at one certain par ; whereby, the resources of 
 persons of all ranks, may be steadily brought for- 
 ward into regular action, and their full imported va- 
 lue may be circulated, upon equal conditions ; for 
 those trifling commissions that are paid to establish- 
 ed bankers, scarcely deserve to be named ; they
 
 606 
 
 barely defray the unavoidable exnenccs of such esta- 
 bhshinents, and they are always cheerfully accord- 
 ed as a fair compensation for the accommc^lation 
 thereby procured. Secondly, these advantages 
 serve to bring forward numbersof enterprising and 
 deserving individuals, who, without this facility of 
 accrediting their circulable obligations, could never 
 obtain the funds necessary for maturing their pro- 
 jects. Thirdly, it is out of this source that our 
 commercial and financial systems are constantly re- 
 cruited J it is, by its influence, that the energies and 
 resources of the nation, are kept in a state of con- 
 stant progression, notwithstanding the multiplied 
 and tremendous disasters and overth.rows that so fre- 
 quently assail them. So that, in fact, it seems ne- 
 cessary to follow, that it is out of the facilities for 
 creating accrediting, and circulating definite obli- 
 gations, that all our acquirements, social and civil, 
 arise and subsist. 
 
 Let us not, however, allow ourselves to become 
 bewildered with the immensity of these appearances. 
 We know that the equality, maintained in circula- 
 ble paper, is procured at a price that far exceeds 
 the value of tlie advantage thus procured. It is 
 luniecessary to notice, the commissions writhed by 
 usurers from needy holders of obligations, as pre- 
 miums for money advanced, and even for bare indor- 
 sations ; for the monopolizing grasp of the leading- 
 classes of the community, in efJ'cct, almost entirely 
 absorbs every benefit arising from this leading advan- 
 tage, in the present system. But must not the advan-
 
 607 
 
 tiic^c itself be hold to be illusory, and at the best to be 
 dcariy purchased, that is procured by binding up the 
 fate of individuals in most opposite situations of lite ? 
 which, in the end, tends to render the judicious sub- 
 stantial trader, amenable for the transactions of the 
 desperate adventurer ; and which, implicating vast 
 and unbounded Iiazard, under the mask of accommo- 
 dation, subjects all to one latality ; protruding estab- 
 lishments of the most essential importance, into the 
 abyss prepared for those that are reared on the 
 spur of some transient occasion ? It is in vain, in 
 such circumstances, to point to the numberof indivi- 
 duals, buoyed out of theirnative station, and reward- 
 ed with a temporary eclat ; tliese, for the most part, 
 are raised aloft, only, that their plunge into destruc- 
 tion maybe the more remarkable. The station which 
 they occupy, is, for the most part, attained by the 
 delodgement of others, whose fate they must soon 
 follow; it is seldom attended v/ith much tran- 
 quiility or happiness, and when its advantages fail, it 
 generally corrupts and embitters enjoyment througli 
 the subsequent part of life. The sources of prosper- 
 ity may again be thrown open, the course of im- 
 provement may systematically go on, but who that 
 observes the insecure and precarious tenure, by 
 v.hich the advantages therefrom proceeding are 
 held, can do otherwise tlmn pity the race of men 
 ttiat are immersed in its streams ? 
 
 Lkt us ne\t turn our attention to tiie ])roposed 
 alterations. It is evident, that these do not destroy 
 the peculiar advantage of the present rules, though
 
 608 
 
 they circumscribe and modify them. Tliat tliey are 
 notequally conducive to tlic preservation of obliga- 
 tions in circulation, at par, can scarcely be as- 
 (.erted. Their object is to drive out of the circle 
 all obligations that do not deserve a place in it ; for 
 it is neither their object nor their tendency to admit 
 any circulable obligations, into the process of inter- 
 course, that could sink below par. They cannot 
 prevent that expansion of the state of individuals that 
 is conducive to prosperity, although they may re- 
 tard the progress of this expansion, until indi- 
 viduals shall have matured and established them- 
 selves in this state. As these alterations all serve 
 "0 stamp a real value on every obligation that arises 
 out of them, by rendering the condition of all the 
 individuals obligated, more secure and independent 
 than formerly ; as they tend not only to diminish 
 the force of general misfortune, when the means of 
 individuals cannot support the weight of their obli- 
 gations, but to retain out of its range, the means ne- 
 cessary for renovating the condition of societ}^ and 
 the face of the country ; so when the force of any 
 general and unavoidable misfortune shall have spent 
 itself, theproposed rules will appear to have preserv- 
 ed much more effectually than the former ones, the 
 seeds and springs of future prosperity. A plenitude 
 of the medium of exchange, universally validated, 
 ;ind supported in this validity by means that render 
 it irrefragable, it must be noticed, is always at hand, 
 prepared for use, and ready for service. In conse- 
 quence of the independence and influence thereby 
 secured in favor of steady enterprize, the whole
 
 ^ 
 
 609 
 
 foreground may be expected to be occupied by 
 those who can maintain their station there, with pow- 
 er and consistency, and who can bring back to llieir 
 country, the full value of the whole fruits of its ge- 
 neral industry, not only unimpaired, but in higli 
 condition. In consequence of such acquisitions, 
 all the subordinate classes of society may safely 
 calculate on receiving returns correspondent to 
 their claims and rights, respectively. Industry will 
 be rewarded, its fruits will bear their full value, and 
 this value will reach our coffers in its full tale. 
 Hence, those, in whose favor these fruits are produc- 
 ed, will hold their properties upon the most solid and 
 secure basis. Such advantages far transcend that 
 of being raised above one's proper level, Jn order 
 to enjoy the intoxication of a few ephemeral plea- 
 sures and honours. On the whole, we may pre- 
 sume, that both the holder of property, and the 
 really industrious and deserving man, must be alike 
 benefited, by having the foreground of enterprize, 
 thus prepared for the use of persons of substantial 
 means and experience. That this ground must be 
 placed in favorable circumstances for such, cannot 
 be doubted ; and so long as inducements and incite- 
 ments suitable to men possessed of wealth can be 
 jnocured, so long as fixed can be advantageously 
 converted into circulable property, so long also . 
 may our general attention to mercantile afiairs, and 
 our success in tlicse affairs be calculated on, and so 
 long will the ground of enterprize be honorably 
 and profitably occupied, and the great battles of 
 tlie industrious be fought and maintained by men ca- 
 
 i' H
 
 610 
 
 pacitated to fight these battles, and to meet all their 
 consequences. Towards this object, the general 
 strength of the nation will gradually be drawn ; and, 
 in the end, the post of greatest danger may be so 
 fortified and defended, as, in effect, to become that 
 position, that shall eventually be the most secure. 
 
 But while Vv'e suppose so much solicitude to be 
 exercised in depressing improper assumptions of 
 financial importance, and such pointed measures to 
 be adopted for the purpose of delivering the pro- 
 cess of general exchange, from the inttrvention of 
 fallacious representations of real value, we must re- 
 member, that commercial intercourse, cannot possi- 
 bly subsist, without a proportionate extension and 
 consolidation of commercial confidence. It may be 
 proper to circumscribe the operations of this princi- 
 ple, by divesting it of all extrinsic and unnecessary 
 influence ; to moderate its movements and opera- 
 tions, by resolving these as frequently as possible 
 into objects of real wealth and substantial value ; 
 and to regulate that progression of improvement 
 •that arises out of it, by frequent appeals to the ra- 
 tional perceptions that accord with independent cir- 
 cumstances. It must be recollected, however, that 
 the more extended our powers of reproduction are, 
 the greater ought the facilities for distributing the 
 fruits of these powers, and realizing their value to 
 be ; and that the more seciu'c and stable the process 
 of distributing these fruits and realizing their value 
 is, the greater must our confidence in these results 
 loecome. Our capacities, for profiting by all these
 
 t 
 
 611 
 
 things, must at the same time be augmented ; our 
 speculations on the produce of these capacities must, 
 in like manner, extend themselves ; our commercial 
 intercourse, our financial operations, and every va- 
 riety of confidential transaction, must all, also, be se- 
 verally augmented. And the truth is, as it is into 
 increased accession of mercantile prowess, that suc- 
 cessful enterprize, in the way of business, tends to 
 resolve itself; (and it is into this object, that the a- 
 bove system mustbc held to resolve itself,) wc cannot 
 but perceive plainly that before any considerable 
 lapse of time, the whole advantages resulting iVoni 
 these validated impledgements, will be resolved into 
 this object. Upon the strength of that financial ba- 
 sis, which the mercantile adventurer shall upraise for 
 himself, his undertakings will belaid, and upon that 
 basis they will have stretched themselves amidst ex- 
 tended fields of fresh enterprize ; wherein, if du- 
 ly supported, they will find resources and energies, 
 to bear them up in every part of their progress. 
 Do we not here discern some coincidence betwixt 
 our existing system, and that which we consider as 
 the general result of the above measures ? and do 
 not both necessarily give rise to these financial 
 establishments which we call banks. Tiiere, the 
 value of all circulablc wealth is weighed and as- 
 certained ; and therefrom that value is drawn out, 
 in those proportions, and on those occasions, that 
 serve best the purposes of the community. To the 
 establishment of banks, therefore,.since our circum- 
 stances necessarily lead us 5 to them as impressed 
 
 4 u 2
 
 612 
 
 by the proposed plan, it is proper that wc now 
 briefly aniriiadvert. 
 
 Let it, in the first place, be distinctly understood 
 that the financial establishments, in favor of which 
 we suppose the validated impledgeinents circulated 
 as the standard of value, to have been created, to bo 
 no other but bmiks ; for as banks have a direct advan- 
 tage in circulating impledgeinents, we must suppose, j 
 that they will always be well disposed to seize upon I 
 every opportunity of procuring validated ones. It 
 is necessary, however, that those who emit im- 
 pledgements, should be under a positive obligation 
 to receive them back, v/henever, the course of cir- 
 culation is at all burdened with their weight. But 
 these impledgements must be received as the ul- 
 timate resolufion of all wealth, as the instrument 
 of exchange which no one can with impunity re- 
 fuse ; must we therefore consider these bankers as 
 under any obligation to take back their own validat- 
 ed paper, and to return either bullion, or other im- 
 pledgements ? The very surplusage of the instru- 
 ment of exchange, which we suppose to have taken 
 place in the market, evinces the impropriety of 
 this ; it does not call for another medium or for 
 bullion ; it calls for the absorption of some part 
 of the medium already in circulation, for the sub- 
 stitution of some instrument that will enable the bear- 
 er to procure it again at pleasure, with that interest 
 which is the proper fruit of money, and not forthej 
 intervention of any other circulable object whatev^ 
 er. It is proper, therefore, that one of the condi^
 
 613 
 
 tions, laid upon those who have the intention of 
 converting fixed into circulable property, should be, 
 that the establishment, in favor of which this conver- 
 sion is made, should be obliged to receive back their 
 impledgements, and to re-discharge their amount, 
 with the usual bank interest for the period during 
 which these may have been deposited, at the plea- 
 sure of the holder. 
 
 In order to give validity and importance to these 
 promissory ©ligations, I would stipulate still farther, 
 as a previous measure to the distribution of vali- 
 dated impledgements, not only that the above con- 
 ditions should form constitutional articles in these 
 banking establishments, but that these establish- 
 ments should, as a preliminary step, assign over 
 into the hands of the great financial board, constitu- 
 ted as aforementioned, real property, for the finan- 
 cial business that is thus left out for the occupation 
 of unvalidated retributive impledgements, equal in 
 value to the property formerly mortgaged. For 
 instance, a banking house allowed to procure on 
 the taith of a^90,000 of landed property, validated 
 impledgements to the extent of i£G0,00O, behoved, 
 in the first place, to assign over to the financial 
 board, above constituted, not only tlie above pro- 
 perty in relief of the ^60,000 of validated impledge- 
 ments ; but property of a new description, of equal 
 value with that previously mortgaged, which new 
 property, together with the reversion of the former 
 property, would remain in security of the unvali- 
 dated retributive impledgements. The personal
 
 614 
 
 obligations of the individual partners in banking es- 
 tablishments, being implied in all these different 
 kinds of obligations : and recourse on the property 
 mortgaged for all costs, being in every case of need, 
 prepared to follow without difficulty, the one spe- 
 cies of obligation, would rest on as secure a footing 
 as the other. The whole would receive redoubled 
 strength from this circumstance, that bankers, in 
 carrying on their business, to the extent necessary 
 to meet all these incumberances, would find it ne- 
 cessary to employ a vast capital afloat. To pro- 
 cure therefore the privilege of circulating validated 
 impledgements, must be no easy matter ; to op- 
 press the community with the instrument of ex- 
 change, or to endanger the progress of improve- 
 ments, must be accordingly altogether out of the 
 question. The resolubility of these retributive im- 
 pledgements, and of all other unvalidated notes 
 and obligations, must be admitted to be, in like 
 manner, removed at the greatest possible distance 
 fi'om either difnculty or danger. 
 
 It has already been remarked, that it would 
 be highly proper to run off the vahdated impledge- 
 ments, in a gradual manner ; so as to set forth, in its 
 true light, the real value of these securities pos- 
 sessed by the public, in relief of the circulating 
 medium ; and so as to discharge the properties 
 mortgaged, at stated periods. However adequate 
 the property implcdged may be to the burden 
 which it supports, it is necessary tor us, occasional- 
 ly, to have before us certain displays of its value j
 
 615 
 
 and however regularly its incrementivc and produc- 
 tive qualities may advance, it is desirable that these 
 should occasionally be laid fully open to improve- 
 ment. This it may be observed, however, is not on- 
 ly a matter of manifest importance, but one, in the 
 management of which, much delicacy is necessary. 
 It will be recollected, that it is from these banking 
 establishments, that the financial supplies of com- 
 mercial and industrious processes arc drawn ; and 
 that it is upon the regularity of these supplies that 
 theirmovcments depend. If any thing, therefore, like 
 trepidation or confusion should arise in the accom- 
 plishment of this object, in that of removing out of 
 way one set of impledgcments, and supplying their 
 place, with afresh set on a new basis, much serious 
 mischief might ensue. It may indeed be impossible 
 to suspect, that an overthrow of any banking es- 
 tablishment itself iu the circumstances supposed, 
 could take place ; for the foundation provided for 
 it, like the broad basis of a lofty pyramid, precludes 
 all hazard as to the absolute stability of its obli- 
 gations ; but in case of any difficulty in arranging 
 the business of particular establishments, there 
 might be some confusion, which might render it ne- 
 cessary for them to curtail their discounts j a con- 
 tingency, which, in certain instances, might go far 
 lo disarrange the general system of improvement go- 
 ing on in their particular districts. Th.e importance 
 of removing every inconveniency, and of obviating 
 every difficulty, in the complicated operation oi 
 re})ledging the medium, thence appears.
 
 616 
 
 But this object most happily, has already been 
 fully provided for, by the regulations now held to 
 be adopted. If'it is one of the prinnary articles, in 
 the constitution of these financial cstablishments,that 
 each of these shall mortgage a double set of pro- 
 perties, the whole means necessary for this purpose 
 may be held to have been completely secured. The 
 property, mortgaged in immediate relief of the vali- 
 dated impledgements, is set aside on such princi- 
 ples, as to render it directly effective in relief of 
 these, in every case of need. The other, set aside 
 in security of general obligations, and compre- 
 hending the reversion of the first mentioned pro- 
 perty, is also attachable, as an ultimate resource. 
 Possessed of these advantages, every banking es- 
 tablishment must have at its disposal, the whole 
 means necessary for procuring right to a new set of 
 impledgements, whenever these shall be awanting; 
 and to be alieady, a great length, advanced in the 
 way of obtaining possession of them, as they may 
 become due. At maturity it is only necessary to 
 meet the impledgements running off, by fresh im- 
 pledgements, attained on the credit of the pro- 
 perty formerly mortgaged ; and to drop into the 
 mass of security, a weight of property held for the 
 general obligations, equal to that which had been 
 removed from it, to the relief of the new validated 
 im[)ledgements. In this case, the affair balances it- 
 self j for the diminution and increase are made by 
 one and the same operation ; so that the affairs of 
 each establishment, may move and circulate upon 
 Ihebasis of their own effective strength. For all itf^
 
 617 
 
 engagements, the public would hold in securitv, 
 first, the heritable mortgages in relief of tiie va- 
 lidated impledgements, above mentioned, and next, 
 the means that may be resorted to, in case of 
 need, comprising not only banking capital, but he- 
 reditary effects, through all of which, the validated 
 impledgements may run, in virtue of the persona^ 
 obligation they are held to comprehend. 
 
 It is evident, that by rendering it thus neces- 
 sary to bring forward property and resources, for 
 the service of the public, a double advantage is 
 created, over and above that of establishing the pub- 
 lic confidence, thus firmly, regarding the responsi- 
 bility of these financial institutions ; for the forego- 
 ing plan represses the claims of those, who, without 
 any real occasion for it, would burden the course 
 of exchange, by converting their fixed into circu- 
 lable property, and it advances commercial credit 
 to its natural respected situation. These are both 
 most important objects ; because it is quite possible 
 to suppose, that, in certain circumstances, the pro- 
 cess of financial intercourse might, be overwhelmed 
 by a profusion of impledgements, and, because it is 
 certain, tluit, in all circumstances, our entcrprizes 
 and undertakings must proceed chiefly on ground 
 which commercial confidence may provide for them. 
 The credit, bestowed by merchants upon each other, 
 is a ])rinciple, wliich increases in strength along 
 with the wealth tliat it transfuses ; when well regu- 
 lated and d-u!y supported, it serves the ordinary offi- 
 ces of a medium of exchange, without inferring any 
 
 4 I
 
 618 
 
 disproportionate burden or risk to counterbalance 
 this advantage ; and it necessarily retreats of its 
 own'accord within appropriate bounds, whenever its 
 offices can be dispensed with. It will be recollect- 
 ed, that it belongs to the financial board now held 
 to be constituted, to watch over the rise and fall of 
 this, as one of the means of financial intercourse, 
 and that it therefore becomes it to digest the above 
 and every other consequent provision, in such ii 
 manner, as to make these bear directly upon this 
 object, in that way, which may be most conducive 
 to general advantage. 
 
 vStill, however, much remains to be done, in 
 the view of relieving the general process of financial 
 intercoufff^e from an unnecessary load of validated 
 impledgements. To advance the character, and con- 
 solidate the constitution of banking establishments, 
 to render it necessary for those who would erect 
 these, to transfer into them wealth and high respec- 
 tability, as already proposed, must conduce alike 
 to the confirmation of the general system of finance 
 now held forth, to the suavity of the general move- 
 ments of this system, and to the repression of abuse 
 in all its various departments and offices. It must 
 be recollected, however,that a vast plan of improve- 
 ment is supposed to be going forward, and that 
 there is much reason to expect that the claims of 
 individuals to institute such establishments, may 
 becom.e so multiplied, and be so nearly alike, that it 
 may be feared, either that the general course of ex- 
 change may be ultimately overloaded with financial
 
 619 
 
 emissions, or that the great financial board itself, 
 foreseeing the danger of this, may make its selec- 
 tions among those competing for the privilege of 
 setting up banking establisiiments, in a way, that 
 will be pernicious alike to the morals and to the 
 interests of society. This circumstance suggests 
 the propriety of levying a tax upon these implcdgc- 
 ments, proportioned to the advantages connected 
 with the power of uttering them. Thereby, the pro- 
 fits of these establishments must be brought down 
 to a proper level ; and thereby, the amount of the 
 impledgements emitted, must be circumscribed 
 within reasonable limits ; our necessities will draw 
 out our emissions, as they draw forth our labor and 
 solicitude, to their appropriate boundaries ; emolu- 
 ment, sufficient to form a fair compensation for tlie 
 trouble and risk incurred, must still be left in the 
 hands of the iitterers ; but this compensation be- 
 ing once ascertained and fully secured, the general 
 good re([uires, that all unnecessary allurements and 
 facilities, for the creation and circulation of inv 
 plcdgements, should be withdrawn. 
 
 Here, therefore, we perceive that, by the above 
 scheme, not only a great mass of; public resources, 
 but a vast fund of public revenue has beeix provided. 
 I apprehend that the paper currency, now circulated 
 within the united kingdom, cannot be less than six- 
 ty or seventy millions. Taking along with us the 
 vast accession of wealth and means, acquired in the 
 developemcnt of national power and wealth, under 
 a system, whereof individual advancement and iu- 
 
 4 I 2
 
 620 
 
 dependence are the necessary results, together with 
 the facility thus held to be obtained for the universal 
 application of the medium of excliange, in adjusting 
 every species of claim ; I apprehend that this amount 
 must soon be extended to one hundred millions. 
 The medium, it will be recollected, passes not only 
 between master and servant, landlord and tenant, 
 but betwixt husband and wife, father and son, who 
 frequently, in the capacity of merchants, tell down, in 
 the current standard, the appreciated value of their 
 claims on each other. In such circumstances, the 
 demand for the instrument of exchange, cannot 
 but be very great, and as the advantages connected 
 with the power of uttering it, must be proportiona- 
 ble, I apprehend that at least two millions sterling, 
 might be annually raised by stamp duties on validat- 
 ed impledgements, over and above the sum neces- 
 sary for defraying every general public expence ; 
 and this, without at all disparaging the stamp duties 
 that are at present levied. When it is considered, 
 not only, that this revenue may be raised without 
 traversing any one set of interests whatever, but that 
 it arises out of a scheme, which necessarily produces 
 much real and essential, public and private good, 
 an argum.ent in support of our general system of 
 finance, of the most powerful and substantial na- 
 ture is obtained *. 
 
 * Out of the circumstances In which these validated impledge- 
 ments are placed, I apprehend there arises a mode of fabricating 
 the notes by which they are represented, that in some measure 
 precludes the possibility of forging these notes. Let it be as- 
 sumed, that paper of a consistency and tenacity, and ink of a
 
 (521 
 
 That the above measure would have a direct 
 tendency to restrain tlic emission of validated im- 
 pledgements, within appropriate bounds, cannot 
 
 durability and tensity, sufficient for the purpose can be procured, 
 and that engravers of very great and peculiar powers, in the 
 execution of highly finished pieces of etching, can be found in 
 numbers adequate to the object in viev. With such advanta- 
 ges, let it be supposed, in the first place, that in place of that 
 useless ceremony of giving to the paper, what is called the water 
 mark, a strong and vivid impression of the royal arms, with the 
 denomination of the token circulated, above, and that of the du- 
 ty imposed on it below, were severally stamped upon each note ; 
 the whole impression being so large as to cover one third of the 
 paper, and so accurately designed, as to arrest the attention of 
 all through whose hands it might pass. In the next place, let 
 an engraving be procured, by which government declared the 
 conditions on which this note was circulated, and let the impres- 
 sion of this be taken off mpalc blue ink. This legend might be 
 highly decorated, and — after setting forth its authoritative circu- 
 lation, and the guarantee appended to it, the value of the token 
 circulated, and the district, for the service of which it was calcu- 
 lated, together with the period within which its circulation is 
 to be permitted, and the office whence it is issued, and in which 
 it will finally be resolved — let the necessary governm.ent officers 
 inscribe with yelloijo ink, upon each note, as its current number, 
 the amount to which the note, then put into circulation raises, in a 
 consecutive series, the sum circulated by that office — and thereaf- 
 ter subscribe their names and offices with tlie same ink. In 
 this state I would understand the validated impledgcments to 
 be delivered to the financial establishments. Upon these, accor- 
 dingly, it would become incumbent tipon these establishments 
 to adhibit, in technical terms, their whole engagements to the 
 public. This, however, I would have done in jet Llack ink, 
 transverse upon the adhibition of government, with the numbers 
 and subscriptions all in red'wik : which last, being in pale blue ink, 
 with the signatures in 7/ellotv, and running up and down, would 
 no ways impair the effect of the principal adliibition.
 
 622 
 
 be doubted. Tliere is, however, another provision, 
 that has already been hinted at, which must tend 
 to reduce the whole matter to still greater pre- 
 
 Here, accordingly, we have various checks sufficient to repel 
 the audacity of the most desperate forger. First, there is the 
 difficulty of forming the paper and its stamps ; next, there is the 
 the variety of colours of ink, which would render no less than 
 four applications of the plate necessary, to forge any one single 
 note : besides this, there is the consummate workmanship and 
 materials to be combated. To these difficulties, the traverse po- 
 sition of the different legends, giving points of contact at crossing, 
 which might, in some measure, set at defiance the powers of imi- 
 tation, would render the aggregate labour so complicated that no 
 conceivable degree of skill and accuracy, could preclude dis- 
 covery. 
 
 In order that the utterers of such notes, might have a suffi- 
 cient inducement to bestow upon them the most superlative kind 
 of materials and workmanship, it would, in the circumstances in 
 which we suppose these financial establishments to be placed, 
 be proper, to extend the period of the currency of their notes, to 
 eight or ten years, (it being obvious, that all the circumstances 
 of the establishment ought to be calculated on enlarged concep- 
 tions,) and to exact a penalty equal to the value of the stamp 
 and the remanent current interest of the note, from every one 
 who presented a note in a mutilated or defaced condition. In 
 order, however, that an eifeclual check on every thing, that has 
 the appearance of being uncandid or illiberal in the conduct 
 of these establishments, might be repressed, it would also be 
 proper, that the great financial board should have the power 
 to take full cognisance of these validated impledgements, and 
 in cases of negligence or abuse, to issue orders to any establish- 
 ment to withdraw impledgements out of the circle. At all 
 events it would be indispensably necessary, to provide that 
 every attempt to issue notes that were defaced and mutilated, sub- 
 jected the parties so doing, to a penalty, and to make it a spe- 
 cies of felony, to utter a single note after the period of its cur» 

 
 cision ; I refer to the restriction of the aiitliorita- 
 tive circulation of validated paper to certain dis- 
 tricts of country, generally comprizing several con- 
 tiguous counties. This provision, it must be no- 
 ticed, behoved to be modified in two different ways. 
 First, as it must be of considerable importance to 
 banking establishments, as well as to the public, to 
 be able occasionally to resort to validated paper, 
 circulable all over the united kingdom, each estab- 
 lishment ought to be liirnished v/ith a certain pro- 
 portion of its impledgements, (mostly of the higher 
 denomination,) in this universally circulable state. 
 Secondly, although the authoritative circulation of 
 validated impledgements ought to be restricted 
 within a certain territory, yet the option, which the 
 public must always have, of passing and receiving 
 these impledgements as ordinary circulatory paper, 
 ought to be no ways impaired. In certain dis- 
 tricts of country, validated impledgements might ac- 
 cidentally become superabundant ; in otliers, these 
 might become deficient ; it is therefore both reason- 
 able and proper, that parties thus situated should 
 be allowed mutually to meet one another's wants, 
 in so far as they themselves are disposed so to do. 
 This, perhaps, would not happen very frequently, 
 for I apprehend, tliat by a careful examination of 
 the reports prepared to our hands, respecting the 
 
 rcncy expired. These powers may, at first view, appear to con- 
 cur too much with arbitrary domination ; but, it must be re- 
 collected, that the authority of parliament, and the scrutinizing 
 eye of a jealous public, on every side, watch over the procedure 
 of that council, whose powers arc held to be tlius extended.
 
 624 
 
 population, trade, and general industry and inter- 
 course of each district, conjoined with the authori- 
 tative returns ofpubHc imposts, in all their varied 
 kinds, something like a graduating scale might be 
 made out, a piori^ of the quantity of" the circulating 
 medium that was requisite in each district ; but 
 whether this could be done or not, it is evident^ 
 that by keeping the character and circumstances 
 of" each district,. steadily in our eye, and giving way 
 gently to tlie general impulse of its demands, a ve- 
 ry considerable degree of accuracy might soon 
 be attained ; sufficient, under the limitations afore- 
 noticed, to preserve the most exact regularity, in 
 the circulatory process, if not of each district, at 
 least, in that of the whole united kingdom at large. 
 This, it must be noticed, is a matter of vast impor- 
 tance, for the greatest improvement and advance- 
 ment v.ould be dearly enough purchased, if attained 
 at the price of an unequal acceptation of the com- 
 mon instrument of exchange, within the same 
 kingdom. 
 
 The direct consequence of thus providing every 
 particular district of our territory, with a validated 
 circulation peculiar to itself", and thus endowing it 
 amply with the means necessary for enabling its in- 
 habitants to profit to the utmost of the great course 
 of improvement, held to be set in motion around 
 them, I apprehend, would be, a very general exci- 
 tation of the whole energies of the nation, and a har- 
 monious developement of the resources of every 
 district in the kingdom. The general wealth of
 
 t 
 
 625 
 
 the country, now pent up within the capital, and 
 sparingly transfused amongst a few central cities, 
 would be brought into high operation, and would in- 
 crease with the extension of the means upon which 
 it might be exercised. In place of corrupting the 
 propensities, and debilitating the stamina of the bo- 
 dy-politic as it is too apt to do at present, it would 
 renovate the character, and invigorate the general 
 system of the nation ; it would draw forth into ac- 
 tion the most dignified faculties of our nature, it 
 would give ample employmentfor our highest pow- 
 er and talents, and abundant gratification to our 
 most virtuous dispositions. The face of the whole 
 country would be improved, its fields would be 
 crowned with the most exuberant productions of 
 Jiature, and its cities embellished with the noblest 
 ^vorks of art ; within every district, its appropriate 
 ])rocesses of reproduction would be set fully in mo- 
 tion, improved and extended to the utmost. Each 
 of these processes would nwintain around it cor- 
 respondent and connected establishments ; an orga- 
 nization of society, and a concatenation of objects 
 suited to all these circumstances, would thence be 
 constituted. Central cities, with their peculiar casts 
 of character and refinement, would be everywhere 
 juultiplied and increased. These cities, the recepta- 
 cle of the industrious and enterprizing, the certain 
 harbingers and supporters of imjirovement, in the 
 various departments of agriculture, and in our moie 
 refined and exalted avocations, would become no 
 less splendid and magnificent in their aspect, than 
 wealthy and powerful in their condition. Over 
 
 4 K
 
 626 
 
 all these, individuals, of high mental prowess, and 
 of vast force of cliaracter, would shed a resplendent 
 lustre, and with their long train of friends and de- 
 pendents, they v/ould digiufy and re-anin:.ate all the 
 pursuits of social life. A general advancement in 
 the arts and enjoyments of life, and an analogous 
 elevation of temper and of conduct, would thence 
 come to prevail. These various attainments, to- 
 gether with the means necessary for supporting and 
 unfolding high moral and intellectual improve- 
 ment, would thence be gradually fixed in establish- 
 ments and institutions, which would give a consis- 
 tency and force, as well as a stability and perpetu- 
 ity to the blessings thus provided, sufficientto render 
 the whole organism of human society at once su- 
 premely beautiful, and transcendently majestic. 
 
 It must be carefully noticed, however, that such 
 advantages have no necessary connexion with the 
 foregoing, nor indeed, with any financial scheme, 
 when taken by itself,however perfectandcomprehen- 
 sive that scheme may be. A financial scheme, simply 
 considered, serves its end, when it enables individuals 
 to represent their property with promptitude, and 
 to commute it readily, when requisite, for other 
 marketable objects ; and it is evident, that this ad- 
 vantage may be possessed, without at all ameliorat- 
 ing tlie condition of society. Nay, when the state 
 of a community has become stationary or retro- 
 grade, this very advantage may contribute to its 
 corruption : abundance of financial means will con- 
 tribute to waft the substantial wealth of a commu-
 
 627 
 
 ty, amongst tlie sons of adventure more readily ; and 
 it will afford more frequent opportunities to the 
 profligate and desperate, to writhe from the virtu- 
 ous and respectable, the means by which their sta- 
 tion and character arc upheld. It is only where 
 the seeds of improved industry and of profitable 
 enterprize are plentifully sown, that a plenitude of 
 circulable means can do any good ; it is by ap- 
 proximating to these their appropriate reward, that 
 the public energies thus called forth, can be con- 
 firmed. It is requisite that these energies, under 
 this advantage, should be profitably exercised upon 
 the common resources of a nation ; and then the 
 office of a scheme of finance is, to accommodate 
 this progression of things, to the circumstances 
 of that nation. This will appear abundantly ob- 
 vious, if \vc consider that it is the province of the 
 medium of exchange, to appropriate to all, their 
 respective share of every public good ; and to do 
 this in consideration of the contribution that each 
 can bring into the public stock. The greatest pro- 
 perty, therefore, which such a scheme can possess, is, 
 to do this business harmoniously, and in coincidence 
 with existing circumstances ; for it is by the deve- 
 lopemcnt of these circumstances thereby produced, 
 and not by the funds which influence these circum- 
 stances, that the condition of a community is form- 
 ed. A good financial system, indeed, facilitates the 
 movements of the wealth of a community amongst 
 its memiicrs, and makes this wealth at all times to 
 carry along with it its relative value ; but before 
 any substantial and universal good can thereby be 
 
 4 K 2
 
 628 
 
 procured, this value must not only be borne out, bui 
 it must circulate amidst an abundance of objects oi' 
 corresponding value : in circulating, it must also 
 call forth, anil bear forward the energies of men, 
 and tlie resources of the country, towards the pro- 
 curement and the improvement of the objects requi- 
 site, in such a way, that its influence may be main- 
 tained without difficulty over the widest possible 
 raiige of things. 
 
 The great point of superiority in the proposed 
 scheme of finance, above that which now exists, 
 may therefore be held to consist in its comprising 
 under its i^ifiuence, avast expanse of general im- 
 provement, in its bemg most intimately combined 
 therewith, in its being completely adapted to, and 
 coincident with, the movements of that progression 
 of things that is thus set forward, and in its tending 
 constantly to resolve every advantage and eve- 
 ry attainment into the augmentation and concen- 
 tration of this progression. As the rapidity and 
 facility of applying every resource, and every ener- 
 gy to its respective object, becomes, in such cir- 
 cumstances, a most important and most valuable 
 consideration, so all these qualities in the propos- 
 ed scheme of finance, give it, in the existing state 
 of things, the highest claims upon our immediate 
 regard. It will be recollected, that the medium 
 of exchange, is alike needful in maintaining per- 
 sonal and social independence, and in developing 
 tlie powers which these implicate ; and that this in- 
 dependence and developement are essentially ne-
 
 629 
 
 cessaiy to the beneficent and ameliorating system 
 in which we arc emerged. It will be noticed too, 
 that this whole progression of improvement is held 
 to be thoroughly pervaded by the principles, spirit 
 and temper of our holy religion ; to be accommodat- 
 ed to the social and civil organization with which 
 we are connected, and to have for its object the ad- 
 vancement of the character of the individual as well 
 as that of the community ; that it is besides to be 
 considered as completely furnished with appropriate 
 provisions, and as concentrated and organized 
 in institutions and establishments, which must give 
 to its movements redoubled efficacy. May we not 
 therefore hope, that the operations and influence of 
 the advantages induced, will be subtile as well as 
 sublime, forcible as well as expansive, and that the 
 blessings resulting from these will be both substanti- 
 al and stable, both multiplied and comprehensive ? 
 
 That industry and enterprize are noways incon- 
 sistent with the highest displays of every virtue, is 
 a position, to which our age fiu'nishes abundance of 
 testimony. In our provincial towns, which not on- 
 ly had their origin in the humble avocations of lile, 
 but which still rest implicitly on the succesful 
 prosecution of these for their maintenance and 
 prosperity, we perceive, in spite of the vacillation^ 
 to whicii the affairs of these are subjected, nume- 
 rous displays of a dignilied and beneficent charac- 
 ter conjoined with the merest exhibitions of bur- 
 gage wealth and power. There also, an elevation of 
 mind, and a force of character, liarmonixed \vi(ii the
 
 630 
 
 ireekest and most devoted attention to tlie most mi- 
 nute relative duties, are not unfrequently displayed. 
 Amidst the bustle of business, and the confusion 
 of transactions, a simplicity and chasteness of taste 
 in the decorative arts, and a comprehensive power 
 over those subjects, -wherein genius and high intel- 
 lectual talent are necessar}^, are also to be found. 
 Nor are the sweets of domestic comfort, nor the un- 
 sophisticated delights of primeval felicity, at all ba- 
 nished from the recesses of our dusky cities. A su- 
 perior relish for rural enjoyment, and a more vigo- 
 rous application to agricultural improvement, are 
 occasionally the direct results of long and arduous 
 plodding in the overburdened storehouse ; and a 
 high sense of moral obligation, nurtured in the di- 
 rect road to gain, there, too, sometimes appears in 
 all its native beauty. Whence do these inestimable 
 advantages arise ? Is it not from the glowing mild- 
 ness of our holy religion, and from the invalua- 
 ble institutions vvhereby this mildness is unfold- 
 ed and exercised. Its spirit and its principles ne- 
 ver forsake its votaries -j-nor do they ever fail to lead 
 them to the highest use of all tlieir advantages ; it 
 teaches man, in every condition, to respect himself; 
 it prepares a sanctuary for his griefs; it expands 
 his best propensities ; and it furnishes motives and 
 views that raise men above difficulties and obstruc- 
 tions. It is into the service of this system, that 
 our great scheme resolves itself; the plenitude of 
 provisions, and the ample range for exercising our 
 powers as connected therewith, cannot but be alike
 
 631 
 
 conducive to the prosperity and the improvement 
 of a nation thus situated. 
 
 I AM aware that there arc multitudes to whom 
 all those high results of the system now proposed, 
 will appear to be of little moment. Elevated above 
 the disasters that befal others, some individuals feel 
 their complacency in their own condition, augment- 
 ed by the contrast of surrounding calamities. Oth- 
 ers, in circumstances that enable them to profit by 
 general misfortune, congratulate themselves on ev- 
 ery facility by which they can the more readily ap- 
 propriate to their own use, the means of their neigh- 
 bours ; while a third class, perhaps far more nume- 
 rous than both — either become indurated amidst con- 
 tinued disappointments to every thing that does not 
 immediately afiect their own concerns, or so untu- 
 tored in their apprehension of things, as not to per- 
 ceive the indissoluble connexion that subsists be- 
 twixt general and individual prosperity, — not only 
 shut their eyes upon theblesSings that flow from u- 
 niversal improvement, but perversely traduce and 
 vilify every plan and measure, by which this end 
 can be promoted. These different classes are on 
 the whole, perhaps, no less formidable from their in- 
 fluence, than from their numbers. Although, there- 
 fore, it is not my business, either to meet tlie fastidi- 
 ous objections ofthemercly capricious, nor to accom- 
 modate my views to the oblique perceptions that 
 arise out of a diseased temper of soul, it is not pro- 
 per to dismiss this subject, without extricating the 
 great principles of our social union, and the clia-
 
 632 
 
 racter of the leading institutions by ^vl^ch this un- 
 ion is upheld, from ^!ic degrading influence that is 
 sometimes exercised over them by these persona- 
 ges. To enter into any elaborate exposition of the 
 fallacy and un worthiness of these misconceptions 
 happily is not now necessary, for after what has 
 been already stated, a very few plain considerations 
 will abundantly display both their absurdity and 
 their wickedness. 
 
 Let it be remembered, that all the blessings and 
 advantages, which we individually enjoy, result from 
 the strength and harmony of social improvement. 
 Labor, until it is combined and concentrated, is 
 neither very powerful nor very productive ; but 
 when it is advanced by the force of genius and en- 
 terprize, it involves every human concern within 
 its influence ; the character and circumstances of 
 our friends, connexions, and dependents, the sub- 
 stantial use and importance of every object that 
 surrounds us, have at length become enveloped in a 
 progression of improvement, and are more or less 
 valuable to us, according as this progression can be 
 made to bear upon our circumstances, with more or 
 less advantage. It is under this influence, that all 
 our affairs arc ameliorated, and rendered coincident 
 with our views and desires ; and it is hence, that 
 our characters and deportment, our circumstances 
 and condition, both as individuals and as societies, 
 are severally advanced and improved. Besides this, 
 is it not by the renovations that go on around us, that 
 our intellectual powers, and moral perceptions, are
 
 633 
 
 fully compressed and drawn up under the institu- 
 tions of our country ? Do not these, and does not 
 the form of society comprize attainments, that are 
 essential to the education, as well as to the happiness 
 of the individual ? Under what influence are even 
 our private attainments exercised and unfolded ? 
 Is it not under that of surrounding improvement, 
 the elements of which have been already instituted, 
 and in the virtue of which they must unavoidably 
 participate ? Every attainment, therefore, private 
 as well as public, tends constantly to resolve itself 
 into others of a higher cast, and to prepare for our 
 service, means and objects of continually augment- 
 ing value and importance ? Thus it appears, that 
 as it is in the concatenated strength of the whole 
 nation, that the security of each individual of that 
 nation consists ; so it is by the energy of the aggre- 
 gate improvement of society at large, that that of 
 its individual members must be measured ; and 
 it is through the influence of this aggregate improve- 
 ment, that the amelioration of every individual is 
 augmented and extended. This is the great plan 
 of nature, and one of the brightest displays of that 
 plan ; it is by contributing to ameliorate those a- 
 round them, that individuals ameliorate themselves j 
 and it is in proportion to the extent and importance 
 of this general progression of amelioration, that the 
 improvement of the character and condition of indi- 
 viduals is advanced. Every one who fixes his atten- 
 tion on these subjects, on the welfare of his friends, 
 and on the general good of society, must perceive 
 how very interesting these considerations arc. They 
 
 4 J,
 
 634: 
 
 risk the absolute degradation of all that is dear to 
 them, who risk that of the community, in which 
 they are implicated. To shut one's eyes against 
 such objects, to steel one's heart against the senti- 
 ments they are calculated to produce ; what is it, 
 but to narrow the sensibilities of the soul, to fix 
 them down to puerile indulgences ; and not merely 
 to subject our apprehension of things to the dic- 
 tates of mere animal instinct, but to level to these 
 apprehensions the whole faculties of our mind ? 
 
 But, by giving way to selfish feelings and con- 
 tracted notions of things, men not only deprive 
 themselves of much positive advantage, and incur 
 great moral turpitude ; they thereby, also, either in 
 their private capacities, or in those of their friends, 
 associates and connexions, become the direct in- 
 struments of their own distress. The pressure of 
 the taxes, the sumptuousness of the age, and the 
 incumberances of domestic establishments, these, 
 and the spirit of the times, serve all to draw off the 
 means and resources of individuals ; while the diffi- 
 culty of finding situations, wherein our respective 
 dependents may meet, in their own persons, their 
 own exigencies, makes the whole weight thus induc- 
 ed, force forward into the fields of adventure, the 
 greatest part of the community, either in a direct 
 or in an indirect manner, and makes them involve 
 their friends, and all the interests that these can car- 
 ry along with them, in a labyrinth, wherein sudden 
 and irremediable destruction frequently overwhelms 
 the most secure. In such a state of things, can sd-
 
 635 
 
 fishness be reputed prudential ? Let it be remark- 
 ed that these evils are not superficial or transitory ; 
 they are radical and progressivcj they are fore- 
 runners and abettors of that system of coertion and 
 concretion, which has been so much reprobated. 
 It is not enough to say, that we are not under the 
 domination of France, nor of French principles. 
 It has long been the boast of the French ruler, that, 
 without striking a blow at our country, he will at 
 length bring it under military influence, and ren- 
 der our subjection to his tyrannical schemes, more 
 and more unavoidable. Our standing armies, our 
 accumulated public burdens, conjoined with gene- 
 ral and incessant financial embarrassment, will, he 
 thinks, speedily render coertion of the most ex- 
 treme kind familiar to all of us ; and thus make our 
 complete absorption into his empire, not less tran- 
 quil than unevitable ; so that, in the end, a change 
 of dynasty and of constitution will be mere matters 
 of form. 
 
 Indeed, if we attend to the nature of the case, 
 we will perceive, that however different they may 
 be in their operation, there is a wonderful coinci- 
 dence betwixt the principles and results of the 
 French system, and that of those to which we must 
 remain subjected, in case no new field of enterprize, 
 and no new financial provisions should be procured. 
 It belongs to both of these systems, to destroy every 
 institution and establishment that tends to support 
 or advance individual or social independence. The 
 French system accomplished this object, by over- 
 
 4 L 2
 
 636 
 
 turning the throne and tlie altar, by converting the 
 sceptre and the mitre into abject tools in the work 
 of destruction, and by levelling with the ground eve- 
 ry monument of power and genius to which violence 
 could reach. Without raising its arm so high, our 
 system would either bear down every thing res- 
 pectable, or undermine its authority and stability. 
 Both the one system and the other, in place of raising 
 new and more glorious establishments, in the room 
 of the old, (as some visionaries fallaciously imagin- 
 ed,) proceed to draw out into one vortex, the whole 
 power and wealth of the community, and to place 
 these unreservedly in the hands of the supreme rul- 
 er, whose power tends constantly to the most abso- 
 lute concretion, and whose mode of exercising this 
 power, always approaches, as nearly as possible, to 
 simple coertion. Do we not see in these tendencies 
 a system instituting wherein not merit, but corrup- 
 tion, in the competitor, must decide in his favor ? do 
 not >^e perceive numberless establishments and at- 
 tainments, the result of much and incessant solici- 
 tude, taken piecemeal from the field of enterprize, 
 and chained to the chariot wheel of irresponsible 
 power ? That noble field, wherein the claims of mul- 
 titudes are decided by dint of high emulation^ 
 may soon be parcelled out amongst the privileged 
 and the powerful ; in which case, no stimulants, ex- 
 cepting those of coertion or corruption (these are 
 of all others the most congenial to men in such 
 circumstances,) will be capable of inducing those 
 parties to give up the advantages which, with so lit-
 
 63^ 
 
 tie benefit to themselves, and so much detriment 
 to the public, they shall have capriciously usurped. 
 
 These considerations, in the view now before us, 
 are all of the highest importance. Labor and oc- 
 cupation are necessary to the existence and happi- 
 ness of the individual, not less as a mean for pro- 
 curing him the means of subsistence, than as the 
 immediate instruments for exercising and improv- 
 ing all the faculties of the soul. Every new step in 
 the progress of social advancement, produces new- 
 objects of enterprize and solicitude, it relaxes the 
 reins of concrete domination, it augments the bles- 
 sings of social existence, and it gives to indepen- 
 dent industry a general excitation ; it is under such 
 influence, that individuals are respectively disposed 
 to do their duty to society. The prospect of par- 
 ticipating in the general advantages of improve- 
 ment, gives efficacy to what is done, and enables 
 and induces men to put a full value on all the re- 
 sults of these cxercitations. If, in the independence 
 of individuals, a progression of improvement re- 
 ceives its support ; it is in this progression also, 
 that this independence is disclosed and exercised. 
 Every thing accordingly that frustrates or impedes 
 this independence, this progression of improve- 
 ment, this social and individual advancement, like 
 the Icvellings of the French democrats, dilapidates 
 the energies and resources of a country, and pre- 
 pares its means and resources for absorption into 
 the hands of the supreme power ; rendering the 
 condition of individuals of all ranks, more and more
 
 638 
 
 lielpless and forlorn, and facilitating the erection 
 of a concrete coercive state of things, wherein the 
 capricious will of rulers may, without any appeal 
 to the sense or conscience of men, both distribute 
 and circumvent the means and powers of society ; 
 and wherein, of course, a calm morbid listlessness 
 will take the place of generous and emulative com- 
 petition. To enter more deeply into the argument, 
 at present, is not at all necessary ; the whole tenor 
 of the preceding illustrations goes to shew the high 
 importance of the rising propensities of our nature, 
 and the multiplied evils that necessarily flow from 
 the subversion of these propensities. 
 
 There is, however, another class of objectors to 
 the preceding system, whose voice demands more 
 of our regard, than those whom we may hold to be 
 dismissed, because it accords more with the unso- 
 phisticated tone of human suffering. These have 
 no fault to find with the system proposed, except- 
 ing only, that it embraces too many objects, that it 
 appears to be too complex; and to imply in its ex- 
 ecution not only much difficulty, but great and 
 manifold danger. To overstrain the sinews of so- 
 ciety, or to hazard its best interests, are objects, 
 which, of all others, I would most avoid ; but I have 
 long been of opinion, that it is not only easier, but 
 safer, to act according to principles, that are well 
 founded, and that are extended on a proper scale, 
 than to take up patches of amelioration at random. 
 It must be recollected, however, that this is merely 
 the developement of a project, and that the
 
 639 
 
 developements of a project, arc not to be rejected, 
 merely, because these are carried forward and trac- 
 ed out from the root and from the stem. There 
 can be no difficulty in admitting the advantages of 
 this radical elucidation, when particular parts of 
 the system are approved of; for if these parts are 
 notonly amply set forth, but disclosed, as connected 
 with a good root and branches, their full develope- 
 mentmust on account of the plenitude ofits disclo- 
 sure be so much the more valuable : and if these 
 points be but partially good, and partially appli- 
 cable to their existing circumstances, the means of 
 finding out and ascertaining deficiences and im- 
 perfections are, at least, to a certain extent, can- 
 didly set forth and illustrated. It is my own o- 
 pinion, however, that the whole system, taken en- 
 tire, is neither so difficult of apprehension, nor 
 so arduous in the execution, as its extent seems 
 to indicate. The principle of improvement, when 
 confined to real and palpable objects, is not ve- 
 ry complex in its operations. AMien regulated 
 by the spirit of Christianity and feudal subordina- 
 tion, it can scarcely at all swerve from its amelio- 
 rating tendency. But the system, now set forth, 
 not only proceeds under these influences, but it de- 
 velopcs itself precisely in that way which is con- 
 formable to our real interests, as these are under- 
 stood and defined by all intelligent and respectable 
 men. In its progress it embraces all our circumstan- 
 ces, all our peculiarities, and all our great and lead- 
 ing concernments ; these it assimulates to its nature, 
 and bends towards great and appropriate ultimate
 
 640 
 
 objects. It violates no received maxim or princi- 
 ple, it elucidates the different tracts in which these 
 may with advantage be applied. Tlie difficulties and 
 embarrassments that necessarily attend its operation 
 it carefully and pointedly obviates, and although, 
 amidst the multitude of affairs which it embraces, 
 there arc no doubt many things that require a- 
 mendment, nothing that deserves the name of per- 
 versity or misapplication, it is humbly conceived, 
 has any place in its devolutions. That, however, 
 the grand design, primarily in view^, may be regu- 
 larly followed out in the different great departments 
 of our national economy, will also, it is apprehend- 
 ed, fully appear in the cursory survey of the most 
 important of these that now follows. / 
 
 It will be recollected, that the leading object, 
 set forth at the commencement of this treatise, was 
 to provide for the financial embarrassments, under 
 Avhich the country labors. These embarrassments, 
 it w^as noticed, were of two kinds, those of the com- 
 mercial world and those of the stock exchange ; 
 each of which, though affected by different princi- 
 ples, resolved themselves into an augmentation of 
 the general financial difficulties of the nation, and 
 thus rendered the necessity of adequate provisi- 
 ons for supporting the process of general inter- 
 course, obvious to every one. An abundance of 
 means, and a plenitude of power for increasing these 
 means indefinitely, it was seen, so far from remedy- 
 ing the evil, rendered it greater. These, from the 
 want of the general medium of distribution, were
 
 G41 
 
 either destined to perish, before tlieir value coukl 
 be reahzed, or so encumbered in their progress into 
 the hands of the consumer, as to be of httle general 
 avail in the process of intercourse. The deficiency of 
 the precious metals, originating in tlie circumstan- 
 ces of the times, and pressed upon the public mind 
 by indiscreet politicians, it was shewn, was but inci- 
 dental, and no more worthy of attention, than a mul- 
 titude of other contingencies, whose operation was 
 no less powerful and important, though more sub- 
 tile ami recondite. After traversing the established 
 coui'scs of industry and commerce, and sweepinn- 
 off from the face of the earth, every person and ob- 
 ject that opposed itself to his designs, the Frencli 
 ruler had at length succeeded in shutting against 
 us the European markets, which, in our circumstan- 
 ces, was tantamount to preventing us from convert- 
 ing the most valuable productions of our industry 
 into absolute and circulablc wealth ; and as this 
 was done at the very time, that the transmission of 
 such wealth into this depot, had, from our habits 
 of consumption, become indispensibly necessary 
 for us; so, besides despoiling us of a vast portion 
 of our national means, this despot had thereby ef- 
 !ectually enthralleil under his domination, a great 
 part of our reproductive industry ; which, from the 
 train in which its fruits must run, has at length 
 become chainc<l down under his destroying iuHu- 
 encc. In the course of the illustrations that were 
 given in this view, it was shewn to be impossible 
 for us, or for any nation that had not determined 
 to sinl-: itspli" into barbarism, to meet such policy 
 
 4 ^i
 
 612 
 
 ill a direct n}a iner, by iiitcrfering with the occupa- 
 tions and engagements of tl>ose under its own au- 
 lIiDrity, in tlie way of retaliation. And, as our cir- 
 cumstances are such, that we have little hopes of 
 ever being able to counteract this destructive in- 
 fluence in those markets witli which we have been 
 connected, so long as the French power therein 
 •^^hall remain entire ; so it iuis become necessary 
 (or us, forthwith, and by every mean within our pow- 
 er, to proceed to transfer our courses of improve- 
 ment to distant and more favourable climes — to 
 countries to which the French system does not reach; 
 and in order to tiie attaining and securing of this 
 object, to institute new and more extensive com- 
 niercial and political connexions ; whereto our ha- 
 bits of industry and consumption may become ap- 
 pended ; and wiiereby a market, for realizing our 
 commodities and productions, and for obtaining 
 their apprctiated value, in subjects of equal value 
 to us, might become established. 
 
 Is the course of the illustrations that were given 
 in this view, the circumstances and character of our 
 own ])rc>ccsses of intercourse and reproduction, those 
 of the ancients, and those of the various nations 
 oF Christendom, as also the relations, in which the 
 dirferent European powers now stand in respect to 
 the general pi-inc!j>les of our civil and social orga- 
 nization, were set forth in the most ample manner. 
 A line of policy was thereafter drawn, for our fu- 
 ture procedure, suited to our character and cuxum- 
 '•tances, and stretclicd tbrward in that course, which
 
 643 
 
 it is evident]}' most proper for us to pursue, in re- 
 gard to the various interests thus seen to he iniplieat- 
 ed in our aflairs. In these illustrations, v.'as necessa- 
 rily comprised all our great political, commercial, 
 and financial interests, carried forward in higii 
 progression, in a direction coincident with the})ul>- 
 lic gocxl. This line ofpolicy, it afterwards appeared, 
 not only coincided with the iiDprovement and ex- 
 tension of all our reproductive processes, but with 
 the advancement and amelioration of our individual 
 and national character and condition, taken in the 
 truest and most enlarged sense. The importance ol' 
 each of these leading interests having rendered it 
 ]iecessary to delineate a particular plan or project, 
 suited to their respective positions in the giand 
 progression, the matter, which was thus introduced 
 into the general scheme was brought forward, and 
 illustrated, under one great leading design. 
 
 In the first place, in regard to our political inter- 
 ests, it was shewn, that it had become necessarv 
 ibr us to take a most liberal and extensive view 
 of all our advantages, duties, and obligations ; to 
 form connexions, and to institute measures, corres- 
 pondent with these; and, having thus pre[)ared 
 ourselves, to proceed with the most determined fiim- 
 Tiess and ])erseverance in that course which these 
 things had unfolded. The importance of our naval 
 superiority, the fidlacy of neutral claims, and ihe 
 great objects which superceded these, were thence 
 taken into account. A plan was thereafter set 
 forth, ibr harmonizing our maritime rights utidcr 
 
 t. ivr 'J
 
 644 
 
 tlie influence of these paramount objects with those 
 of neutral nations. As the particular state of the 
 world, our local circumstances, and the various 
 methods of communication, by which our affairs 
 are resolved into those of Christendom at large, suf- 
 ficiently evince the importance of those great Eu- 
 ropean interests that can be made to bear on these 
 most momentous, though much misapprehended, 
 points ; and as these circumstances taken in all their 
 different relations, necessarily lead us toplacecertain 
 common European rights and claims, on tli^e fore- 
 ground of our great scheme ; wherefore, the inter- 
 ests of our ancient natural allies appeared as a coun- 
 terpoise to the overgrown pretensions of our neutral 
 friends. On the whole, it thence became evident, 
 that it was proper for us, to take strong and decis- 
 ive, as well as liberal and extensive views of our du- 
 ty and obligations, aud, in the way of harmo- 
 nizing the general interests of all with whom we 
 were necessarily led to form connexions, to be also 
 necessary to keep steadily in our eye the great lead- 
 ing objects of our coalition. As the line, in which 
 such principles move, necessarily leads all parties 
 to the adoption of measures, coincident with the 
 the ulterior views for which neutral claims are, by 
 universal consent, held to be constituted ; so, in 
 the course of the devclopements that were set fortli, 
 the v/hole political and general interests of Christen- 
 dom were illustrated and implicated within one 
 great plan of social and national improvement. 
 
 Tt i? proper to notice, however, that the great and
 
 645 
 
 leadingresults of the p'an, in this light, have not, and 
 indeed, cannot be traced out at full length, with- 
 out taking along with us a number of facts and cir- 
 cumstances that have not been yet brought under 
 our review. But, in general, it must be noticed, that 
 the plan now set forth carries the whole moral 
 and physical energies of the British nation, into 
 newand appropriate regions, — regions, wherein, the 
 improvement and enterprize, to which theirpresence 
 never fails to give rise, must do most essential ser- 
 vice, not merely to the parties immediately affected, 
 but to the world at large, and to the great cause 
 in which we are nationally embarked. It is in the 
 New World that the energies of our race can, at 
 present, be most advantageously unfolded, and in 
 unfolding themselves, send forth those means, for 
 maintaining and defending the great cause in which 
 we are embarked, that are so much wanted. It is 
 here alone, that improvement and advancement, and 
 expansion in every thing that is valuable, can be 
 set fully and without hazard n high progression j 
 and that the excitation necessary for calling forth 
 and exercising corresponding improvement, ad- 
 vancement, and expansion, in the Oki World, on a 
 great scale, can be obtained. These attainments, 
 it must be noticed, come all fully into the service of 
 our belligerent and other great national concerns. 
 Naval stores, necessary supplies of rude and precious 
 commodities, and a population, prepared for giving 
 effect to the great objects in view, the preserv- 
 ing from destruction the great institutions and es- 
 tablishments provisions and attainments of Chris-
 
 646 
 
 tcnclom, and making tlicse, severally, in their place, 
 bear on the amelioration and improvement ot" the 
 character and condition of men of every race, being 
 thence to be procnred, in the greatest abundance. 
 
 I XM aware, that out of these very excellencies of 
 the proposed system an objection arises, which, in 
 our present circumstances, will appear to many to 
 be unanswerable. If our countrymen at large are to 
 be thus surrounded with high improvement, whence 
 are our supplies of soldiers and of seamen to be drawn? 
 If excitation to peaceful industry and regular enter- 
 prise be rendered thus strong and efficient, how are 
 the various subordinate departments of life to be oc- 
 cupied ? It is not necessary for me here to meet this 
 objection in a direct manner ; though it may be no- 
 ticed that it must necessarily be obtempered by this 
 consideration, that, in the most flourishing circum- 
 stances of society, there arc always vast multitudes, 
 who instinctively betake themselves to rude boister- 
 ous and hazardous employments, without any regu- 
 lar inducement or coertion. My answer, however, to 
 this objection, is rested upon higher ground. Here, 
 as in every other case of real urgency or necessity, 
 when the ultimate object can be obtained by means 
 that are fair, legitimate and appropriate, a change 
 of measures, in correspondence with that of the ge- 
 neral principles in operation, cannot be condemned ; 
 )iay, it must be directly approved of. It is neces- 
 sary, that these measures be coincident with the es- 
 tablished character oithe system ; but benig liius 
 coincident, it is not needful that they meet the fas-
 
 647 
 
 tidious perceptions of nil whom tlicy may affect. 
 The coincidence of the conscriptivc laws witli 
 onr system, in the case of our nautical warriors has 
 already been illustrated, and it applies witliout any 
 qualification to the case now before us. Although, 
 therefore, I am by no means partial to any extension 
 of these laws, I am far from objecting to their a- 
 doption in the present case, provided that these 
 should really become necessary. Betwixt the perpe- 
 tuation of a system, whereof miseiy and wickedness 
 are the most operative principles, and one, wherein, 
 the reverse of this takes place, though that system 
 should be incumbered with general conscriptive re- 
 gulations, I see no difficulty in making my selec- 
 tion. I would consider it proper and needful to 
 smooth the operation of such a system, by taking 
 away every unnecessary asperity in the military life. 
 I would think it but equitable to hold before those 
 engaged in this occupation, every conceivable high 
 and appropriate incentive; (and in our circumstan- 
 ces, as the first nation in the confederacy, and best 
 qualified to take the lead in every valuable enter- 
 prize, these incentives must be many,) but having so 
 done, I would set determinate limits to my ])aternal 
 care, 1 would adopt die general views of the Spartan 
 school as far as these were consistent with our own ; 
 for I would lead soldiers along their high career, by 
 motives and incitemeiUs consistent with their drUy 
 and condition, and I would cultivate their military 
 zeal and patriotic fervency, with as much assiduity 
 as in opposite circumstances, I w o-uld do the most ne- 
 cessary propensities to concordant useful industry.
 
 648 
 
 Besides this, in judging of such matters, it must be 
 remembered as a leading point that as our system is 
 constituted of renovating and ameliorating princi- 
 ples, so its operations can be carried forward by- 
 dint of general and universal improvement in hu- 
 man affairs, even more effectually, than by success- 
 ful military prowess. To war and destruction it is 
 necessarily opposed ; to advancement and exaltation 
 it is necessarily allied. We must indeed repress 
 the progress of the common enemy by direct force, 
 for we must combat his desolating energies in 
 the bloody field ; but it is only by transcending the 
 sphere that he can describe that we can finally pre- 
 vail. While he desolates and destroys the face of 
 the globe, and degrades its intelligent inhabitants, 
 it is the business of our system, to replenish the 
 earth with all that is great, and to exalt all in it 
 that is human. By wielding this great engine as 
 we ought, we will gradually dilapidate the founda- 
 tion of his power, we will withdraw from under 
 his authority, one part of his means, and paralyze 
 the operations of another. We will even occasion- 
 ally transfer them under our banners, and, while we 
 merely display our superior character, wither up 
 and overwhelm all that is inimical to us. Along 
 with these considerations, it must be remembered, 
 that, by the plan laid down, a great nation of active 
 friends will be annexed to our system, who, at the 
 present time, are disengaged, or rather are yoked un- 
 der hostile banners ; and that to each of our friends 
 we will have allotted aspherc of action correspondent 
 Jo their clrcnmstajices. lAcfcrcnce is here made to
 
 649 
 
 America as implicated in the same cause ; and if A- 
 merica,in consideration of a subsidy, conjoined with 
 tlie other advantages that necessarily fall to her share, 
 as already illustrated, should undertake the mainte- 
 nance of that part of the system, whicli it suits all 
 parties that she should burden herself with main- 
 taining, in her own quarter of the globe — does not a 
 vast disposable force appear in reserve, that would, 
 without this provision, have been o.therwise occu- 
 pied ? This, to her, is a most important concession. 
 But if America leaves to us the empire of the ocean, 
 does it become us to object to her exercising the 
 supreme military power in the new world ? Her 
 interest, her condition, and her principles, conjoin- 
 ed with the heterogeneous elements of which that 
 part of the world is composed, form as good a gua- 
 rantee to the nations against her abuse of this power, 
 as our circumstances do against our abuse of our ma- 
 ritime rights. Any subsidies that we may bestow 
 upon her in order to enable her to exercise this pow- 
 er with advantage, it must moreover be remarked, 
 will ultimately resolve themselves into the augmen- 
 tation of these reproductive powers, whence our own 
 supplies from her are drawn ; and thus dispose and en- 
 able her to deliver to us in full tale, the value of all 
 the good offices and commercial investments that 
 have accrued to her from our good-will. With such 
 counterbalancing considerations before us, can we 
 be greatly alarmed at any consequences that may re- 
 sult from this advancement of a scion from our 
 own stem, amongst the independent nations of the 
 'vorld ? may mc not rather congratulate ourselves 
 
 4 X
 
 650 
 
 on having thereby procured appropriate resources, 
 for the military, as well as for every other part of 
 our great system ? 
 
 It is very evident, that advantages, similar to 
 those that subsisted during the high tide of Euro- 
 pean intercourse, would arise out of the connexion 
 thus held to be instituted between the British and 
 American nations. There can be no doubt, but a 
 similar balance in favor of British industry, would 
 soon be formed within the American territory, on 
 which government could, without difficulty, operate, 
 both in the way of subsidy and of remittance ; and 
 in operating, confer decided benefits upon the in- 
 dustry of both nations. The wealth thus represent^ 
 ed and circulated, however, would not only relieve 
 and animate the industry of each nation, but it 
 would advance into high respectability, all those in- 
 terests that were favourable to the growth and es- 
 tablishment of the national power of each, com- 
 bined and co-operative as these are now held to be. 
 As has been already mentioned, it would accelerate 
 the movements of these reproductive processes, 
 whence our most invaluable supplies would bedrawn, 
 and enable us to replenish our stores on terms the 
 most favourable. If a suitable spirit prevailed for 
 any length of time, this progression of improve- 
 ment w^ould not only become vast in point of ex- 
 tent; but be at length so clossly combined in all 
 its parts, that it would be difficult to set limits to 
 its course, or to force its concatenations asunder. 
 For it must be noticed, that the wealth thus pro^
 
 651 
 
 duced would not only be constantly increasing, and 
 at every step forming the basis of farther advance- 
 ment ; but it would tend directly to substantiate it- 
 self in fixed establishments ; it would become con- 
 centrated and organized in institutions correspon- 
 dent to the progression going forward ; and be ex- 
 ercised under a form of society, that would har- 
 monize every movement with this object. 
 
 If we look somewhat more clossly into the unit- 
 ed progression, thus held to be instituted, we must 
 perceive connected with it, a multitude of consider- 
 ations of a most important kind. We are at present 
 under some alarm, least America become a mari- 
 time and a manufacturing power, and the circum- 
 stances in which she at present stands, certainly 
 have not only this tendency, but a direct influence 
 in placing these in opposition to our nation ; under 
 the circumstances however that have been supposed, 
 no such consequences can be apprehended. A- 
 merica, in that case, must follow out her own inte- 
 rests and her own objects in their natural course ; 
 these are the improvement of her territory, the in- 
 crease of her population, and the consolidation of 
 her government. Sucli matters imply a simple and 
 domestic mode of living,; enterprizes chiefly in tlie 
 agricultural department ; and sucli an absolute des- 
 tination of energies and resources to correspondent 
 and connected pursuits, as to render the assistance 
 of Britain, in the character which she must hold in 
 this great connexion, one of tiie greatest blessings 
 that could i)ossibly accrue to her. 'J'o consume 
 
 -1 X 2
 
 652 
 
 her population, and her means, in boisterous and 
 hazardous employments, wherein, celibacy and li- 
 centiousness go hand in hand with desperate ad- 
 venture, in engulphing the best hopes of society, 
 would be none of her objects. It is not meant to 
 say, that there is not already enough of corruption 
 and libertinism in America to give rise to under- 
 takings the most opposite to rural simplicity, that 
 it is possible to conceive ; but as it is sufficiently ob- 
 vious that there is a counteracting tendency insepa- 
 rable from the developement of agricultural affairs, 
 which must do much more than counterbalance 
 such desolating propensities ; and as to a govern- 
 ment situated as that of America necessarily is, the 
 ephemeral advantages that might result from an 
 application of its energies and resources, in the 
 way either of extending its maritime power, or of 
 rearing up manufacturing establishments, must 
 appear altogether unimportant, when brought into 
 competition with its leading territorial and nation- 
 al interests; so we cannot conceive that these ten- 
 dencies would produce any very decided effect. 
 
 But whatever the feelings of the American govern- 
 ment and people upon this subject might be, it is per- 
 fectly obvious, that there is a sufficiency of objects a- 
 round them, to fix down their attention, and to ab- 
 sorb all the means that could be brought within their 
 range, without leaving them any leisure or induce- 
 ment to resort to extraneous undertakings on any 
 vast or national scale. Next to the developement of 
 her territorial advantages, that of securing interna?
 
 653 
 
 tranquillity, is a matter of the greatest importance 
 to America ; and this can be procured no other way 
 than by following out the great design of the scheme 
 of im[)rovement now set forward. Spain on one 
 Iiand, and Britain on another, have a direct interest 
 in maintaining this tranquillity ; and America can 
 obtain no better pledge for her own security and 
 prosperity, than by building up the fortunes of 
 these her well disposed neighbours and associates. 
 
 In doing this, America will no doubt be led to set 
 agoingextensive military operations, and to form her 
 population into a general militia ; but this, though 
 it will render her by far the greatest military power 
 out of Europe, will never constitute her a military 
 nation. The political strength of America consists 
 in her high progression of improvement, and in the 
 coincidence of this progression with the circum- 
 stances of the world. To traverse this progression 
 by military schemes and movements, would para- 
 lyze the government, without producing any com- 
 pensating effect. It would harass the people, dry 
 up the genial sources of their improvement, and 
 most likely produce the calamity of civil discord, 
 America, therefore, by drawing up, under British 
 and Spanish influence, her military strength, may 
 succeed so far as to give casual relief to the bellige- 
 rent powers ; she may provide most cfl'ectually for 
 that safety and tran(juillity in the West(5rn Conti- 
 nent that is so desirable ; because to her no sacri- 
 fice is too great not to be made for such an object ; 
 but America can never stretcli her power beyond
 
 654 
 
 this point ; atid she must thenceforward seek the 
 depression of the great destroyer. Indeed, until 
 her whole institutions shall have been subverted and 
 destroyed, we need require from her no pledges for 
 her fidelity under such advantages, except those that 
 arise out of the general circumstances of the case. 
 
 In weighing the importance of these considera- 
 tions, it is necessary that we take along with us this 
 fact, — that this whole progression of improvement 
 is the best and the most direct instrument for res- 
 cuing the different nations of Christendom from 
 that concrete thraldom, under which they at pre- 
 sent labor, and for procuring for the common 
 cause, means and resources equal to the great object 
 in view, that can, at present, be thought of; and 
 that it is such as must sooner or later completely 
 prevail. When Bonaparte sets fprth his glory and 
 prowess, the rampants of his authority, as objects 
 for which his people must shed their blood ; how 
 deeply must the contrast which our system affords 
 affect them ? While his subjects feel their sub- 
 jection to his will to be unbounded, see moun- 
 tain forever arising above mountain, in their at- 
 tempts to bring all things under its control, must 
 not this bright display of social concord — our mag- 
 nanimous zeal in rejecting every thing injurious to 
 universal improvement thus set fortli before them — 
 open their eyes to their own abject situation, and, 
 seeing they are but the vile tools by which this 
 display is to be overwhelmed, discover to them that 
 the cause in which they are embarked is not more
 
 65.5 
 
 bopcless than wicked ; dispose them to withdraw 
 themselves from under his influence, to range se- 
 verally around their national standards ; and in con- 
 formity with their ancient spirit and character, 
 prepare and capacitate them tor asserting their se- 
 parate independence, with decision and effect. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enter farther into the ad- 
 vantages that would necessarily result to our great 
 political interests, from a complete identification of 
 those of America with our own. Our navy, freed 
 from embarrassing contestations, would of course 
 arise to its highest splendor. Our national finan- 
 ces would obtain a solid and irrefragable basis, and 
 would, in all circumstances, and in all their opera- 
 tions bear their highest imported value. Our ar- 
 my would be relieved from many accumulated evils 
 that attend expeditions to distant countries in tro- 
 pical climates. Besides this, the American nation, 
 and our own, like those of Spain and Portugal, 
 having learned to co-operate in the same cause, 
 would come to respect one another, to emulate each 
 other in good offices, to exercise themselves several- 
 ly under the institutions and customs, and under the 
 spirit and principles, peculiar to each; and thus con- 
 tribute to ameliorate the character, and to improve 
 and exalt the sentiments of one another. 
 
 In the next place, let us turn our attention to 
 •ur commercial interests, for the purpose of disco- 
 vering the advantages that must result to them 
 iVom the operation of the foregoing system j com-
 
 656 
 
 preheiKJing under the term commercial, not only 
 those matters that are purely mercantile, but, those 
 that necessarily become such, from the exuberance 
 of our reproductive processes. The common inte- 
 rests of this class may be regarded either in a fin- 
 ancial, or in a real or substantial point of view ; eith- 
 er when drawn up in the form of abstract wealth, and 
 in a capacity for being represented and circulated ; 
 or, when lying loose amongst our hands, in the qua- 
 lity of commodities and productions, useful and 
 valuable to us according to our circumstances. In 
 whichever of these lights we regard these interests, 
 it is evident, that an extension of the mnge, through 
 which their value and utility can be aggregated 
 and diffused, is a primary object. To carry his com- 
 mercial enterprizes over the vast sphere now held 
 to be allotted to him, to make his operations bear 
 fully on all the circumstances of immense rising 
 communities, are both invaluable advantages to the 
 merchant. But to do this in coincidence with the 
 views and interests of the government, as well as of 
 the people thereby afiected ; to carry along with 
 him the general principles of amelioration and im- 
 provement ; to obtain direct access to the first move- 
 ments of the commercial principle ; and to be plac- 
 ed in circumstances, in which he can affect, in the 
 most direct manner, the operations of industry and 
 the faculty ot reproduction, must redouble the value 
 of all these advantages. Thereby^ his transactions 
 will be vastly muhiplied, as well as widely extended; 
 and thereby, they will proceed under influences- 
 that will render them alike piotitable and beneficial.
 
 657 
 
 in their operation and in tlieir results. Tlicrcl)y, 
 also, the productions and commodities procured 
 and circulated for the benefit of society, must be 
 no less valuable in themselves, than estimable on 
 account of their extrinsic effects ; they must be no 
 less conducive to individual advantage, than instru- 
 mental in improving the condition, and exalting 
 the character of society at large. 
 
 All these advantages, it will be recollected, arc 
 supported and carried forward in full vigor, by 
 means of that vast financial scheme, which arises 
 out of the circumstances thus improved. The 
 talents and powers of individuals are placed in tlic 
 most favorable circumstances for developement 
 and exercise, and they tend to the production of 
 results important alike to the individual and to the 
 public. The energies of the body politic, and the 
 jesources of each community are placed under 
 the influence of the moit benign and expansive 
 principles, they are concentrated in higlily im- 
 proved establishments, they are enve]oj)ed in a 
 course of things, whereof individual indepeudence 
 and individual improvement are the direct objects ; 
 ;:nd thus conduce to the advancement alike of the 
 human character and of the human condition. A- 
 midst this increase and diffusion of articles of value, 
 the welfare of those tiiat produce and circuIaK' 
 liiem, and the wealth by which they are represLMit- 
 cd, cannot but be promoted ; for as the conceius ol' 
 1 he merchant occupy the foreground of that vasr 
 progresr.ion of things, in which they are iinph'catcd. 
 
 4.
 
 658 
 
 as it belongs peculiarly to him to create, augment^ 
 represent, and circulate pro})erty in every shape ; 
 and as property constitutes the grand ligument of 
 general society, in this high progression ; so, we can- 
 not but infer, that the transactions of the merchant, 
 carried over that vast field of entcrprize that is laid 
 open before him, will participate fully of every 
 occurrent advantage, and that his whole concerns 
 preserved in a state of the highest security, v.ill 
 have the splendor of dignity attached to their value, 
 and the weight of authority to their importance. 
 
 The entire adaptation of all these advantages to. 
 the circumstances of the commercialist, must appear 
 still more evident, when we direct our attention ear- 
 nestly to his situation. The want of a market, where- 
 in his commodities can be converted into absolute va- 
 lue, is his great complaint., When articles of value 
 cannot be realized, an increase of the means of socie- 
 ty becomes its greatest misfortune ; for this increase 
 not only represses the progression of improvement, 
 but overpowers and destroys its roots. According to 
 the system now laid down, however, articles of real 
 utility can never want a market, in which their ab- 
 solute value can be ibund ; nay, in the circumstan- 
 ces supposed, this market must have the farther 
 virtue of attracting vv^ithin its influence, abundant 
 t^;upplies of every thing that is really and substantially 
 valuable, and of expelling beyond its range every 
 destroying and deteriorating principle. In such a 
 f.phere, and amidst such diversified circumstances, 
 industry and c-nterprize c:in seldom fail of whcir ob;
 
 659 
 
 ject ; the concentrating establishments being them- 
 selves roots of circulable as well as of real wealth, 
 these can never fall oif on account of the mere want 
 of cn'culable means. On the contrary, these estab- 
 lishments, and the individuals connected with them, 
 must remain self-poised on their proper basis ; they 
 arc placed not only in independent but in progres- 
 sive circumstances, they are surrounded with abun- 
 dance, and endowed with powers and faculties 
 that must render this abundance the instrument 
 of their exaltation, as well as of their support. They 
 arc animated by the most powerful stimulants, and 
 'the ultimate and the immediate effect of all the o- 
 perations that arc hence induced, being an exaltation 
 and amelioration of individual and general charac- 
 ter and circumstances, the improvement and ad- 
 vancement of every mercantile interest whom these 
 operations can any wise affect, and the concentra- 
 tion of all these various advantages in powerful repro- 
 ductive processes must, necessarily, follow as mat- 
 ters of direct consequence. 
 
 These considerationr, serve to introduce into no- 
 tice others of an import still higher. The hazard- 
 ous situation, in which the commercialistmust hold 
 :iil his advantages and attainments, so long as th(i 
 present system continues, is known and acknowledg- 
 ed by all of us, as also the embarrassments that in the. 
 most favorable circumstances incessantly traverse 
 his procedure, and the insuperable disparagements, 
 under which his name and condition consequently 
 !ai)our. All ihcjc evil-, however, and the various 
 
 1. o 2
 
 660 
 
 cHlaniilics that accompany them, arc essentially pre- 
 cUidcd by thepraposedamendations, which introduce 
 a stability and security, into the current course of 
 things, that is of" thelastimportancc in mercantile af- 
 fairs. He is thereby placed on a basis that is radically 
 strong as well as w idely extended. There, every thing 
 useful rises up into his hands ; and there, accord- 
 ingly, if he duly avails himself of his peculiar ad- 
 vantages, he need want neither means, nor objects 
 on which to exercise, and into which to resolve, all 
 his means and acquirements. The vast sphere in 
 which his transactions take effect, and their im- 
 mense influence w^ithin this sphere, their implicated 
 adaptation to all its circumstances, and their har- 
 monious co-operation with its leading movements, 
 in a manner, identify and homologate his whole in- 
 terests with the leading interests of the community ; 
 insomuch that every circumstance and event that ad- 
 vances the one, must advance also the other ; while 
 a cordial complacency and concordance in regard to 
 his v/elfarc, must prevail alike in the government 
 and with the people. But this is not all. In conse- 
 quence of the paramount nature of financial con- 
 cerns, and the absolute dependence of these con- 
 cerns on commercial transactions j and inconse- 
 quence of the vast facilities which it is competent 
 for states to accord to merchants in conducting 
 these transactions, much deference and attention 
 wilt be bestowed by these on mercantile affairs, 
 which, of course, must raise every one who exer- 
 cises them to high importance in the scale of so- 
 ciety. His equitable claims, and essential rights.
 
 661 
 
 will not only be recognized and sanctioned, but 
 be supported, defended, and fortified by the whole 
 power and influence of" the state. To this advan- 
 tage, the direct subserviency and articulate coinci- 
 dence of his interests, with the leading interests of 
 the states and nations will give complete effect ; 
 commercial intercourse will find no embarrassment 
 to its progress, except that which corresponds with 
 the advantage of the merchant ; the subjects affect- 
 ed by it must advance in value, and everywhere 
 bear their proportionate value ; the resources of 
 nations, and the energies of individuals drawn 
 up under mercantile influence, will unfold them- 
 selves under mercantile auspices in the public ser- 
 vice. Intelligence and improvement will be diffus- 
 ed amidst commercial affairs, these will become 
 more and more conspicuous, and more and more 
 powerful in their operation ; and they will bear up 
 both the character and the circumstances of the 
 merchant. Thus the stability and security, attached 
 to mercantile wealth and influence, will procure for 
 their possessors the qualities of dignified and author- 
 ised respectability. 
 
 TuK dei)cndence of merchants on contingent e- 
 vcnts is well known, and it may be pled as an uni- 
 versal exception to the representations now given. 
 This remark, however, in the case now before us, 
 must be obtcmpered ; for the system abounds, 
 throughout, with subjects of relief in every con- 
 tingency. Where all the facilities and advantages 
 to commercial intercourse inherent in a svstem,
 
 662 
 
 so llioroughly digested under mercantile princl- 
 ]>les are in higli ])rogression around him, there 
 can be nothing like a deficit in the means for rcaUz- 
 ing and substantiating tlie value of commodities. 
 This universal market, it must be noticed, bears 
 closs upon industry of the most important and ex- 
 tensive kind ; it presents full resolution to the pro- 
 ductions of such industry, and it effects this reso- 
 lution, in the most direct manner. Such industry, 
 therefore, it must always peculiarly favor, and its 
 influence upon it must be such, that its operation 
 vrill always be accommodated to the existing de- 
 mand, which having met, it must always import its 
 value. The obliquities of statesmen and financiers, 
 being entirely banislicd under the proposed system, 
 the progression in the resolution of subjects of value 
 induced must advance witli accelerated rapidity; 
 it must become constantly more and more digni- 
 fied and important, and it must exercise itself 
 with constantly increasing power and effect. As 
 the wealth and means thus obtained may assume 
 every shape, enterprise may go on in every de- 
 partment of civil life. The merchant, himself, 
 ■who at first plied amidst the scanty earnings of se- 
 vere industry, may become a hero, a statesman, a 
 legislator. That slender power, which, as a shade, 
 followed his first acquirements, and displayed itself, 
 as the emanation of commercial confidence attached 
 to his person, may grow up into high and resplen- 
 dent authority, sufficient to enable him individual- 
 ly to influence the measures of states and nations. 
 This incipient wealth, and this nascent pov/cr and
 
 663 
 
 influence, having in the course of its advancement 
 been again and again substantiated in objects of 
 real value and utility ; and having stimulated, 
 supported, and rev/ardcd many reproductive estab- 
 lishments of more or less general utility, must, there- 
 fore, at every turn, have advanced the condition, 
 and improved the circumstances of many valuable 
 members of society. As these, in their progress, 
 must have exercised as well as augmented their ame- 
 liorating influence, they nmstluive unfolded, as well 
 as nurtured many personal and public acquirements, 
 andsometimes also have contributed to raise, as well 
 as to support, various useful institutions. In the 
 end, we see all this beneficence repaid to the indivi- 
 dual, and to the class to which he appertains. This 
 has taken clfect, ii is true, more from the circum- 
 stances of society, than from the intentions of its 
 individual members ; but as in tlie consequences 
 that are produced, intentions and circumstances 
 have been both blended and exercised, so v;e must 
 hope that the character as well as the condition of 
 the individual himself, has, in like manner, been 
 both advanced and improved in tlie course of the 
 progression. As the incitements that are produced 
 by such SL system of improve^uent, to still further 
 and greater improvement, must continue to gvj 
 on v/ith augmented, force and efficacy — its prin- 
 cii)les constantly tending to concentrate them- 
 selves, and to replenish their respective object ; as 
 the means, power, and occasions in wlilch thij sys- 
 tem is enveloped are incessantly extending them- 
 selves, wliile ll:e t-:ci'lties and ')roov;asit:j3 which
 
 664 
 
 these respectively possess for bearing on each other, 
 must always remain undiminished ; the conversion 
 of means into funds, and of funds into means, may 
 go on, indefinitely, advancing at every turn the 
 character and condition of mankind, more particu- 
 larly of that class whose business it is to conduct 
 and influeiice these movements. 
 
 It is very evident, that the operation of the a- 
 bove system coincides most completely with the 
 circumstances of those who have vast enterprises of 
 any kind to bring forward. To all whom an ex- 
 tended term of credit is necessary, it must be most 
 essentially beneficial. It not only enables those 
 who may execute the subordinate parts of these en- 
 terprizes to accord the requisite accommodation ; 
 but it places the community at large in a condition 
 to bear out the undertaking, whatever it is, under 
 every advantage to its close. While the profusion 
 of means, every where around, must enable and dis- 
 pose individuals to regard great undertakings, witli 
 peculiar favor, the security attendant upon every 
 exercise of well-directed industry, must attach to 
 the conduct of all who exercise it, all that confi- 
 dence and influence which may be requisite. 
 
 These remarks apply, in a peculiar manner, to the 
 circumstances of those who may be led directly oi 
 indirectly into the East India trade, now about to 
 be thrown open to the British nation. To these a 
 lengthened term of credit is indispensible ; but with 
 ihis advantage, the ultimate success of all enterprises
 
 GG5 
 
 in that line of commerce, can scarce be held to be a 
 matter of uncertainty. It is not indeed necessary 
 for the manufactnrers of commodities for this 
 market, to accommodate their merchants with 
 a very extended credit ; but it is indispensably ne- 
 cessary for these merchants themselves, to antici- 
 pate their engagements by a vast circulable capital, 
 sufficient, to bring them through those difficulties 
 and dangers with which commerce, amidst such a va- 
 riety of untried channels, is always accompanied. 
 
 This is certainly a great hardsliip and inconve- 
 nience to these merchants : means for obviating if, 
 however, arise out of the system now proposed* 
 AVhen thus obviated, this very drawback will prove 
 of essential advantage to the trade. All, who have 
 means to carry it on with profit to themselves, will 
 easily find their way into it ; but the difficulty of 
 raising adequate capitals will most effectually pre- 
 clude from it every other class of people. Not 
 only so ; but each individnal, therein concerned^ 
 being necessitated to trade within his own stock, 
 his transactions will be kept within narrow and ap- 
 propriate bounds, the credibility of his assump- 
 tions will be accurately ascertained, and his anti- 
 cipations of returns be fixed down by circiunstan- 
 ces wliich cannot be controverted. 
 
 It would be an endless task, to go over the va- 
 rious important points, wherein the great project of 
 improvement now laid open, meets the occasions 
 of tiiosc who may be engaged in such expanded 
 
 4 1'
 
 666 
 
 transactions, as direct intercourse with the East ne- 
 cessarily imphes. It is enough to say, that as two 
 or more years must constantly intervene, betwixt 
 giving instructions respecting commodities to be 
 furnished, placing these commodities at the dis- 
 posal of consumers, in a state prepared for imme- 
 diate use, and thereafter carrying back the re- 
 turns to the first owner, and that therefore, various 
 provisions are necessary, which nothing but a vast 
 linancial project, extended alongst an immense pro- 
 gression of improvement, can meet. In such cir- 
 cumstances, the death or bankruptcy of some one 
 or other of the parties concerned, alterations in the 
 state of the market, the loss or capture of ship- 
 ments or correspondent supplies, these, and every 
 other contingency, must be fully met by the cap- 
 ital of the merchant who adventures into this trade. 
 The extent of his capital must determine that of 
 his dealings. His commercial credit may be unim- 
 peachable ; but it can operate only within a narrow 
 sphere ; it will carry him through his regular trans- 
 actions, but beyond these its influence must be fee- 
 ble. While these things discover to us the necessity 
 of strengthening and consolidating the basis of East 
 India enterprizes, they point them out, as very fit 
 subjects, for supporting a peculiar financial super- 
 structure, correspondent to their own circumstances. 
 Many of the risks of these adventures, besides those 
 of sea-hazard or capture, may be so fixed down, 
 and circumscribed, as to become fit objects for 
 the business of the assurer. A general system of a- 
 gency may be burdened with many other parts of
 
 667 
 
 tliese enterprizes. How these principles may ope- 
 rate, in the circumstances proposed, may be a mat- 
 ter of uncertainty ; one thing, however, is evident, 
 that they lay open a vast field of financial as well as 
 of commercial enterprise. They exhibit a compact- 
 ed order of concerns that may be regulated nearly 
 by system. It was upon this ground, that the 
 Dutch permitted rescripts on the returns of East 
 India consignations, to be emitted, which rescripts 
 were frequently of such small denominations, that 
 the lowest mechanic might have an interest in this 
 extensive trade, by vesting a moderate portion of 
 his weekly savings in these rescripts. This provi- 
 sion had the double effect of preserving for the fu- 
 ture exigencies of the industrious, a certain portion 
 of the fruits of their labors, and of giving them a di- 
 rect interest in the leading business of the nation. 
 How preferable is this species of enterprise to that of 
 the lottery ! Here, moderate gains stimulate indus- 
 try, at the very time, and by the very means, that 
 they raise the individual into comparatively respec- 
 table and independent circumstances. 
 
 It is evident that many advantages, analagous to 
 these, might be obtained, by adapting the financial 
 operations of our West India colonies to their cir- 
 cumstances on similar principles. Colonial es- 
 tablishments require not only a very lengthened 
 period for drawing forth the value of their res- 
 }>ective commodities, but vast and constant invest- 
 ment of means, in order to preserve tliis valu'o 
 entire. Tiic productions of these establi.slimcnt.s, 
 
 4 r '1
 
 668 
 
 it must be noticed, besides the capital necessary for 
 bringing them into existence, require appropriate 
 provisions for their transference to the place of their 
 ultimate destination, for discharging the expences 
 imposts and hazards that await this transference, 
 and for drawing back their realized value from tlic ge- 
 neral market into the coffers of the original owners. 
 Do not all these circumstances indicate the vast 
 importance, which universal improvement, support- 
 ed by a suitable financial basis, must be to our West 
 India establishments ? 
 
 It appears to me, that there really is no good 
 reason, for precluding our colonial settlements, 
 tirom the advantage of a validated paper currency, 
 procured on the principles now unfolded, and rest- 
 ed chiefly on the reproductive processes established 
 within their own precincts. This advantage w^ould 
 enable the forlorn inhabitants of these distant re- 
 gions, to bring into action a variety of native re- 
 sources, which at present are of no avail to them. 
 Many of their present productions, it is well known, 
 in consequence of the political state of their ulti- 
 mate market, are of no real advantage to them or 
 to the nation whatever. Though brought forward 
 with great care, and inducing great sacrifices, 
 both in the mother country and in the colonies, 
 they are generally so expressly calculated for a fo- 
 reign consumption, which they cannot reach, that 
 the whole value of some particular establishments, 
 and sometimes every occurrent cxpence connected 
 with them may be held to be absolute cncumbc-
 
 669 
 
 ranees on the nation. In such circumstances, would 
 not a vahdated paper currency, to circulate the value 
 of native resources within the native territory, to fli- 
 cilitate internal improvement, and to give a new faci- 
 lity to native industry be of vast importance to them ? 
 It would enable colonial proprietors to circulate by 
 their own means, no inconsiderable part of the value 
 of their crops ; it would give to internal industry 
 of every kind, a direct and powerful excitation and 
 support ; it would bring forward wealth, on a new 
 and substantial basis ; and thus put these foreign 
 proprietors in circumstances, to procure homeward 
 remittances, in more appropriate objects of con- 
 sumption. 
 
 But fixed wealth, lying in these remote countries, 
 is liable to many contingencies, that must render it, 
 if taken by itself, a precarious foundation for finan- 
 cial intercourse ; and even such as it is, in conse- 
 quence of its being generally vested in British resi- 
 dent proprietors, it is far from being so generally ac- 
 cessible for this purpose, as British property, lying 
 within our native territory. These circumstances 
 render it necessary to bring forward some portion 
 of British native wealth, in a direct aid of these 
 circulatory processes; and tliey, at the same time, 
 ])oint out the channel whence this wealth is to be 
 drawn. It is from British residents, v/ho have direct 
 interest in the welfare of the colonies, that means 
 may be drawn forward to this very object, in di- 
 rect coincidence v.ith the interest of tlie wliole par- 
 tics, therein concerned. Although the circumstan-
 
 670 
 
 ces of the colonies, exposed to great and peculiar 
 contingencies, and those of their reproductive es- 
 tablishments, for the most part heavily encumber- 
 ed, are such, as to afford but a very narrow basis for 
 financial impledgments, it is evident, that the defi- 
 cit can be remedied ; partly, by conjoining a suf- 
 ficient number of reproductive processes under 
 onegreat financial establishment ; partly, by getting 
 prior mortgagers to coalesce in this measure ; and 
 partly, also, by implicating the personal security of 
 proprietors of estates, holders of mortgages, and 
 others interested in the local welfare of the co- 
 lonies, in these general securities. As many of 
 these reside in Britain, and are thus so far beyond 
 the range of colonial misfortunes, and as poli- 
 cies of assurance, in relief of the risk thus under- 
 taken, could easily be procured, the real validity of 
 the circulatory impledgments thus emitted, might 
 be most amply provided for. At the same time, as 
 the progression of improvement, thus instituted, 
 would be constantly resolving itself in the improve- 
 ment and advancement of reproductive proces- 
 ses — the proper basis of financial establishments ; 
 and as the consecutive discharge of prior mortgages 
 would be constantly raising the value of the pro- 
 perty impledged to higher ground ; so the wealth, 
 created, diffused, and concentrated, throughout the 
 colonies, would be continually augmenting and con- 
 solidating itself, and their system constantly becom- 
 ing^ more and more indeoendent of extrinsic aid. 
 
 There is nothing that indicates more strongly
 
 671 
 
 the characteristic excellence of the system now iin- 
 fblded, than its exact coincidence with the interests 
 of the proprietors of the soil. These preside over 
 all territorial improvements, and they derive the 
 ultimate and most substantial benefit of all improve- 
 ment whatever, which benefit they constantly resolve 
 into the highest services of the public. This scheme 
 not only contributes most directly to the advance- 
 ment of this class, but it does this in the way that is 
 most coincident with their most important duties. 
 In improving the circumstances of the community, 
 this system induces territorial improveinents, more 
 particularly, those of the agricultural kind. There- 
 by, the condition of the landed interest is effectual- 
 ly advanced, and the most valuable means of the 
 nation increased. The financial movements, thus 
 induced, exercise and envigorate every thing that 
 is truly noble and excellent in our circumstances ; 
 the hands of the state are thereby strengthened, and 
 the aggregate enjoyments of the nation multiplied, 
 purified, and exalted. The advantages, peculiar to 
 the landed interest of Britain, have enabled the Bri- 
 tish land-holders to maintain a peculiar para- 
 mount influence over all the affairs of the nation. 
 To this class the government and the people, 
 the heads and the constituent members of all 
 our great establishments, constantly direct their ap- 
 peals. In all doubtful cases, these sedulously dis- 
 play the coincidence of their designs with those 
 ofthis paramount interest ; and when they can make 
 this coincidence distinctly to appear, they never 
 iail to consider their case as completely made out.
 
 672 
 
 It is not at all necessary to enter into any state^ 
 mcnts, with the view of illustrating the important 
 advantages tliat must result to the landed interest 
 from the operation of the above system. Its whole 
 developements, as already set forth, go to amelio- 
 rate the condition of the nation, and while we can- 
 not but admit that the most valuable fruits of these 
 developements must appear most prominently in 
 the wealth substantiated on the face of the country, 
 we musti at the same time, admit that the landed in- 
 terest enjoys the best of these fruits. This, how- 
 ever, is not all ; for the landed interest, from its 
 powers and advantages, being in effect the safest 
 guardian of the rights of the people, and the strong- 
 est bulwark of the sovereign, all the great and lead- 
 ing acquirements, arising out of the various opera- 
 tions and results above stated, naturally fall under 
 their influence. Hence, a wonderful accession is 
 made to their means, and a multitude of facilities 
 is prepared, to enable them to avail themselves ful- 
 ly of these means. To all these advantages, due ef- 
 fect is given by the course of events, into which 
 the above advantages conduct our national affairs. 
 It is upon the landed interest that the nation reposes 
 its confidence most absolutely. It is upon this class 
 that the state confers its highest honors. To raise 
 the individuals of the class thus favored to flourish- 
 ing and independent circumstances, is therefore 
 nearly tantamount to raising the general character 
 of the nation, and placing its whole affairs in the 
 most secure circumstances. Thereby, all the pri- 
 vileges and advantagesof the aggregate body, being 
 
 plac-
 
 GIS 
 
 cd under the guardianship of those who have tlic 
 highest interest in them, arc strongly entrenched 
 and fortified ; thereby, the number of distinguished 
 individuals, capacitated for filling every department 
 of civil affairs, must be augmented, and their char- 
 acters rendered more independent and respectable ; 
 and thereby also, the faculties, which these individ- 
 uals respectively possess, for executing the duties and 
 supporting the dignity of their respective stations, 
 must be unfolded, and displayed with superior lus- 
 tre and effect. 
 
 The primary object of solicitude with the pro- 
 prietors of the soil, is, the increase of the capabilities, 
 which their respective properties possess, for pro- 
 ducing the necessaries of life. In our circumstan- 
 ces, no object can be of more general importance 
 to us ; for the whole united kingdom does not pro- 
 duce a supply of food sufficient to maintain its po- 
 pulation ; and our connexion with those states, that 
 could make up the deficiency, stands on the mostpre- 
 carious footing. No evil is more tremendous than 
 famine ; we are in constant danger of it ; yet our 
 territory, if fully improved, might relieve us from 
 this dilemma. Is it not, therefore, an object of the 
 'highest importance to place those, whose business it 
 m to procure us this advantage, in circumstances 
 hat will dispose tiiem to procure it? Vast invest- 
 ments oi" capital, however, are necessary for the 
 improvement of the soil ; the soil returns these in- 
 vestments only at distant periods, and does this, 
 not in aggregate capital, but in the form of an an-
 
 674 
 
 nual revenue. Nor is this all ; this revenue is sel- 
 dom equal to the money returns of similar invest- 
 ments in other properties, and it is exposed to a va- 
 riety of public assessments, from which most other 
 kinds of property easily escape. It is true, the ca- 
 pital that may be ultimately drawn from landed pro- 
 perty in the common market, for the most part, am- 
 ply repays investments in such property; but this 
 aggregate capital cannot be realized, as we real- 
 ize the proceeds of consumable commodities. Cum- 
 bersome writs and evidences, and a variety of 
 difficulties, which occasion much trouble and de- 
 lay, beset its progress through the market ; and ac- 
 commodation in regard to the terms of payment, 
 to an extent that is never thought of in ordinary 
 cases, lie all in the way, and greatly diminish the 
 value of these ultimate returns. It must, moreover* 
 be remarked, that landholders, at present, are ge- 
 nerally much in debt, and constantly prone to 
 sink themselves deeper in debt ; they have a splen- 
 did station to occupy, and the real annual returns 
 of their property seldom coincides with the expence 
 thereby incurred. Do not all these things point di- 
 rectly to some mode of relief analagoiis to that 
 which is now unfolded ; whereby the valuable fixed 
 property of the soil may be possessed, and at 
 the same time circulated ; improved, under the 
 eye of its possessor, by means arising out of and 
 ciirculated by its value, and which, in their fi- 
 nancial career, must necessarily draw forth the re- 
 sources, and exercise the energies of the community^ 
 under the influence of the proprietors of the soil?
 
 6^ 
 
 These things fully display the vast importance 
 of the plan of finance, above unfolded, to this most 
 respectable class of the community. When taken 
 In connexion with the general project of improve- 
 ment, the aggregate benefits of their combined o- 
 peration are seen to be increased still farther. These 
 developements of internal resources require, not on- 
 ly the excitation and support of abundant means, but 
 the energies of a flourishing population, in order 
 to bring tliem up to their full value. The pro- 
 duce of the soil is a most cumbersome commodity ; 
 and the means, for facilitating its transference to 
 markets at a distance, can only be obtained, when 
 the presence of a great and industrious population 
 is at hand. As the funds, raised on the plan propos- 
 ed, must, from the constitution of their respective 
 establishments, circulate chiefly under the influence 
 of these establishments, the industrious processes 
 subservient thereto, must of course, in the first in- 
 stance, receive the stimulus of these financial means. 
 From these, the circumambient progression of im- 
 provement nnist receive a certain excitation, so 
 that, on the wliole, commercial confidence, the great 
 instrument of commercialintercourse, must be fully 
 circumscribed by the proprietors of the soil. Eacli 
 separate course of industry will then proceed to form 
 its appropriate connexions, and, from a multitude of 
 centres, improvement will spring forth, and devc- 
 lope itself, so as to strengthen and concatenate terri- 
 torial improvement. That all these advantages must 
 pccufiarly Ijcnefit the local agricultural interest of e- 
 very district, is evident ; because the great local ca« 
 
 4^2
 
 676 
 
 pabilities of each district, being the basis of its tinaii- 
 cial establishments, and the emissions of these estab- 
 lishments, being generally confined within certain 
 precincts, the movements of the commercial me- 
 dium, are, in a manner, chained down to the ame- 
 liorating services, and bound up with the peculiar 
 interests of its appropriate territory. 
 
 Let it now be remarked, that out of all these ad- 
 vantages, the exaltation of the landed interest, the 
 provision of abundance of necessaries, and the gene- 
 ral improvement of the circumstances of the most 
 important part of our population, a grand paramount 
 object arises ; this is a due proportionment betwixt 
 the numerical population, the internal means re- 
 quisite for the support of this population, and the 
 condition and character of the community at large, 
 which are thereby made to bear on each other in the 
 most favorable manner. The rates of labor, the prices 
 of commodities and productions, and the capabilities 
 of those who are implicated in this general progres- 
 sion of things, being thus harmoniously balanced by 
 the mere movements of the above system ; and the fal- 
 lacy of the fears and surmises, which are so industri- 
 ously circulated, about the rise ofarticlesof the first 
 necessity and the depreciation of money, exposed ; 
 the process of general intercourse, like the move- 
 ments of the human machine, will be most salutary, 
 when most unrestrained ; requiring, indeed, abun- 
 dance of its appropriate supplies, and space for de- 
 veloping and exercising its peculiar energies j but, 
 in other respects, sufficiently vigoious for perform-
 
 67^ 
 
 ino-everv necessary movement, and plentifully en- 
 dowed with all the faculties requisite for replenish- 
 ing this vigor. 
 
 These views might be established andilhistrated 
 by direct reference to a number of particular in- 
 stances. There are two leading points, however, 
 in which their truth and importance appear so for- 
 cibly, that an elucidation of them will be sufficient 
 for our present purpose. 
 
 First. The rapacious and turbulent character of 
 the proprietors of the soil, during the high tide of 
 the feudal system, is well known. What is it that 
 has brought down this spirit from its lofty throne, 
 and placed it under the banners of genial reforma- 
 tion, and which has so harmonized its operations, 
 and consolidated its effects, as to render it the 
 greatest bulwark of our social rights ? Is it not the 
 introduction of systematic improvement in subjects 
 of industry and enterprise, which by multiplying and 
 circulating articles of value, under commercial and 
 independent principles, has so highly exalted the 
 influence of accredited ^wealth, as to have rendered 
 its influence paramount to that of heritable pow- 
 er ? For the sake of obtaining possession of that cir- 
 culablc emblem of power, which commanded the 
 use of those subjects of value that were constantly 
 floating before them, the factious barons were neces- 
 sitated to denude themselves of their cumbersome 
 wealth and authority, and to commute ostentatious 
 displays of grandeur, for subiccts of more regular
 
 678 
 
 personal gratification. In the prosecution of this 
 end, the coercive importance that was attached to 
 their persons, gradually sunk under that emulous 
 and independent spirit which had now become con- 
 genial to existing circumstances. Equitable inter- 
 course with their own vassals, the subjects over whom 
 their concrete domination had formerly been stretch- 
 ed without control, and an incessant appeal to the 
 medium of exchange, the universal standard of 
 value, were also requisite. By these means, the ba- 
 rons made away with great portions of their fixed 
 property, as well as of their power, part of which 
 passed into the hands of the merely industrious, and 
 thus raised not only particular individuals, but the 
 whole class to which these individuals belonged, in 
 the general scale of society. All this was produced 
 in the regular way of the improvement, then going 
 forward ; the barons in the view of finding access 
 to its enjoyments, in effect, rewarded the services 
 of those who supplied their wants ; they bestowed in 
 return for their services, the instrument as well as 
 the form of independence ; and in doing this, they 
 erected an effectual counterpoise to their own tur- 
 bulent propensities. But good order being neces- 
 sary for preserving industry in its proper train, 
 means as well as power being essential to. the exer- 
 cise and display of power, the baron's^.t'liQugh there- 
 by rendered less dominant, became, in fact, more 
 powerful and more splendid ; tliougli less fitted for 
 repression, they became more capacitated for sti- 
 mulation. Though less coercive in point of form, 
 their power, in the exercise o^ it, became really
 
 679 
 
 more determinate; and or. thewhoIe,\vliilc llieirinflu- 
 cnce, now denuded of its barbarous (brm, advanced, 
 the barons were individually and collectively more 
 dignified in their condition, and more replenished 
 with those means ot'enjoyment, thatwere correspon- 
 dent with their character and situation ; and thus 
 they gave to the progression thus instituted, sta- 
 bility as well as importance. In this way, their pre- 
 tensions were counterbalanced, their acrimony neu- 
 tralized, and theirpowcr and wealth, bent under that 
 of the general system, infused into the operations 
 thereupon induced, tlic whole insuperable influence 
 of their order. 
 
 Although the system thus produced be now so 
 thoroughly established, as scarcely to leave a ves- 
 tige of its former character, there still remains much 
 of the general principles of the old system in our 
 civil institutions. While our landholders exercise 
 themselves in improving their own and the general 
 concerns, there are circumstances in our public in- 
 stitutions, that mar these beneficent operations, 
 and convert public acquirements into the means 
 of individual aggrandisement. This takes place 
 in parochial and burgage afiairs, as well as in the 
 court and thel^gislature ; and it is sometimes 
 exercised, tkw» peculiar vehemence and decided 
 disadvantage, ni those circumstances, wherein 
 the influence of landed proprietors predominates. 
 The individuals, whose interests arc thus intrud- 
 ed into the cliain of improvement, are general- 
 Iv those, for whom the bar, the armv, and the sennt'j
 
 680 
 
 have no charms. While others arc busying them- 
 selves in most honorable employments, these loiter- 
 ers at home snatch at every opportunity of sel- 
 fish aggrandizement that offers, and sometimes 
 monopolize the influence of a whole community. 
 
 What is the proper counterpoise and check for 
 this spirit ? Will forms and provisions do it ? By no 
 means. These will only serve to fix these intruders 
 more firmly in their seat. Will public censure effect 
 this object ? This, alas ! has been nearly stripped of 
 its authority; it is encumbered by such a multiplicity 
 of affairs, that the real truth is seldom seen, and when 
 seen, it is for the most part impotent to any good ob- 
 ject. A new and high degree of systematic improve- 
 ment, will, however, effect this. In such circumstan- 
 ces, the interests which individualshavein the public 
 means for promoting the public good, must, of them- 
 selves, so overshadow any interest that these individ- 
 ually can have in the practice of fraud and injustice, 
 that personal aggrandizement will beeffectually para- 
 lyzed on its first appearance. At the same time, the 
 j)ublic mind, aroused into action from the value ot 
 public acquirements, must be led to scrutinize every 
 department of the public good with ajealous eye, to 
 detect what is wrong, and to rectify with a high hand 
 whatever is maiverse. But, besides this, in the cir- 
 cumstances supposed, every public acquirement 
 can only be valuable and productive, according 
 as it is usefully and profitably exercised. It is 
 not enough to be at the head of a public estab- 
 lishment, to have the patronage of it, and the
 
 681 
 
 control of its moveincnts, in order that the full ad- 
 ■\ antages resulting from predominancy may be pos- 
 sessed ; it is flirthcr necessary for the same end, that 
 the establishments themselves, in all their parts, be 
 maintained in a proper tone and condition, and 
 that their faculties and endowments be kept in full 
 exercise in a manner correspondent to their cha- 
 racter and destination ; otherwise other establish- 
 ments, instituted on more improved principles, and 
 conducted in a more liberal manner, will spring 
 up from the mass of resources every where around 
 them, to rival, and even to supercede those that 
 are under their direction. These, and other con- 
 siderations of the same kind, cannot but have a 
 powerful effect on all who may have reached to the 
 influential command of public establishments. But 
 whether these considerations have an adequate ef- 
 fect or not, it is certain, that under the course of 
 things supposed to be instituted, the number of indi- 
 viduals in respectable and independent circumstan- 
 ces must become so immense, their relative power 
 and wealth so extensive, and their interest in the ge- 
 neral welfare of public establishments so great, that 
 corruption and perversity of every kind must, on all 
 hands, be wonderfully checked and counter-balanc- 
 ed. May we not hoi)e too, that a dignified apprehen- 
 sion of general advantage and personal fame, such as 
 that which was characteristic of the feudal era, and 
 seems tobe congenial to independent circumstances, 
 will at length obtain the ascendancy, and induce 
 individuals (o seek their gratifications, not in the 
 prosecution of mean and selfish advantages, but in 
 
 4 R
 
 682 
 
 the successful developcment of high and noble de- 
 signs ? In this state of things, the feehngs and the 
 interests of the most deserving part of the communi- 
 ty would gradually be bound up together, and in 
 their aggregate capacity be made to bear with full 
 force on the improvement of public establishments ; 
 and, while the monopolizing propensities of indi- 
 viduals would be subjected to the discipline of li- 
 beral and extended views, and the desire of per- 
 sonal and family aggrandizement, would be raised 
 to higlier ground, the entire management of great 
 and general establishments, harmonized and coun- 
 terpoised by surrounding objects, would necessarily 
 coincide with the best interests of the whole commu- 
 nity. On the whole, therefore, out of the propos- 
 ed course of improvement, it may be fairly expect- 
 ed, not only that the means, for attempering the as- 
 perity of men in power, would everywhere spring 
 forth in abundance, but that principles, to give ef- 
 ficacy to those means, would at the same time be 
 fully excited and brought into action, sufficient to 
 exalt and purify the character of our public leaders, 
 to combine their influence with that of systematic 
 improvement, and to exercise it under the power 
 of the general system, in such a way, that those pub- 
 lic institutions and general attainments, over which 
 their power was extended, would, in fact, become sa- 
 lutary vehicles for transfusing their personal wealth, 
 and their inherent power, throughout the whole 
 body-politic. 
 
 The otlier point to be illustrated, as shewing tl 
 
 le
 
 683 
 
 tendency of the foregoing system, to incorporate 
 the interests, and harmonize the circumstances of 
 landholders with those of their fellow-citizens, is, 
 its furnishing means for bringing forward the fruits 
 of agricultural industry, under such advantages, 
 that these may be sold at rates as nearly proportion- 
 al as possible to the rates of other commodities ; its 
 preserving these steadily at these rates, and its ad- 
 vancing the condition of all who may be embarked 
 in enterprizes calculated for the attainment of this 
 object, in a secure and steady manner. This, it is 
 evident, is to be effected by the vast, incessant, and u- 
 niversal support and stimulus, which the foregoing 
 scheme of improvement and plan of finance may be 
 held to give to agricultural industry. As the illus- 
 tration of this point, however, lays open before us a 
 very important view of our general subject, and 
 as by elucidating the real cause of the dispropor- 
 tionate increase of the price of articles of the first 
 necessity, and the actual circumstances in which 
 this question is involved, many of the misappre- 
 hensions respecting the depretiation of the value 
 of money, that at present prevail, may be removed, 
 it seems to be proper, in this place, to enter into the 
 subject somewhat at large. 
 
 In looking at facts even as they now stand, we per- 
 ceive, that there are certain circumstances which 
 have a direct tendency to raise the general price of 
 all commodities whatever. In the first place, there 
 has latterly been a vast increase of" our public bur- 
 dens, insomuch, that it is said that these, including 
 
 4 R 2
 
 684 
 
 whatever is necessary for defraying all the expen- 
 ces of the state, for carrying on the general business 
 of the nation, for meeting the claims of the public 
 creditors, and for providing for the local and parti- 
 cular emergencies of the country, have, within our 
 days, been nearly doubled. Tiiese burdens, it must 
 be noticed, are all drawn out of the public purse, 
 in the way of taxation, and they have the gene- 
 ral effect of raising the price of commodities more 
 or less, according as these come more or less under 
 the influence of taxation. In the second place, in 
 consequence of the increased burden with which 
 the expence of living is thus charged, and also in 
 consequence of the improvement and luxury of the 
 age, the rates of labor have in like manner greatly 
 increased; a burden which, it is evident, must like- 
 wise advance in the most direct manner the price 
 of commodities. These two contingencies not only 
 render a greater quantity of the medium of exchange 
 necessary for measuring the value of marketable 
 objects, but they, at the same time, necessitate the 
 consumer of these objects to seek this greater 
 quantity out of his own resources. The pur- 
 chaser of commodites must not only bear the ex- 
 pences incurred in fabricating commodities, by 
 discharging the estabhshed claims of the fabricator, 
 and of the merchant; but he must also discharge the 
 public claims that are introduced into the price 
 of these commodities. Although, therefore, in the 
 valuation of objects of desire, a greater amount of 
 the medium has in our days become indispensible, 
 this does nat arise from the d^pretiation of the me-
 
 685 
 
 dium below its former standard value, it arises from 
 the exaltation of the price of commodities, above 
 their former standard ; these comprizing in their ac- 
 cepted estimation, not only their own price, but 
 a separate price which is contingent to them, and 
 which the public must likewise discharge. What- 
 ever effect the plenty or scarcity of money, there- 
 fore, may have in raising or lowering the price of 
 commodities, it is altogether indisputable, that ii 
 cause exists, independent of this and of every other 
 cause, which has a necessary tendency to diminish 
 the power of the current medium over articles of 
 desire, or rather to raise the pov/er of these articles 
 above the established power of the medium. 
 
 But on examining the real state of things more par- 
 ticularly, we perceive, that taking commodities in the* 
 aggregate, their current estimation has not been rais- 
 ed in proportion to the extent of the burdens thu& 
 induced. On the contrary, though commodities 
 in general have risen somewhat in value, this rise is 
 scarcelyever proportionate to the superinduced bli.r- 
 dens. In many instances, such as in that of West In- 
 dia produce, cotton and iron goods, a palpable di- 
 minution of price has taken place. These facts 
 are familiar to all of us, and they deserve much at- 
 tention, because they strike at the root whence all 
 these cavilings about the depretiation of money, 
 which are so injuriously pressed on the public mind 
 when enlarged i)lans of finance are resorted to, arise, 
 and introduce the subject at large in its proper light. 
 Since money thus comprises within a circumscribed
 
 686 
 
 valuation, not only the first cost, but the superinduc- 
 ed burdens of a very large proportion of consumable 
 commodities, may notthe truth of this position — that 
 money, extensively considered as the general me- 
 dium of intercourse, so far from having sustained 
 any diminution of its power and influence, has in 
 reality received an augmentation both of power and 
 of influence — be held to be established ? 
 
 When we direct our attention to the great and 
 leading causes of this augmentation of the power 
 of money, or rather of this depression of the value 
 of commodities, we perceive, that there are two 
 leading principles which pervade the whole of these 
 causes. The first of these principles arises out of 
 general improvement, and may be denominated 
 the fecundating injluence of universal amelioration. 
 The industrious processes in our days having been 
 generally improved, their force having been so in- 
 creased and concentrated, and their operations so 
 extended and concatenated, as to enable them to 
 send forth results of the most valuable kind, in the 
 utmost profusion, and these results, having by dint 
 of mercantile capital, been transfused throughout 
 the community, not only with the utmost fiicility, 
 but with an influence, sufficient to stimulate and sup- 
 port progressive improvement, in every department 
 ofindustry — whereby, ashas beenalready illustrated, 
 its productions are rendered not only abundant and 
 low rated, but intrinsically useful and essentially 
 necessary in human affairs — the operation of im- 
 proved industry, in relieving society at large from
 
 G87 
 
 the pressure of these SLiperlnduccd burdens, must 
 now appear so obvious, as to require no illustration. 
 If the rates of labor have been augmented by this 
 pressure, improvement renders its operations doub- 
 ly effective ; if the burdens on its productions have 
 been increased, im[)rovement augments their rela- 
 tive value, it midtiplies and extends their amount. 
 Society is on all hands benefited ; for the value of 
 the burdens themselves, is again introduced into 
 the body-politic, in the way of expenditure on the 
 part of those in whose favor they exist ; insomuch, 
 that these very burdens, in the end, come to be 
 most direct stimulants to the industrious and enter- 
 prising part of the community. 
 
 To all these public advantages, the second prin- 
 ciple referred to, that of emulation and competition, 
 gives full effect. To this principle, let it be notic- 
 ed, individual improvement and general luxury, are 
 most powerful stimulants ; it is the offspring of in- 
 dependent and ameliorating principles, and it is the 
 most powerful excitator and sustainer of these priri/- 
 ciplcs in all their operations; it extends the range 
 of human enjoyments ; and it gives to the human fa- 
 culties an ample command over that rano-e. The 
 means and the talents of society are thereby brought 
 forward into full exercise, and made to bear on each 
 other with undivided force. Universal collision is 
 made coincident with universal improvement ; the 
 exertions of the individual, predisposed to exercises 
 wherein tlic most valuable results are to be found, 
 are stimulated alikcby the dangers and by the advan'
 
 688 
 
 tages that lie around him. Excellence is produced 
 in abundance, and is thereby placed entirely at the 
 disposal of the public. The public reservoirs of all 
 that is valuable, by dint of emulative competition 
 replenished, are, under its influence, also relieved. 
 Thereby, the most valuable results of the highest 
 powers of man are so attenuated and harmonized 
 with existing circumstances, and so familiarized in 
 their essential properties to our apprehensions, as 
 to be accessible to the great bulk of mankind. As 
 every successive progression in this course advances 
 the common attainments of man to higher ground, 
 the power of the emulative principle can suffer no 
 abatement from the plenitude amidst which its ope- 
 rations proceed ; it will have higher objects for its 
 attention, a more exalted field for its occupation ; 
 but it will still possess incessant and unbounded 
 stimulants to activity, such as will continue to 
 animate all its exertions, and to render these, suc- 
 cessively, more and more important. Money, which 
 commands with the most absolute power all these 
 attainments, though in like manner aggregated and 
 increased, will also in like manner maintain its ac- 
 cepted value in the general estimation altogether 
 unimpaired ; its abundance will not render its pow- 
 er less valuable ; for its capacities, enlarged by the 
 multitude of objects under their influence, will re- 
 ceive constant excitation and constant increase. 
 Amongst savage nations, emulous industry is un- 
 known, it is where the value of the superior produc- 
 tions of industry, and of the power of commanding- 
 it, and its productions, has been most fully enjoyed
 
 (iS9 
 
 that the emulative principle has readily developed 
 itself in the service of industry, and most steadily 
 and completely exercised its exalting functions. 
 
 It is in consequence of the combined operation 
 of these two leading principles, mprovement and 
 competition^ that the superinduced burden of taxes 
 and high rates of wages, afbrenoticed, are not only 
 counterbalanced, but frittered down to nothing. 
 Nay, the circumstances of society are such, that the 
 magnitude of the pressure sometimes has the most 
 direct tendency to counteract the superinduced in- 
 fluence. A value is thereby given to certain latent 
 principles of action, that is sufficient to attract both 
 capital and improvement towards them ; and new- 
 departments of industry spring up, that would never 
 otherwisehavcbeen in existence, andbccomesubjects 
 of general im})oriancc. When capital and talent 
 have been employed for any length of time in this 
 service, they never fail to multiply and improve 
 the commodities produced this way, and thus con- 
 duce alike to their cheapness and to their excellence. 
 
 It is very obvious, however, that neither improve- 
 ment nor competition can be applied with proportion- 
 al advantage, in every particular case. Into the agri- 
 cultural processes, for instance, they cuter but slow- 
 ly and inii)erfectly, in comparison with those im- 
 mense cotton and mineralic establishments, with 
 which the face of our country is now studded. 
 Labor cannot be greatly abbreviated in agriculture ; 
 and since the locality of vxQvy district bounds its. 
 
 4- 5
 
 690 
 
 owii^rangc, the competition induced must be small. 
 It is but in few places that improvement upon an en- 
 larged scale, and according to a scientific plan, has 
 been at all introduced into this branch of industry ; 
 and in none of these places, have the full advantages 
 of surrounding resources been borne upon it, with 
 full effect : in none, has that systematic refinement 
 and energy been exercised in it, that have so long 
 and so successfully been exercised in other bran- 
 ches. Amidst these disadvantages, let it be recol- 
 lected, that the improvements of the agriculturist, 
 perhaps more than those of any other class of men, 
 must, from their character, be languid aud disjoint- 
 ed : into their operations, necessarily ponderous 
 and desultory, and therefore scarcely at all abbre- 
 viated by organized improvement, the full rates of 
 augmented wages necessarily enter. From the re- 
 sults of these operations, distant and scanty as they 
 generally are, the aggregate amount of public bur- 
 dens are always rigidly exacted. Is it any wonder 
 then, that the rise of price in the productions of 
 such industry should be proportionally greater than 
 it is in those of that industry, wherein improvement 
 and competition exercise their unrestrained influ- 
 ence ? These articles carry in their price, not only 
 their pristine estimation, but the superinduced bur- 
 dens of augmented public imposts, and advanced 
 rates of wages ; of increased ground rent, and va- 
 rious severe personal exactions. When such com- 
 modities are placed in competition with others, 
 Avherein various circumstances counterbalance the 
 superinduced encumberances, the disproportionate
 
 69 i 
 
 increase of price appears to be no more than a fair 
 indication of their relative circumstantial value. As 
 to any efl'ect, that a plenitude or scarcity of the me- 
 dium may have on this appretiation, it can be held 
 to be no more than that which it must have on 
 every other commodity in similar circumstances. 
 
 Thus, -when tlie matter is fully attended to, we 
 perceive, that this very fact, the disproportionate 
 rise of price in articles of the first necessity, ap- 
 pears as a decisive proof of the steady character of 
 our common standard of value. It is undeniable, 
 that, taking commodities in general into account, 
 their aggregate value remains nearly unaltered; that 
 the changes that have taken place can be account- 
 ed for in the most satisfactory manner, under the 
 principles that have just now been amply unfold- 
 ed, and that in the price of articles of necessity, 
 the exact application of these principles is palpable. 
 It is the province of the circulable standard of va- 
 lue, to mark, with precision, the various kinds of va- 
 cillation in value that may take place ; and by means 
 of this standard, we perceive the high effects of the 
 operation of certain superinduced burdens and ad- 
 vantages upon the modes of appretiation. Where- 
 fore, as these are precisely the results that were look- 
 ed for, we must liold ourselves as possessed of evi- 
 dence, sufficient to testify, that the absolute value, 
 represented by our accredited currency, has not in 
 fact been impaired in its accepted estimation, on 
 account of any surcharge of circulatory pa])er, or on 
 unv other account w hatcver. This testimony is ev- 
 
 4 s 2
 
 692 
 
 cry way more unequivocal and direct, than the in- 
 dications of foreign exchange, whicli are often ap- 
 pealed to, as the rule for determining the abstract 
 value of our circulatory medium. 8uch indications, 
 let it be noticed, refer to the present relative position 
 of commercial and financial intercourse ; and they 
 point to the plenty or scarcity of many other com- 
 modities besides that of bullion or accredited paper ; 
 while they lead into speculations, whereby the sur- 
 charge and deficiency may be remedied. But, with- 
 out comparing the present with the former circum- 
 stances of a country, and ascertaining the causes 
 that are really operative in producing the differen- 
 ces of value that are known to exist, the substantiat- 
 ed estimation of its accredited currency can nev- 
 er be satisfactorily explained. Discussions on the 
 course of exchange may be of importance, when the 
 general causes of unbalanced intercourse must be 
 investigated, and when they can lead to practical a- 
 meliorations in the course of trade. This, however, 
 is a subject of real importance to every one of us, 
 and noways connected with the speculations of the 
 bullion merchants. The value of our currency de- 
 pends on our voluntary acceptation of it, in a pub- 
 lic and in a private capacity ; and to the accredited 
 estimation of it, our acceptation, voluntary though 
 it be, is tied down by rules, and circumstances, and 
 necessities, which, being inseparable from our civil 
 and social existence, no one will presume to break 
 through. 'It is therefore on the country, its laws and 
 institutions, its character and general procedure, 
 and all our various public and private establish-
 
 693 
 
 ments that this value depends ; and vvliile these 
 can support all that bear on them in their proper 
 places, our currency will remain unimpaired, in 
 spite of all the vacillations of exchange. So long as 
 ourindividual wants and expectations coincide with 
 our general industry ; and so long as the real and es- 
 sential value of improvement, and that of the power 
 of commanding it, can be maintained, so long also 
 will every accredited emblem, by which this value is 
 displayed and exercised, be respected, and be uni- 
 versally received at its accredited standard. 
 
 Taking these considerations along with us, a ve- 
 rv few remarks will suffice, to evince the great coin- 
 cidence and subserviency of the scheme pro[)osed, 
 to the interests of agriculture, both in an imme- 
 diate and in an ultimate point of view. The flour- 
 ishing population and regular circulation of wealth, 
 held to have been procured, must necessarily dif- 
 fuse the principles of improvement all over the 
 country. The resources of each locality, being 
 drawn forth and exercised under the influence of 
 its territorial interest, its agricultural processes 
 can never want means for their full excitation and 
 support ; and these, in their extension, will also ad- 
 vance every other reproductive process, with which 
 tliey may be connected, as a mere matter of course. 
 But this is not all ; as the attainments ot each loca- 
 lity, both ger.eral and particular, for the most part 
 resolve themselves in the service of agriculture ; 
 so these, though commercially connected with the 
 whole industry of the world, on the grand scale of
 
 694 
 
 improvement now supposed to be instituted, must, 
 from the nature of the case, become so concatenat- 
 ed together within their proper territory, that the 
 whole energies of each district, will constantly tend 
 to its appropriate resources, and be applied to these 
 in the closest and most intimate manner; so as, in the 
 end, to become condensed in their general interests. 
 At the same time, as the validity of the fimds, by 
 which these processes are maintained, does not de- 
 pend on the rates of exchange, or on the rise and fall 
 of foreign commerce, any plenitude or scarcity of 
 funds that may ensue, though it may retard the ge- 
 neral course of improvement, will never paralyze the 
 operations of agriculture, nor overthrow or des- 
 troy its invaluable results. On the contrary, at each 
 great turn of affairs, it may be expected, that addi- 
 tional means and energies will pass into the service 
 of this branch of industry, and carry it forward with 
 renewed vigor in its appropriate course. In pros- 
 perous circumstances, the aggregated wealth and 
 power of the country will tend most determinately 
 to substantiate itself in territorial improvements ; in 
 those of an adverse nature, the superior security of 
 agricultural investments will ch'aw into their service, 
 much floating wealth, that would otherwise be un- 
 profitably employed. Hence, agricultural processes 
 maybe expected to become gradually more and more 
 increased, improved, and extended, until their multi- 
 tude and advantages shall have placed them in cir- 
 cumstances as nearly as possible resembling those 
 of other reproductive establishments. Their fruits 
 willbecomeabundant and low-rated j their results will
 
 69. 
 
 he steady, and sedulously adapted to the wants and 
 desires of the wliole community ; and, in spite of the 
 solicitude and competition tliat may be induced, 
 the advantages of tlic agriculturist, increased at e- 
 very step, will not only bear him up to his appro- 
 priate station in society, but furnish him with a- 
 bundant means, for supporting this station in so- 
 cicty, with dignified consistency. 
 
 Out of all these results, there accrues to the land- 
 ed interest, a peculiar class of advantages that tendfi 
 to give much stability to the condition and respec- 
 tability to the station of that body. Incessant im- 
 provement produces many changes of the most im- 
 portant kind. x\lmost every species of industry, hus- 
 bandry perhaps only excepted, is completely involved 
 in these changes, insomuch, that the value of the 
 establishments and investments by which their res- 
 pective processes are upheld, are, for the most part, 
 prone to fluctuation and decay. On the other hand, 
 every improvement and extension of the agricultu- 
 ral processes not only adds permanently to the value 
 of the territory improved, but produces an increment 
 in the value of land which generally outgoes the 
 rate of progression, in which it is involved. Thus, 
 while the absolute value of other reproductive pro- 
 cesses, as well as their real and substantial im- 
 portance, have to encounter the changes of the 
 times, in which they are frequently sunk and over- 
 whelmed, both the value and importance of those 
 appertaining to agriculture do most steadily and in- 
 cessantly advance. Let it now be noticed, that the
 
 696 
 
 rate of this advancement must be more or ]es9 ra- 
 pid, according as surrounding improvement is so, 
 and according as it can be made to bear upon a- 
 griculture, in a more or less direct manner. In the 
 circumstances we have supposed, the vast improve- 
 ment induced will bear upon the agricultural proces- 
 vses, in the most direct manner ; a flourishing popular 
 tion, sufficient not only to afford an ample remunera- 
 tion for their necessary supplies, but to contribute 
 accessions of strength to the whole course of agricul- 
 tural improvement ; and a medium of exchange, for 
 the most part, emanating fi'om the proprietors ofthe 
 soil, and tied down in many of its chief operations to 
 their service, are fully provided ; while an influence 
 in civil affairs, sufficient to draw forwajd every ter- 
 ritorial concernment, into the foreground of public 
 measures, is at hand togivc full effect to these advan- 
 tages. It must at the same time be remembered, that 
 this class of advantages, so important to the landhol- 
 der, does not detach his interests from those of his 
 fellow-citizens; while the prominent situation ofthe 
 landholder leads him to a sumptuousness of display, 
 whereby his wealth is circulated rapidly through- 
 out the whole body-politic, his personal necessities 
 tail not to dispose him to trust to future improve- 
 ment, for the means necessary to enable him to sup- 
 port his station. Is it not evident, therefore, that 
 the landholder, his family and his dependents, more 
 than all the rest of his fellow-citizens, must have 
 their attention steadily fixed on the general inter- 
 ests of all around them ; and in the advancement 
 of these, regard the best possible provision for
 
 697 
 
 enabling them to support tlieir dignified rank ? To 
 other classes, the interests of surrounding improve- 
 ment arc of'importance, chiefly as they happeii to co- 
 incide with those of their own class ; nay, even the 
 particular interests of their own class, may, at times, 
 be to individuals but an ephemeral consideration. 
 To the landholder, however, every general inte- 
 rest must be at all times a matter of primary im- 
 portance. He is in a sense the leader or represen- 
 tati\e of every other interest ; and while he contem- 
 plates the progression of things going on around 
 him, he necessarily and instinctively adopts those 
 public sentiments, that belong to a general patron 
 or protector. Whence it is, that the individual 
 members of every other class confide on the public 
 feelings of this paramount class, on every great oc- 
 casion ; and thus give real efficiency and importance 
 to all the movements and operations of the ter- 
 ritorial interest. 
 
 AViiiLE the foregoing considerations disclose, in 
 the clearest manner, the strong basis on which the 
 estimation of our accredited standard of value is 
 rested, and the satisfactory results into which our 
 jnogression of improvement necessarily conducts 
 the leading interests of the community, they, at the 
 same time, bring into view, a very important ques- 
 tion, to the solution of which, it is proper that our 
 attention be directed, before this subject be fin- 
 ally dismissed. This question may be thus stat- 
 ed — Whether or not — since the necessaries of life, 
 as well as every otiier subject of individual cxpen- 
 
 4. T
 
 G98 
 
 ditiire, arc to be thus multiplied and increased, 
 and their value respectively reduced in the stan- 
 dard medium of excliange — and since, in conse- 
 quence of the concentration of the processes of in- 
 dustry, and the assiduous and intimate application 
 of improvement and human talent to these proces- 
 ses, general labor will be much abbreviated, and its 
 amount essentially diminished — whether or not, in 
 these circumstances — the rates of wages, the appre- 
 tiated value of the industry of the artist and of the 
 hind, will not be proportionally diminished — and, 
 since labor and ingenuity enter so deeply into the 
 price of every marketable commodity, constituting 
 frequently the principal item of its substantive va- 
 lue — whether or not, in such a case, as the direct ef- 
 fect of this falling off in the estimation of individu- 
 al industry, a new turn will not thereby be given to 
 the process of valuation, so that articles of desire, 
 in place of advancing in the market price, may ge- 
 nerally and progressively sink in that standard, and 
 gradually lose more and more of their power over 
 the medium of exchange ? This is evidently a most 
 important question, for it comprises in its solution, 
 the general results of the foregoing scheme of im- 
 provement upon the condition of society at large, 
 and it leads us into a clear view of the general bear- 
 ings of our whole plan, upon the circumstances of 
 the poor, as well as upon those of the rich. 
 
 Before entering into the solution of this ques- 
 tion, let it be noticed, that if such a progressive 
 diminution, of the value of industry, and of the sub-
 
 699 
 
 jects of commerce, shall take place, very suddenly 
 or disproportionally, and go on progressively ; so 
 as greatly to impair the power at present possessed 
 by the industrious and eiiterprizing over articles 
 of desire, and to subject them to correspondent 
 privations — that then, a retrocession in the course 
 of improvement must inevitably take place ; the 
 circumstances and character of the inferior ranks 
 and classes of men will thereby be effectually low- 
 ered ; and in their fall, these will bring down a- 
 long with them, the interests of every other rank and 
 class of men. All gradually losing more and more 
 of their power of obtaining possession of consuma- 
 ble commodities, a diminution in the consumption, 
 circulation, and production of these commodities 
 will inevitably take place. That the momentum, 
 by which general industry was impelled, must in 
 such a case proportionally decline, is a position so 
 evident, as to require little illustration. If it is the 
 power, inherent in the industry and capabilities of 
 individuals, that enables and disposes them to pro- 
 duce, to consume, and to circulate articles of value ; 
 then, whenever this power is diminished, fewer 
 articles of value will be produced, consumed, and 
 circulated ; and since every such diminution effec- 
 tually impairs the public fixculty of producing, con- 
 suming, and circulating such commodities, so society 
 must thereupon fall into a retrograde movement ; 
 l)oth its powers and means will, at the same time, 
 conjunctly, and progressively, fall into decay. 
 
 Wk. must, however, remember, on the other hand, 
 
 4 T 2
 
 700 
 
 that, if tliis progressive diminution, of the value 
 of industry, and of the subjects of commerce, be 
 on the whole, gradual, regular, proportionate, and 
 such as noways to impair the powers that have been 
 possessed and exercised by individuals over com- 
 modities ; if this diminutive appretiation shall take 
 place, simultaneously, so as to affect by far the great- 
 est and most important subjects of commerce, in an 
 easy moderate manner ; then no such retrocession 
 need take place ; the course of business may go on 
 at a lower degree of appretiation, and society be 
 merely accommodated v/ith a mode of estimat- 
 ing its commodities, that embraces a greater a- 
 mount of substantive value, within a smaller deno- 
 minated price, than formerly prevailed. It is by 
 the regular, proportional, steady, application of our 
 active principles to their proper object, that our 
 animal frame and spirits are strengthened and en- 
 vigorated ; and it is by an analogous application of 
 the industrious and enterprising propensities of the 
 body-politic, to their proper functions, and not by 
 their denominative power, that the consistency of 
 general industry, becomes established. Excitation 
 and support arc alike necessary in both cases ; but 
 when these .'ir^ properly administered, every subor- 
 dinate impulse will resolve itself into sound and vi- 
 gorous principles. That the denomination of the 
 power of producing and increasing articles of desire 
 can have no more tendency to occasion the dispro- 
 portionment of the rates of labor, or to impair the 
 steady and progressive course of improvement that 
 has been induced, on one side, than any emblem
 
 701 
 
 of the medium of exchange, (as lias aheady been 
 illustrated,) that might be adopted, can have, on 
 I he other, will, it is apprehended, appear self-evident, 
 if the consequences, already produced in the course 
 of improvement now in actual progression amongst 
 ourselves, are duly attended to. Not only has no 
 such disproportion ment at all taken place, but the 
 principles and operations of improvement, even on 
 its largest possible scale, have advanced uninterrup- 
 tedly, amidst extreme vacillations of nominal value. 
 
 Thk truth of the foregoing positions, it is ap- 
 prehended, cannot possibly be questioned ; and 
 they lead us to perceive, that whatever the ultimate 
 consequences of a change in the appretiation of wa- 
 ges may be, its immediate effects on the rates of in- 
 dustry are not necessarily injurious or oppressive. 
 When we attend, farther, to the character and cir- 
 cumstances of the system now held to be instituted, 
 we perceive, most distinctly, that not only its imme- 
 diate, but its ultimate effects, must, to an indefinite 
 extent, be subjected to the harmonizing influence 
 of the whole process of industry. The immensi- 
 ty, the multitude, and the variety of objects, that 
 are placed under the operation of the industrious 
 processes, must conduce alike to steadiness in the 
 rates of industry, and to power in the course of im- 
 provement. The exterior momentum, by which 
 these are to be affected, it must be recollected, is, 
 on all hands, vast, powerful, and even unbounded. 
 Besides this, let it be noticed, that it seems to be es- 
 tablished in the nature of things, that when a defi-
 
 02 
 
 iiite course of improvement has been instituted, and 
 a consequent demand for labor and enterprize, to 
 carry forward this course, has been established, a 
 necessity to take up all the hands that may, in the 
 progress of improvement, be disengaged from their 
 wonted employments, sufficient to prevent any 
 general downfal in the rates of wages, or embar- 
 lassment in the distribution of the capabilities of 
 the community, never fails to take place. Experi- 
 ence shews, that when habits of regular industry 
 have been formed in any society, new wants arise 
 successively out of new supplies, and new supplies 
 most effectually beget new wants. A determinate 
 propensity to substantiate its great and leading at- 
 tainments in general institutions and establishments, 
 thereupon ensues ; and these establishments and in- 
 stitutions, serving as a new basis to farther improve- 
 ment, individuals in all stations are accommodated 
 with a multitude of facilities and advantages, that 
 are to them, respectively, of a primary and most im- 
 portant description. Within these, the fertilizing 
 influence of the ameliorating principles, again and 
 again, regerminate ; from them, they draw forth 
 fresh accessions of strength and of vigor, which they 
 never fail to circulate, throughout every animated 
 and connected part of the general system. In this 
 way, society unfolds its powers and resources, in 
 the most luxuriant and attractive manner. Its 
 .developements become the sources and the con- 
 <.luits of genial nutriment, at the very time, and by 
 the very means, that they satiate the desires and de- 
 light the senses of men. And, w^hile our ordinary
 
 703 
 
 and natural cravings draw into full exercise, means 
 and energies, congenial to our circumstances, our 
 In'gher and nobler propensities are disclosed, and in 
 the course of things receive and give forth corres- 
 pondent gratifications. It is thus that the remuner- 
 ation of industry, and the circulations of its produce, 
 goes on. The relief and surcharge of the industrious 
 processes, mutually stimulating each other, not only 
 bring within the compass of human capabilities, a 
 multitude ofinvaluable acquirements, severally fixed 
 and rooted in appropriate establishments and insti- 
 tutions, but they in effect model and constitute the 
 temper and character of men, to a correspondence 
 with these circumstances. Mankind instinctively 
 form in themselves habits, that render their most no- 
 vel ac([uisitions as essential to their social existence, 
 as those that are of a primary nature ; while, at the 
 same time, their consuetudinary habilities accommo- 
 date themselves as fully to, and exercise themselves 
 as assiduously in employments of the most complex 
 and diversified nature, as they had formerly done 
 in those that are the most simple. But, while so- 
 ciety is thus raised in its general circumstances, 
 those principles, by which these circumstances were 
 constituted, still remain. They unfold themselves 
 indeed upon superior ground. But labor and soli- 
 citude are still as necessary as ever for the subsis- 
 tence of society ; and, of course, these must always 
 ])ear their proportional rates in the general estima- 
 tion. They never can be dispensed with ; society 
 can never be overcharged with them ; and conse- 
 quently their absolute value, must, on the whole, re-
 
 704 
 
 main unaffected by any of those courses of advance- 
 ment. Nay, as every movement of the social body, 
 in such circumstances, is more and more intricate and 
 involved, and induces exercitations of the human 
 powers, that are constantly more subtile and more va- 
 luable, stretching their influences frequently over a 
 wide range of most important affairs ; so far from fal- 
 lingoff, or becoming lax, the course of industry must, 
 most assuredly, become constantly more vigorous 
 and more direct j while the rates of its appretiation, 
 in place of being vacillatory, may also be expected 
 to maintain themselves on a steady equitable footing; 
 proportionate, indeed, to their relative value and 
 importance, but always coincident with the establish- 
 ed circumstances of the industrious individuals, 
 whose interests are implicated in their movements. 
 
 But besides these general considerations, arising 
 from the connexion that necessarily subsists be- 
 tween social advancement and improvement, and 
 those principles by which the relative value of in- 
 dustry and enterprise are determined, there are oth- 
 ers, proceeding upon the character of our own sys- 
 tem, that deserve our notice. As these consid- 
 erations are, on the v.hole, very analogous and coin- 
 cident with those that have been just mentioned, 
 and have in the course of this treatise been suffici- 
 ently illustrated, a very few observations, it is ap- 
 prehended, will at this time be sufficient for our pur- 
 pose. Unlike the concrete system of the heathen 
 world, which had for its object the glory and ad- 
 vantage of a few leading individuals, the Christian
 
 705 
 
 svstcm, developing itself on beneficent and inde- 
 pendent principles, has the happiness and the wel- 
 fare of every individual and class of individuals for 
 its object. To the wants, circumstances, and gene- 
 ral interests of individuals, its movements are adapt- 
 ed ; and into their service these movements never 
 fail ultimately to resolve themselves. In place of 
 simple coertion, without end, and frequently with- 
 out object, competition and emulation, tending ne- 
 cessarily and completely to general and particular 
 good, are the impelling principles of our system. 
 The taste and views, not less than the wants and 
 desires, of the poor, as well as of the rich, are there- 
 by directly met and gratified ; and these, running in 
 coincidence with their respective characters and cir- 
 cumstances, the multitude of commodities, and of 
 the means of gratification, that are necessarily pro- 
 duced, for the service of individuals, becomes the 
 great stimulant of the common system. Sometimes 
 mere fancy and caprice ; sometimes, also, delusion 
 and perversity characterise the results of those indi- 
 cations of personal will, which the independence, se- 
 cured to the lowest as well as to the highest ranks 
 of the community, enables individuals to give forth. 
 It deserves to be remarked, however, that, under the 
 benign influence of that system of things, which still 
 prevails within our own island, good sense and 
 sound discretion are perpetually breaking the force 
 of the corrupt and perverse propensities that arise 
 out of low and vulgar conceptions of things. Intelli- 
 gence and bencliccnce are sometimes studiously in- 
 troduced by the superior order into the pursuits
 
 706 
 
 of life. Under these influences, the powers ofin, 
 viduals, even in the lowest stations are exercised, 
 purified, and exalted J and their operations, theirpro- 
 pensities, and tlieir gratification^, are more or less 
 formed under the benign principles of tlie general 
 system. All these advantages, let it be recollected, 
 have a constant and most determinate tendency to 
 substantiate themselves in general institutions, and 
 to gather up their powers and resources under con- 
 centrating establishments, (whence both the poorest 
 and the richest may draw their most invaluable 
 blessings,) and they thereby perpetuate and sub- 
 stantiate themselves in the social body. 
 
 These views might, perhaps, with much proprie- 
 ty, be carried over the whole circumstances of sov 
 ciety : it is sufficient, however, to shew% that as all 
 classes, of men must be enveloped in one great sys- 
 tem of improvement, vv hereof individual advantage 
 on independent, benign, and equitable principles 
 is the supreme object, so individuals,'^ every des- 
 cription, must participate fully of these advantages ; 
 a proportionment betwixt the value of their respec- 
 tive claims on the common good, and their share of 
 these advantages, being always duly maintained. 
 The capitalist, we perceive, in availing himself of his 
 means, necessarily stimulates and rewards the exer- 
 cises of the industrious; and these last, in improving 
 and extending their reproductive establishments, 
 send forth a profusion of commodities, sufficient to 
 secure to themselves an adequate portion of the sub- 
 stantive fruits of their own labors. In endeavour-
 
 ^07 
 
 iug to provide themselves with equivalents, for the 
 purpose of enabling' them to purchase their own 
 .sup])lies, however, the industrious not only send 
 forth abundance of their respective productions ; 
 but they obtain that correspondent command over 
 the universal medium of intercourse, of which they 
 are in quest, and, amidst these exercises, they effec- 
 tually advance the whole circumstances of society. 
 Moreover, displays of magnificence, of refinement, of 
 elegance, and of superlative attainment are thereby 
 procured, and placed in the sight of all classes, and 
 a train of corresponding feelings and perceptions 
 excited and kept alive in the minds even of the 
 meanest of the people. Provisions and establish- 
 ments, of the noblest and most interesting nature, a- 
 riseout of the same plenitude of means and power ; 
 for it is a curious fact, that the more our energies 
 are exercised on sound and ameliorating principles, 
 and the more comprehensive their range is, the 
 more their results substantiate themselves in ap- 
 propriate provisions and establishments ; which 
 respectively reinforce, and give efficacy to all the ge- 
 neral results ofthat system of things, which they com- 
 prehend. Of this we have abundant evidence, un- 
 der our eye. Institutions, for diffusing elementary 
 instruction, for maturating the attainments therein 
 procured, and for making the erudite genius and 
 talent thereby prepared, bear v.ith full effect on the 
 circumstances of the community, are not only set 
 down in every appropriate situation, but they are 
 so endowed and constituted, that no individual 
 whatever can be excluded from their influence. 
 
 4 u 2
 
 708 
 
 These things, however, are not only provided 
 and established on a liberal and public footing, but 
 they are borne home on the condition of individ- 
 uals, in such a way, as to make it, in some measure, 
 necessary for every one to avail himself of their ex- 
 istence. AH classes, in consequence of the profu- 
 sion that every where abounds, are not only fed, 
 clothed, and accommodated in a way far superior to 
 their predecessors in the same station ; but, from the- 
 established power of habit and custom, and from 
 the current circumstances oC society, they are ne- 
 cessitated to exercise their taste and judgment in 
 the enjoyment of these advantages. As no one can 
 disparage religion, or sound morality, or virtuous 
 propriety, or social or civil attainments, with impu- 
 nity ; so every one is anxious to place himselfand his 
 concerns, as fully under the influence of the institu- 
 tions, by which the principles of these are unfolded 
 and enforced, as his circumstances will permit. 
 These things are stated, more as appropriate in- 
 stances of general acquisitions, than as any actual 
 enumeration of the advantages that have already 
 been secured, under the influence of systematic im- 
 provement; it being evident,that these are but a few 
 of the mostprominent,and that there are many much 
 more important, that have become so familiar to our 
 apprehensions, as scarcely to leave us any adequate 
 conception of our situation before their attainment. 
 How multifarious, and how vast are the personal en- 
 joyments, that arise out of our foreign intercourse 
 —out of our spacious avenues, roads, and other me- 
 thods of communication — out of rural andagricultu-
 
 709 
 
 ral inipiovements — winch all may contemplate, and 
 all may virtually enjoy ! Do not equitable laws, 
 municipal and Juridical establishments, stretch their 
 protecting arm over us all ? Do we not all feel and 
 enjoy the fervor of a public spirit ; the zeal of con- 
 tributing to our country's welfare ; and the deliglit 
 of joining in one concordant spirit in its general in- 
 terests, and of upholding the substantial strength and 
 excellence of our general constitution ? Let us 
 not forget that the divine instruction, that the mo- 
 ral and intellectual ilhunination, which constantly 
 sound in our ears, and beam before our eyes, are 
 as unlike the malign and debasing influence of an- 
 cient mythology, as the comfort, which is infused 
 by it into the hearts of the distressed, are more con- 
 genial to the character of our great common parent, 
 than the dark forebodings of m^^stic ignorance ; and 
 that far from impelling our active powers to the 
 discharge of duty, by wild, desperate, coercive in- 
 fluences, we are urged on, in our proper courses, 
 by the most heavenly, and by the most powerful per- 
 sonal persuasion ; the most glorious and delightful 
 views of this whole mundane system, and of our 
 own special destiny, as connected with it, being 
 made real and efficient principles of action, and ren- 
 dered familiar to the apprehension of the most ob- 
 scure human being. And let it be noticed, that this 
 system does not dcvelope itself merely in the way of 
 suasion ; happily, resplendent instances of christian 
 liberality and muniflcence, are not awanting to 
 give force and efficacy to these influences. Chris- 
 tian benignity embraces the highest concernments
 
 710 
 
 of our race, it is extended to their wliole circum-. 
 stances, and it comprehends in its object, the inha- 
 bitants of every clime, and of every country, whe- 
 ther friendly or hostile. In these grand displays, 
 all may participate ; to their grandeur all may con- 
 tribute ; and in their resplendent effects, every 
 Christian must be satisfied, that his own private 
 participation and contribution can be discriminated 
 by that supreme Being, into whose hand, he and 
 they have been committed. 
 
 From the preceding statements and illustrations, 
 we are led to the following important conclusions. 
 
 First, we must infer, that, in the course of the 
 progression of improvement above mentioned, sup- 
 plies of the necessaries of life, as well as of every 
 marketable commodity, will be so abundant and 
 so low-rated, that the medium of exchange, so far 
 from sinking in power or in value, will effectually 
 advance in both. It will not only command, direct- 
 ly, a greater proportion of such things, but these will 
 be intrinsically more excellent and more valuable. 
 Particularly, it will command a greater degree, and 
 a more valuable impetus of human industry; and this 
 industry will be every way more efficient in regard 
 to its proper object. Nor is this all ; this industry 
 and these commodities, will be placed in circum- 
 stances, that will render them every way more es- 
 timable to the person who can command them, and 
 more appropriate to their particular end.
 
 711 
 
 The nature and importance of the acquisition 
 here referred to, will appear, if we fix our regard 
 upon the real circumstances, in which the money- 
 holder must stand, if his situation were directly re- 
 verse of that which has been stated. Such a person- 
 age might be able to obtain possession of a vast ex- 
 panse of unproductive soil, of a multitude of rude 
 commodities, and even of some new and valuable 
 substances. He may have the industry of thousands 
 at his command, and he may thus produce ma- 
 ny articles of various degrees of utility ; so that, on 
 the whole, his situation may be every way most 
 respectable. Still, however, it must be recollected, 
 that his circumstances are isolated, and rest solely 
 on his own substantive power. He must himself 
 procure every object, and he must bring together 
 labor, skill and talent, to carry them into action. In 
 the meantime,he must remain destitute of many pub- 
 lic and private, general, social and civil advantages 
 and accommodations. In order to obtain any thing 
 like these, much labor and assiduity, and great ex- 
 pence are unavoidable. He is on the whole imper- 
 tectly served ; and he must expend the medium of^ 
 exchange most profusely, in order to obtain even 
 ihls imperfect service. 
 
 Ox the other hand, the money.holder whoisim- 
 j)licated in our course of improvement, though des- 
 titute of the rude possessions above referred to, 
 has a multitude of appropriate provisions laid to 
 his hand. He has, as it were, not only the com- 
 mand of every thing on which he can legitimately fix
 
 712 
 
 his mind, but direct access to the possession of it, 
 with all its fascinating concomitants. Human in- 
 dustry in its most improved state is, in a manner, 
 obedient to his impulse. Institutions and establish- 
 ments, of every description, emit for his service 
 their recondite acquirements, and shed forth around 
 him, blessings of the most estimable description. 
 Nor is this all ; as if a direct premium were annex- 
 ed to the proper use of all these advantages ; his 
 husbanding his power, his turning it to useful and 
 incrementive purposes, not only extends its sub- 
 stantive amount, but annexes to him, personally, a 
 peculiar species of power, that is known by the 
 name of personal influence. 
 
 It is no doubt true, that when men are surround- 
 ed with so many stimulants to expenditure, they 
 are too apt to divest themselves, inconsiderately, of 
 their personal means, in the way of indulging this 
 propensity ; but it must, at the same time, be recol- 
 lected, that the abuse of a blessing derogates not 
 from its character. The system held to be instituted, 
 however, meets the whole objection directly in 
 front ; it makes this propensity to undue expendi- 
 ture, the repairer of its own injuries, both public 
 and private. The industrious are stimulated and 
 remunerated in the circulation of the medium that 
 is thus brought about ; and the folly of the expend- 
 cr, by goading him to personal exertions, in the way 
 of which alone, his own breach can be fairly repair- 
 ed, frequently becomes such a stimulant to his 
 powers, that he is rendered instrumental, not only in
 
 713 
 
 augmenting the public means, but in advancing his 
 own condition. Here, however, it deserves to be 
 remarked, that as abundance of wealth in individu- 
 als is seldom the concomitant of unwarranted ex- 
 penditure, (it being most generally persons in des- 
 perate circumstances that fall into tiiis vice,) so, in 
 a flourishing community, wiiere so many valuable 
 and profitable investments present themselves to the 
 capitalist, the propensity to accumulate will be more 
 likely to be on the increase, than that to expend. 
 
 Secondly. Since the rates of wages, and the re- 
 muneration of the industrious, will, in the progres- 
 sion of improvement now held to be set forward, 
 be noways impaired, and since the prices of com- 
 modities and productions of every kind, (articles 
 of the first necessity not excepted,) must, IVom their 
 superabundance, decline in their appretiated value, 
 it may be inferred, that the command obtained by 
 the industrious over subjects of desire, will be con- 
 stantly upon the increase ; individuals, who depend 
 on their personal industry for the means of their 
 support, will, in this progression, be regularly acquir- 
 ing more and more power over the blessings with 
 which they are surrounded, and a securer posses- 
 sion of these blessings. The advantage, here refer- 
 red to, may be more distinctly apprehended, if we 
 examine the advancement that has already been ob- 
 tained by this class. The time was, v;hen the whole 
 of a man's labor went to procure a scanty uncertain 
 supply of the necessaries of life. Though climate, 
 soil, and unbounded scope, all concurred in reinforc 
 
 4 X
 
 714 
 
 ii)g his exertions, these could seldom protect him 
 from the most ordinary contingencies, and myriads 
 were desolated, by accidents which are now-a-days 
 so fully met in the way of improvement, as scarcely 
 ever to be thought of. Perhaps, the time may be 
 said to be still within our recollection, when the ge- 
 nius of improvement had not enabled and disposed 
 men to ameliorate their circumstances, on a general 
 scale. The momentum, by which industry was pro- 
 pelled, could not send forth its force to some of the 
 most essential wants of the poor and dependent, 
 who were thus, in many important respects, placed 
 beyond the range of systematic amelioration. Now, 
 however, the ameliorating principle has penetrated 
 into all their concerns, and diffused its renovating 
 influences throughout their whole circumstances. 
 Fashion, custom and habit, have rendered these fa- 
 miliar to them, and they enjoy the blessings of a 
 beneficent system of industry, almostasinconsciously 
 as they do that of the elements in which they move. 
 In these respects, the meanest of us partakes as fully 
 of the benefits of social existence, as the heads of the 
 state did in former ages ; climate and soil, alike 
 give way to the influence of superinduced improve- 
 ment ; and a portion of industry, which, at one time, 
 would scarce have procured for them a bare subsis- 
 tence, now puts them in possession of advantages, of 
 which their predecessors had not got even the most 
 distant conception. 
 
 It must be recollected, hov/ever, that the poor 
 still hold many of these blessings, by the most un^
 
 715 
 
 certain tenure. Their industry which depends chief- 
 ly on our foreipjn trade for its support, is sometimes 
 overdone by the excessive briskness of that trade ; 
 and when the population of whole districts have been 
 ranged under the banners of the establishments, rear- 
 ed for the express purpose of meetinj^ the demands 
 of this trade, this briskness has evanished ; the 
 population concatenated has been thrown hopeless- 
 ly loose, and these districts have been in a man- 
 ner desolated by the stagnation of their produc- 
 tive powers. This is a most tremendous evil, and 
 it is one under which we must always labor, wliile 
 commercial credit, supported merely by a commer- 
 cial medium, constitutes the main instrument of ex- 
 change ; and, while our foreign intercourse is nei- 
 ther balanced, nor combined with political transac- 
 tions. The system now laid down, it will be no- 
 ticed, goes to fill up these deficiences, to institute 
 appropriate provisions, and to give to the provisions 
 instituted, an operation correspondent to these in- 
 duced advantages. That industry of every kind, 
 more particularly that of a local and territorial na- 
 ture, must, under these advantages, have its requi- 
 site support, seems to be selt-evident. If it contains 
 a root, or any staminal force whatever, its results 
 will appear in substantiated forms, and therefrom fi- 
 nancial developements will arise. Let it now be sup- 
 posed, that our country has fully secured to it tliese 
 advantages. Will not its results again and again 
 substantiate themselves, and as often sentl forth cor- 
 respondiog developements? And will not these, 
 according to the principles and in the very spirit 
 
 4x2
 
 71() 
 
 of our independent beneficent system, be constantly 
 accessible to every individual member of the com- 
 munity, on terms correspondent to existing circum- 
 stances. A country, possessed of such advanta- 
 ges, can never be deficient in the means for sup- 
 porting industry. Public institutions must also a* 
 rise, accommodated to the poorest as well as to the 
 richest. According as general wealth and industry 
 shall become diffused, attainments will branch them- 
 selves out intt) substantiated forms ; and in these 
 forms, they will constantly approach nearer and near- 
 er to acquisitions that are public and purely gratu- 
 itous ; and, like as the meanest may perambulate 
 the finest street or highway, and enjoy the luxury of 
 beholding surrounding improvement, with as much 
 composure as the rich, so, for a tiifling considera- 
 tion, and in some instances for none, they will re- 
 ceive erudite and appropriate instruction and in- 
 formation, and be put in possession of advantages, 
 that the most splendid characters, amidst the most 
 favored circumstances, at one time could not have 
 procured ; all which advantages, let it be recol- 
 lected, must be stable, fixed, unalienable ; and, if 
 they can be connected, in the manner proposed, 
 with a suitable permanent system of industry, they 
 must be ever on the increase. 
 
 Let it now be recollected, that along with this 
 noble propensity to invest means and capital in a- 
 meliorating institutions, there prevails very gene* 
 rally amongst the lower orders of society, a corres- 
 pondent disposition to avail themselves fully of this
 
 :r 
 
 advantage. May we not therefore hope, that in 
 the course of improving our industrious faculties, 
 ue may succeed also in improving the moral and 
 intellectual powers of our species ? We all know, 
 that industry is much more favorable to improve- 
 ment of every kind, than idleness ; and that improv- 
 ed industry never fails to carry up along with it, 
 the attainments of the individuals who arc cxercis- 
 ed thereon. How often do we see workmen, in tat- 
 tered clothing, surpassing their employers in every 
 kind of moral and intellectual acquisition. Some 
 people imagine that this tendency is unfavourable 
 to ijidustry, and to civil order. These should know, 
 that it is the paucity and slenderness of such attain- 
 ments, and the rudeness and barbarity of those, a- 
 mongst whom such personages can figure away, and 
 not that universality, which is here contended for, 
 that gives rise to this propensity. A highly civiliz- 
 ed society is not prone to irruption ; if individuals 
 of a boisterous cast make their appearance there, 
 they are either beat down by competitors, or left to 
 to expend their turbulence, in airy vaporations. 
 Knowledge implies the capacity of judging aright, 
 and where the advantages of regular incessant in- 
 dustry, to the individual, as well as to society, are 
 so lully exhibited, a superiority of knowledge can 
 scarcely have any otiier effect, but that of stimula- 
 ting industry, and rendering society so much the 
 more ardent and sucessful in its pursuits. Labor is 
 obviously necessary and salutary ; and as experience 
 has shewn us, that a certain modicum may be occa. 
 sionally substracted from its amount, without injuri-
 
 718 
 
 ously diminishing its results, why should not some 
 portion of this modicum be expended in superior 
 exercises j especially, when we consider, that de- 
 pravity and corruption, the greatest enemies to so- 
 cial and national prosperity, must thereby be coun- 
 teracted, and the powers and faculties of man be 
 impressed by motives that coincide so fully with 
 the general system.* 
 
 * 1 AM aware that the severe exertions, and long hours, held 
 to be necessary in certain employments, may form a powerful 
 exception to the universal application of the foregoing views. 
 As the legislature, however, seems heartily disposed to lendafa- 
 vourable ear to the claims of the industrious, and as courts of 
 judicature, and all the independent classes of the community, 
 universally bestow the most accommodating construction upon 
 these claims, I have ventured to suppose, that the spirit of im- 
 provement will diffuse itself into every part of the workman's 
 condition- The great difficulty seems to consist in accomplishing 
 this object without traversing the general interests of commerce, 
 and the received principles of our civil constitution. There is, I 
 think, one regulation, of a very simple kind, that has already 
 been adopted in this country, which, if carried forward to its 
 necessary extent, would not only go far in preventing any thing 
 like abuse, but place this part of the civil rights of man upon 
 an equitable footing. It has been found that Justices of the 
 Peace have a right to regulate the current rates of wages. Let 
 it be held as an appendage to this power, that this court shall 
 also be authorized to fix the ordinary hours of attendance at 
 each employment, discriminating, with minuteness and precision, 
 the various allowances that are to be made to apprentices and 
 for contingences : and let it also, on proper application being made 
 to it, judge concerning undue exactions of service. It will be re- 
 collected, that this does not take it out of the power of these 
 parties to enter into separate and very particular agreements. 
 The use of the regulation is to fix the received understanding,
 
 719 
 
 If the industrious should progressively advance- 
 in such a course, we might look forward to a high 
 and exalted state of social and civil existence. 
 Mankind would find labor and solicitude clothed 
 with numerous facilities and advantages that are not 
 at present thought of; and these facihties and 
 advantages would stimulate and advance their res- 
 pective powers. Their character and condition 
 would mutually harmonize with each other; their 
 attainments and their services would be alike valu- 
 able to the community and to themselves ; con- 
 stantly resolving themselves into each other, and, 
 at each turn, constantly carrying forward, the great 
 line of improvement. 
 
 Thirdly. The foregoing expositions lead us to 
 take a more comprehensive view of our subject, 
 than any that could heretofore have been attempt^ 
 ed. It has been shewn, that we are not warranted 
 to inter, that money has been depretiated, merely, 
 because certain commodities require a larger sum 
 to measure their market value, than formerly. This 
 
 where no special agreement has been entered into ; and it is left 
 entirely to the feelings of the parties, to accommodate them- 
 selves to their own circumstances ; the state of improvement 
 subsisting within each particular county, no doubt, entering fully 
 into the case. Thereby, it is evident, that no violence will he done 
 the rights and feelings of any one — and commerce, which depends 
 on the equable industry of all, will merely be fixed down, 
 where its movements are unequable. Great care must in such a 
 case be taken, to provide that this regulation remain not a dead 
 letter on the statute book, least the attempt to remedy the evil, 
 make its operation only the more malignant.
 
 720 
 
 increased cstiination of commodities, it was seen, -d- 
 rose chiefly from ccitain burdens and imposts, in- 
 troduced into their appretiated value, which did 
 not formerly exist, and which accordingly raised 
 their ggregated price in the current standard. 
 It was thereafter shown, that we are as little war- 
 ranted to infer, that our general circumstances 
 have l;een a'»ywisc depressed, in consequence of 
 these superinduced burdens on the expence of liv- 
 ing; or since the price of commodities has been 
 thus raised in the current medium, to conclude that 
 our power of commanding them, must have been in 
 consequence diminished ; for we know that the re- 
 verse of this IS in reality the case, and that society 
 at large possesses all the advantages that ever it did. 
 In the course of the disquisitions to which these 
 expositions have given rise, it was demonstrated, 
 that certain advantagesaroseout of our general cir- 
 cumstances. That a progression ofimprovement in 
 the arts had taken place, whence such abundant sup- 
 plies could be procured, that the value of commodi- 
 ties, fitted (or immediate consum})tion, notwithstand- 
 ing theirincumbered condition, had sunk in the stan- 
 dard medium ; at the same time, that the importance 
 and the power to which the industrious processes 
 were advanced, in consequence of the superior 
 impetus and value, that was annexed to industry, 
 to 1 ude materials, and to landed property, gave to 
 individuals in general, an augmented power over 
 the instrument which commanded these commodi- 
 tes. In consequence of these, and other concur- 
 rent advantages, the quantity of medium necessary
 
 721 
 
 for procuring their wonted supplies, was placed as 
 fully within the reach of individuals as ever it had 
 been ; and the standard of value, which measured 
 the claims of individuals and the prices of these 
 supplies, was maintained at its pristine power and 
 estimation. 
 
 It is very evident, that although no other ad- 
 vantage than that of thus preserving the means and 
 energies of society unimpaired, amidst their super- 
 induced pressure, had been procured by the devc- 
 lopement of the system in which we are implicated, 
 yet its inherent excellence would thereby have 
 been sufficiently established. Cumbersome and mul- 
 tiplied public burdens and exactions have invariably, 
 in all countries, and in all ages, proved ultimately 
 ruinous ; and this ruin has affected not only the phy- 
 sical, but the moral powers of nations. With us, 
 however, the reverse has been the case ; the bur- 
 dens laid on commodities have not, in effect, in- 
 creased their price, nor militated against our inter- 
 ests ; they have been met by appropriate improve- 
 ments in the arts of life, and have accordingly become 
 the harbingers of an universal amelioration in hu- 
 man affairs, both physical and moral. The social bo- 
 dy, so far from having been depressed, has been ad- 
 vanced ; and, amidst a progression of improvements 
 in the arts of life, its general powers and faculties 
 have been extended and improved. A greater pro- 
 portion of the current medium has become neces- 
 sary for measuring the value of our greater attain- 
 ments ; but it is our personal acquisitions that pro- 
 
 4 Y
 
 '22 
 
 cure for us thisjH-oportlonate Increase. Our proi)en- 
 sities to luxury and refinement must be j^ratified; but 
 it is our powers and faculties, that bring ro these pro- 
 pensities their proper objects. Towards these our 
 energies are directed ; and from the resources before 
 them, they extract the superabundance that sur- 
 rounds us. That these are absolute advantages is a 
 position which no one can dispute, who places the 
 condition of civilization above tliat of barbarity ; 
 and that all who are implicated in this system, must 
 partake of its benefits in proportion to their person- 
 al claims, on principles universally recognized and 
 established, is a position equally evident and equally- 
 indisputable. The following illustrations will serve 
 to elucidate the general subject still farther. 
 
 Thk simple fact — that it is the circumstances of 
 society, and not any depression in the value, or in 
 the power of money, or of the means under the in- 
 fluence of individuals for procuring money, that 
 have made it requisite for us to expend more mo- 
 ney in our living now than formerly — may be ren- 
 dered familiar to our apprehensions by direct refe- 
 rence to a very common case. Every one knows 
 that it costs more money to live in London, than it 
 does to live in the country. How does this happen r 
 Articles of desire, (some few mere necessaries that 
 enter but little into the general account only ex- 
 cepted,) are imiversally cheaper there, than in the 
 country ; so that it is evident, that money wants 
 none of its power in London. Every thing useful 
 and desirable finds its best and readiest market in
 
 723 
 
 London ; wlierebv, it appeals a^so that the power 
 of" means over money is as little impaired. What 
 therefore is the exposition of this enigma ? It is 
 pre])ared to our hand. The state of society in Lon- 
 don is raised to higher ground. There is there a 
 wider range of enjoyment, and more abundant 
 means wiihin this range ; whence it is, that the de- 
 nomination as well as the power of these means is 
 proportionally augmented. A general expansion 
 of the powers and faculties of enjoyment of those, 
 who are immersed in this state of things, has there- 
 upon taken place. Such is the multitude of desire- 
 able objects ; such the attractions and allurements 
 with which these objects are respectively endow- 
 ed ; such the force of that torrent, whereof fash- 
 ion, example, and consuetudinary indulgence, are 
 the spring; that individuals are thereby almost 
 unconsciously swept off their feet, enveloped in the 
 train of expence that has been superinduced, and 
 imbued with desires and capacities, that lay be- 
 yond their accustomed sphere. She, who could 
 contentedly trudge on foot in the country, must 
 In London have a coach and livery; he, who din- 
 ed comfortably at home on a joint of meat, has 
 turtle or venison in town. Thousands of such in- 
 citements and indulgences beset individuals in ev- 
 ery rank, station, and condition of society, and be- 
 get appetites and faculties, which arc progressively 
 stimulated, gratified, and extended, to the standard 
 pitch. It is not at all meant to say, that these modes 
 of living, or these aggregate circumstances of the 
 social body, are just so many indications of an a- 
 
 4 V 2
 
 724 
 
 meliorated state of human affairs. On the contra- 
 ry, let it here be fully understood, that the manners 
 of such a society, being very generally debased and 1 
 corrupted, its peculiar attainments must be held 
 to be more exotic than appropriate, and its gene- 
 ral character and circumstances, to be, in every lead- 
 ing particular, widely different from that universal- 
 ly progressive amelioration of the whole concern- 
 ments of man, which it is the object of this system 
 to establish. The amelioration that has been un- 
 folded must, from its very nature, completely pervade 
 the whole affairs of oin- whole community ; and while 
 it stimulates the energies and resources of man indi- 
 vidually considered, in the most powerful manner, j 
 it must draw up the results of these, under influen- J 
 ces of most beneficent and harmonizmg tendency ; 
 which will diffuse throughout the whole circle of hu- 
 man affairs, their ameliorating and ennobling princi- 
 ples. The sole object therefore of the illustration 
 above given, is to convey a precise idea of the eflect, 
 which an advanced state of society, one wherein 
 superior means and faculties introduce superior at- 
 tainments and enjoyments, has on the movements | 
 of the principle of valuation, and on its power in hu- ' 
 man affairs ; and we perceive, most distinctly, that 
 the standard of value, and its power, may both in 
 principle and in operation, remain unaltered, yet, 
 from the conduct of men, and from the condition of 
 society, these may not reach their ultimate object. 
 A greater range is provided, and a greater impetus 
 is necessary to circumscribe this range; more ca-
 
 '25 
 
 })acious objects must be comprehended, to which 
 greater faculties alone are commensurate. 
 
 It is necessary, however, if we would introduce 
 the comparison above instituted, into the progres- 
 sive circumstances of society at present going on, to 
 take this fact fully along with us, that it is not mere- 
 ly to the expences of their subsistence and enjoy- 
 ment, that the means of individuals must now be 
 commensurate. In the disbursements of individu- 
 als, now-a-days, the concerns of that peculiar estab- 
 lishment, frcmi whence their means are drawn, are 
 in general by far the most prominent part of their 
 expenditure. There are few individuals who have 
 not some reproductive process, wherein they are 
 constantly making investments ; which investments, 
 taken in the aggregate, for the most part far ex- 
 ceed the aggregate amount of every other current 
 expencc. It is no doubt thereby proposed, that 
 the returns that arc to proceed from these in- 
 vestments, shall amply remunerate the invester ; but 
 how seldom, in a long stretch of enterprise, have 
 these purposes been accomplished ? How often does 
 the subject of their solicitude, in the end, swallow 
 up their whole means, and then leave them desolat- 
 ed and forlorn. This painful consideration must 
 afJect all of us, for it is a fact, that admits of no con- 
 trovention, that more real detrimental loss is in- 
 curred in the way of business, than in that of direct 
 expenditure. Yet how inconsiderately do indi- 
 viduals commit their all in such courses ; which, 
 decorated by all the fascinating charms of proudful
 
 726 
 
 ambition, serve merely to condiictthcm to their ruin? 
 Under such influences, men are thus gradually stript 
 of their own means, and then tempted to involve 
 their friends in the same destructive fate. This mat- 
 has already been sufficiently illustrated ; and it is 
 one great object and design of the proposed system 
 of improvement, to place the interests of all, more 
 particularly those of the substantial capitalist, upon 
 the most stable footing ; to giv-e him a more secure 
 basis of intercourse, more stable provisions for ni- 
 vestment, and a more appropriate range for en- 
 terprise. The above observation, introduced sole- 
 ly for the purpose of bringing directly under our eye 
 the whole circumstances to which the medium now 
 in circulation must be commensurate, serves al- 
 so to evince that something altogether different from 
 a falling off in the value of money, and from a di- 
 minution in the power which individuals may pos- 
 sess for the attainment of money, has taken place ; 
 and that, while we are well warranted to infer, that 
 the standard value and relative power both of mo- 
 ney and of means still remain unimpaired, we are 
 equally well warranted to assume, that it is from the 
 advanced circumstances of society, and from the ex- 
 tended faculties of individuals, that the inadequacy 
 of our general system to its object has been dis- 
 closed ; which inadequacy points directly to some 
 high public provisions for relief, and indicates that 
 these provisions must be of a character coincident 
 with the ameliorating system with which they are 
 to be connected. Since, however, the evils that 
 affect our system are radical, and such as can only
 
 ^27 
 
 be remedied by measures that can reach its whole 
 extent, and influence all its parts and all its move- 
 ments, and accomplish its object in the most irre- 
 sistible manner ; it becomes us to be fully certi- 
 orated respecting the leading character of these 
 measures, before we give them our unqualified ap- 
 probation, and to have in our eye, not only their 
 ultimate efficacy, but their progressive operations 
 and consequences. 
 
 TuAT there is in the progressive advancement of 
 liuman aiTairs, a real accession of improvement in 
 the arts of life, correspondent to the increase of 
 value that is attached to this progression, as denot- 
 ed by the augmented expence of living, may be illus- 
 trated by drawing a parallel betwixt the attainments 
 of society at a former period, when the medium of 
 exchange is considered to have been powerful, and 
 the present attainments of society, when its influ- 
 ence is said to have fallen. Let us, for this pur- 
 pose, go back to the tinies of King Henry the Eighth ; 
 when the principle of improvement had scarcely 
 disclosed itself, when its power was altogether 
 unknown, and when social and civil intercourse 
 and enjoyment labored under such restraints, that 
 a sum of money which could have commanded rude 
 productions to an hundred times their present ex- 
 tent, would scarcely have procured, of commodities 
 prepared for the rerined uses of life, a supply equal 
 to that which the meanest of us daily consumes. 
 In the view of illustrating our subject, let us next 
 suppose thai this powerful monarch had been mad& 
 so sensible oi:' the blessings and advantages attcn-
 
 28 
 
 daiit on general improvement, as to liavc bent the 
 whole force of his arbitrary power and propensities 
 towards this object ; and that in this view he liad pro- 
 ceeded to lay out in the most judicious and system- 
 atic manner, the whole funds that had descended to 
 him from his father, and the whole means of which 
 he himself had dispoiled the church. Let it also be 
 subsumed, that he had not only availed himself of 
 all these advantages to tiie utmost, but had been 
 able so to regulate liis operations, as to preclude, as 
 far as possible, any thing like depretiation in the 
 value of his vast acquisitions. 
 
 In such circumstances, what might naturally be 
 expected to follow ? It is evident that, in the first 
 instance, a value would be attached to labor, and to 
 all the means and instruments of improvement that 
 was formerly unknown. In the next place, these 
 immense attainments, being all brought fully into 
 exercise on the principles and in the service of im- 
 proved industry, would give rise to a multitude of 
 acquisitions, both fixed and moveable, for the use 
 of the community at large. In the third place, as 
 the circulation of the medium of exchange would 
 diffuse throughout every rank and class of the indus- 
 trious and enterprising, means sufHcient to procure 
 for every individual, not only a very ample com- 
 mand over the general fruits of industry, but a 
 decisive influence over the whole course of improve- 
 ment, it could not but follow, that, in a very short 
 time, the general interests of man, individually and 
 independently considered, would thenceforward be-
 
 729 
 
 come tliegi'eat object, towards wliich tlic operations 
 of industry, thus stimulated aru^ improved, would 
 be directed. Society at large would receive provi- 
 sions into every ramification of its general interests, 
 whereby the comfort and influence of all its mem- 
 bers, would be simultaneously advanced. Although, 
 therefore, money, in the first instance, might seem 
 to lose somewhat of its power, this power, enriched 
 with diffusive influences, would soon be effectually 
 replenished. It is not here meant to say, that mo- 
 ney would then conunand the same numerical quan- 
 tity of objects that it formerly did; but it is dis- 
 tinctly asserted, that those objects which it did 
 command would, taking into account the advanta- 
 ges concatenated in their acquisition, be intrinsi- 
 cally as well worth that price, at which their attain- 
 ment was fixed down, as ever they had been. 
 
 This matter may be properly illustrated by a re- 
 ference to particulars. The labor of a peasant 
 may now be much higher rated ; the same sum, tliat 
 was wages for an hundred men at the outset, might 
 scarce suffice for a dozen, when improvement had 
 advanced. Let it be recollected, however, that 
 the whole strength put forth by these hundred men, 
 first in felling down trees, next in grubbing these up 
 by the root, and then in turning over and cultivat- 
 ing the ground, might produce less fruit than that 
 of the dozen, who, coming after them on the same 
 grouiid, had merely to carry on an improved pro- 
 cess of agriculture, upon a soil already prepared to 
 their hand. Let it however be admitted, that hi 
 
 4 z
 
 730 
 
 this, and in every other analogous case, the differ- 
 ence of result is not exactly proportionate to the 
 difference of expenditure ; still it remains to take 
 along with us this fact, that greater care and com- 
 fort in carrying on operations, more facility and 
 accommodation in realizing and economizing the 
 results of these operations and turning them to ac- 
 count, more extensive and more valuable social and 
 personal ad vantages, in the possessing and enjoyment 
 of these results, more appropriate civil and municipal 
 establishments, better roads, and higher public and 
 private provisions of every kind, have been at the 
 same time procured ; so that, on the whole, it must 
 be granted, that the numerical amount of the 
 medium of exchange, is, properly speaking, no 
 more than additional dimensions for new subjects 
 of value, which everyone must, some way or other, 
 pay for and enj(^y ; but which, in truth, are neces- 
 sary, in order to include the variety of valuable 
 acquisitions, that are appended to our particular 
 enjoyments. 
 
 I APPREHEND, that ou closcr examination, it will 
 appear, that there is a natural or consequential, as 
 well as a real and accessory connexion betwixt this 
 increased appretiation, and increased circumstantial 
 improvement. For the purpose of illustrating this, 
 let us take another instance from the same state of 
 things. Let it be supposed, that the real value of 
 the whole property, thus subjected to improvement, 
 was at first twenty million pounds sterling, and 
 that King Henry laid out four millions in improv-
 
 731 
 
 ing it. Let it then be recollected, that the money 
 and iTiean<?, invested in improvement, have passed 
 under tlie influence of a beneficent eqiiallizing sys- 
 tem, which stimulates the powers and exercises the 
 faculties of our whole race, in coincidence with its 
 object ; and that the support given to industry, and 
 the excitation given to exertion, would be trans- 
 mitted directly from man to man, and from society 
 to society ; so as, in a very short time, not only to 
 have impelled the whole community into action, 
 but to have branched their exercises out, according 
 to their various powers and capacities, and set these 
 respectively forward, in the way of improvement. 
 While value is rapidly annexed to possession in the 
 way of improvement, and to industry, and its fruits 
 increased — rude and radical commodities would 
 constitute always a smaller proportion of the general 
 wealth that was created ; the price of mere ne- 
 cessaries in their first state of preparation, which, at 
 one time absorbed the whole, now seldom absorb- 
 ing above one fifth part of this aggregate wealth. 
 Taking all these considerations along with us, I 
 would propose it as a case — that a sheep, which 
 could at first have been procured for a shilling, 
 could not now be procured for less than a pound ; 
 but that dinner, served in a style to which the re- 
 venue of few noblemen in these days was adequate, 
 could, at the same time, be procured by any indivi- 
 dual for lialf a guinea — and then state it as a ques- 
 tion — Is there not a necessary connexion, betwixt 
 a rise in value, and a progression in improvement ? 
 No one can deny it. The circumstances of society 
 
 4 z 2
 
 732 
 
 have changed, but the objects, towards wliich both 
 wealth and power arc universally directed, as their 
 ultimate end, have not been raised above, they have 
 been sunk beneath, and harmonized with, the condi- 
 tion of that vast multitude, who, from existing cir- 
 cumstancesjhavenow been enabled to procure them. 
 
 Let us take another instance from the same cir- 
 cumstances, for the purpose of exhibiting the real 
 state of this question in its full light. In the age 
 above referred to, perhaps one thousand pounds 
 would have purchased a thousand acres of good a- 
 rable ground, from which an hundred of men might 
 have extracted as much wealth as would have main- 
 tained themselves, their families, and their landlord, 
 respectably, in that rude way of life, which was then 
 prevalent. At a subsequent period, however, a hun- 
 dred thousand pounds might scarcely suffice to pur- 
 chase this same property. But let it be noticed, 
 that this land, when raised to this advanced price, 
 might be cultivated by a dozen of men ; through 
 whose labors, it might send forth fruits sufficient, 
 not only to maintain their landlord and the families 
 of all concerned, in circumstances every way most 
 comfortable and respectable ; but to stimulate the 
 industry, and to supply the wants of a civilized com- 
 munity, by means of whose well directed and high- 
 ly improved labors, many thousand highly useful 
 individuals, might be most worthily sustained. 
 In order to evince this fact, let us take under our 
 eye, some specific article of improvement. Before 
 the art of printing was invented, a good copy of
 
 J23 
 
 the Bible could scarcely have been procured for one 
 half of the value of the whole land here referred 
 to ; yet in the subsequent period, by dint of the 
 wealth created out of the rude property, establish- 
 ments might be maintained, whereby not only my- 
 riads of such bibles might be manufactured, but 
 tliousands of individuals, capacitated to receive 
 and communicate the instructions which these con- 
 tain, might be reared up, and endowed with all the 
 instruction and education that was needful for this 
 purpose, such as not one in many thousands could 
 formerly have obtained. The statement, here given, 
 cannot appear in the smallest degree overstretched, 
 when we consider that besides the value of means 
 produced, which was the sole object on which the 
 acquisitions of our forefathers turned, we have the 
 advantage of those funds, of that circulablc capital, 
 which emanates from well directed, fully organized 
 industry ; the results of which emanations, antici- 
 pated and circulated, serve all the purposes of ab- 
 solute wealth, and constitute the basis of our ac- 
 credited circulablc medium*. 
 
 * If the above representations are just, and I do not see how 
 they can be fairly disputed, they hold up the pertinacious cavil- 
 Hugs of the money holder and the annuitant, in a very unfavour- 
 able point of view. It is indisputable, that the enterprising ca- 
 pitaliit, in consequence of the facilities afforded to him by our 
 paper currency, has been able, not only to procure for these and 
 for all parties, abundant supplies of invaluable commodities that 
 must otherwise have ever been beyond their reach; but has also, in 
 effect, met, and even anticipated the unprecedented demands of 
 the state and of the public, by means of resources which he has 
 prepared for their service, and has done this in such a way, as not,
 
 734 
 
 Taking these illustrations fully along with U3, I 
 would propose it as a question ; what is the real 
 and proper source of all this superinduced improve- 
 ment — of this approximation of real wealth to the 
 
 at all to lower the principle of valuation, but rather to advance 
 its first imported value. In place, therefore, of subtracting 
 from, it now appears, that the enterprising have all along been 
 adding insensibly to, the means of the money holder, and have 
 Uniformly ameliorated his condition, almost in despite of himself. 
 
 When this fact is duly attended to, it brings before us a view 
 of the claims of the commercialist that is truly affecting. This 
 class, composed of men of good education and respectable talents 
 and property, embark their time, their talents, their means, their 
 family, and their connexions, in the front of that progression of 
 improvement, out of which all our wealth is extracted- They are 
 gradually drawn deeper and deeper in the way of adventure; they 
 are, as it were, (to use a homely proverb,) led on the ice, till it is 
 impossible for them to measure back their footsteps. In the evil 
 day, when help is necessary, that fragile support on which they 
 rested, fails them. In this state of things, after their means 
 and their hopes have been forever sunk in the dark abyss, and the 
 community have entered into possession of all the advantages pre- 
 pared for them, neither the fruits nor the thanks nor even the com- 
 miseration, that they deserve, is bestowed. Society enters upon 
 their depretiated attainments in some instances, (as in the case of 
 the Sugar and Coffee Planters,) nearly as so much public stock. 
 When the most absolute depression has overwhelmed their for- 
 tunes, these invaluable public servants are nevertheless doomed 
 to hear the croakings of money holders, about the depression 
 of that commodity, in which their peculium is invested — about 
 the depretiation of that capital, which is constantly augmenting, 
 while they enjoy it 1 
 
 Perhaps, it is necesary for us, to bear with such assumptions, 
 because it is a fact which cannot be concealed, that our national
 
 735 
 
 circumstances of individuals ? Is it not the supe- 
 rior powers and capacities of the social body, and 
 of that system, which apportions to all its members, 
 
 fabric rests more on the financial class, than on any other class 
 of tlie community. But why must the misfortunes to which the 
 enterprising are exposed, be aggravated, merely in order to satiate 
 the avidity of these gentry. It is a fiict of the most unquestion- 
 able nature, that not one in ten of our adventurers can weather 
 the point, on which their fortune turns : and yet the success of 
 this tithe of commercial prowess, arouses the indignation of 
 the money holder and annuitant ; they feel themselves, as it were 
 sunk under the rivalry that has overshot them ; and like the en- 
 emy of the Jews, they would destroy the whole class of men 
 that have become obnoxious to their self-complacency, in order 
 to preserve, undepretiated, their own standard excellence. 
 
 It is impossible to dismiss this subject without noticing the 
 ill-favoured remonstrances, so injuriously set up by public func- 
 tionaries, in aid of these cavillings. So far from wishing to dis- 
 parage the fair claims of such personages, I would strenuously 
 contend, that their condition, and their respectability, should be 
 fully maintained, and constantly advanced with the state of 
 society. But why rest their claims on the depretiation of the 
 medium, a thing which has never yet taken place ! Must we 
 assume the interests and advantage of these, or of any annui- 
 tants, as the pole star for financial calculations, and lower the 
 spirit and the hopes of the nation, by appeals to disproportion- 
 ate privations, and to superinduced inconveniences, when, in 
 truth, it is merely the natural, perhaps justifiable avidity of 
 the parties themselves, partially checked and partially "ratifi- 
 ed that calls for a regular, and on the whole highly proper, acces- 
 sion of means ? The direct, the true, the consistent way of in- 
 stituting such|claims, is to set forth the flourishing circumstances 
 of the country, the rapid progress of improvement, the propriety 
 and the necessity of preserving entire the dignity, the splendor, 
 the independence of that station, in favor of which indemnities
 
 73G 
 
 their respective allotments of industry' and of pro- 
 perty, and which renders their operations constantly 
 more and more estimable ? If tlie estimation and 
 results are augmented, must not an augmenta- 
 tion in the capacities of the instrument which ad- 
 measures the claims that are hence induced, be 
 also, in like manner, augmented ? Although the 
 relative claims of individuals be not generally pro- 
 portioned, according to the anticpiated usage — is 
 not the rule for measuiing these claims, their power 
 and value when fully borne on the circumstances of 
 society, itself, irrefragable ? On the whole, there- 
 fore, we have the most abundant testimony of this 
 fact, that whatever tlie rates of valuation may be, 
 the standard of value, strictly considered, amidst 
 the extreme fluctuation in every thing else, has not 
 itself been impaired by systematic improvement. 
 
 or advantages are required. In this way the claims of these 
 parties would be no less cogent, and they would be in all respects 
 more respectable, both for the applicant and for the community. 
 
 It will be noticed, that these animadversions are not directed 
 to the principle, but to the spirit and character., of the assumptions 
 of money-holders. It is the interest and duty of every one, who 
 has obligations of any kind running in his favor, as much as it is 
 of the money -holder, to maintain irrefragably the stability of the 
 standard of valuation. That the number, as well as the charac- 
 ter, of those, who are thus indirectly interested in this point, must 
 necessarily be great and respectable, is evident, for it includes 
 almost the whole independent part of the community. But it 
 is not less their duty and their interest to repress improper as- 
 sumptions and pretensions on such a point, because if thorough- 
 ly acted upon, and pertinaciously peristed in, these would lead 
 into measures that are highly injurious to the community.
 
 737 
 
 Though rude commodities, the substance and the 
 root of improvement, have generally had their esti- 
 mation increased; that of every thing useful, and be- 
 fitting the circumstances of man, considered as a ci- 
 vilized and intelligent being, has gone on, in the op- 
 posite ratio ; insomuch that the most important arti- 
 cles have generally sunk irrecoverably in their mar- 
 ketable value, so as to be placed completely under 
 his influence as such, and so as universally to raise 
 his condition. Must we not therefore conclude, that 
 the medium of exchange, used by us, has discharged 
 its most necessary offices ? The progression of im- 
 provement itself, may be altogether hypothetical, an 
 empty problem, which the cruel ambition and tor- 
 tuous policy of states and potentates will constant- 
 ly counteract ; but does it not serve to illustrate 
 subjects, that are not at all suppositious, that are 
 of the utmost importance to all of us, and that can- 
 not be too fully unfolded and elucidated ? 
 
 Fourthly. While these expositions and illus- 
 trations disclose to us the operation and general 
 consequences of systematic improvement, proceed- 
 ing upon independent and beneficent principles, 
 they direct our attention to the deep foundation, 
 which the proposed system has already obtained in 
 our social constitution, and they evince the proprie- 
 ty and the necessity of resorting immediately to 
 these decisive measures, that have been so fully il- 
 lustrated. It is out of improvement in the arts, 
 abstractly considered, that general wealth, conjoined 
 with social advancement, arises. Tliis wealth col-
 
 738 
 
 lected and consolidated, in the hands of individ- 
 uals, and constituting what may be called stock or 
 fixed capital, is the source whence territorial im- 
 provement draws its earliest support, and the im- 
 petus whereby its tardy movements are first im- 
 pelled. In this way, private property was not only 
 created, but increased and extended, so as at length 
 to diffuse its influence throughout society at large. 
 But though improvement thus drawn out, might ex- 
 hibit what may be called a coercive influence, and 
 produce a multitude of splendid and magnificent 
 displays, it reached not to the whole circumstan- 
 ces of man, in his personal capacity. Certain gra- 
 tifications and enjoyments, more or less refined, and 
 more or less exalted, might indeed be generally ob- 
 tained and secured ; but it was the appropriate con- 
 cernments of but a small number, proportionally 
 considered, that was provided for ; so that the in- 
 stituted progression of human affairs'may be held to 
 have been on the whole, more deteriorated tlian 
 ameliorated, by the superinduced improvement. 
 
 Thus it was, that real property was first drawn out 
 in a representative form, and society accommodated 
 v;ith an appropriate emblem, whereby its general 
 wealth could be parcelled out intoparts, and transmit- 
 ted and circulated without inconveniency. It was 
 not, however, until a system of things was instituted, 
 whereby the circulation of property could reach to 
 the whole concernments of civil life, that society at 
 large partook fully of the advantages of improve- 
 ment. Property, substantially considered, might hf
 
 739 
 
 circulated, and apportioned to individuals according 
 to their respective claims ; and thus it might l)e ren- 
 dered instrumental in arousing the latent energies 
 of our race, and in exercising these appropriately 
 in the service of society ; but the course of im- 
 provement, that ^vas induced, had but little influence 
 on the most interesting concernments of mankind, 
 taken individually. When diffusive beneficence, 
 and personal independence, however, had become 
 the animating principles of the social system ; pro* 
 perty, both in its substantial, and in its representa- 
 tive capacity, was not only circulated and diffused 
 universally, and impressed by a correspondent im- 
 pulse, which conducted its influence directly in the 
 way of individual and social improvement; but, in 
 this way, a.nd under these impressions, it was again 
 aggregated in the hands of the industrious and en- 
 terprising, and resolved anew into stock or capital, 
 the spring of renovated industry. 
 
 Representative property possesses various quali- 
 ties that lead most directly to these icsolutions. Per- 
 sonal obligations may arise out of every transaction, 
 and these cannot pass from hand to hand, without 
 calling into existence .substantive property. Such 
 representations of wealth have a regard to the pow- 
 ers, as well as to the value, of established industry ; 
 and in anticipating their results, the industrious, in 
 effect, bring them forward. Substantiated wealth, to 
 the requisite extent, is formed under their influence, 
 and the wealth, thus substantiated, becomes the 
 germ of a new financial progression. At the outset, 
 
 5 A 2
 
 740 
 
 personal obligations may be scarcely at all transmis- 
 sable at their imported value. By and by, how- 
 ever, their bearings on general industry are ascer- 
 tained, and their efficacy, in resolving themselves 
 into absolute wealth, felt and acknowledged. In 
 such circumstances, no individual, whose avocation 
 and resources are respectable, need be at any loss, 
 to pass creditable obligations ; for these will re- 
 gularly run themselves off into others of a more 
 current description. The stock of society will, as 
 it were, balance itself in the hands of the money 
 holder ; whose coffers, successively relieved and re- 
 plenished, will preserve in the channels of indus- 
 try and enterprise, a free and salutary motion. 
 
 Funded property, accordingly, in our circum- 
 stances, cannot be called the representative of sub- 
 stantiated wealth. It may at first arise out of such 
 v.ealth, and it may tend constantly to resolve itself 
 into it ; but as these representations, when drawn up 
 in the form of funds, and circulated, may be again 
 drawn up, and again circulated under similar repre- 
 sentations, real funds are more properly emanations 
 from, than documents of, substantiated wealth. In- 
 dividuals, possessed of funded property, may transmit 
 and circulate its value, and upon the strength of these 
 transmissions and circulations emit fresh funds, and 
 from these again educe other financial resources suc- 
 cessively ; and go on, in this way, without bestow- 
 ing the smallest attention to their connexion, with, or 
 disjunction from, tangible, visible, subjects ; for the 
 new financial instruments, thus protruded into exis-
 
 741 
 
 tence, may pass into the mass of circulable capital, 
 like tlie first emissions obtained from substantive 
 wealth. It is necessary that such financial emissions 
 run in the course of productive industry, and that 
 they regularly resolve themselves into some subject 
 of correspondent value. But, with this advantage, 
 financial operations may be increased almost indefi- 
 nitely. These rest not so much on real acquirements, 
 as on the instrument for commanding such acquire- 
 ments. They comprise in their object, not only 
 such instruments, but every anticipation of them, 
 that may coincide with current circumstances. In 
 doing this, any validated financial obligation may 
 be made to discharge all the duties and offices of 
 the common medium of exchange. 
 
 This matter may be illustrated by a fluniliar ex- 
 ample. A hogshead of sugar may be sold to a 
 person, in creditable circumstances, for fifty pounds; 
 whose obligation, importing its value, may enable 
 the vender to obtain the proceeds of that obligation, 
 from his banker. The same purchaser may dis- 
 pose of the same hogshead, in a similar way, and 
 receive and send forth its value, in like manner. 
 The second purchaser may do the same, in regard 
 to a third ; and this third the same in regard to a 
 fourth purchaser. All this time, there is of substan- 
 tial property but one hogshead of sugar, the value 
 of which is drawn up, represented, and circulated, 
 no less than four times. But this is not all ; for these 
 bills, these obligations in the hands of the holder, 
 may be again represented, and circulated ; and
 
 742 
 
 in new financial forms, they may again and again pass 
 through the bankers hands ; so as, in effect, to send 
 forth into circulation, ten times the value of their 
 substantive origin. It is necessary, in the end, that 
 each individual discharge his own obligation ; and 
 that each respectively be fully remunerated for all 
 his charges and trouble ; but if the hogshead of 
 sugar is lost, and if the credibility of the persons 
 entrusted, is not sufficient to bear them above the 
 superinduced calamity ; the bankers, and all who 
 were dependent on these transactions, must sustain 
 a loss correspondent to their interests therein. In 
 the meantime, however, the industry and enter- 
 prise, stimulated and supported by the circulation 
 of funded property, it may be expected, will am- 
 ply compensate to the community at large, for all 
 losses and calamities that may have been induced. 
 Its substantive property must also have been pro- 
 portionally increased, and out of that substantive 
 property, emanations of financial wealth may have 
 proceeded, sufficient to replace all that was lost. 
 So long as the resources and energies, the capabi- 
 lities and resources of society, bear upon each other, 
 under the influence of a free and beneficent system, 
 so long will the circulation of property, and that 
 of its emanations, resolve themselves into fresh ac- 
 cessions iS means, and so long will the incumbent 
 system unfold its powers, and extend its capacities. 
 Private losses and public calamities may, no doubt, 
 occasionally, traverse particular courses of this in- 
 stituted progression ; they may overwhelm the for- 
 tunes of individuals, and even of whole classes of
 
 743 
 
 individuals ; and for the time leave a sensible void 
 in tiie circumstances of the industrious and enter- 
 prising part of the community. Still, however, the 
 root and spring of improvement will remain unim- 
 paired, and the channel of commercial and finan- 
 cial resources again be replenished. Tlie very des- 
 truction induced, may add to the force of the im- 
 petus. How often does the loss of an expected sup- 
 ply, which involves individuals in ruin, by annex- 
 ing a higher price to stock on hand, augment, in 
 place of diminishing, the wealth of a community* j 
 and by giving an additional stimulus to the spirit 
 of adventure, redouble the supply of the commo- 
 dities that had been destroyed ? 
 
 It will be recollected, however, that the grand 
 peculiarity of funded property is, its being trans- 
 missable and circulable, in the most simple and ab- 
 stract manner. To regions the most remote and 
 detached from the property whence they originated, 
 funds may be transferred, and there they may be 
 circulated, on the most free and independent princi- 
 ples. It is necessary, that some person, sufficiently 
 ostensible in the public eye, should in these regions 
 validate the tokens of value, by which this trans- 
 mission of funds is effected ; and it is evident, that 
 no one can do this, except on the faith or in the 
 
 * Of this a memorable example is obtained in the history of 
 the city of Glasgow, The American revolution deprived that 
 city of two millions of property in debts due to it by that country ; 
 but the consequent rise of Tobacco from 2d. to 2s. per lib. gave 
 such a stimulus to its manufactures, as soon to ad J a similar sum. 
 to its capital.
 
 744 
 
 view of fair retribution ; which retribution can 
 only take place, in consequence of some real and 
 complete connexion subsisting betwixt this indi- 
 vidual himself, and some substantive property, held 
 to be withdrawn, in his favor, from under the influ- 
 ence of the person on whose account he becomes 
 thus obligated. But these transferences may be 
 made in the most indirect and circuitous manner ; 
 they may have taken place long before, or they 
 may take place long after the moment of time, 
 when the remittance of funds is effected. Portu- 
 gal may have received a supply of flour from A- 
 merica, and America may be indebted to Britain 
 for manufactured goods. In the meantime, Britain 
 may have occasion for naval stores, and Peters- 
 burgh stand in need of Madeira wine. The trans- 
 mission of the wine, from Portugal to Peters- 
 burgh, will, in this instance, place all parties in 
 circumstances, wherein they may counterbalance 
 each other's claims. The remittance of funds may 
 be direct andmomentaneous ; the American, by tak- 
 ing up the sum owing him in Lisbon, in the wine 
 merchant's draft on Peterburgh, and transmitting 
 it to his debtor in Britain, may put Britain in cir- 
 cumstances to close her transaction with Russia. 
 But the transmission of the substantive property, 
 out of which these obligations arise, is most com- 
 plex. British commodities had been transferred 
 to America ; American commodities to Lisbon ; 
 Portuguese productions were to be sent to Russia ; 
 and Russian commodities to Britain, before the 
 funds of each party could rest solidly upon its own
 
 746 
 
 basis; M'liich basis, if any one of these transferen- 
 ces had been awanting, could not have been procur- 
 i'd ; nor could the transaction itself, without such 
 intervention, have been brought fully to a close. 
 
 We are hence led to extend our views of financial 
 operations a little farther; and at the first glance 
 we perceive, that although transferences on the 
 above principles may, and no doubt, are, both nu- 
 merous and extensive ; yet, in nine cases out often, 
 circumstances will intervene to prevent the exigen- 
 cies of the exporter from bearing on those of the 
 importer, in such a way, as to produce a correspon- 
 dence betwixt their respective operations. In some 
 instances, the sums will not be commensurate ; in 
 others, the parties themselves may not be acquaint- 
 ed with eacli others circumstances ; in others, diffe- 
 rences as to dates, and otlier incidental matters 
 will intervene. It is evident, therefore, that it 
 would be both dangerous and prejudicial to calcu- 
 late upon the contingent exchange of commodities, 
 for the direct resolution of financial operations. 
 These things, we all know, have given rise to the 
 business of the banker, by whom, validated obliga- 
 tions, payable in foreign countries, are bought up, 
 and their value made use of, as the basis of his trans- 
 actions; and by whom, counter-obligations, payable 
 in foreign countries, framed for the service of the 
 community, are drawn out, in the most articulate 
 and in the most precise manner, to meet every par- 
 ticular object. Tliere results from the respectability 
 (5f such financial transferences, a variety of advan- 
 
 5 B
 
 74G 
 
 lagcs of iiigh moment to tlic commercial wojld. 
 iudividuiils, possessed of foreign fiiiids, can get them 
 instantly resolved, at their full value, and may thus 
 immediately convert this value into so much cir- 
 culable wealth. As a direct cor.sequence of this ad- 
 vantage, a transference, com j)lctcd or anticipated, or 
 even mcdilated, may become tlie instrument of cre- 
 ating funds ibr circulation, both in the importing 
 and in the exporting country, it is necessary, that 
 the bankers, uttering the articulated impiedgements, 
 be sufficiently respectable in nameand in circumstan- 
 ces ; and that botli countries and their governments 
 be prepared to give due enforcement to the penalty, 
 universally annexed to the forfeiture of impledge- 
 ments in such circumstances ; under these fiivoring 
 circumstances, the excitation and support, obtained 
 for the ordinary jn-occsses of reproduction, from the 
 funds thus uttered, will, for the time, be everyway 
 as Great, as that which the introduction of a simi- 
 lar quantity of the most standard metallic medium 
 could possibly produce. 
 
 This matter, which has already been suificiently 
 illustrated, is again introduced, for the purpose of 
 bringing fully into view, certain characteristic ex- 
 cellencies of the system, which it has l)een the ob- 
 ject of this treatise to imfold. Funds, we per- 
 ceive, can be created and circulated, on the faith 
 of absolute wTalth, that exists only in contem- 
 plation ; they may rest fortlieir efficiency, merely 
 on personal obligations, the importive value of 
 which consists in the capabilities of the parties ob-
 
 747 
 
 Jigated to resolve these at maturity into the cur- 
 rent medium ; and yet, in this form, they may carry 
 on the process of reproduction, until commodities, 
 sufficient to command the quota of the medium ne- 
 cessary for their resolution, shall have been pro- 
 cured from their operations. It is no doubt sub- 
 sumed, that the circumstances of society shall con- 
 tinue to coincide with, and bear forward, a regular 
 succession ol'such operations ; that a steady market 
 for receiving connnodities, and lor resolving them 
 into transmissable personal obligations, be obtained ; 
 and that capitalists, fit to resolve these obligations 
 into the circulable currency of tiie day, be at 
 hand. It must also be admitted, that if, in the mean- 
 time, this market should fail, the jievsonal obliga- 
 tions then in the way of currency, would also tend 
 to pass oif from the public service, that value or a- 
 amount of tiic medium which they commanded j 
 they would, at maturity, neutralize, in the money- 
 holder's hands, the validated currency, which the spi- 
 rit of enterprise, under better auspices, had impelled 
 and circulated amongst the industrious, and made in- 
 strumental in bringing (brvvard masses of substantive 
 wealth ; and when thus drawn out of the course of 
 circulation, this wealth might retire into the strong- 
 box of the capitalist ; whose wealth would thereupon 
 be resolved into the mere balances of value, that 
 rested with him after running oft* the [)crsonal ob- 
 ligations, in which his property had been circulated, 
 or into substantive ac(piisitions which had become 
 fixed in his possession. These circumstances point 
 out very nearly our jiresent condition. Happily no
 
 748 
 
 such absolute decay and falling off of circulabic 
 .wealth, as that here referred to, has as yet taken 
 place ; there are still wants to supply, and redun- 
 dancies to pass off, sufficient so to stimulate and re- 
 munerate industry, as to induce a general circula- 
 tion of property, both in its substantive and in its 
 representative capacities ; and we may still hope 
 to be able to preclude from the social frame, every 
 thing like absolute absorption of financial prowess. 
 
 Our attention is accordingly called away to an e- 
 vil'much more tremendous than the above, and of a 
 very opposite character, which has grown up under 
 our eyes. Our powerful reproductive processes had 
 obtained the absolute command of the market of the 
 woild ; in spite of the prohibitions and imposts of 
 open and concealed enemies, they could maintain 
 the ground that they had gained ; and nothing, but 
 what completely struck at the root of social existence 
 was sufficient to counteract them. It was necessa- 
 ry to destroy the returns that we wanted, in order 
 to prevent their reaching our hands ; it was need- 
 ful to make not only privation of substance, but 
 death itself the penalty, in order to deter the obligat- 
 ed from fulfilling their engagements to us. This 
 dreadful alternative has at length been resorted to ; 
 and although our enemy inflicts tenfold misery on 
 himself,heis so satisfied with the mischief thathe can 
 do to us ; that he, most dcterminateiy and system- 
 atically, follows out his destructive courses, and this 
 he now does, by means the most audacious, and a- 
 midst consequences the nsost deplorable that can be
 
 749 
 
 imagined. Our industry and enterprise, which had 
 formerly commanded the wealth of the greatest na- 
 tions, having been sedulously and systematically a- 
 dapted to the circumstances of these nations, had, in 
 consequence thereof, become absolutely dependent 
 upon the intercourse which such advantages alone 
 could ui)hold. This intercourse has been cut off; the 
 identity of our system with other systems has given 
 our enemy access to our vital strength ; other na- 
 tions must prosper that we may prosper ; by striking 
 at the prosperity of other nations, our enemy per- 
 ceives that he strikes at ours ; he now, therefore, 
 mostdeterminately adapts his destructive operations 
 to these views. Against every thing that has ori- 
 ginated in Britain, or is in the way of resolving itself 
 into British property, he directs his infuriate enmi- 
 ty. Our transmissible property, accordingly, and 
 the funds that emanate from it, are directly struck 
 at. Part of these perish, in consequence of the sub- 
 jects on which they rested for resolution at maturi- 
 ty, being withdrawn from under the influence of 
 the parties obligated ; and part also from the capital 
 of the country itself having perished, fallen, or be- 
 come really inefficient. Amidst these calamities, 
 can we be surprized, that ti)e substantial capitalist 
 should withdraw himself from under the sphere of 
 such disasters, and instead of vesting his means in 
 funds, that are represented by personal obligations, 
 that become so frequently illusory in the end, should 
 place them under the safeguard of th-c nation, and 
 thus leave the public hopelessly to meet the full 
 weight of the superinduced calamity ? It is thus,
 
 750 
 
 that the regular course of industry has been so 
 effectually blocked up, and that validated impledge- 
 ments pass off in services very different from those | 
 in which they originated. ' 
 
 WniTHER do the enterprising and industrious in 
 such circumstances resort for relief? The only 
 public support yet tliought of, is tlie exchequer 
 bills, and this support certainly enables those parties 
 to hold out a little longer against the tide that is set 
 in against them ; though it noway ameliorates their 
 situation. If we could calculate on a speedy change 
 in foreign markets, no support could be more judici- 
 ous and appropriate, than that which is thus procured; 
 for, while individuals are thereby enabled to retain 
 their property for a definite period, and to make pre- 
 parations for future demands, a circulation of money 
 amongst those whose circumstances most require it, 
 is also thereby produced. It is the first object of this 
 accommodation,todisposeandenablepartiesobligat- 
 ed, fairly and regularly to meet their engagements ; 
 and it is only its second, to prepare these for future 
 enterprizes. These advantages, exchequer bills be- 
 stow upon those who have a fair claim on the public 
 for such support, and upon no other ; and they be- 
 stow these no longer than the exigencies of the case 
 require it. Exchequer bills, accordingly, are a real 
 and efficient remedy, in those cases, where the dis- 
 order of the system is only partial, and where the 
 results of industry and enterprize can be looked to 
 with confidence ; but it is evident, from their very 
 nature, that thev can afford no relief that is at
 
 751 
 
 all comnicnsurafo v.ith our present emergencies. 
 W'iien the course of reproduction is so generally 
 subverted, its movements so pertinaciously traver- 
 sed, every sucli temporary expedient must only ag- 
 gravate the evil which it postpones. 
 
 Thf, force oC the above objection to exchequer 
 bills in our present system, will appear more striking, 
 ly, if we examine the tract, in which the financial re- 
 lief, thus obtained, is necessarily impelled. Those, 
 who arc thus accommodated, it is evident, will, as 
 a matter of course, discharge their current obliga- 
 tions, and replenish their exhausted establishments j 
 and in so doing, they will remove a variety of cm- 
 barassments that at present block up the reproduc- 
 tive system ; whereby, in tlie meantime, energies 
 and resources will be l)rought into exercise, which 
 will give forth valuable means, whence, in due time, 
 will emanate circulable funds. Let it be remarked, 
 iiowcver, that all this time, the market, for which our 
 great leading reproductive establishments are cal- 
 culated, remains as it was ; and, that all we are do- 
 ing will neither enlarge its dimensions, nor car- 
 ry us over the obstructions that are thrown in our 
 way. Our general industry is so commanded by 
 these leading establishments, and these again by the 
 market for which they are calculated, that the very 
 relief and improvement hereby procured, without 
 new fiicilities for realizing their results, in place of 
 removing, must aggravate the incumbent surcharge. 
 Dependent and connected industry and enterprise 
 may, in such circumstances, be extended and ad-
 
 vanced in value and in importance ; and the general 
 circumstances of the country may be borne up, in 
 a correspondent manner ; but tlie great interests of 
 the commercial world will remain as insecure, and 
 as involved, as ever. Does it not thence appear ma- 
 nifest that something, much more efficient, than a- 
 ny relief of this sort, still remains to be provided ? 
 
 On looking a little closser into the subject, we per- 
 ceive, that even under the most favourable auspices, 
 the advantages ofaccommodation, strictly so called, 
 must necessarily, and at all times, prove temporary 
 and illusive. The financial wealth, that is realized, 
 will still continue to be run out in a concurrence 
 of personal obligations, resting entirely on the ca- 
 pabilities of parties, who are completely dependent 
 on the circumstances of the times. It may be pos- 
 sible to resolve one set of obligations into another, 
 and those again into a third, always increasing the 
 apparent validity and rcspectal3ility of the paper 
 that is held; but until the imported vahie be re- 
 alized in specie, or in some commodity, the intrin- 
 sic validity of which is equally indisputable, while 
 we imagine, that we hold in our hands, a fair repre- 
 sentation of absolute wealth, a real balance of con- 
 current obligations, we may only hold a counterpoise 
 to some obligation that is unliquidated, which, at 
 maturity, is destined to neutralize the validity o^ 
 that very instrument which vv'e regard as substantiat- 
 ed capital. It is impossible to guard against this 
 contingency by the utmost care and circumspection. 
 Establishments, reputed to be of stability equal to.
 
 753 
 
 that of the iiatioiial banks, are daily tumbling about 
 our cars, and iaivolving others, whose circumstances 
 and advantages seemed to have secured them a- 
 gainst every such calamity. 
 
 The truth is, our financial system rests on tlie 
 circumstancesof the country, and these circumstan- 
 ces rest again on those of individuals ; all which 
 circumstances, let it be noticed, are dependent on 
 an intercourse against which, incessant warfare, 
 either in a direct or indirect manner, is waged by 
 both friend and foe ; in which intercourse all the va- 
 rious losses and calamities of individuals are drawn 
 up as general obstacles and disparagements in the 
 way of financial operations. The distress, that 
 is thus induced,; is of a very deep and lamentable 
 kind ; for while it mars the progress of financial o- 
 perations, it renders the individuals who are more 
 immediately affected by it, the sport of every way- 
 ward accident. The unfortunate man, like the 
 stricken deer, is he, whom every financier carefully 
 avoids. Fresh financial aid is then most requisite ; 
 but it is then also most dillicult of attainment. The 
 calamity, when general, is redoubled by the apathy 
 of the money-holder, who, deaf to the voice of dis- 
 tress, anxiously draws from it, that support on which 
 it had been accustomed to depend ; concurrent ob- 
 ligations, in balancing each other in his hands, leave 
 individuals implicated in them, helplessly to their 
 own resources. In the meantime, the validated cur- 
 rency, into which these obligations were to have 
 been ultiniately resolved, is gradually drawn oft' the 
 
 .5 o
 
 754 
 
 circle. The embarassment, thereby produced, can- 
 not but be dreadful, although our feelings have at 
 length become hardened under them ; and we view 
 them as the natural results of our situation. Vv'e 
 recollect, that when commercial credit was high, 
 our advantages were powerful ; and we regard these 
 evils, merely, as contingencies arising out of" these 
 advantages. But is tliis the only cause, why we are 
 so little appalled, when we find, in the very acme 
 of our distress, when the commercial world is most 
 absolutely and most universally depressed, every 
 thing like factitious support denuded of its influence? 
 
 When w^e come to examine the cause and origin 
 of this personal apathy to the distresses of others, 
 we perceive, that at the very foundation of our sys- 
 tem, there lies, as its cause and origin, a misappli- 
 cation of the general principles of our system, 
 that inevitably inverts its most concordant opera- , 
 tions. The importance of upholding the validity of j 
 personal obligations, as things now stand, is sufSci- 
 ently obvious; and in the view of upholding this 
 validity, it is received as a rule, that all the proper- 
 ty of each individual, who passes such obligations 
 through his hands, or has had his fate, by a deed of 
 copartnery, linked to the act of those who may have 
 passed them, shall be liable for the ultimate reso- 
 lution of every such obligation. I call this a mis- 
 application of the principles of the system, because 
 it is none of its natural or necessary consequences, 
 for in every other ordinary case, individuals may 
 contemplate all the effects of every positive obliga-
 
 155 
 
 tion, under \vliich they bring themselves, before 
 they can be held to have become bound by these 
 obligations ; and because the understanding, here 
 implied, can serve no good purpose whatever. The 
 guarantee, here held to be given, might be of some 
 importance, when individuals could deliberately 
 weigh its nature and extent, and could give or re- 
 fuse their guarantee, according as their capabilities 
 plainly indicated. But, with us, the case is altogeth- 
 er different, no man can or does refuse his guaran- 
 tee to the obligations which he necessarily passes. 
 Nay, the circumstances of all are such, that few 
 can, even for a moment, pause, before they thus aug- 
 ment the obligations that are current against them. 
 What are the consequences of this? These are 
 most deplorable. The evil incurred is great as well 
 as universal. The fate of individuals, of all ranks 
 and classes, is so entwined and so incorporated ; and 
 the contingencies, by which this fate may be affect- 
 ed, are so multiplied and so powerful ; that there 
 are few, who, in ordinary cases, could tell precisely 
 how he would stand, if certain great calamities 
 should happen to take place. He might expect to 
 derive support from one quarter, and to rest hh 
 burdens upon another, but the whole funds of the 
 commercial workl, being bound up under recon- 
 dite influence, and encirc/ed by the spells of this in- 
 fluence, the whole means even of the most powerful, 
 may evanish in the midst of their security. Anu'dst 
 the many causes of trepidation in the financial 
 world, this cause, the uncertainty arising fiom this 
 implication of personal obligations may, perhaps.
 
 756 
 
 be stated to be the greatest. Our crrcuinRtancef?' 
 are generally bent down under misforfune, and it 
 seems as if it were for the express purpose of ren- 
 dering these misfortunes as universal, and as com- 
 plete as possible, that not one of us can know with 
 precision, how far we or our friends are secure 
 from the greatest misfortunes. Our advantages, in 
 consequence become paralyzed, in our hands, and,. 
 without at all intending it, the best of as, in case 
 of need, while grasping for his own relief and deli- 
 verance, may not only occasion, but sealidown the 
 greatest misfortunes upon our neighboujrs. 
 
 It is the object of the proposed scheme to strike 
 at the root of all these evils. It developesthe same 
 beneficent and independent order of lihings ; it 
 points to similar social and individual advancement; 
 and it proceeds over the same ground, according 
 to the same principles. In diffusing these influen- 
 ces, however, and in prosecuting these ends, it 
 counteracts the inherent vitiosity of the present 
 course of things, and it meets the great sources of 
 evil at their fountain head. This is done in a way 
 that is perfectly simple and obvious, but this way 
 is indisputably appropriate. — Our measures are a- 
 dapted to our circumstances, and these naeasures 
 are followed out with boldness and pertin.-a:city in 
 their appropriate course, always, however, in coin- 
 cidence with, and in comformity to, the general 
 rules and principles of the system. 
 
 The first great evil, the dependence of ouxmdu?
 
 757 
 
 try on foreigners, wliosc enmity and rivalry are in- 
 superable, the scheme, under review, counteracts, 
 by withdrawing our industry, from under their in- 
 fluence, and leaguing it with a system, wherein, the 
 great reproductive powers of the nation maydevc- 
 lope themselves, without absolute dependence on 
 any power whatever. It proceeds, however, to 
 raise up new orders of industry, established on po- 
 litical connexions, and on combinations of national 
 interest, that are obviously most natural and most 
 irrefragable ; and it goes on to form a plan for 
 instituting certain civil and commercial alliances, 
 on principles, that must lead to an identification of 
 every other great general interest with our own, and 
 a neutralization of every propensity, that is eith- 
 er discordant with, or repulsive to, our system. 
 Thus, these great leading principles, by which the 
 fate of nations is bound up together ; and that 
 concurrence of mutual advantage, which is univer- 
 sally held to be paramount to every other conside- 
 ration, are set forth as the basis of a vast scheme of 
 improvement ; every accordance of teeling and of 
 interest being, at the same time, regularly drawn 
 up under its influence. This, at first view, appears 
 an arduous and a difficult undertaking. On be- 
 taking ourselves, however, seriously to tlie business, 
 we perceive, that it is one, that is neither impracti- 
 cable nor unpleasant. The opposite wants of na- 
 tions prepare them for meeting each other on this 
 very ground. Russia, America, 8[)ain, and ev'ery 
 country that is surcharged with rude and bulky 
 commodities, have an evident interest in maintain-
 
 758 
 
 iiig such a connexion, as that which is proposed 
 with Britain, and with every country, that can take 
 these off their hand, and supply them with commo- 
 dities in a higher state of preparation, and better 
 adapted to their modes of consumption than their 
 own commodities are. The same remark may be 
 extended to Portugal, Turkey, tlic East and West 
 Indies, and indeed to every country, wherein na- 
 ture is more powerful in the process of reproduc- 
 tion than art ; and, wherein nevertheless, art to pre- 
 pare the subjects intended for tlieir use, is requisite 
 to a greater extent, than it is usual or convenient 
 for them to bestow. 
 
 To institute reproductive processes in the view 
 of supporting an intercourse with Spain, America, 
 and our colonies, is accordingly subsumed in the pre- 
 ceding treatise, as the leading part of our scheme. 
 This particular hne of connexion is propounded, 
 chiefly, because, while its natural and necesssary 
 advantages are obvious and indisputable, the ac- 
 cessary advantages, connected therewith, afford a 
 specimen of the most complete and harmonious 
 identification of political interests, that can be ima- 
 gined. It is evident, however, that the views and 
 principles, that are thus elucidated, are very gene- 
 rally applicable, and in the course of the illustration 
 given, it is seen, that by prosecuting this, as our pri- 
 mary object, w^e, at the same time, put ourselves in 
 circumstances, to carry on an equitable and advan- 
 tageous intercourse with France, Germany, Hol- 
 land, and other countries, whose circumstances 
 
 I
 
 759 
 
 seem to lead them into rivalry, or rather into enmi- 
 ty, towards onr national commerce. This vast and 
 invaluable advantage will arise out of the circum- 
 stances that must thereupon be induced ; we will 
 have become independent of them, while they will 
 remain dependent on us. We w-ill be in circumstan- 
 ces, to obtain every extrinsic supply, that our wants 
 require, without any assistance from nations situat- 
 ed as France and Germany necessarily are ; we will 
 be able to convert our commodities into absolute 
 wealth, without having recourse to their market, 
 for that purpose ; while these nations will find it 
 needful for them to look toward us for those very 
 advantages, tiiathad formerly rendered us so depen- 
 dent upon them. In place of our being obliged 
 to sacriticc our own interests, in order to suit their 
 views and plans ; they will be under the necessity 
 of conforming themselves to our measures, and hold- 
 ing themselves in a state of subserviency to that new 
 progression ot improvement, in which they, as well 
 as we, have become implicated. 
 
 In following out this order of things, it w^as seen 
 as a necessary consequence of the progression of 
 improvement, thus instituted, that an effectual coun- 
 terpoise, to the undue pretensions of all our other 
 associates, would be obtained. In the view of ac- 
 complishing those liberal and extensive arrange- 
 ments, that would become necessary in these cir- 
 cumstances, the whole parties interested would 
 come to discern, not only the necessity, but the ad- 
 vantage, of acting upon liberal and confidential prin-
 
 760 
 
 ciples towards Britain. The maintenance oi' our ex- 
 alted station, in the general system, would appear 
 every way, not only unavoidable, but desirable ; 
 for all parties would perceive, that without this, 
 neither their safety nor our own could be secured, 
 neither the developement of their peculiar system of 
 advantages, nor ours, could proceed with harmony 
 and advantage. In consequence of these senti- 
 ments, the naval, commercial, colonial and finan- 
 cial influence of the British nation, would not only 
 be regarded without jealousy, but would be che- 
 vished with the most concordant complacency. 
 
 In prosecuting this end, it would be necessary 
 at the outset for us, to adopt every general measure, 
 that prudence and experience warranted, in the 
 view of preventing our industry from becoming 
 absolutely dependent on any one market whatever. 
 The necessity of this will appear, when we consi- 
 der, that as things are now constituted, nations as 
 well as states, frequently regard less their own inte- 
 rest than the destruction of their rivals. This may 
 seem strange, but both justice and truth require us 
 to receive it ; for if the case were otherwise, there is 
 no country in the world that would not cultivate a 
 closs connexion with the British nation, the foun- 
 tain-head of civilization and improvement, and with 
 the British Government, the bulwark of social and 
 individual independence. In prosecuting this lead- 
 ing object, it would be desireable to institute cer- 
 tain political connexions into which our great repro- 
 ductive establishments would naturally conduct us';-
 
 761 
 
 and it would become necessary for iis to prosecute 
 this object in subservience to the interests of our 
 reproductive establishments, which, for the most 
 part, are massy, expansive, fitted for a vast field of 
 irrtercourse, and capable of long duration, having 
 imder them a multitude of connected and depen- 
 dent establishments, to all of which, a mass of popu- 
 lation, with habits and conditions conformed to, and 
 concatenated with, their respective employments, 
 are necessarily appended. The whole characters 
 and circumstances of our population, being formed 
 under the influence of their respective employments, 
 and powerfully affected by every thing that traverses 
 the leading establishment, under which these em- 
 ployments are classed, a due regard to these particu- 
 lars is indispcnsibly necessary. These views plain- 
 ly point out the danger of fugitive and transitory, 
 commercial and political connexions, and the vast 
 advantages that are attendant on those connexions, 
 that arise out of fundamental bonds of union ; as 
 such they must have their full weight in every great 
 political arrangement. 
 
 Tin: leading interests of the country, and those 
 of the agricultural and colonial establishments must, 
 as matters of course, form leading points, whence 
 these connexions must be drawn, and as such they 
 will be held steadily in view. As it would be not 
 only unfair but unwise, to traverse the alimentary 
 canal of our best friends, it would occasionally be 
 proper to drop into their hands, various contingent 
 advantages, and to content ourselves with those
 
 '62 
 
 classes of advantages, that are peculiaiT}' our omij^ 
 and that harmonize most naturally with our own 
 system. These reflections, though evidently impor- 
 tant, might perhaps be spared, because tiie subject 
 of this comes most immediately under the direction 
 of the governing power, which seldom fails in its 
 respectful regards to its friends and allies. A wise 
 and upright government, in making great national 
 arrangements, and in forming great political con- 
 nexions, will, nevertheless, constantly keep certain 
 idtimate objects of its own, completely in view. 
 These ultimate objects are, no doubt, frequently re- 
 mote and obscure, and commonly most difhcult of 
 attainment, when most distinctly discerned. At- 
 tempts to act clossly upon them, are apt to create 
 perplexity, and to produce suspicion and distrust. 
 In such circumstances, discretional powers arc ne- 
 cessary, but these again are too apt to prove illu- 
 sive, from the proneness of the parties entrusted to 
 give way to personal propensities. For this, and 
 for other reasons, I would assume it as a maxim that 
 ought seldom to be violated, that in all great po- 
 litical arrangements, whatever the views of go- 
 verment may be, nothing should be drawn up under 
 the head of a general arrangement, that cannot be 
 discussed in principle, as well as received and re- 
 cognized, in practice. Defects in articles of ar- 
 rangement will, no doubt, occasionally, take place; 
 but it becomes us to recollect, that the very excellen- 
 cies and advantages of our system are apt to bring 
 it into its greatest dangers ; and that of all dangers, 
 that of protruding our powers and faculties into
 
 763 
 
 rioubtful ground, is amongst the greatest. Besides 
 tin's, we know, that there is a phisticity and potency 
 in the resolutions of our system, that, in general* 
 give it a commanding influence, wherever its ope- 
 rations are not expressly excluded, or completely 
 tixed down by express regulations. It is not meant 
 to say, that it is cither a difiicult or a dangerous 
 thing for us, to consent to definite regulations, even 
 in the most minute points ; nor, that v,e ought to 
 be deficient, either in boldness or dexterity, when 
 objects sufficient to call these forth, require their 
 assistance. On the contrary, I hold it as one of our 
 greatest misfortunes, that our statesmen have here- 
 tofore been so remiss in these points, and as a duty 
 of the mostindispensible kind, for them to avow, not 
 only the nature, but the extent of our claims. Let it, 
 however, be remembered, that peace, security, and 
 concord, even within a narrow range, are to us in- 
 valuable. These are powerful agents in the way of 
 reproduction, and as such they are our best allies. 
 Wherever industrious processes can be set in mo- 
 tion under their influence, there, results for our ser- 
 vice will soon appear and find their way into our 
 system. Severe, and arduous, and incessant strug- 
 gles must be made in important points, for to give 
 way in these, would argue not only a littleness of 
 inind, but a deficiency of power and of discernment. 
 In all lesser matters, however, it may in general 
 be left to our own system, in the course of its ordi- 
 nary operations, to assimulate every thing with 
 which it comes in contact, to its own character and 
 circumstances, thereby, its innate power will be 
 
 /: 1) 2
 
 •6d 
 
 Miilbkicd ; diiiicultics and obstructions, in place of 
 retarding, will accelerate its progress, and prepare 
 it for coalescing the most discordant relations, for 
 assimiilating the most jarring elements, and for bind- 
 ing up into oncj subjects the most incongruous and 
 repugnant to each other. To make unnecessary 
 provisions, to draw unnecessary limits around its 
 movem nts can, therefore, serve no other end, but to 
 fetter down its powers, and to entangle its progress. 
 
 It must remembered, however, that without the 
 financial provisions that have been annexed to our 
 great scheme of improvement, the grand object for 
 which that scheme is constituted, the promotion 
 of social and independent improvement, w'ould be 
 but imperfectly attained. A market, sufficiently 
 capacious, and every way adapted for the resolu- 
 tion of our commodities into absolute value, might 
 be secured by political and national arrangements 
 of the most judicious kind ; a multitude of valuable 
 provisions and facilities, both pertinent and exten- 
 sive, might be superadded to these acquisitions ; 
 it must have become evident, however, from the 
 statements already given, that without a special 
 and peculiar basis of finance — the general order of 
 our affairs — that very system in which all our per- 
 sonal advantages are comprised, might verge into a 
 concrete form. If the sole object were to procure 
 abundance of means, there could be little ground 
 of complaint ; for in virtue of our powerful repro- 
 ducing influences, equal abundance might be pro- 
 cured under a coercive, as under an emulative ira-
 
 765 
 
 pulse. But under such impulse, these means could 
 not be as cficctuall) diffused, and their value as effec- 
 tually drawn up in the hands of the proprietors 
 of our establishments as under tliat of independent 
 industry. It must be noticed, moreover, that an ob- 
 ject, in all respects, more important and more exten- 
 sive lies in view. It belongs to our great reproduc- 
 tive processes not only to provide means, but to 
 create in the hands of individuals, a valid title to 
 their appropriate share of these means, such a ti- 
 tle as will enable them, in an independent capacity, 
 to maintain their own condition, and their own cha- 
 lacter, in correspondence with the advancement of 
 the general system ; and to do this, in such a way, 
 as to draw forth the highest exertions of individual 
 talent, in the public service; which exertions, being 
 made in the view of that fair compensation which a- 
 waits the deserving, must, not only invest indivi- 
 duals with a substantive right to these means, but 
 enable and dispose them to pass their value into ge- 
 neral circulation ; and thus to transfer again into 
 the hands of the industrious and enterprising capi- 
 talists, from whom had first originated the value 
 thus drawn up and circulated. 
 
 The importance of the advantage, here referred 
 to, will appear from an examination of its general 
 operations. Whatever profusion of means the ex- 
 ertions of any society may have secured for the use 
 of its members, however valuable and extensive its 
 public and general acquisitions may be, no one 
 can dulv avail himself of these attainments until he
 
 16G 
 
 can produce, in his own right, equivalents, that will 
 enable him to make good liis claim to a share in 
 these attainments. In our circumstances, few can 
 be said to have a claim to that proportion of means, 
 which it is necessary or customary for them to ap- 
 propriate for their own use, prepared to their hands, 
 otherwise, than through the intervention of their 
 own labor or solicitude ; and none can be held to 
 be without a direct interest in the maintenance and 
 security of that order of things, whereby industry- 
 is stimulated and means distributed, in subserviency 
 to the established system. It is only by distributing 
 means upon mercantile principles, and drawing up 
 their value in an absolute shape, that the wealth, 
 represented by these means, is realized in the hands 
 of their owners ; and it is only by circulating this 
 wealth again amongst the industrious and enter- 
 prising, that established processes of reproduction 
 can be stimulated and upheld, and the exertions of 
 the great body of the people, rendered effectual in 
 producing that wealth, whereto these exertions are 
 destinated. This is the law of our nature, and this 
 law is impressed so powerfully upon our system, 
 that thousands may perish from absolute want ; 
 while every where around them, objects, sufficient 
 to supply these wants, are perishing uselessly from 
 *the want of consumers, and while the proprietor 
 of these objects himself, from the pressure of his own 
 engagements upon the value that is attached to 
 these objects, dare not put forth his hand to accord 
 the necessary relief. This law no one ventures to 
 complain of, or violate ; for its general rejection,
 
 '6' 
 
 tliough but for a moiDCiU, woiiki, like an electric 
 sliock, convert the animated entity of our system 
 into a morbid mass ; it would shut up that vivid 
 circulation of wealth, whereby the salubrity of eve- 
 ry part of our system is maintained ; and it v.ould 
 render that placid and sublimateii orgrinizni': 
 whereby such virtues and charities, such va 
 ties and advantages are produced and cxer^. 
 the merest chaos of degeneracy and corrupti(>i,. 
 an effervescence of all that is vile in human na 
 tuie. The example of revolutionists in all ages 
 had elucidated more or less the truth ofthis position; 
 it was reserved, however, to the late convulsion 
 of France, to establish its awful certaint}', beyond 
 controvention. 
 
 Thf, importance of preserving in circulation an 
 adequate proportion of absolute wealth is according- 
 ly obvious. It is, I apprehend, no less obvious, that 
 this proportion cannot be procured, from the pre- 
 cious metals or from any circulable object, that is in- 
 trinsically worth the value that it may import, and 
 that there is, in consequence, a real necessity for 
 having recourse to wealth in a representative form. 
 It isnecessary that the circumstances of society, and 
 the authority of the state, give due efficacy to the 
 representations of wealth thus drawn up, and that 
 these representations bear upon subjects, that arc 
 equal to the value that is thus set forth ; but having 
 secured to them these advantages, we can find as 
 little difficulty in sup[)orting useful industry by the 
 emblem circulated, in its representative, as in its
 
 '6S 
 
 real capacity. It is under these auspices, that our 
 national industry has become so powerful ; and it 
 is upon the principle, that is thus unfolded, that the 
 system proposed is to proceed. In the present 
 circumstances of society, perhaps it is not possible, 
 to devise any method for producing and circulating 
 wealth, more appropriate and eligible, than that 
 of thus drawing up its representations, in a recog- 
 nized and validated form. 
 
 The disorders to which our financial system are 
 exposed, arise, more from the vapid and unstable 
 character of the subjects that are drawn up and cir- 
 culated, than from any imperfection in the repre- 
 sentative form that is adopted. These subjects are 
 strictly speaking, the fruits and ixsults of social e^ver- 
 lion, that are on the way to, or in the passage through, 
 the market. As such, they are destinated to run off, 
 eitherinthe way of consumption, or in tlie way of ab- 
 sorption. Their representations, accordingly, must 
 partake of the sarne unsubstantial cliaracter; their 
 course in the way of circulation is circumscribed to 
 a definite period; and if the circumstances of society 
 do not send forth countervailing instruments, to 
 meet the value thus pending, before the termination 
 of this period, there must be a sensible void in 
 the circulatory process. It is obvious, therefore, 
 that if the process of improvement, out of which 
 these representations of value originally sprung, 
 become retrograde, the instruments necessary for 
 the support of this process will tend constantly to 
 yun themselves off the course of circulation.
 
 769 
 
 This will appear very plain, if we attend to the 
 process by which these representations of wealth 
 are drawn up. These accredited circulatory im- 
 pledgements, that constitute our paper currency, 
 are emitted by monc}-holders in tlie way of negotiat- 
 ing personal obligations verging to maturity, on 
 which they can demand and obtain a legal premium. 
 These personal obligations, however, arise out of 
 commercial transactions, which can only take place, 
 when the progression of improvement, and the cir- 
 culation of effects, can keep pace together. The 
 obligations themselves tend constantly to pass a- 
 way ; they necessarily converge in the hand of 
 money-holders; and in running themselves off, they 
 bring back, to the coffers of these money-holders, 
 the circulatory impledgements, of which our finan- 
 cial process is constituted. Similar obligations, 
 therefore, arising out of similar transactions, must 
 draw out similiir impledgements, for the service 
 of circulation, otherwise, the circulatory process 
 must unavoidably run itself off in a continued train. 
 These transactions, let it however, be noticed, tend 
 likewise to run in a train : the same reproductive 
 processcss are stimulated and supported, and the 
 same fruits brought to maturity ; because the lim- 
 ited, unsubstantial nature of the accommodation 
 that is accorded to the proprietors of establishments, 
 admits not of the institution of new processes, nor 
 even of their resorting to very extended operations 
 upon old ones. If, therefore, as in the case with 
 us at present, our great leading processes of in- 
 ilustry send forth fruits that, from their nature^
 
 770 
 
 are destinated to an unprofitable, perhaps to a nu 
 inoLis market, is it not evident, that for tlie pur- 
 pose of maintaining in circulation, a due propor- 
 tion of validated impledgcments, we must, in a man- 
 ner, chain ourselves dov^m to this market ? We are 
 as it were, necessitated to keep up a course of de- 
 structive industry, which desolates society in all its 
 branches, in order to draw out of it the necessary sup- 
 ply of the medium. Without this industry, without 
 submission to established modes of intercourse, we 
 could not have the adequate proportion of com- 
 mercial transferences and of transmissable obliga- 
 tions -, and without this proportionate supply of ob- 
 ligations, we could not have in circulation amongst 
 us, a competent amount of validated impledgements. 
 Our financial system arises out of our uiercantile 
 circumstances, it partakes of its character, and, in 
 its present circumstances, it generally resolves itself 
 into a perpetuation of this character and of these cir- 
 cumstances, however objectionable these may be. 
 
 It must be noticed flu'ther, that as our whole pro- 
 cess of financial intercourse turns upon personal 
 obligations that arise out of mercantile operations, 
 so it is powerfully afiected by all the contingencies 
 by which these operations are affected. Commercial 
 confidence is the principle by which all tliese ope- 
 rations are conducted. Transmissable obligations 
 have no power or efficacy, but as they are sup- 
 ported by commercial confidence ; yet commercial 
 confidence is itself the creature of accident, and, 
 every way, its existence is fugitive and precarious.
 
 771 
 
 The smallest confusion in public affairs affects it ; 
 and on the approach of misfortune to any indivi- 
 dual, it most preremptorily refuses him its aid. 
 Whence it hap])ens that this principle is never affect- 
 ed, without endangering every thing that comes in 
 contact with it. It does this, chiefly, because when 
 in its full strength, it combines eflicacy and vigor in 
 financial operations, it gives value and power to all 
 t!ie circulations which it supports, and it animates 
 every social exertion with tenfold alacrity. Let it 
 be noticed, farther, that commercial confidence 
 can only exist, where commercial prosperity and 
 security exists ; it pre-supposes the existence of the 
 attainments that are necessary for discharging neces- 
 sary functions, and a decided bent of the socialbody, 
 to useful and profitable employments. But before any 
 advantage can result from these attainments, (which 
 in our circumstances have never been awantinrr "i 
 and in order to give to these their full weight, a con- 
 currence of excitations, coincident with the inte- 
 rests of industry, is indispensibly necessary. Where- 
 ever this concurrence is av.'anting,we perceive, (as at 
 ])resent,) that commercial confidence, cannot exist. 
 Sensibly alive to the abatement of this concurrence 
 it not only indicates an abatementof its j)ower, but 
 it daily extends its tremulating influence through 
 every connected branch of industry. It is in these 
 circumstances, that the money-holder and the capi- 
 talist avoid the approaching danger, by drawing in, 
 as far as circumstances will admit of i:, liis per- 
 sonal obligations. In doing this, he cannot be 
 blamed, for hov.ever desirous he may be, to con- 
 
 5 E 2
 
 772 
 
 tribute his means to the service of industry, he must 
 iiiil in his object ; he has not only to encounter risks, 
 to cover which his i)rofits are not equal ; but he 
 thereby, in a manner, impledgcs himself to support 
 and carryforward an order of things, by which nei- 
 ther public nor private good can be ultimately sub- 
 served, and which tend to desolation and disorder. 
 
 That these difficulties and imperfections are in- 
 herent in the present financial system, and that they 
 are fully met and obviated under that which is pro- 
 posed, may be inferred from the preceding exposi- 
 tions. Their contrariety and repugnance to the ge- 
 neral circumstances of a society, advancing stead- 
 ily in the paths of social and individual improve- 
 ment, may be also inferred from these expositions. 
 
 Let us again take a survey of the system pro- 
 posed, as comprizing the remedy to these disorders. 
 Under it no resolution of the medium can be held 
 to be ultimate, until its value has been rested di- 
 rectly upon substantive property, not only compe- 
 tent thereto, but comprizing every advantage that 
 can be connected with the same amount of abso- 
 lute wealth. The plenitude of the medium, thus 
 drawn up, must remove every difficulty out of the 
 w^ay of effecting such resolutions, at the same time, 
 that the irrefragability of the instrument that re- 
 presents these, must insure the stability of the 
 value thus resolved. In the next place, under 
 this system, emanations of wealth are circulated, 
 in the direct view of public, as well as of private 
 advantage j and they are placed under the guardian-
 
 773 
 
 sliip of those, whose interest coincides with these 
 circumstances. Having no necessary connexion 
 with factitious or extrinsic transferences of value, 
 circulable emblems may spring fortli and diffuse 
 themselves from native resources ; and having no 
 necessary dependence on particular productions 
 of industry, or perishable objects, or transmissable 
 obligations, they may be circulated and kept in mo- 
 tion, in perfect security, under every change of cir- 
 cumstances. Lastly, the operations of industry and 
 tlie movements of wealth, being thus made to pro- 
 ceed alongst a secure and ample basis, to converge 
 constantly upon real consolidated property, and to 
 bear up along with them the best and most essen- 
 tial interests of this property, — the state, the nation 
 at large, and every particular community, must re- 
 tain an influence over industry and wealth, and 
 over all the property created under their power, 
 that cannot but add regularity and stability to finan- 
 cial operations. At present, circulable wealth, at 
 the maturity of these cumulations of transmissable 
 obligations on which it rests, may not only disappear, 
 but in disappearing, it may carry along with it that 
 substantive property, whence these transmissable 
 obligations arose, whereby the fountain of absolute 
 wealth may be nearly dried up. Under the system 
 proposed, however, no such emergency can take 
 place. In whichever way current obligations may 
 be resolved, or to whatever quarter the wealth that 
 constitutes these may pass, the roots, or springs of 
 such wealth being native, and fixed in the soil, and 
 sending forth their resources constantly to the ser-
 
 774 
 
 vice of its appropriate district, circidating these on 
 the spot, and forming equivalents under their in- 
 fluence, — every thing that is consumed, or passed 
 off, or destroyed, must be sj)eedily replaced ; its 
 value will Le again brought into circulation, and 
 again diffused, and substantiated *. 
 
 * In the exposition of this financial system, given in the 
 5q^ and following pages, the general principles and leading ope- 
 rations alone are traced out ; it is left to the disci etion and ex- 
 perience of the instituted board, to proportion and fill up the 
 plan proposed, according to the real state of things. It will be 
 proper, however, in this place, to give some detailed expositions 
 of this procedure, that may be held to be consequent to the 
 provisions then adhibited. 
 
 It will be recollected, that two sets d property, both valuable 
 and marketable, and in themselves reproductive, and so constitut- 
 ed, that in the ordinary course of things, they must send forth ob- 
 jects of desire and utility, sufficient to implement the value which 
 they represented, are held to be provided : which properties 
 •were also held to have been received at prices, and placed in 
 circumstances, that rendered them at all times competent to the 
 purposes for which they were thus set aside. The first of these 
 properties was to be conveyed to the instituted board, in such a 
 way, that this board might, without any process of law whatever, 
 in every case of defalcation, draw therefrom the requisite relief, 
 and accord complete indemnification to the party injured, at the 
 expence of the party in default. The other property was held 
 to remain in reserve for another purpose. It being incumbent 
 on these financial establishments to relieve the public of their 
 circulatory impledgements, by giving, at the requirement of the 
 holder, in lieu of these, certified obligations bearing interest ; 
 this property was set aside in relief of that object, and was a- 
 menable in all cases of need to the board, for making good these 
 obligations. 
 
 As emergency, however, presents itself for notice, that it is
 
 775 
 
 It must at tlie same time be recollected,' that 
 these inherent qualities of the instituted system do 
 uot necessarily supercede or invalidate the circu- 
 
 necessary to provide for. In the course of their transactions 
 it is evident, that these banks, or financial institutions, might 
 gradually Hraw under their influence ten times tlie wealth that 
 these properties comprised. It was held to be competent to 
 them, at all times, to give forth their impledgements, and it wa^ 
 held to be incompetent to any one, to relieve himself from a 
 pressure of these impledgements beyond his own exigencies, 
 otherwise, than by returning them to the bank, and demanding, 
 in lieu of them, a certified obligation, bearing interest ; which 
 certified obligation he could not otherwise get quit of, but by 
 re-demanding its value in similar impledgements, with the sta- 
 tutory interest. These simple provisions might be sufiicient, if 
 it never could happen to be the interest of banks to hold a great- 
 er quantity of the current property of the community in their 
 power, than was sufficiently covered ; but as this contingency 
 might take place, it seems to be proper to guard against it. 
 
 This I would propose td do, by rendering it necessary for ev- 
 ery bank to cover all these certified obligations with ascertained 
 property, and to give that full satisfaction to the public, which 
 such a provision and understanding necessarily implies. This 
 addition to the former plan requires some explanation. 
 
 In the first place, let a book be kept for this express purpose, 
 by each bank, open to tlie inspection and examination of com- 
 missioners, thereto appointed, and cognizable by every individual 
 who has any interest in the subject of it. Let the first entry in 
 this book certify the sum that is impledged, in security of these 
 obligations, and let every subsequent transaction be entered in 
 its order under it. When the property mortgaged is to be bur- 
 dened, a deduction will be made from the sum notifying the 
 value that has been impledged ; when it is to be relieved, the 
 relief thus given will be added to the value under impledgement. 
 By this means, it would be seen at all times what the real value
 
 776 
 
 lating funds at present in use. On the contrary, 
 in so far as these circulations are really secure and 
 irrefragable, the whole provisions now proposed 
 
 of the subject, on which banks may operate, really is, and bankers 
 themselves would thereby also discern to what extent they might 
 make their circulations. But in order that banks might not be 
 unnecessarily straitened, it would be proper to have it received 
 as a rule, that they might, at their pleasure, either annex to, 
 or subtract from, the property laid under impledgement, accord- 
 ing as it suited their own financial purposes. 
 
 It is evident, however, that in spite of every precaution, dif- 
 ficulties might occur in following out the above rule. As a 
 corrolary or succedaneum, therefore, to that rule, let it be un- 
 derstood, that it would at all times be competent to banks, on 
 notes being presented to them for deposition or resolution, to set 
 these notes themselves aside. This might be done, by bundling 
 them up at the sight of the depositor, under a proper inclosure, 
 and docqueted label, setting forth the sum inclosed, the date of 
 its delivery, and the period within which it must be brought 
 back, in order to its being either retired, or placed regularly at the 
 deposit account. As these bundles behoved to remain in the 
 depositor's hands, some sign or seal, both on the inside of the 
 inclosure and on the out, might be affixed, so as to render it im- 
 possible for any one to make use of its contents, Avithout detec- 
 tion. These different provisions would meet every exigency, 
 even the most extreme, to which the banker could be exposed. 
 No one could take him so much at unawares as to make him 
 forfeit his pledge, for he had only to take up the impledgements 
 presented to him, and bundling these up under an inclosure, 
 the bundle would represent their amount, effectually resolved 
 into certified obligations, bearing interest, and resting upon the 
 property which the impledgements themselves, when in a cir- 
 culatory state, had commanded for their security. His ovm 
 means v/ould not thereby be diminished, for he would still en- 
 joy the use of all that capital that was mortgaged to the public 
 -as ?o much deposited capital. The impledgements themselves.
 
 777 
 
 are, in etFect, real supporters to these circulations. 
 Certain necessary and salutary regulations are, no 
 doubt, introduced into the received practice, and 
 
 like gold in :i strong box, would be circiilvible property in reserve ; 
 tiiese would appear the instant they were wanted, along with 
 tliat interest which, while under certification, they had produc- 
 ed. These different operations would no doubt occasion some 
 trouble and expence to the banker, for which it is but fair that 
 he should be indemnified. Perhaps, however, one quarter per 
 cent, the premium at present exacted by bankers on their disburse- 
 ments, would be fully sufficient for this purpose. As it would 
 preclude vexatious harrassment, it might also be proper to re- 
 lieve bankers from the necessity of adhibiting their certifications 
 for despositions below twenty pounds. 
 
 It is evident, that a great many regulations, in the same spir- 
 it and import with the foregoing, might be specified and set 
 down as necessary and proper rules, ia following out the pro- 
 posed plan. As this, however, would lead into detailed views 
 of financial operations, with which it would now be inconveni- 
 ent to burden ourselves, these must be held to be implicitly left 
 to the discretion and experience of the instituted board. The 
 foregoing provisions, however, are manifestly by far too impor- 
 tant to be passed over in this general way ; for it is only by 
 following them out, that the whole financial system can unfold 
 itself on sound principles. By this means, circulable and trans- 
 missable impledgements, while possessed of all the advantages 
 peculiar to personal and absolute property, might, without pre- 
 judice, run over and command our whole substantial wealth ; 
 for property would be alike valuable in its circulatory and in its 
 resolved capacity. In these capacities, it would exercise and re- 
 munerate general industry and enterprize, at the very time that 
 it emanated circulatory funds ; and means would be constantly 
 formed under the influence of these funds, sufficient to substan- 
 tiate and realize the results of their emanations. Fixed repro- 
 ductive property, in these circumstances, could never be held
 
 778 
 
 tiiesc regulations have it for their object, to draw 
 out of the course of circuhition, every representa- 
 tion of wealth that cannot fairly support itself. In 
 consequence of the abundance of the validated cur- 
 rency, it is probable, also, that much fewer trans- 
 missable obligations would be passed in circulation 
 than formerly. This, however, it is evident, could 
 noways disparage the interest of society. Indi- 
 viduals would continue to draw their support in 
 the direct way of trade; in the common market, they 
 would obtain not merely a resolution of their com- 
 modities into absolute wealth, but for the most 
 .part, along with this, they would obtain real pos- 
 session of this wealth, drawn up, in some circulable 
 representation of its value. Thereby, the realized 
 sum would be placed beyond the range of contin- 
 gency ; thereby, also, the business of society would 
 go on as formerly, but it would go on in a safer 
 course. The interests of this business, thus sup- 
 ported, however, would only be prosecuted the more 
 securely, and on principles more coincident with 
 its general object ; and this object would, when ac- 
 complished, be only the more conducive to the in- 
 terests of the business that was thus transacted. 
 
 This leads us to a more interesting view of our 
 project. What is it that renders so much of our 
 
 to be set aside from public use ; according as it increased, its 
 emanations of circulating wealth could be increased ; and these 
 emanations, in exercising their influence over internal and ex- 
 ternal resources, would, in like manner, constantly increase the 
 aggregate amount of wealth realized and substantiated.
 
 79 
 
 labour and solicitude abortive ? What is it that 
 protrudes the courses of our trade and industry, 
 so fatally to destruction ? What is it that absorbs 
 and swallows up the valuable results of our ener- 
 gies and resources ? Is it not the insuperable evils 
 under which we are brought by the existing finan- 
 cial system ? Capitalists are set down amidst a 
 multitude of reproductive establishments, regular- 
 ly organized, and furnished with a complement of 
 men and means for their service. In order to en- 
 able capitalists, however, to avail themselves fully 
 of these advantages, they cannot but involve them- 
 selves in a mass of personal transmissable obliga- 
 tions, depending for their ultimate resolution on 
 the merest contingencies. These obligations, in 
 the course of things, in place of being subservient 
 to, become directors of, subsequent movements. 
 Every contingency confirms things more and more 
 in this inverted order ; and the greatest of all con- 
 tingencies, universal embarrassment and general 
 bankruptcy, but seals them up the more completely. 
 No financial aid can be obtained until transmissa- 
 ble obligations can be produced ; and these obli- 
 gations cannot be obtained otherwise, than in the 
 ordinary course of trade, although the circumstances 
 of all parties forbid them from anywise interfering 
 with the course already instituted. The means, 
 and powers, and faculties of the greatest capital- 
 ists are, in this way, in the end worn out; they arc 
 unavoidably and hopelessly exhausted in a course 
 of reproduction, that is intact a public calamity, from 
 which they can by no means obtain any discharge, 
 
 5 V 2
 
 '80 
 
 so long as our illusory and concretivc form oflinance 
 remains as it is. Mankind in general, must be de- 
 pendent on industry, not only for means but for 
 money ; the instrument, by which tlicir respective 
 proportions of these means is to be obtained, being 
 attainable by few in any other way. When, there- 
 fore, men's habits and circumstances, necessarily 
 more or less concatenated with their employments, 
 are fixed down by a system of hnance, which thus 
 hopelessly exhausts their vital strength, does not 
 the necessity of according some radical relief to 
 those, who are at the head of such an order of 
 things, manifestly appear ? and ouglit not this re- 
 lief to be such, as will enable these to extricate the 
 general powers of society from a concretive pros- 
 tration to such pernicious influence ? 
 
 It is unnecessary for me to go over the various 
 grounds, on which the proposed system meets and 
 obviates all these embarrassing circumstances. It 
 is sufficient, after the expositions already given, to 
 advert to the protracted period, and independent 
 circumstances, in which the circulating medium 
 necessarily moves. This medium, having for its 
 basis, solid irrefragable property, is not, as at pre- 
 sent, to be kept in a state of dependence upon the 
 general fate of entcrprize. Bankers need not place 
 their funds in the hands of London agents, by 
 whom they will, in the course of trade, be difl'used 
 amidst the most forlorn and desperate adventurers, 
 friends and dependents, it may be, of these bank- 
 ers, who, buoyed up by some respectable nanu?s and
 
 781 
 
 characters, lliat have been allured into such de- 
 structive courses, carry these, and all that these 
 carry along' with them, into the most forlorn enter- 
 prizes ; all wiiich support, drawn though it be from 
 the vitals of the nation, serves only to aggravate 
 the destruction that is inevitable, and to involve 
 whole districts of country in their desolating train. 
 The Hnancial operations of the new system, eman- 
 ate from property that is absolutely secure, and 
 set aside for this express purpose, and that is drawn 
 up in that precise shape, and under those very cir- 
 cumstances, that are most proper for securing to it 
 its imported value. In other words, the property 
 thus drawn up and represented, is not only realized 
 and substantiated in the bankers' own hands, and 
 universally recognized and accepted at its appro- 
 priate estimation, but is placed under the direct 
 influence of the parties most deeply interested in 
 maintaining this estimation, and as such, it cannot 
 but be powerfully protected by the highest provi- 
 sions in the system. The advantage, here referred 
 to, is increased by the coincidence of the circum- 
 stances of the property itself, with those of the 
 system in which it is implicated ; by the importance 
 attached to its results in their fullest developement, 
 as leading branches of the general system ; and by 
 the consequent paramount influence, which the in- 
 terests of this property must maintain over those 
 of every other property in the community. 
 
 It will be recollected, that a long run of ytjars 
 is to be secured to the currency of these implcdge-
 
 782 
 
 mentd. The value and importance of this advan- 
 tage, when taken in connexion with llie indepen- 
 dent and respectable footing on which bankers may 
 conduct their business, are too obvious to require 
 any illustration. This provision is necessary on 
 many accounts, but more particularly so in con- 
 sequence of the extensive range of improvement, 
 that is to be laid open under the proposed system. 
 It is necessary for those who embark in undertak- 
 ings, arising out of a vast progression of things, to 
 ^lave a lengthened period of accommodation in re- 
 spect to their financial transactions ; and this can 
 only be obtained for them by putting it in the power 
 of bankers, to give this accommodation, without 
 subjecting themselves to unnecessary danger and 
 trouble. In the way of bestowing this accommoda- 
 tion, much solemnity and deliberation may frequent- 
 ly be necessary. It may be the interest of bankers 
 to pass off their impledgements into the hands of 
 individuals, who can njake the most liberal use of 
 them ; but it may, at the same time, be indispensi- 
 jbly necessary to take real as well as personal secu- 
 rity for the accommodation that is thereby given ; 
 a contingency, that presupposes much caution, as 
 well as deliberation on all hands. When such 
 facilities, in advancing projects, have been general- 
 ly provided, enterprises and reproductive proces- 
 ses may be set agoing under the most favorable 
 circumstances. Not only may every improvement, 
 provision, and advantage be secured to these, but 
 the conductors of them may be enabled to give to 
 their merchants a lengthened credit, as olten as their.
 
 •83 
 
 circumstances may require it. Here, too, much 
 deliberation may be necessary : arrangements of this 
 kind must be conchided under a contemph\tion of all 
 their consequences ; but experience and observa- 
 tion will soon make these preliminary steps easy and 
 familiar,and render the most complicated operations 
 noways problematic. In this way, although the mar- 
 ket of the whole world, and a range of enterprize 
 proportionate to that market, be thrown open to 
 the adventurer, means and funds, equal to its whole 
 extent, will be at hand, which may be introduced 
 into it, not in the way of desperate enterprize, but 
 in that of deliberate contrivance, and under the 
 direction and control of men of capital and good 
 sense. Although, therefore, the risks inseparable 
 from such an extension of enterprize may not be 
 entirely obviated, they will certainly be greatly di- 
 minished. These risks, and the uncertainties con- 
 nected with them, will be drawn up under a variety 
 of heads, over each of which, public and general 
 institutions of assurance maybe established; which 
 risks, when thus secured and provided for, may, 
 by a variety of methods, correspondent to the na- 
 ture of each particular case, to be divised and re- 
 sorted to as occasion requires, be so divided and 
 frittered away, as to become subjects of easy com- 
 prehension. Of these advantages we may obtain 
 some idea, by adverting to similar establishments 
 that at present exist, and that are so useful, and so 
 efficient, to this very object in our present system. 
 
 It must be noticed, that the accommodation thus
 
 '84 
 
 given is altogether of a different kind, from any that 
 borrowers upon mortgage ean at present obtain. On 
 all such occasions, the person borrowing must resort 
 to the money market, and draw away his own set 
 of funds from its former offices, wiiere perhaps its ser- 
 vices are equally important, and equally indispen- 
 sible, although, from the humor of the lender, this 
 may not be regarded. In the way proposed, how- 
 ever, the funds requisite are created for the pur- 
 pose ; and as they dilapidate no process of repro- 
 duction in their creation ; so, as any exuberance, 
 that may ensue, will immediately revert into the 
 establishment whence it arose, the funds thus cre- 
 ated can produce no general incumberance. In 
 the mean time, the funds thereby procured will not 
 only resolve themselves directly under the influence 
 of capitalists, but they will also create, in favour 
 of these, occasions and opportunities for turning 
 their wealth and influence to the best account. 
 Occupations, wherein, without much trouble, they 
 may avail themselves of their floating property, in 
 a way congenial to their circumstances, opportuni- 
 ties, and advantages, will necessarily arise out of 
 these circulations. Besides the variety of matters 
 for assurance already noticed, competent only to 
 capitalists, various contingencies must occur, amidst 
 the extended line of transactions, resulting from the 
 vast progression of improvement held to be institut- 
 ed, which may lead into aflkirs fit for their interposi- 
 tion. The circulable medium can never be long out 
 of sight, when real and substantial wealth can so read-
 
 78; 
 
 ily command it. These, like a corps-de-rescrve, 
 would be at hand for tlie supj)ort of the unfortunate. 
 This employment they could exercise witli pecu. 
 liar advantage, for the whole system laid down, 
 starts up in relief of all those whose aiiairs may, 
 for the moment, be thus bound up, when these ob- 
 ligations, are but the announciations of the value of 
 property, drawn up under them. Wliile this provi- 
 sion strikes at tlie root of a concretion of trans- 
 missable obligations, it gives to obligations of every 
 kind redoubled efficacy in their direct course. It 
 strikes at tlie root of our present evils, and the very 
 instrument, that cuts short their malign influences, 
 makes full way for the peculiar conveniencies that 
 arc to follow. Personal obligations, that are now 
 so frequently overwhelming to all who are impli- 
 cated in them, must, in these circumstances, be- 
 come the vehicles of seasonable refreshment : they 
 will give salutary relief to the person obligated, 
 when this relief is requisite, and they will do this 
 without burdening the general system. When cir- 
 culablc obligations arc of sufficient validity to 
 maintain their own ground, they may afterwards be 
 passed into the hands of the money-holder ; when 
 they do not possess this validity, they will remain 
 in reserve in the hands of their owners; and either 
 way, if they do not replenish, they will not bind 
 up the general energies of society. 
 
 Thf.se considerations arc, of themselves, a suf- 
 h'cient proof of the propriety of resorting to radical 
 provisions for remedying the general evils of our
 
 786 
 
 financial system, both in a political and in a com* 
 mercial point of view. When taken in connexion 
 however, with the various other considerations that 
 have been previously set forth and illustrated, they 
 evince the propriety, as well as the necessity, not 
 only of a complete, but of an immediate recourse 
 to such provisions, and they leave us no ground 
 whatever to doubt of their salutary and beneficent 
 operation. 
 
 Besides the foregoing, there are other inferences 
 from the same premises, that are of a much higher 
 and far more comprehensive nature. To make the 
 preceding illustrations bear on these with their 
 proper weight, would require a volume, by itself, 
 t)f no ordinary dimensions. There are two gene- 
 ral views, however, under which the most impor- 
 tant of these conclusions may be classed, which, I 
 apprehend, may comprize all the remarks that, in 
 the present restricted state of our subject, it is 
 competent for us to make. The first of these classes 
 comprises the effects of the foregoing system on 
 the circumstances of nations ; the other, its effects 
 on the characteis of individuals. 
 
 First, The above financial scheme, though pri- 
 marily adapted to the circumstances of the British 
 nation, may be accommodated to those of any o- 
 ther great civilized nation in Christendom, and 
 more particularly to those nations, that it is meant 
 to implicate in the proposed system of improve- 
 ment. "Wherever the powers of reproduction have
 
 787 
 
 been improved and concentrated, the fruits of 
 these, prepared and distributed upon equitable and 
 mercantile principles, their value drawn up and 
 represented, and in that, as well as in their sub- 
 stantial form, recognized, circulated, and resolved in- 
 to accredited wealth, there funds may be drawn forth 
 out of the roots of these establishments. It is re- 
 quisite, that property, in. all its ramifications, be 
 duly protected by the dominant power, and that 
 its resolutions accord with the general principles of 
 prudence and good government, in order that the 
 value of the reproductive establishments, set apart 
 as the basis of financial operations, may be seen to 
 be in itself altogether irrefragable, and in order 
 that the circulation of the fruits of these establish- 
 ments may regularly resolve themselves into the 
 service of the instituted system of improvement. 
 But under these advantages, as industry may deve- 
 lope its powers without restraint, and as emulation 
 amongst individuals will constantly lead on to high- 
 er developements of these powers, so, amidst the 
 progressive improvement, that must thus be main- 
 tained, marketable property, the result of these ex- 
 ercitations, will constantly be produced in such pro- 
 portions, as to meet, and even to anticipate, every 
 want that may be induced by consumption or de- 
 cay ; and it will thereby not only maintain, in full 
 force, the strength and vigor of the circulatory pro- 
 cesses, but add considerably to their power and 
 capacity. 
 
 Thk truth and importance of this position can- 
 
 5 (3 2
 
 788 
 
 not now be a matter of disputation. When pro- 
 perty, of a fixed and consolidated, as well as of a 
 circulablc and perishing nature, is thus brought 
 forward into the service of finance, chat beneficent, 
 self-devolving system, whereof individual and inde- 
 pendent advancement is the object, will unfold its 
 powers. Mankind, in their personal capacity, will 
 increase in wealth, and in individual influence and 
 importance ; and in thus advancing, they will come 
 to respect and confide in one another, and to act 
 towards each other in conformity to these honour- 
 able sentiments. Personable obligations, in an ac- 
 credited state, will bear their proper weight in the 
 circulatory processes ; and in circulating, they will 
 stimulate and advance national industry. What- 
 ever becomes established in such circumstances, 
 will bear its accepted character ; and as the results 
 of industry and enterprize will be calculated on 
 with more certainty, they will be prosecuted with 
 becoming eagerness. In the mean time, let it be 
 noticed, that the state and the government will not 
 only rest on, but become implicated in, this course 
 of improvement, and that these, accordingly, may be 
 held to be impledged for the safety and maniten- 
 ancc of all the provisions, whereby these advanta- 
 ges are upheld. Every ditficulty or embarrassment 
 to which these provisions may be incident, it must 
 also be noticed, will at the same time, be fully met 
 and obviated, by the antecedent order of things. 
 This svstem, it is evident, can only be introduced 
 into a society, wherein beneficent and independent 
 industry is duly established and protected ; but
 
 789 
 
 when therein introducctl, it must, in virtue of these 
 provisions, as a mere matter of course, be kept con- 
 stantly agoing under every advantage. 
 
 These are most important considerations, for if 
 every great nation and kingdom may thus advance 
 in power, in splendor, and in the strength of its own 
 energies; and if these may severally develope wealth 
 and power out of their own peculiar resources, in 
 the simple way of circulating the value of their 
 own established consolidated wealth, it must follow 
 as a necessary conclusion, that nations are not under 
 the absolute necessity of looking beyond their own 
 frontiers iov Jinancial relief. In case of a deficiency 
 o^ means, importations o^meajis ^\:om abroad may be 
 needful ; and as this deficiency may take place sud- 
 denly and to a vast extent in the articles most es- 
 sential to lunnan existence, it seems to have become 
 incumbent on states and nations, to have an extra 
 supply of these in readiness to meet the emergency. 
 Moreover, \\\\ewforetgn subsidies andforeign supplies 
 liave become a necessary part of our system, a simi- 
 lar preparation for their service may be no less pro- 
 per. In both these, therefore, and in similar cases, 
 where funds or means calculated for foreign services 
 are needful, as the business of providing for them, if 
 left to the spur of the moment, might prove a most 
 arduous task, it is wise and proper for every state 
 to connect its system of reproduction, more or less 
 with that of other nations ; for thereby only, bal- 
 ances of wealth, tobe operated upon at pleasure, dan 
 be procured. But this is quite a different matter
 
 790 
 
 from resting on exterior intercourse, for pecuniary 
 'jui/r(M micljincmctal ittlefemrrsr. This last is a dependence 
 ■which must always occasion turmoil, difficulty and 
 calamity. By the proposed scheme, nations may be 
 relieved from this dependence ; and perhaps it is by 
 means of some such financial scheme alone, that 
 cftectual relief of this kind, can be obtained. 
 
 Although, however, the proposed system of 
 finance professes neither to meet nor to dispense 
 with foreign supplies, to surmount nor to obviate 
 them ; it serves to place the circulatory processes, 
 necessary for these, and for every other purpose, 
 upon an equal an,d solid basis ; and by so doing, 
 it renders this process independent of foreign 
 aid. For the relief of the immense reproductive 
 processes that may thereupon be instituted, impor- 
 tation and exportation may be alike necessary ; 
 and in all great nations, the interest of these vast 
 processes will prevail over those of an inferior de- 
 scription. Still, however, it must be recollected, 
 that it is by means of an independent and secure 
 general system of finance, that these, and every 
 other reproductive establishment performs its o- 
 perations with due effect, and that, with this ad- 
 vantage, amidst distress and embarrassment in every 
 form, national improvement cannot be deprived of 
 its necessary supplies, it will again regerminate, even 
 after the whole means and finances, formerly col- 
 lected for this purpose, have disappeared ; and so 
 long as the roots of increase remain, so long will 
 the powers of increase again unfold themselves. As
 
 791 
 
 tills liigh object may be obtained, merely by drawing 
 up the current value of these powers, in a concen- , 
 trated and improved state, condensing these under 
 appropriate establishments, and, placing this value, 
 in a transmissable form, under the safe guard of the 
 nation ; so, every nation may avail itself, of the va- 
 rious advantages and facilities for creating and cir- 
 culating representations and emblems of value, that 
 its general system affords. There is no great civi- 
 lized nation, therefore, which has felt the influence 
 of the christian system, that may not become pos- 
 sessed of a system of finance, constituted on the 
 principles that have been unfolded. 
 
 It is not at all necessary to follow out the va- 
 rious classes of advantages, thus laid open for the 
 nations, in a regular order. This has already been 
 done in regard to Britain, and with little altera- 
 tion, the views, then taken, may be applied to every 
 great nation in Christendom. It cannot, however, 
 be improper to make a few observations on the ad- 
 vantages, tliat these provisions will infer to the 
 landed interest, and to the state, in every great 
 independent community. 
 
 TuK advantages, which the landed interest of the 
 kingdoms of Eur()|)e, behoved, necessarily, to derive 
 from the institution of such a vast, stable, and ap- 
 propriate system of finance as that which har^ been 
 proposed, are of the most important kind. It must 
 be remarked, that it is applicable to the circum- 
 stances of civilized society in every stage of im-
 
 792 
 
 provement ; it rests on real property, it requires 
 only the protection of an equitable system of laws, 
 and the patronage of those who are most directly 
 interested on its results ; and under these auspices, 
 it will emanate all the funds that are necessary for 
 meeting the whole financial wants of any commun- 
 ity. In a low state of the arts, agriculture, the first 
 art, and at all times, the most important, will afford 
 the requisite basis for such a system of finance in 
 its most perfect state. Then, the means, necessary 
 for its advancement, are the most plentiful ; land, 
 labor, and every rude material being superabun- 
 dant ; spirit and energy, to take full advantage of 
 these provisions, being alone deficient. In virtue, 
 however, of the facilities held to have been provid- 
 ed for drawing up the value of land in a representative 
 form, landed property, would not only stimulate 
 and support, but animate and invigorate the agri- 
 cultural processes, and make them extract from these 
 rude objects, the whole means necessary for their 
 improvement. They would give a value and an 
 importance to these superabundant means formerly 
 unthought of; and they would make this value and 
 this importance, bear with full force on agricultur- 
 al improvement. The range of industry would, in 
 this way, be extended, and in extending itself, it 
 would bring into the service of agriculture, all those 
 facilities and advantages, that are necessary forJts 
 regular progression in this high course. Com- 
 mercial intercourse, supported by such a financial 
 basis, would thereupon introduce its stimulative 
 aid. Wealth would be realized, accumulated, and
 
 793 
 
 resolved into territorial improvement. Industry, of 
 that kind, whicli coincides most direotly witl) the 
 character ?ind circnmshinces of" each nation, would 
 be improved, concentrated, organized and advanced, 
 in conformity to the progression of the existing sys- 
 ten\;; ittfco the advancement of which, its fruits would 
 be resolved, and its results transfused and circulated. 
 While in this way, the power of the agricultural pro- 
 cesses would be advanced, the influence of the land- 
 ed interest, who preside over these, would be con- 
 firmed and extended ; and this power, and this in- 
 fluence, would be rendered alike instrumental in 
 advancing and in extending general improvement. 
 
 It has already been shewn, that the landed in- 
 terest is the strongest rampart of the laws, the true 
 barrier betwixt the governing and the governed ; 
 nnd that all that is dignified, respectable, and valu- 
 able, necessarily finds in this class a receptacle and 
 a safeguard ; it is evident, therefore, that accord- 
 ing a3 this class advances, the safety of the social 
 body, and the security of all that has been attained 
 for it, will necessarily increase. It was also shewn, 
 however, that the landed interest was peculiarly 
 pron^J to usurp unauthorized privileges, and to 
 monopolize general advantages ; and tliat the in- 
 troduction oCa financial system, whereby the inde- 
 pendence uf individuals of every class, both in the 
 exercise of their personal rights, and in the im» 
 provemcnt of tlicir respective characters and con- 
 ditions could be maintained, would serve to clieck 
 this tendency to usurpation. As the advance- 
 
 5 H
 
 '94 
 
 niciit of the landed interest, and the restraint above 
 referred to, arise alike out of the ordinary and ne- 
 cessary developenients of the proposed system, and 
 as it is competent to every great nation to resort to 
 this system, and to accommodate the ameliorating 
 influence of this system to its own circumstances; so, 
 it is evident, that society in every great nation may 
 be ameliorated by it, and that the developement of 
 these advantages will add constantly to the strength 
 and stability of each national system ; industry 
 will have its widest range, as well as its firmest 
 support ; and the fruits and results of each system 
 will attain to their full value and effect. In the 
 hands of the proprietor of the soil, the influences 
 of such attainments will be necessarily drawn up, 
 and resolved into higher objects, and thus exercis- 
 ed in the way of exalting the character of the 
 general system of each particular nation. Over 
 the whole, the power and influence of a vast and 
 comprehensive, benificent and powerful system will 
 be spread ; which, impressing regularly and simul- 
 taneously the movements of these inferior canton- 
 ments of the social power, would conform them to 
 its leading character, and implicate them in its 
 leading advantages. As each nation, in virtue of 
 the general arrangement of social improvement laid 
 down, must participate in this benign adumbration, 
 in proportion to the conformity of its character to 
 these influences, so each nation would, in like man- 
 ner, transfuse these attainments throughout its 
 whole peculiar affairs, by means of its own flnan-
 
 795 
 
 cial provisions, according as these affairs could re- 
 ceive these advantages. 
 
 IxV such circumstances, and indeed in every 
 stage of the progression of such circumstances, as 
 the funds, necessary for giving an impetus to the 
 process of reproduction, would arise, of their own 
 accord, out of the means tliat may have been pre- 
 viously provided and substantiated, it would not 
 be necessary, as at present, to subtract these from 
 one reproductive subject, in order to procure them 
 for the service of another ; these funds would at all 
 times be at hand ; but they would be only at hand, 
 when they are wanted, when their use is obvious, 
 and their destination necessary. Society will not 
 be starved out of one course of reproduction, in 
 the way of making provision for another; it may 
 may be drawn from a course that is carried on in 
 subserviency to a mere financial project, and it 
 maybe conducted to another course that is equally 
 subservient to another financial project. But in all 
 these deviations, a regard to ulterior consequences, 
 not a general deficiency of funds, nor any coercive 
 influence, will be the procuring cause. The path of 
 advantage will be fully exposed, the means for pur- 
 suing it with ardor will be pre[)ared, the spell of fata- 
 lity will be broken, and confidence, founded on ex- 
 perience, and on well-founded assurance, will be es- 
 tablished, and take the lead both in processes of in- 
 dustry, and in commercial undertakings. 
 
 The state, in such circumstances, can never be 
 
 5 u 2
 
 796 
 
 at a loss for funds, for means, nor for resouixxjs. In 
 order to provide funds, it is only needful to con- 
 solidate some of tliat funded capital which rests up- 
 on itself; ami having pracureil funds, neither means 
 nor resources can be lon^^ awanting. U\ for in- 
 stance, Great Britain had occasion for a loan of 
 four million pounds sterling, and it was seen to be 
 i-njurious to her commercial and mal^utacturing in- 
 terests, to withdraw so much funds out of the 
 money market, it would be enough for her, to find 
 means to induce holders of her own funds, to the 
 extent of ten oi* "twelve millions, to oondense their 
 capital in a financial establishment ^ tbi' by so doing, 
 this establishment could emit the sum required, in 
 validated impledgements, without draining funds 
 from more necessary, though perhaps less profitabk 
 investments. The impledgements thus emitted, let 
 it be notioed, could not burden the coiu'se of fi- 
 nancial operations, for they coidd be drawn out of 
 circulation, and appropriated to deposition, when- 
 ever their use as circulatory funds Was superceded. 
 As for impledgements already in circulation, that 
 might in consequence of these contingent supplies 
 be displaced, and driven back into the establishment 
 fix)m whence they arose, it is evident, that this re- 
 trocession wOukl be exactly proportionate to tli« 
 iiptitude of each establishment, and of its system of 
 management, to the object*- for which it was desti- 
 nated. If these objects, be they commercial or agri- 
 cultural, could maintain suOh emissions in the circle, 
 their appropriate impledgements could not be et- 
 f^Ctually displaced, in consequence of the contin-
 
 797 
 
 gent addition referred to ; tor altlioiigli bankers, like 
 every one else, be obbged to take in every validated 
 impledgeiiient that comes^into their hands, in the 
 way of discharging obligations current in their fa- 
 vor, they are under no necessity of burdening their 
 own deposit account, with any impledgemcnts 
 but tlieir own. Every other they may forth- 
 with transfer to jK the establishment that emitted it, 
 and in this way obtain a relief to their own deposit 
 account ; on the strength of which relief, they may 
 again venture to increase their own emissions ; and, 
 if tlie objects, for which their establishments are 
 destinated, can authorize them to create new circu- 
 labic impledgements, they may increase these in pro- 
 portion to the relief that has thus arisen into their 
 hajads, soan, in the end, to convert all the property, 
 set apart for security of deposition attlie commence- 
 ment of their business, into circukble property; the 
 security of their own deposition accountjbeing rested 
 Qn tlie basis, that is thus provided for them by estab- 
 lisJiments less happy in the objects to which their 
 circulations are destinated. As these considera- 
 tions press close upon the characteristic value of fi- 
 nancial establisliments, they would no doubt enter 
 into the views of government, and of all concerned, 
 before any new financial institution was erected ; 
 lor they are obvious and most important, they are 
 founded on the nature ofthe case. They lay a natu- 
 ral restraint on the creationof establishments J but 
 it is no other, than that which is necessary for the 
 security of the public and all concerned. This
 
 798 
 
 restraint, however, cannot injuriously tic up the 
 hands of the state ; for the state may, in the face 
 of all its consequences, institute such establish- 
 ments, when the circumstances of its own situation 
 render it necessary. The extremity of the evil is, 
 that the impledgements, that may in consequence 
 be emitted, will find their way into the hands 
 of other bankers ; but in so doing, they will not bur- 
 den the resources of these bankers, they will rein- 
 force their deposit account, and thereby increase 
 their own financial resources. In the meantime, 
 the course of other institutions will have run them- 
 selves out ; and in the way of their re-establishment, 
 and in the erection of new establishments, govern- 
 ment will, in all ordinary cases, find a direct relief 
 for newrepledgement and resolution, without injur- 
 ing the interests of individuals, or burdening the 
 process of financial intercourse. 
 
 These are most important considerations, and 
 they serve to bring fully under our view, the glo- 
 rious results of systematic improvement, when this 
 improvement comprises all the concerns of man- 
 kind, both in their individual, and in their collective 
 capacity ; and when it unfolds itself under sound 
 and beneficent principles, and transfuses the influ- 
 ence of these, with force and freedom, amongst the 
 nations at large. In such circumstances, each na- 
 tion being provided, not only with resources and e- 
 nergies peculiar to itself, but with funds and incite- 
 ments, and facilities, every way correspondent ta 
 these, would develope its own particular system.
 
 799 
 
 under the most favorable auspices. Its reproduc- 
 tive establishments would branch themselves out, 
 in their several classes. But these establishments, 
 powerfully impressed by the hand of nature, or of 
 some uncontrollable course of things, would begc- 
 ruc-rally of one particular cast and character. The 
 productions and the results of the particular estal)- 
 lishments of each nation, might be each excellent 
 and important of their kind ; but they would, seve- 
 rally, run out in a particular order, coincident to 
 their respective circumstances and character. In 
 this way, national commerce would never want ob- 
 jects, and national intercourse would be constantly 
 carried along higher and higher ground, according 
 as the developements of industry advanced in va- 
 lue and in importance. There could be little diffi- 
 culty in realizing wealth in its absolute shape, and 
 still less, in resolving it from that absolute state into 
 some commodious object of exchange. As each 
 nation would advance in its power of making re- 
 turns, and in its appetency to consume these, so ge- 
 neral wealth would not only te be increased, but 
 diffused ; and not only diffused, but aggregated in e- 
 very useful and desireable shape and situation. 
 The diflerent nations and societies of the world, hav- 
 ing each their own special advantages and provisions 
 and facilities, would give, not only to their produc- 
 tions and commodities, but to their more perma- 
 nent establishments and fixed institutions, a determi- 
 nate character and destination. Thereby, wliilc 
 each nation would stimulate the other, towards 
 all that is great, good, and praise- worthy, and occa-
 
 800 
 
 sionally iissist cacli otlier in this course, each na- 
 tion would also expose each other's perversities and 
 corruptions ; and by appeals to the common feelings 
 and perceptions of'our nature, check the deviations, 
 and repress the malversations, to which each com- 
 munity would perceive itself to be propense. 
 
 The present distressed condition of the great na- 
 tions of Europe, call loudly for some such effectual 
 relief, as that which has been set forth. These na- 
 tions have been deplorably corrupted, and they are 
 undergoing that revolutionary effervescence, which 
 is the necessary consequence of such corruption, 
 when a thorough contamination of high attainments, 
 has been conjoined with a complete perversion of 
 vast energies. The most dreadful desolation of all 
 that is excellent has taken place amongst them ; 
 the strongest liguments of social improvement 
 have been torn asunder j and its purest elements, in 
 a manner, sublimated. It is most lamentable to 
 perceive, that amidst all these convulsions, the 
 most morbid perversity still maintains its asccndau' 
 cy. Whatever feelings these considerations may 
 excite, we must nevertheless remember, that beni- 
 ficent independence, the first principle of the Eu- 
 ropean system, cannot be absolutely destroyed. 
 To this principle, the dominant power still affects to 
 pay homage ; in spite of all his innate malignity and 
 deceit, to it, also, he is occasionally obliged to give 
 way ; and, though he systematically repels its in- 
 fluence, he is obliged, at least, in his garb and as- 
 pect, to assume the appearance of complacency in 
 
 J
 
 801 
 
 Ms exaltation. Europe, therefore, cannot be held 
 to be irrecoverably lost; she may still be reclaimed 
 bv our persevering good offices. It is of the na- 
 ture of diffusive benignity, to conform to its cha- 
 racter those, who recognize its worth, and receive 
 its influences. Christian and feudal attainments 
 still remain ; and from these, under better auspices, 
 we may still look forward to a renovation of the 
 European system. If it has been our privilege to 
 maintain in security, for the service of Christendom, 
 the inherent advantages of the general system, to 
 unfold their character, and display their superior 
 power and dignity. It still remains for us to exer- 
 cise these advantages upon much higher ground in 
 the same service. In allaying the revolutionary effer- 
 vescence, our intrepidity and good conduct have 
 been illustrated j but we have to avail ourselves of 
 opportunities for extricating the nations, under its 
 influence, from the fatal effects that have ensued 
 from unprecedented commotion. 
 
 Russia, Spain, and Portugal, have already been in 
 some measure reclaimed. These powers now ac- 
 knowledge the heavenly origin of our m.agnanimous 
 policy, and the intrinsic superiority of our nation- 
 al character ; and on these they have accordingly 
 placed that confidence, which indicates mutual 
 complacency, and good faith. Certain prejudices 
 still remain ; which prejudices greatly mar the way 
 of that improvement, which it is the interest of all 
 parties to advance. These injurious prejudices can 
 be overcome one way, and I apprehend they can
 
 802 
 
 ije overcome no other ; we must display the pdwer 
 and lustre of systematic' improvement, emanat- 
 ing from beneticent and exalted principles, on a 
 scale that surmounts them, and all their concern- 
 ments. From this scale, the nations under the in- 
 fluence of France seem to be excluded. And how 
 can it be otherwise, it may be said, when the gloomy 
 dynasty of France overshadows them 1 But must 
 we, on that account, regard their abasement, as 
 essential to our own prosperity and security ? Such 
 conduct, would be indicating the perversity of our 
 own dispositions, and the imbecillity of our own in- 
 tellectual prowess ; for we thereby would only the 
 more confirm things in their inverted order, and 
 make these unhappy sufferers fitter instruments, for 
 carrying forward the desolating projects of their in- 
 furiate oppressor ; and we would effectually cut off 
 from them all hopes of relief, except those that lie 
 though victory and triumph. We would thereby 
 exasperate that hostility which it ought ^to be our 
 business to allay, and steel their hearts against the 
 horrors of war and desolation. 
 
 In carrying on this lofty design, our motives may 
 be misapprehended. In order to avoid this as far 
 as possible, we must, in the first place, demean our- 
 selves in the most conciliating and affectionate 
 manner, and we must give them the most convinc- 
 ing proofs, tliat we regard every leading interest 
 as our own, and every advance towards renovation 
 of character as a subject in which we delightfully 
 exercise our paternal tenderness and solicitude*
 
 80S 
 
 But besides this, while wc thus respect the feelings 
 of others, we must maintain a determined and com- 
 manding deportment. We must neither be dis- 
 gusted, nor alarmed at their squeamish fears and jea- 
 lousies. Their misapprehensions must not deter us 
 from doing our best offices to them, nor induce us to 
 give way to their pride or pretensions. We must 
 not be prevented from prosecuting our own object, 
 altiiough this object should be perpetually assuming 
 the most opposite aspects ; we must never change 
 our character, although every thing around us, 
 change its bearing upon it. It is neither by in» 
 trigue nor circumvention, nor by any direlection of 
 principle, that wc are ultimately to prevail — itisonly 
 by a steady perseverance in the course of our duty. 
 In doing this, our principles will certainly in the 
 end prevail ; they will develope their influence, and 
 draw the nations under this influence. These will 
 give way to its power, and exercise themselves 
 more and more, in the service of that system, which 
 comprises all their, and our leading interests. 
 
 But will wc not thus consolidate the nations un- 
 der the power of France, and create means and 
 ])o\vers for the service of their haughty ruler ? Far 
 iVom it. This plan presupposes a bold and decis- 
 ive, as well as a mild and conciliating course of 
 conduct. It presupposes a due respect for the 
 rights of every nation ; but it presupposes also a vi- 
 gorous prosecution of tliat warfare which is to es. 
 tablish and confirm these rights ; it im[)lies a vast 
 comprehensive scheme of policy, as well as a com- 
 
 .5 I 2
 
 804 
 
 plete deference to every civil and national advan^ 
 tage. In order to make the French yoke appear 
 in all its natural odiousness, it must be made obvi- 
 ous, that under its pressurCj no peace nor advantage, 
 though obtained, can be enjoyed. It is doubtless 
 necessary to prevent our good offices from being 
 misapprehended ; but this can only be done by ex- 
 hibiting their tendency ; by shewing that it be- 
 longs to our system, and that it is a first principle 
 with us in all our transactions with other nations, to 
 advance and extend all that is excellent and valua- 
 ble in their national system, and in every national 
 system j and that we seek not to interfere with their 
 concerns, nor with the concerns of any nation, 
 otherwise than for the attainment of objects intrin- 
 sically great, good, and excellent — such as cannot 
 but be ulfTmately prized by all whom they may at- 
 fect. To these views, we must not only bend our- 
 selves, but we must convince our friends, that they 
 can and must bend in like manner. It is not by 
 accommodating our views to narrow prejudices, 
 nor by becoming mere instruments in forwarding 
 the niggardly designs of others, that the world is 
 to be rescued from slavery. It is by following out 
 the maxims of a liberal policy, and by regulating 
 our procedure upon fair and consistent plans, that 
 this arduous enterprise can be atchieved. It is 
 now obvious that it is only because the nations are 
 impressed with the idea, that our arm is never to 
 be stretched out effectually for their relief, but al- 
 ways for some little object of our own, that we are 
 alternately the object of their fear and of their re-
 
 805 
 
 venge ; it is therefore only by adopting bold and 
 decisive measures, that we can root out these dis- 
 trustful sentiments. 
 
 I AM induced to express my sentiments, thus 
 freely, because it appears to me, that our great diffi- 
 culty in dealing with the European nations con- 
 sists in their misapprehensions respecting our ulti- 
 mate objects. They consider themselves as hopeless- 
 ly sold and bound up under the influence of France. 
 They suppose, that we have neither the ability, 
 nor the inclination, to operate their complete deliv- 
 erance J and that in spite of all our fine professions, 
 we would, if they should put themselves into our 
 power, abandon them to their exasperated tyrant ; 
 provided that we could thereby obtain some na- 
 tional advantage to ourselves. There can be no 
 doubt whatever, but that it was these suspicions, 
 and perhaps these alone, that shut us so effectu- 
 ally out of South America : perhaps the same truth 
 would be unfolded, if the loss of Holland and Prus- 
 sia to the general cause were accurately examined. 
 It is, therefore, on every account, fair and proper, 
 that we should avow our principles, and the extent 
 of our plans. Not, that we should venture to pledge 
 ourselves for any specific object, or any very deter- 
 minate course of conduct. We must never pretend 
 to restore thosebarriers of states, that now lie so pros- 
 trate J nor make the vain attempt to hide the face 
 of Europe, again, under those dark coverings that 
 prejudice and corruption had spread over it ; which 
 have at length been so completely swept away.
 
 806 
 
 We must confine ourselves to ot)vious, to indispcii- 
 sible, to honorable duties, — to fixed but to general 
 plans that we can fairly execute. As no state can 
 be safe and prosperous, that necessarily requires the 
 interference of a neighbour, either for the preserva- 
 tion of its independence, or for the support of its 
 civil constitution ; and as this object is paramount 
 to all others, the maxims that it implies must be both 
 avowed and prosecuted. But this object is unat- 
 tainable, unless a proper extent of territory, under 
 certain advantages, coincident with its peculiar 
 character and circumstances, and subservient to 
 the regular developement of these, be secured to 
 each nation. This therefore, as a subsidiary object, 
 we ought likewise to avow, under all the sentiments 
 of deference, to every thing that is established and 
 confirmed, and coincident with dutiful and friend- 
 ly regards, that it is possible to express. We ought 
 neither to assume the office of umpires, nor pre- 
 tend to act as dictators, but we ought, in the way 
 of attempting to uphold every valuable acquisition 
 and establishment, follow out the cue which a wise 
 and magnanimous policy may provide for this pur- 
 pose. Nations and kings would thus form themselves 
 upon their owm basis, under our protecting arm. 
 These nations, in withdrawing themselves from un- 
 der the influence of France, would strengthen the 
 banners of improvement, at the same time, that 
 they attenuated the arm of the destroyer ; for the 
 strength of France would fall to nothing, without 
 those immense standing armies, that are chiefly 
 ^rawn from its subsidiary nations- But, by with-.
 
 807 
 
 drawifig these natmns from imder her influence, we 
 not only dilapidate her power, and recruit tlie le- 
 gions of independent national improvement, but 
 we deprive her desolating system of its proper sup- 
 port ; we maim her predatory provisions, and we 
 raise a rampart around all that is peaceful, even 
 within her own territory. Conscription and devas- 
 tation can never appear in all their native horrible 
 deformity, until predatory warfare become moro 
 intolerable, than even civil destruction. 
 
 This is a subject to which it is impossible to do 
 justice in this place ; it is only necessary to notice, 
 that our great scheme of improvement, necessarily 
 resolves itself into some such developement of our 
 national resources, as that which is here referred to, 
 Europe will become deficient in the fruits of regular 
 systematic industry, while we will superabound with 
 these. Europe will be dependent on the excitation, 
 that WT can give to her industry ; and Europe will 
 be disposed to replace to us the value of that ex- 
 citation which is requisite ; because unless she does 
 this, the excitation v.anted will not be accorded. 
 But it may be said, that Europe is replete with 
 roots of improvement, the value of which roots she 
 may, under theinfluence of internal excitation draw 
 up and circulate, and thus dispense with our exci- 
 tation. May not similar excitations and resolu- 
 tions take effect under the the influence of France ? 
 May not the European system, thereupon, become 
 only the more consolidated under her power, and 
 conformed to her designs ? But let it be noticed.
 
 808 
 
 that a military empire and a corrupted governments 
 increase in tyranny and in oppression, with every 
 increase of their territory, and resources. This 
 must take place, unavoidably, where gica.t nations 
 otherwise hostile to each other, arc compressed un- 
 der one desolating influence. In such a case^ 
 revulsion, great and national, will take place ; these 
 revulsions will breed coertion, and coertion cannot 
 but goad on the subjugated to desperation. This 
 state of things is as opposite to that v^hich is neces- 
 sary, for the secure representation and circulation of 
 property, as can be imagined. But will not France 
 by wise and dexterous management, by a mild and 
 conciliating demeanour, accustom the nations to her 
 yoke? It was not thus that France obtained her 
 power, nor is it thus that she can keep it. Nations, 
 like individuals thirstafter independencej theyabhor 
 a foreign yoke, and they will never think their pos- 
 sessions valuable or secure, while it continues. Nor 
 can they be either valuable or secure. Conquest 
 and degradation may civilize a barbarous nation, 
 but they always corrupt one that is advanced in 
 civil attainments. Every indication of a pure na- 
 tional spirit in the leading classes will, by the do- 
 minant power be repressed, and every such repres- 
 sion must irritate, perhaps infuriate, the whole mass 
 of the people. Th e developement of every system 
 will go either in the way of improvement or cor- 
 ruption of exaltation or degradation ; and what 
 but degradation or corruption can take place under 
 such coercive influences? It isinva^i to talk o^ 
 Europe as one nation j the spnut & influences
 
 809 
 
 Kmope lias been formed by the most div'crsiiied o- 
 perations. AVhen the iiaiional system has been 
 thus matured under high and resplendent auspices, 
 it cannot be repressed with impunity, nor circum- 
 vented without being exasperated. Yet the coer- 
 tion, necessary to maintain a dependent nation in 
 its phice, must make way ior both these consequen- 
 ces, and these cannot but again lead on to farth.er co- 
 erticn. The oppression and revulsion inseparable 
 from an extensive military sway, are, therefore, ad- 
 verse alike to improvement and security. Amidst 
 the civil broils that must ensue, and that must gra- 
 dually implicate all that is interesting or important 
 in the circumstances of each individual, how can 
 property or enjoyment of any kind be respected 
 or induce high exertions for its attainment 1 
 
 Nations, like individuals, when merged In a vagt 
 system of improvement, require a multitude of pro- 
 visions and attainments for their accommodation. 
 They need space for the expansion of their ener- 
 gies, means for their excitation and support, and 
 that facility of intercourse with the world at large, 
 that accords with their respective faculties and en- 
 dowments. Under such a ])rogrcssion of things, 
 mankind gradually seek that higher and wider range 
 of developement, which coincides with their advanc- 
 ing circumstances, and they are led to array them- 
 selves under banners, that will maintain their rights 
 and protect their interests within this range. Per- 
 haps, the grcjUcst advantages, possessed by ir.dei)en- 
 t^ent nation^, arc their capabilities for developing 
 
 5 K
 
 810 
 
 themselves thus without restraint under such influ- 
 ences. Contingencies, that would in other circum- 
 stances, repress or traverse their progress, only acce- 
 lerate their movements and force forward greater 
 and higher resources. But whether this be the 
 great leading advantage of national inde])endencc 
 or not, it is one that is inseparable from it, and it 
 reaches, not only to the affiiirs of the state, but to 
 those of every individual member of the communi- 
 ty ; and as it produces a consciousness of personal 
 worth, that fits for the noblest exercises, it is an ad- 
 vantage that can scarcely be too much prized. Na- 
 tions, however, like individuals, are apt to be buoyed 
 out of their proper sphere, and in the way of prose- 
 cuting their own particular object, to lose sight of 
 those rights and claims of others, that lie in their 
 way. In civil society, this propensity on the part 
 of individuals may be repressed, without exciting 
 either resentment or distrust, by making direct ap- 
 peals to the common standard of right, and the 
 common protecting arm. It is otherwise in regard 
 to nations ; there is no standard of right so univer- 
 sally recognized, as to comprehend all the cir- 
 cumstances that must be judged of, and there is 
 no arm competent to the entbrcement of any such 
 standard. In these circumstances, the basest, and 
 the most malevolent principles are apt to obtain 
 the ascendancy. If a nation succeeds in amelio- 
 rating its general condition, jealousy, on the part 
 of all around them, is forthwith excited; and if a 
 kingdom has but changed its general aspect, in re- 
 gard to another, symptoms of fear and alarm never
 
 811 
 
 'fail to ensue. This state of things was originally 
 produced by the intricate, yet tortuous line of po- 
 licy, into which the leading powers of Europe 
 were led, in the view of securing the integrity and 
 independence of certain respectable, yet feeble 
 states, to whose interests it had become customary 
 to pay a detlerence, to which tliese states of them- 
 selves could not have laid claim. Their feeble and 
 exposed situation would have rendered them an easy 
 prey to their neighbours ; while the wealth and ad- 
 vantages tliat remained under their influence, would 
 have proved a temptation too strong to be very 
 steadily resisted, without a very vigilant and active 
 interference in their behoof on the part of other na- 
 tions. Such friendly interpositions, however, did 
 not arise from any superior regard to what was 
 most befitting, but from a jealous and hostile dis- 
 position towards those, against whose interests this 
 interposition was made ; whose power and influ- 
 ence, it was therefore held to be necessary to pa- 
 ralyze, and restrain, whenever a plausible pre- 
 text for circumscribing their operations occurred. 
 It must accordingly be confessed, that the moral 
 perceptions of nations, and tlieir propensities to 
 what become them as Christian and civilized com- 
 munities, are, on the whole, extremely obtuse ; and 
 tliat expediency, not justice, is generally the maiu 
 rule of their procedure in regard to each other. 
 
 But, altliougli the leading object of the policy of 
 cabinets be tlius vague, it is certain that the Euro- 
 pean commonwealth has always possessed within it- 
 
 if K 2
 
 812 
 
 self*, a check iip6n the conduct of" its princes, that 
 has been of the highest importance and avail. The 
 check, here referred to, is public opinion, and it is 
 this opinion, formed and matured under Christian 
 institutions, that has made this check so powerful 
 and productive of sucli happy efllects. The au- 
 thority of public opinion may be said to be indefi- 
 nite, but in most cases it comprises all that is im- 
 portant to civilized society. It arises out of the 
 magnitude and comparative independence of the 
 great establishments, with which Christendom is 
 replete, and from the necessity to which princes have 
 been subjected to pay deference to the interests 
 of these establishments. The operation of this check 
 upon usurpation and intrigue is by no means stea- 
 dy or consistent ; it is sometimes regulated by the 
 feelings and sentiments that are predominant a- 
 mong the people, but more frequently by the cha- 
 racter of those who preside over political affairs. 
 When the European system was in a rude state, it 
 frequently directed the force of national strengtli 
 against the overt enemies of the system, and sup- 
 ported and ga\'e a lustre to all that was liberal 
 and magnanimous in the deportment of princes. 
 When society became more refined and more cor- 
 tupted, the torrent of licentiousness was generally 
 assuaged by the influence of public opinion, and 
 the displays of magnificence and taste that arose 
 out of its developements, were accommodated to 
 the general system. For, it must be noticed, 
 that it is peculiar to Christendom, to have the 
 purest and most sublime dictates of heavenly truth
 
 813 
 
 'Lirid wisdom, forever rcsoundcil in the ears of 
 its nations, and to have those beneficent and ex- 
 alted sentiments, that raise humanity to the higlieat 
 pitch of character, forever inculcated upon their 
 minds. Public opinion, advanced in power and in 
 character, could not but be impressed with corres- 
 ponding influences ; and these influences, thus rais- 
 ed in authority, could not but have corresponding 
 effects upon the policy of princes. Still, liowever, 
 it must be noticed, that popular prejudices and 
 j)ropensities, in general, had the ascendancy ; and 
 that the operation of public opinion was neither 
 so congenial to virtue, nor so forcible in its opera- 
 tions, as such advantages seem to imply. Public 
 opinion was at times a pompous exhibition of vulgar 
 conceits ; it coincided with the public feelings of 
 the people, for when it violated these, its power 
 was imperfect and produced no decided character 
 on political transactions. 
 
 Tnii stupendous political occurrences, that have 
 taken place in our day, have struck this powerful 
 principle of action to the centre. Formerly, the 
 great objects of public attention, were the leading 
 afi'airs of states, considered as independent powers, 
 and the principal object of solicitude, the main- 
 taining a kind of balance of power amongst them. 
 In such things as these, it seemed to be neces- 
 sary for each individual to make himself versant j 
 and it became a great part of each man*s business, 
 to exercise his patriotic feelings, on the matters to 
 which they gave rise. That chaos of abominable
 
 S14 
 
 intrigues and contrivances, from which coiiimon 
 sense and common lioncsty were ahke exchid- 
 cd, thus became the theme of pubhc discussion ; 
 that continual liunting after means and devices for 
 maintaining the separate existence of states, whicl> 
 had neither territory nor resources nor energies to 
 avail themselves of this advantage, and seldom had 
 any thing either in their functions, or in their ci- 
 vil constitution, that was really estimable ; and that 
 massof marriages, and counter-marriages, of transac- 
 tions, and even of infuriate and protracted hostili- 
 ties that were kept on foot for such purposes, all of 
 which were deemed mighty objects by tiie sage poli- 
 ticians of the day, were but too frequently the 
 subject on which the public fervor was exhaust- 
 ed. Such things will perhaps scarcely be believed 
 by posterity, or if they are, they will be set for- 
 ward as indications of the crudeness of our politi- 
 cal apprehensions, as certain, and as incontroverti- 
 ble, as the mumm.eries and dispensations given out 
 under papal influences, are now accounted of by 
 ourselves. 
 
 At length, however, we perceive the nature and 
 the extent of political duty ; we see that it embrac- 
 es objects, in which all of us are deeply and person- 
 ally concerned. We see that it takes a wide range 
 of human affairs, and we see also, that it comprises 
 in its circle all that is dear and interesting to man, 
 in his individual, as well as in his social capacity ; 
 and that duties, as clearly obligant, and as tirmly es- 
 tablished on moral and religious principles, are as
 
 faiily clediicible from a contemplation of the views 
 tliiis developed, as from those that appertain to any 
 chiss of social relations whatever. The connexion 
 betwixt political rectitude and political prosperity, 
 betwixt political delinquency and political calamity, 
 Inis been illustrated amidst a multitude of displays 
 of the most awful and impressive nature. Discre- 
 tion and liberality, forbearance and resolution, 
 though great, are perceived to be not the only cha- 
 racteristics of political excellence ; integrity, and a 
 determined devotedness to duty, even of the most 
 arduous and severe description, are seen to be not 
 less requisite. In the hand of the great Ruler of 
 the luiiverse is beheld the only sure balance of the 
 r.ations ; the means that have been made effectual in 
 maintaining it, illustrating at once the immensity of 
 his power, and the utter incapacity of the highest 
 human sagacity to circumvent his destinations. 
 The events, by, which such views have been laid open 
 before us, can scarcely be obliterated from the 
 mind of man. May we not therefore cherish the 
 hope, that nations wnll at length adopt sentiments 
 and manifest a deportment correspondent to the high 
 importance of such duties, and form their political o- 
 pinion accordingly ? In such a case, public opin- 
 ion can never be too powerful, nor the deference paid 
 to it by any government too great. It will lead 
 through simple, but through certain avenues to the 
 noblest political results. 
 
 Amidst the convulsions that have taken place, 
 certain leading principles may be held to have be-
 
 816 
 
 Gomc established, Avhichjas tlie subject of them has 
 already been in some nicasuie unfolded, it is only 
 necessary briefly to advert to in this place. First, 
 it is now evident, that nations have less to dread 
 from the increased power, than from the increas- 
 ed corruption of their neighbours, of their rulers, 
 or of their rivals, llussia and Britain are no- 
 table instances of the truth of this position, in 
 their circumstances, and in the relative bearing^ 
 of these, on their own, and on tlieir neighbours' in- 
 terests. France, Holland and Austria, in their fate 
 and character, illustrate the counterpart of this pro- 
 position, and the dire efll'e6ts of pride, jealousy and 
 corruption. Secondly, it has appeared under the 
 same powerful indications, that the grandeur and 
 prosperity, as well as the safety of princes con- 
 sists less in the extent of their authority, than in 
 the character of the principles by which this autho- 
 rity is supported. Princes who seek the prosperity 
 of their subjects, and who wish to promote their 
 best interests, must therefore necessarily desire 
 to repress corruption in their court, mal-admin- 
 istration in tlieir government, and general depra- 
 vity in their subjects. It is not by pampering a 
 people amidst ignorance, sloth, and proudful pro- 
 pensities, as v/as done by the old government of 
 France and Spain, and is now done by the go- 
 vernments of America and Turkey ; it is by exer- 
 cising them vigorously and incessantly under good 
 principles, in the way of unfolding systematic im- 
 provement, patriotic ardor and loyalty, and mutu- 
 al harmony and good will, as has been done more
 
 817 
 
 or less all along in Britain, and has recently been 
 practised in Russia, and in the Spanish peninsula, 
 that the stability of their throne is to be maintained. 
 ITiirdly, it is now completely obvious, that it is 
 from liberal and extended views of national advan- 
 tage, and from bold and resolute conduct in dis- 
 charging the duties that arise out of such views, 
 and not from the crooked and contracted line of 
 policy that results from inert artificial bonds of 
 connexion, and from intricate mazes of personal 
 intrigue, that the great objects, on which the securi- 
 ty and prosperity of states depend, are to be deriv- 
 ed. It is not by shutting our eyes on the distresses 
 of rivals, as was done by Prussia, when these rivals 
 were bleeding in her own cause ; it is not by pur- 
 suing a narrow yet plastic line of conduct, as was 
 done by America, for the sake of preserving a no- 
 minal neutrality; it is not by rushing improvident- 
 ly into the most desperate conflicts, and then re- 
 tiring as precipitately from their consequences, as 
 was done again and again by Austria ; tar less is it 
 by relying on the feeble bonds of political or natu- 
 ral affinity, as has been done so inconsiderately by 
 all the lesser powers. It is by standing firmly in 
 the front of danger, with all our powers and means 
 collected ; it is by supporting in the most generous 
 and cordial manner, all that is connected with us 
 and implicated in that danger ; it is by maturing and 
 digesting appropriate measures, by preparing and 
 bringing forward strength and resources, commen- 
 surate with the occasion, and by bearing up most 
 pertinaciously the whole offices that are connected 
 
 5 I.
 
 818 
 
 with every emergency, and by following out with 
 spirit and intrepidity, every advantage that occurs, 
 that the great end of inter-national arrangements, 
 comprising mutual security and general prosperity, 
 are to be obtained and provided for. Such in gene- 
 ral has been the conduct of Britain, throughout this 
 most arduous and long protracted contest ; and such 
 seems now to be the temper and spirit of our allies. 
 Fourthly and lastly, we now perceive that the lead- 
 ing classes of society are possessedof means, for se- 
 curing and extending all their peculiar advantages, 
 that are every way congenial to their circumstances. 
 By combining and concatenating the interests and 
 the feelings of the lower orders of society with their 
 own, the superior ranks in a manner enlist the facul- 
 ties of these in their own service. Simple coertion 
 may, in the moment of action, make the merest slave 
 put forth his highest powers ; but it is only when 
 bonds of attachment and co-operation, bland yet for- 
 cible, have been provided, that mankind can be pre- 
 pared for this action, and endowed with the faculties 
 that are necessary in those high services whereon 
 the fate of all depends. Every civilized community 
 may institute such ligumcnts ; for by nurturing 
 systematic industry in the way of general improve- 
 ment, we bind up into one the interests of all par- 
 ties ; and by making room tor its genial operations, 
 we in effect entwine the highest powers of the social 
 body. When the faculties of individuals, in the va- 
 rious classes of society, are exercised harmoniously 
 together, although the great objects in pursuit may 
 appertain to but a few, it will encircle the concerns
 
 819 
 
 ot'iuany myriads that may be busied about its attain- 
 ment. It has been the high privilege of Britain to 
 be long under a system of this kind. Our allies 
 now bask under its influence, may we not hope that 
 they also will soon be embued with a similar spirit, 
 exercise themselves in a similar capacity, and thus 
 ameliorate by means peculiarly their own, the 
 whole circumstances of their own condition ? 
 
 The indications above noticed, and others of a 
 like kind might, with much advantage, be illustrat- 
 ed by direct reference to a multitude of particulars. 
 A few remarks, however, will serve to shew the ge- 
 neral value and import of these indications. In 
 the first place, when we see those petty concerns a- 
 bout which princes and states contended so long and 
 so vehemently, all in a manner sunk in their grave, 
 and the substantial objects wherein general good 
 consists, alone competent to attract our regard, we 
 must subscribe our attestation to their insignificance. 
 Since this fact is undeniable — liow mean do these 
 two sets of cavillers appear, — those who advanced 
 the mere matter of claims arising from parentage 
 and priority of rank, to the foreground of every dis- 
 pute — and those who regarded all these liigh advan- 
 tages as objects of scorn 1 Individuals, possessed of 
 these advantages, are now seen to be as dependent as 
 the meanest ; — yet society at large, when bereft of 
 these ornaments, is seen to be endangered in all its 
 attainments. Where must these shrewd politicians 
 now shroud their insanity, who could see nothing 
 in the maritime predominancy of Britain, and in 
 
 .•> I. 2
 
 820 
 
 the extended power and population of Russia, but 
 subjects of alarm and deep dismay ! Without the 
 first, China, Persia, Hindostan, Japan, and all the 
 Asiatic islands, might have been enveloped in the 
 mazes of French intrigue ; and but for the other, the 
 European commonwealth itself, the source and the 
 spring of civilization and improvement, might have 
 been forever lost. We must all see and acknow- 
 ledge, that taking their own ground for deciding the 
 matter, if this national predominancy, this physical 
 strength, had been controlled and neutralized ac- 
 cording to the splenetic conceptions of sages of the 
 day, the whole order of civilized society might 
 have been inverted, and its multiplied attainments 
 placed at the disposal of their destroyer. 
 
 Let us in the next place cast our attention on 
 the misconceptions of the friends of social order. 
 A fatuous dread of the calamities to which France 
 was impelled by demagogic fury has, to a cer- 
 tain extent, arrested the progress of civil improve- 
 ment. We now see, however, the necessity of draw- 
 ing the line of distinction betwixt amendation and 
 revolution. We propose to Spain, what we never 
 dreamed of conceding to France ; and before Eu- 
 rope can be settled, we must not only propose, but 
 exercise our authority to procure, similar advan- 
 tages, for every state and nation on the continent. 
 It was by giving way to fallacious appearances, 
 and not in providing for general good, that the 
 French dynasty was overwhelmed ; it was by a 
 conception not less fatal, that the Spanish throne
 
 821 
 
 was vacated ; it is only by penetrating sucli guises, 
 and coni'orming themselves to the real circumstan- 
 ces of their own case, that sovereigns can be safe and 
 prosperous. Subjects know and feel when they are 
 well, and when they are ill governed. In tlic one 
 case, the good, in the other, the evil disposed gain 
 head ; for men naturally cling to their rulers, and 
 to that cause which these rulers patronize. Prin- 
 ces may therefore amuse themselves with tricks of 
 state, with displaying their peculiar talents and ad- 
 dress ; let them rejoice however, that such things 
 pass off with the using ; henceforward let them not 
 attempt by such means to establish any system 
 of coercion and oppression, and to rely on these 
 arts, or on the strength that may be drawn from 
 allies by consanguinity or affinity of interests, for 
 their support, in prosecuting such an end. The 
 maze of such labyrinths has been thrown open, 
 and if their own destruction should not follow a- 
 pace, success in their design itself would operate 
 their overthrow. It is by bringing forward all 
 that is respectable, by nurturing all that is good, 
 and by bearing down every thing that is of an 
 opposite character, that the strength of princes 
 is augmented ; and it is in the power and repu- 
 tation thus acquired, that the stability of every 
 attainment of this kind is manifested. 
 
 It may be remarked in the third place, that na- 
 tions cannot advance solitarily in the way of im- 
 provement, although they may do so in the way of 
 aggrandizement. In the one case their concerns
 
 822 
 
 entwine with each other, they all send forth trunks 
 and shoots that serve as props and liguments to 
 their several attainments. On the other hand, it is 
 of the nature of aggrandizement, to absorb all, to 
 usurp all, and to destroy whatever cannot be thus 
 absorbed or usuri)cd. Nations, like individuals, be- 
 come friendly or hostile to each other, according 
 as their conduct is governed by fair and equitable 
 principles, or by those of an opposite character. 
 Nations, like individuals, have severally powers and 
 faculties to develope and exercise, and have cer- 
 tain leading objects in view, for the attainment of 
 which they are ready to sacrifice every other that 
 is of a subordinate kind. If a nation, in follov/ing 
 out its proper object, should pursue it without re- 
 gard to the circumstances of other nations, in its 
 own peculiar manner, we need not therefore be 
 surprized, although it should fail in the end. In 
 appropriating to its own use, whatever comes in 
 its way 5 and in prosecuting its end at the expence of 
 its neighbours, it may make some progress in ag- 
 grandizing itself, but it never can become improv- 
 ed. Improvement implies general advancement ; 
 the concerns of all become concatenated under 
 it J these, improvement would carry along with 
 it, and in so doing it would implicate the whole 
 system of which these concerns are a part. Na- 
 tions, amidst such a course of things, cannot permit 
 their systems to be thus traversed, and they will 
 take measures to secure themselves against depre- 
 dation. But aggrandizement subsumes depreda- 
 tion real or implied, it subsumes an irruption of one's
 
 823 
 
 own concerns, from those of every other interest ; 
 but before tlie offending nation has time or oppor- 
 tunity to correct its error, its best concerns, its 
 liighest attainments may be destroyed, and its so- 
 litary strength completely dilapidated. Every 
 age has attested the truth of this position. States 
 may become great, but nations cannot prosper 
 long, and greatly, otherwise than in concert with 
 each other. If they begin to usurp, declination 
 will follow ; it may begin in a remote quarter, 
 but it will quickly reach the centre whence it 
 proceeded. Wealth, security and peace arise out 
 of a well concerted, thoroughly digested, and 
 duly organized system of inter-national policy. 
 National prosperity as well as national happiness 
 are most unallayed, when they envelope most com- 
 pletely, the whole concerns of all around them. On 
 the other hand, national calamity, and national de- 
 gradation result from narrow oppressive plans of 
 policy. What is it that makes Britain so secure 
 and so great ? is it not the diffusive genius of her 
 system, whereby she contributes profusely to the 
 welfare of other nations, which in due time return 
 to her that harvest of blessings which her own mag- 
 nanimity had sown ? What is it that makes France 
 so wretched and so degraded, but the converse of 
 tiiis character? Her object is aggrandizement, 
 her means for prosecuting this object are usurpa- 
 tion and intrigue, and her end the debasement of 
 all that are thus brought under her power. She 
 produces misery and destruction, but the evil pro-
 
 824 
 
 duced reverts upon her own liead with redoubled 
 force. 
 
 We are hence led to remark, in tlie fourth and 
 last place, that there are are certain leading points, 
 which it is for the advantage of all nations to have 
 most completely adjusted, and set at rest. Of these 
 perhaps the most important regards the extension 
 and condensation of the general interests of nations, 
 and their resolutions into great, and thoroughly or- 
 ganized national systems ; for it is in this way alone, 
 that we can preclude these ruinous struggles, that 
 terminate in aggrandizement and depression. For 
 this end, various plans present themselves, but all 
 these concur in illustrating the importance and ne- 
 cessity of holding the leading points, as absolutely 
 fixed and determined beyond the possibility of con- 
 testation. Every one perceives that it is but fair 
 and reasonable, that each state should possess an ex- 
 panse of territory, sufficient to admit of the free de- 
 vclopement of its whole system. Perhaps the seclu- 
 sion from agricultural and territorial improvement, 
 into which the want of the expanse necessary for 
 this purpose led Holland, Genoa, Venice, and the 
 Ilanse towns had rendered these states a nuisance 
 and pest to society at large, long before their down- 
 fal had discovered the absolute fallacy of all their 
 assumed appearances of independence. If wealth is 
 brought into a territory, it must substantiate it- 
 self either in fruits, or in subjects that will yield 
 fruits ; it must be expended either in the way of 
 luxury, or in that of improvement j it must be re-
 
 825 
 
 presented and circulated, either in matters pre- 
 pared for use, or in processes that carry on a 
 course of reproduction. Now, let it be noticed, 
 that of all subjects wherein wealtli can be invested, 
 those of a reproductive nature are the most valu- 
 able, and that of all reproductive processes, those 
 of the agricultural class are most favorable to vir- 
 tue and to national improvement. In these last, it 
 is evident, that states of small extent must be defi- 
 cient. In fruits, such states may superabound ; in 
 reproductive processes, wherein genius and capital 
 concentrated bear up the value of their subjects, 
 they may not be deficient ; but such like acquisitions 
 serve only to pamper luxury, and to increase coer- 
 cive influences in every part of the system. Besides 
 this, as the circumstances of small states lay them 
 open to the artifices of intriguers and of factious 
 demagogues, and as the separate existence of such 
 states must, in such circumstances, gradually be- 
 come more and more dependent on exterior sup- 
 port, so the power of these intestine enemies will ge- 
 nerally rise more and more above the control of con- 
 stituted authority. A system of management where- 
 of foreign support will be the main spring, will there- 
 upon ensue ; corruption will spread itself like leav- 
 en, and in its progress contaminate other states, that 
 might otherwise have escaped this fatal contagion. 
 
 As the various misfortunes and calamities, into 
 which these circumstances necessarily lead, are now 
 but too obvious, and as the evil here referred to, 
 as well as the remedy to which it points, have al-
 
 826 
 
 ready been sufficiently illustrated, it is only neces- 
 sary here to notice, that the courseof events, which 
 has taken place under our eyes, seems to have pre- 
 pared Europe for the adoption of this remedy. It 
 would be presumptuous in any mere human being, 
 to pretend to scan the design or the object of Pro- 
 vidence, in this great course of events ; but as we 
 see that the disease has in some measure spent it- 
 self, and that the appropriate remedy is prepar- 
 ed to our hand, we cannot but earnestly desire the 
 relief that is so apposite. In a former part of this 
 treatise, the developement of the feudal system, in 
 the different nations of Europe, has to a certain ex- 
 tent been stretched out ; the subject now before 
 us takes up all these developements, at the limits of 
 that sketch ; although, therefore, it can serve no 
 other purpose, but to point out the operation and 
 tendency of the preceding scheme of improvement, 
 on the course of developement, that has already 
 been set forth as illustrative of the general subject, 
 it seems to be highly proper in this place, to draw 
 out the subject to its natural close. Indeed, the 
 general subject requires a direct exposition in this 
 very way, lor these illustrations might be held to be 
 incomplete, if they were not extended over the 
 remaining part of this developement. To these 
 prospective illustrations we accordingly proceed. 
 
 It will be remembered, that the systems peculiar 
 to Poland, to Germany, and to Italy, have in fact 
 been beat down under the influences that oversha- 
 dowed them, and have passed through a process of
 
 827 
 
 military and political discipline, that has in a man- 
 ner melted them all into one incongruous mass, 
 which seems to solicit the hand of some beneficent 
 genius to restore it to its proper affinities. Britain 
 holds secure in her grasp the trident of the ocean, 
 but she is encumbered with burdens and duties, 
 that render these honors more distressful than pro- 
 fitable. To her, any arrangement of the affairs of* 
 the continent, that would relieve her from the ne- 
 cessity of incessant interference in composing its 
 system, could not but be desireable. Her colonial 
 possessions are immense, and invaluable, and to her 
 they are indispensibly necessary ; for without them 
 her maritime power would dwindle into a mere ti- 
 tle of respect, and her sea-girt frontiers form the 
 most hurtful inlet to her foes that could be imagin- 
 ed. It is accordingly the interest of Britain to co- 
 incide in any scheme that will place the continent- 
 al nations on a secure footing ; provided only, that 
 the arrangements entered into leave her in posses- 
 sion of her maritime and colonial advantages ; nav, 
 it is her interest even to burden these advantages in a 
 maimer that will meet the fair views of every other 
 nation, and to accord to the inhabitants of every 
 country that may chuse to trade with her, every as- 
 sistance and facility that does not entrench upon 
 her own safety. Free access into all her colonial 
 possessions is implied in tins maritime protec- 
 tion, and friendly co-operation in every sea, and on 
 every shore, to v/hich her power can be extended, 
 is equally implied. With these advantages, and 
 others that may arise out of the circumstances of 
 
 .-> M 2
 
 828 
 
 the case, can it be supposed that any of the grear 
 nations of Europe will be long deficient either in 
 ships or colonies of their own ? It is the business 
 and it is the duty of nations to extend their civiliz- 
 ing influences over the whole globe, and it is an in- 
 justice not only to them, but to other nations, for 
 us to restrain them in the discharge of this office. 
 
 The vast empire of Russia, now forcing itself so 
 prominently on our notice, challenges our confiden- 
 tial regards, at the same time that its power fills the 
 world with terror. To increase the extent or to 
 augment the resources of this empire, would only 
 be to enfeeble her system, and to endanger her ex- 
 istence. Already she has access to every channel 
 of intercourse, and what is more to the purpose, it 
 is already sufficiently the interest of every other 
 nation to seek intercourse with her through all 
 these channels. Placed above the control, and 
 beyond the power of every other state, it is the of- 
 fice of the Russian government to make itself rever- 
 ed, not feared, confided in, not obeyed. It has al- 
 ready raised for itself a monument of heroism, 
 which it would be wicked to dishonor with the 
 trophies of ambition. Europe, however, may, and 
 does require her assistance and her support ; and 
 in according this, she may, and she will find a sub- 
 ject of remuneration, much more becoming her 
 iugh character than an extension of territory. By 
 enlisting herself faithfully in the service of the ge- 
 neral svstem, this remuneration will be found Core-
 
 829 
 
 ing iLsell into her hands, in a way that can in no- 
 ways affect the purity licrc referred to. 
 
 The situation of Spain and Portugal in the great 
 system has been already sufficiently unfolded. 
 Each is possessed of immense and invaluable co- 
 lonial possessions ; each has a system that runs par- 
 allel to, and coincident with, the other; but as these 
 systems noways interfere with, or traverse, but on 
 the contrary coalesce with, and support each oth- 
 er, and indeed the whole parts of tlie general sys- 
 tem, each is held to maintain in security its splen- 
 did possessions as guaranteed to them, not less with 
 the good will, than for the general advantage of all 
 parties. The American commonwealth has chang- 
 ed her position in regard to us, and she can never 
 form a sound branch of the general system, until 
 she be stripped of her fastidious pride, and self- 
 sufficiency. The territory of the United States 
 ought to be rounded of, and their general rights as 
 an independent nation, immured and respected ; 
 but before they can have the smallest claim to either 
 deference or regard, these States must show them- 
 selves worthy of constituting a part of the system of 
 Christendom ; they must shake themselves loose 
 from an alliance with the common enemy of our 
 race, and combine their fate with those of other 
 independent nations. In this case, the rights and 
 territories of the United States, will not only be se- 
 cure, but they will be borne on, by influences of 
 the most beneficent kind, their powers and resources
 
 830 
 
 will not only be respected according to their value, 
 but be developed under the most favorable auspices. 
 
 When we turn our attention to France, the ter- 
 ror of the nations, and the avenger of her own 
 crimes upon herself, we perceive a nation and a 
 country every way formed to command respect. 
 The people are brave, numerous, united, thoroughly 
 disciplined to war and to industry, and endowed 
 with a high national spirit ; at the same time, their 
 manners are highly cultivated, and their attain- 
 ments correspondent to their advanced progres- 
 sion in the arts of life. Commanding a vast stretch 
 of the Northern, Western, and Mediterranean seas, 
 and a territory rich in invaluable resources, France 
 can want neither excitation nor support, although 
 she were brought down to her own proper place in. 
 the proposed system. Though stript of all her great 
 colonies, she will still have the means of access 
 into the colonies of the other powers secured to her ; 
 and either in a direct way, or through the medium 
 of such of her old settlements, as it might be pru- 
 dent to concede to lier, she may also have all that 
 foreign commerce which her circumstances require. 
 In my opinion, it is not hazarding much to state, 
 tiiat it will be impossible to institute any system, 
 wherein peace or security could be obtained, un- 
 less she were stripped of those gorgeous usurpa- 
 tions, that have administered so plentifully to her 
 ambition, and that France will never be at rest, 
 until all that she has wrested from Europe, in the 
 course of the two last centuries, be severed from
 
 831 
 
 her. Age after age has witnessed her propensity to 
 aggrandizement. At times she held up some pre- 
 text of self-defence : this, however, latterly, is 
 not so much as thought of; or if mentioned, it is 
 only to add insult to injury. France may still be 
 most powerful, and most respectable. This, how- 
 ever, must result from the improvement of the na- 
 tion, not from the aggrandizement of the state. 
 Her population may be still puissant and magnani- 
 mous, but this must proceed from the growth of 
 their attainments, not from the developement of 
 their martial pride. 
 
 As a secure barrier to France, and as a general 
 rampart to Christendom, I would invest Holland, 
 not only with the territory of which France would 
 be thus denuded, the whole Netherlands, Belgic, as 
 well as Batavian, and the States on both sides the 
 Rhine, but with a great part of Germany, viz. 
 Westphalia, Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria. By 
 this means, the great commercial depots on the 
 Rhine and the Weser, would be all comprised un- 
 der one domination, and those vast inland States, 
 which had been in a manner defrauded of their na- 
 tural connexion with the ocean, would be thrown 
 open to improvement. By their connexion with 
 the arena of commerce, their resources would be 
 stimulated, and their territory crowned with plen- 
 ty, while the commodities for intercourse produced 
 by them, would not only be augmented, l)ut advanc- 
 ed in value and in im|)ortance. The commercial de- 
 pots would thus receive back in full talc, all thatox-
 
 832 
 
 citation which they had lent out to the inhmd terri- 
 tory : they would farther obtain those advantages 
 and that security, which are inseparable from their 
 immersion into a vast powerful empire. This em- 
 pire their investitures would enrich -, these investi- 
 tures, the general virtue and industry of an agri- 
 cultural community, replete with the most inva- 
 luable processes of reproduction, and the high 
 immunities of a state really great and independent, 
 would crown with insignia, both of dignity and of 
 power. The commixture of nations, languages, 
 religions, and habitudes, balanced by their very 
 diversity, yet concatenated by their whole circum- 
 stances, could not mar the prosperity of the com- 
 munity, considered as one people ; each would 
 receive its share of respect and range of develope- 
 ment, but the powers of the whole, drawn up under 
 one sovereign, and on one centre, exercised under 
 a common influence, and towards a common object, 
 would render these very diversities real subjects of 
 gratulation, and noways detrimental. Their discor- 
 dances, like those that take place in the British isles, 
 would, in so far as they were rude and imperfect, 
 give way to superior influence, and in so far as they 
 were conducive to general improvement, prove di- 
 rect/yet peaceful stimulants in the way of national 
 improvement. The multitude and variety of the 
 occupations, into which the vast extended concerns 
 of a state so large, would lead all parties, would 
 raise them above all local prejudices j the impor- 
 tance inseparable from such great objects, both in 
 a civil and political point of view, would bury all.
 
 833 
 
 subordinate considerations in the dust ; while mis- 
 fortunes and calamities, when ielt as the immediate 
 result of partial or unwarranted predilection, would 
 impress every individual with a due sense of the 
 necessity that he was under, to give way to the 
 paramount duties that he owed to the whole. 
 
 Aloxgst the Southern confines of this vast em- 
 pire, I would draw the line of demarkation for 
 Italy ; the crown of which could not be better dis- 
 posed of j than on the head of a scion of the family 
 of Russia. Under this protection I would place 
 Switzerland, and all that at any time belonged to 
 Savoy and the Italian states, including not only 
 Piedment, Genoa, Venice, Milan, and the wliole 
 territory circumscribed by the Alps, but Sicily, Sar- 
 dinia and Corsica ; the central city being some- 
 where in the North. By this arrangement, I would 
 ])rovide not only an effectual curb on France in 
 this quarter, which, as one compact thoroughly 
 organized state and nation, would still be an object 
 of dread, but a remedy for that profligacy and ge- 
 neral lassitude of character which have so long and 
 so fatally prevailed in the southern departments of 
 Italy. Ont of the mountains of the North, not 
 only moral energy, but physical strength would 
 proceed, and diffuse itself over the whole territory. 
 The variety of national talent to be found in the 
 Swiss, Genoese, Tuscans, and Savoyards, would 
 develope itself under one general head, over every 
 district. Abundance of scope for the exercise 
 of every faculty, and subjects innumerable for their
 
 834 
 
 occupation, uoiild in such circumstances be ob- 
 tained. "While vast political objects, sufficient to 
 animate the sublimest fervor of the most genuine 
 Italian patriot, would appear in abundance in every 
 department of civil affairs. From the various 
 powers and interests thus coalesced, and wrought 
 into one, a multitude of improvements in the arts, 
 and attainments in the line of general policy 
 would arise. A course of reproduction, suited to the 
 circumstances, and favorable to the genius of this 
 line territory, would soon follow. To the fine polish 
 and gusto of Italian ingenuity, a tone of sublimity 
 and nervousness would be superadded ; with subtle- 
 ty and refinement, fire and genius would be combin- 
 ed ; and the results of the whole, on national indus- 
 try and enterprize, would find for the Italians, full 
 space in the commercial, as well as in the political 
 world. This can scarcely appear to be a proble- 
 matic resolution of the Italian system, when we re- 
 collect that the Hierarchy, and the high dominant 
 aristocracy of the ancient republics, have been 
 alike superceded, and that the genius of freedom, 
 though uninformed as to its object, at present pre- 
 vails all over this beautiful territory. 
 
 Austria would this way be the barrier interject- 
 ed betwixt the double sway of Russia. For this rea- 
 son, Austria ought to be extended to the shores of 
 the Black sea, as well as to those of the Adriatic, 
 and to have an ample secure territory towards both 
 these outlets. Besides the eastern provinces of 
 Venice and its islands, Austria, to answer its desti-
 
 835 
 
 jiation, ought to comprize Wallachia, Bessarabia, 
 Moldavia, and (following the line of demarcation 
 drawn by the Danube,) the whole territory at its 
 debouchment. In the east, and in the north too, 
 her territory might require some small accessions 
 of strength. Austria is like a demure dame of 
 quality, shut out, by her circumstances, from the 
 way of friendly equal intercourse. She is defec- 
 tive neither in means nor in resources ; but her 
 burdens of state and of provision have rendered 
 these generally unavailing. Introduce Austria, 
 however, fully into the fields of peaceful enter- 
 prise ; let her advantages bear fully on the world 
 in the way of universal intercourse, and she will de- 
 velope a new character. Her ])ropensity to usurpa- 
 tion and intrigue, will give place to feelings more 
 genial to human happiness and improvement. She 
 is able to bestow, and she will bestow, as well as at- 
 tractameliorating influences, whenevera freeand full 
 avenue to these is laid open, and the sources, whence 
 animosity and disgust, have for ages been admitted 
 into her territory, are shut up and secluded. By 
 the foregoing arrangement this is effectually accom- 
 plished. France is cut off from her, not by a few pet- 
 ty states, that were at all times permeable by force 
 and intrigue ; but by two great empires that could 
 coalesce their strength, and dissever from its trunk 
 the limb that would dare to traverse either of tiieir 
 territories. Turkey cannot regard the sacrifices pro- 
 posed as of much importance, when such security, 
 as that now in contemplation, could be obtained. 
 The whole strength of her immense em[)ire is at pre-
 
 836 
 
 sent drained to snpport her contest on this very bar-^ 
 rierwitliRussia*. But that barricr,it is evident, would 
 this way be effectually secured, for Austria has too 
 many points of importance to protect, to dream of 
 creating new ones on this feeble, yet extended con- 
 fine of her domains. Russia herself requires no 
 accession of territory in these regions; her posses- 
 sions there are already but too much extended. 
 Russia requires the excitations of peaceful inter- 
 course with tranquillized civilized nations ; such 
 intercourse through Austrian influence she might 
 obtain not only for the Ukraine and Polish Tar- 
 tary, but for her Asiatic provinces on the eastern 
 bank of the Black Sea. Here, Austria as a neigh- 
 bour never could be formidable. As an ally and 
 abettor in such a course, Austrian assistance, more 
 than could be procured from the most complete 
 subjugation of that power, would be obtained. Aus- 
 tria, however, though tame amidst external inter- 
 course, would when thus reinforced, like a lion 
 that is aroused, repel the invader, that dared to in- 
 sult her urbanity. Austria is like the back-bone of 
 the European body-politic ; she is naturally and ne- 
 cessarily strong and powerful ; and she must be so, 
 otherwise the general constitution will fall off. 
 She is beset on all sides by immense empires, and 
 if her vertibrai sinews should happen to give way, 
 the system itself, considered as a whole, would in 
 like manner infallibly give way. 
 
 Perhaps it would be impossible to preserve any 
 thing like independence in the north of Europe, un- 
 
 * See Note at the end.
 
 m' 
 
 less Denmark, tlic remains of Sweden, and Norway, 
 together with tlie territory on the east of the Elbe, 
 and on the south of the Baltic, (districts that have 
 always been more or less connected with the Danish 
 and Swedish monarchies) be formed into one conso- 
 lidated kingdom. Its rugged soil would ibrm a 
 rampart to this kingdom on one side ; and its brave 
 inhabitants coalesced under one powerful influence, 
 would prove its bulwark on every other. Respec- 
 table by sea as well as by land, it miglit extend its 
 power into distant regions. Into the ports of every 
 nation its inhabitants would be welcome ; for their 
 reputation for moderation, probity, and honorable 
 deportment, nobly and resolutely maintained, has 
 always made their intercourse acceptable. Ambi- 
 tion with them is the desire of what is respectable, 
 and its pursuits the amelioration of all whom their 
 conduct may affect. A monarchy, in such circum- 
 stances, thus provided and thus secured, no friend 
 could abandon, and no enemy could overthrow. 
 What is added to its extent therefore may be 
 held to be ratlier bestowed on its fidelity, than an- 
 nexed to its domains ; as set apart under its in- 
 fluence, rather than absorbed within its sway. 
 
 In Prussia I would iiicludeall that was necessary 
 to give it the full command of the whole course of 
 theNeimen, the Vistula and the Oder, and all their 
 tributary streams, and stretch its territory south- 
 wards to the Austrian frontiers, and westwards to 
 the eastern banks of (he Elbe. In this way, the 
 shores of the Baltic, and the whole navigable course 
 of these vast rivers, would lay open that fine rich
 
 838 
 
 country, which has for ages been the residence ot 
 the most valorous race of men in Europe. These, by 
 being comprised under one monarchy, would be con- 
 densed under one general system, and be exercised 
 by tlie most free and direct modes of intercourse. 
 This region, above all others on the globe, demands 
 this advantage, both for the sake of its own, and for 
 that of the neighbouring population. At present, 
 there is little incitation to industry ; a most deso- 
 lating conscription incessantly thins it of inhabitants, 
 and has converted its territory into a mere warren, 
 for breeding bones and sinews to be impressed by 
 any foreign impulse that can attain the ascendancy 
 over them. Give to this country, however, one 
 strong dominant head, one firm bond of connexion, 
 one obvious rule of policy, and you make it at once a 
 united, a redoubted, and an independent nation. 
 There will be no need for vast standing armies to 
 ensure obedience, and still less for severe inflictions 
 to maintain in the national force the necessary dis- 
 cipline. This kingdom will be powerful, because 
 every subject will find himself safe under its au- 
 thority ; and it will be thoroughly organized and 
 disciplined, because under this advantage, the sov- 
 ereign may expand his powers, and exercise his fa- 
 culties to the utmost. Prussia will thus sever Rus- 
 sia from the Vv^cst of Europe. She will have a most 
 powerful influence on the Baltic, and contribute to 
 keep its channel free. But she will never obtain 
 the preponderancy in that important arm of the o- 
 cean ; nor be able to preclude the Russian and the 
 Scandinavian nations, from availing themselves of 
 all its advantages.
 
 839 
 
 In thus attempting to draw a sketch of the pre- 
 cincts and circumstances of the different states into 
 ^vhich the European commonwealth tends so strong- 
 ly to resolve itself, it is not meant to give any thing 
 like precise ideas, either as to their limits, their ex- 
 tent, or their subsequent procedure. All tliat is 
 proposed, and all that in our circumstances it is 
 necessary to do, is to point out, in a cursory manner, 
 those general outlines that seem to be already pre- 
 pared to our hand for this purpose, and to call at- 
 tention to those marked and prominent features in 
 each system, that serve most readily and most com- 
 pletely to indicate its character and destination. 
 Ample range for the developcment of each national 
 system, and abundance of those means that are ne- 
 cessary for its excitation and support, are held to 
 be provided. Due regard is also had to the preser- 
 vation and attainment of all those peculiar facili- 
 ties and advantages, that coincide with the regu- 
 lar improvement and advancement of each system ; 
 the direct channels of commercial intercourse, and 
 the ordinary courses of reproductive developcment 
 arc also all duly respected ; but as it is neither these, 
 nor any thing contingent to, or connected with 
 them, that will of themselves serve as the rule for 
 constituting or adjusting such high and momentous 
 affairs, it would be altogether presumptuous to re- 
 gard this sketch as any thing else but a mere illus- 
 tration of the general subject. Such arrangcmentB 
 belong not to the theorist ; they are even beyond 
 the compass of the proudest potentate ; but as it 
 sometimes coincides with the Divine procedure, to
 
 840 
 
 give some insight into those mazer., wliereby liis 
 great designs are accomplished, and as these indi- 
 cations at present lead us into great and extensive 
 conceptions of political duty and moral obligation, 
 it surely cannot be held to be either unbecoming or 
 improper to take up the subject under this, its most 
 perspicuous and impressive aspect. 
 
 Although, however, it be not here proposed or 
 attempted, to give definite ideas as to the boundav 
 ries and circumstances of each state, it must be 
 remembered, that limits to these, the most precise 
 and definite, must necessarily be drawn, in case any 
 thing like an enlarged and systematic arrangement 
 and adjustment of the European system should be 
 attempted. It is by fixing, in the most exact and 
 determinate manner, the boundaries of each state, 
 and by obtaining the sanction and the guarantee 
 of every other state to these boundaries, that the 
 great object then in view is to be obtained. It is 
 not here meant to say, that until every part that is 
 capable of misapprehension be adjusted and re- 
 cognized at the sight of every other state, no grand 
 impledgement for the security of the various com- 
 partments of the general system shall have been ob- 
 tained. On the contrary, the great excellency of 
 the proposed arrangement consists in this, that 
 each particular state is supposed to comprise all 
 the force and means that are necessary for attaining, 
 adjusting, and determining all its essential rights. 
 All that is meant therefore, by thus enforcing the 
 necessity of fixing and ascertaining the primary out-
 
 841 
 
 jects above mentioned, is to preclude vexatious, 
 perhaps sanguinary contests on this subject. As 
 the issue of such contests cannot but sometimes be 
 both doubtful and desultory, this measure may also 
 be held to be necessary to ensure the stability, 
 and to maintain the integrity of the whole system. 
 
 It will be noticed, that in the great bond of con- 
 nexion, proposed to be instituted, betwixt the dis- 
 jointed parts of these proposed states, it is not a pe- 
 culiar similarity in leligious belief, nor any exact 
 concordance in language, or in established laws and 
 customs, a common origin or common principles of 
 action that are souglit ibr, as the ligument of this 
 connexion. In all tlicsc respects, it is held that 
 throughout the whole European system, there is 
 sufficient similarity and concordance in the leading 
 principles, to do away with or obtempore minor as- 
 perity or incongruity, and that where any thing of a 
 more prominent nature appears, incessant exercita- 
 tion under its influence, such as the nations of Chris- 
 tendom have for ages been accustomed to, would 
 resolve the difficulty into a facility. The principle of 
 union here sought for, is that on which every socie- 
 ty most naturally and most completely forms itselfl 
 The powers and the resources of tlie parties ag- 
 gregated are combined in the most intimate man- 
 ner. By this means, the wants and the circumstan- 
 ces of men bear most directly on their proper object; 
 and drawing out their social propensities, amidst 
 exercises of the most important nature, — exercises 
 whereby their best and their mostconnnon interests 
 
 5 o
 
 842 
 
 are promoted, — the juxta position of the means to 
 the wants, and of the wants to the means, assimilate 
 these more and more to each other. Provisions 
 and facihties for the service of all, arise out of this 
 advantage. Establishments and institutions, where- 
 in the common powers and the common attain- 
 ments of society are concentrated, are thereupon 
 formed, extended and improved, and these very 
 asperities and discordancies, which, at first view, 
 seemed so inconsistent with social combination, 
 come at length to be effectual liguments in the ge- 
 neral system. 
 
 It is all along understood, that improvement in 
 civil and juridical institutions goes on, and is se- 
 cured to each state in a regular and effectual man- 
 ner. Without this, no political attainments what- 
 ever can be held to be at all valuable. A free and 
 liberal constitution of government, securing at once 
 the liberty of the subject, and the authority of the 
 prince, is a primary step in this progression ; but the 
 good of the people, not a timid deference to, or in- 
 dulgence of their humours, ought to regulate tliis im- 
 portant subject. With such attainments, every state 
 might not only institute, but follow out, its own pe- 
 culiar interests under every advantage. Industry 
 could never want regular excitation and support, 
 when commercial intercourse betwixt the nations 
 was established on the most liberal and magnani- 
 mous footing, and when every local facility and ad- 
 vantage, to give full effect to these w^as abundantly 
 provided. Financial relief would flov/ to the ser-
 
 84: 
 
 \icc of tlic enterprising from every quarter, wlien 
 their interests stood on a footing so fair, and when it 
 was so easy to draw up and circulate tlic substantial 
 roots of reproductive wealth, on a scale so wide, 
 and so thoroughly provisioned. Agriculture could 
 want neither hands nor excitation, when the basis 
 of every national advantage was so strong and so 
 extensive. The different orders of society, from 
 the sovereign to the peasant, would each find proper 
 and becoming supplies to all their wants, and suit- 
 able and appropriate exercises for their several fa- 
 culties. For their common advantage, not only the 
 means of an improved and enlarged territory, but 
 the excitation of the whole world, borne on all the 
 resources and energies of their territory, would be 
 fully at command, and always at hand. Britain, 
 Russia and Spain, might be powerful above the rest, 
 might be pre-eminent in many valuable and impor- 
 tant points. But this power and this pre-eminence, 
 they would be seen to hold for the behoof and for 
 the advantage of the whole system to which they 
 belonged, and in which they were implicated ; and, 
 in the exercise and enjoyment of all these advan- 
 tages, to l)claid under burdens and obligations cor- 
 respondent to the responsible station, that they thus 
 necessarily and unavoidably occupied. 
 
 That such would be the operation and tendency 
 of these arrangciiKMits, in such circumstances, we 
 cannot possibly be doubtfiil of, if we attend to the 
 natural and necessary progress of incipient im- 
 provement under such an impulse, and amidst ad- 
 
 5 o 2
 
 814 
 
 vantages for its devclopemciit so great luul so power- 
 ful. The great importance of agriculture and territo- 
 rial improvement has been already illustrated ; it 
 not only ensures to us the most valuable supplies, 
 replenishes the face of nature, and bears every ad- 
 vantage home to our circumstances, but it increases, 
 invigorates and ameliorates our population and phy- 
 sical strength, and gives to the advantages thus pro- 
 cured, stability and efficacy. For the attainment 
 of this object, internal security, equitable laws, and 
 a due external excitation and support are needful ; 
 and these, let it be noticed, are of little avail v/ith- 
 out political security and independence. All these 
 advantages however, are to be procured under the 
 proposed system. As every state holds in guaran- 
 tee the impledgement of every other state for all its 
 possessions, for its independence, and for its politi- 
 cal rights and immunities, may we not infer, that the 
 progress of each national system in its own course, 
 will be as unremitted, as if the whole continent of 
 Europe were bound up under one ? But every com- 
 munity has not only this advantage, but it enjoys 
 the protecting and nurturing care of a paternal and 
 vigorous government of its own, rendered conforma- 
 ble to its circumstances, stretched over all its con- 
 cerns, and incessantly exercised in maturing and 
 preserving all that is excellent, and in irradicating 
 and suppressing all that is vitious, that may have 
 found a plage under its authority. Under such a 
 system, can we for a moment doubt of the power 
 and efficacy of national advancement, or of its in- 
 valuable concomitant and forerunner, agricultural
 
 845 
 
 and territorial improvement ? And luiving tlius pro- 
 cured the root and basis of an ameliorated system, 
 can we hesitate regarding its subsequent and ulti- 
 mate evolutions ? 
 
 In order to be still farther certiorated on this 
 subject, let us next direct our attention to the pro- 
 cess by which the wealth thus substantiated, may 
 in such circumstances, be drawn up and diffused. 
 The first thing to be enquired into is, would there 
 be sufficient inducement for nations and individu- 
 als to persevere in uscfid and productive industry, 
 and to abandon avocations that are worthless and in- 
 secure ? and could this advantage, in this posture of 
 political affairs be obtained, without disparaging the 
 employments, or traversing the characters and situa- 
 ations of individuals ? The answer to this enquiry 
 will present itself to our iiands, if we attend to this 
 circumstance, that the range ofsuch employment for 
 each individual is almost boundless, and that the 
 facilities, for drawing up and circulating the fruits of 
 his industry, are equal to this range. It is not meant 
 to say, that careless exercitations in the arts will be 
 protected and rewarded beyond their dcservings, 
 all that is meant is, that notwithstanding the free- 
 dom and immunities that are secured to general 
 commerce, wherever industry is judiciously and 
 faithtiilly directed to its proper object, there it will 
 find a due reward, not equal perhaps to the views 
 of those who would sacrifice every thing to one fa- 
 vorite line of industry, but certainly equal to its 
 real importance. The next thing that demands
 
 846 
 
 attention is, will the wcaltli produced and drawn 
 lip maintain its value in all its subsequent evolu- 
 tions ? I answer, that this advantage is the pecu- 
 liar excellency of our system, and that it must be 
 procured to its utmost extent. General wealth, 
 both in its representative and in its substantial form, 
 must at all times maintain its full value, because ife 
 can command the whole range of the whole mar- 
 ket of the world ; because this market, and all the 
 wealth that it imports must not only be free from spo- 
 liation, but be under the safeguard of the whole civi- 
 lized world, be protected by the arm of consti- 
 tuted authority, and be impledged by the ordina- 
 tions of the most equitable jurisprudence ; and be- 
 cause there can be no inducement either on the part 
 of nations or of princes to deteriorate its influence. 
 Nor is this all, in consequence of the advancement 
 of individual character, and the extension of moral 
 provisions, we may also hold that the propensity to 
 violate public and private possessions will be every 
 way diminished. In process of time the whole 
 system of human affairs, we may hope, will form it- 
 self on this basis, and the whole frame of human 
 society become every way established on superior 
 grounds. 
 
 In the meantime, it is impossible not to no- 
 tice, that as complete provision for the safety, im- 
 provement and advancement of every state and na- 
 tion in Christendom, as it is possible to wish for, 
 or conceive, must be held to be secured for each of 
 these nations. It is true, these, in general, must be
 
 847 
 
 held to be destitute of colonial possessions, and to 
 be deficient in naval power ; but this it must be no- 
 ticed, is not a disparagement, it is not a degrada- 
 tion ; it arises from accidental circumstances, and it 
 is in the power of each nation to set about remedy- 
 ing the deficiency as soon as it is convenient for 
 itself. In the meantime, however, they will recol- 
 lect, that they are noways deprived of the advan- 
 tages which such power implies ; they may main- 
 tain the most direct intercourse with the colonial 
 possessionsof other princes, and derive all that sup- 
 port and instigation to their internal industry, that 
 it is possible for them to obtain from colonial pos- 
 sessions of their own. By this means, their internal 
 improvement can be noways stagnated from the de- 
 ficiency, nor their political power or influence in 
 the least degree impaired on that account- 
 As there seems to be some gross misapprehension 
 on this subject, even among the rulers of the na- 
 tions, it is not improper to advert to it in this place, 
 somewhat more particularly. Naval power and co- 
 lonial possessions are not to be obtained, without 
 great national sacrifices, such as no nation in alow 
 state of improvement ought unnecessarily to ven- 
 ture upon. The history of Spain and Portugal, and 
 tiieir present low and helpless situation, notwith- 
 standing all their natural advantages, illustra-tes the 
 truth of this remark, more than volumes can do. 
 Perhaps it is chiefly owing to the superior power 
 obtained from improvement in the arts, that Bri- 
 tain does not present a similar spectacle to the
 
 848 
 
 world. In corroboration of this position, it is only 
 necessary farther to notice, that for one individual 
 who accomplishes the object of his emigration, 
 there are twenty who fail, and that of the few who 
 succeed in obtaining their object, there is but a 
 small number who preserve health and constitu- 
 tional vigor to enjoy it. What inroads, therefore, 
 does the maintenance of naval and colonial power 
 make in population ? What sacrifices of funds and 
 of means are made for the attainment of this pow- 
 er, for preserving it when attained, and for realiz- 
 ing the advantage that its attainment imports? It 
 forms indeed a powerful stimulus to the process of re- 
 production, when properly applied. Under it the 
 national population does not become stagnant, 
 or become boisterously propense for contestation 
 and turmoil, a contingency that has but too fre- 
 quently happened with nations not possessed of colo- 
 nics to take off the surcharge of its attainments 
 and of its inhabitants. It must be remarked, how- 
 ever, that under the proposed system, this surcharge 
 may pass of? without producing this disadvantage, 
 and without occasioning any particular difficulty ; it 
 will not perhaps pass into colonial possessions ap- 
 pertaining to the surcharged state ; but it may 
 readily enough pass into those of the other powers, 
 into territories belonging to colonial states estab- 
 lished in independence, or into countries under for- 
 eign sway. 
 
 na 
 
 As this is the extremity of the hardship to which 
 tions without colonial possessions can be sub-
 
 849 
 
 jected, it is proper to state a countervailing dis- 
 advantage inseparable from colonial power, that 
 brings down the predominancy here referred to, 
 to its proper estimation — the scattered, imbecile and 
 fragile condition in which colonial possessions must 
 generally remain, cannot but render such posses- 
 sions at best but burdensome and uncertain. In 
 times of war, they may easily be destroyed or be 
 taken possession of, by a coup-de-main. In time of 
 peace, they form a drawback on territorial im- 
 provement, a drain to internal resources, and an ab- 
 sorbent of population, frequently too strong for the 
 process of reproduction. They return indeed the 
 wealth that is invested in them, when this wealth 
 can be maintained at its proportional value in 
 the general market ; but in the procurement of this 
 object, a variety of difficulties must be encountered. 
 The processes of reproduction and consumption will, 
 as a matter of course, frequently become dispropor- 
 tionate to each other at home ; and, unless the inter- 
 stices of the body-politic can be filled up advanta- 
 geously with the Vv'calth that can be procured in 
 return from neighbouring nations, the results of the 
 processes, that is to say, all the national advantages 
 which tliesc comprise, will pass off and be lost. It is 
 only by being in circumstances to divide this value 
 equally with those other powers that are maintained 
 in connexion by it, that any thing like advantage 
 can be procured from this surplus. That this 
 is the true slate of the case, that it is the necessa- 
 ry and natural consequence of colonial and mari- 
 time prowess in every stage of our aflliirs, and that
 
 850 
 
 in every condition, into wliicli tlie (ic\ elopement 
 of these may conduct us, tliis consequence must 
 attend them, is, I apprehend, a matter that cannot 
 possibly be controverted. 
 
 In making these remarks, it is impossible not to 
 notice, that tlie whole system, as now developed and 
 elucidated, goes to counteract and traverse nation- 
 al warfare, and undue contestation about national 
 objects. Warfare, it will be noticed, is directly 
 struck at by the arrangements and provisions, that 
 are held to be made, and carried into effect, for the 
 purpose of adjusting the territories, and securing 
 the rights of nations. These, and all such objects 
 as are the great ostensible grounds of war, or that 
 are the points towards which its horrible labors are 
 directed, or that are advantages, which, when attain- 
 ed, are held to compensate for all these labors, — all 
 these things are held to be naturalized and absorb- 
 ed under the general system. But, besides placing 
 things thus favorably for tranquillity, it now ap- 
 pears that an effectual relief is given to the whole 
 system, in that very Vv'ay, that is necessary to render 
 its movements genial and salutary, and that this re- 
 lief is obtained from the necessary operations of 
 the system itself. Mankind are naturally fond of 
 enterprise, of change, of hazard, and of deep and 
 earnest competition. When surcharged with abun- 
 dance, and inflated with pride, these propensities 
 seem sometimes to be irresistible ; when these affect 
 men individually, in a civilized state, they may ge- 
 nerally be passed off without inducing any unhap-
 
 851 
 
 py conse(]iicnccs; they may even be drawn out in 
 the wayoftheir respective exercises, so as to expedite 
 the advantages to which these exercises are desti- 
 nated. But wlien these powerful propensities affect 
 men in the mass, when tliey are borne out under a 
 regular leader, and appropriate system, and when 
 they tend towards some project of aggrandizement 
 or intrigue that bulks wonderfully in their eye; 
 then warfare and contestation ensue, and nothing 
 but the ensanguined field can terminate the contes- 
 tation; destruction, deep and deplorable, must be 
 the result, and all that is dear and valuable to man, 
 may be plunged in one great and common chaotic 
 abyss. War, however, let it be remarked, horrible 
 as it is, is not without its advantages. In that state of 
 ^j)^bitude, into whicli theplethorism ofa body-politic 
 tends naturally to lead corrupted nations, the hor- 
 rors of assassination, conscription and desolating 
 oppression may take place of it and prevail ; these, 
 the resolution of propensities, that are but too fre- 
 quently beyond the curb of reason, form calamities 
 much more awful and deplorable than any that di- 
 rect warfare contains ; for they are, for the most part, 
 hopeless as well as grievous, and intense as well as 
 severe. Man, in truth, according as he recedes from 
 systematic improvement, retires into that savageness 
 that was the mark of his first step in depravation — 
 into that state of rtideness, where the imlividuai im 
 pulse hurries him on to crime, almost without induc- 
 ing the consciousness of wrong. The expression of 
 wonder, emittetl by the Indian warriors at the glory 
 ofllenry IV., which was not at its splendor and mag- 
 
 5 V 2
 
 852 
 
 iiiticence, but at the lameness of the athletic ceii- 
 tinels, who tended such a puny animal so peaceably, 
 when, by massacring him, the wealth that he pos- 
 sessed might, as they thought, have become their 
 own, may cease to exci-te surprize. 
 
 These great and powerful propensities, it is im- 
 possible for us to irradicate or suppress, either in so- 
 ciety or in individuals. The utmost that we can at- 
 tempt to do, is toj'estrain their force, to subdue 
 their violence, and to conduct their powers towards 
 objects wherein their energy may be spent and ab- 
 sorbed, not only innocuously, but with manifest ad- 
 vantage to society at large. And, let it be noticed, 
 that this attempt we do not presume to make, oth- 
 erwise, than under the influence and direction of a 
 benign and renovating system, the great object and 
 tendency of which is to purify our nature, and to 
 advance our general character. With the advan- 
 tage to be derived from the establishment of its au- 
 thority, the diffusion of its principles, and the de- 
 velopement of its resources, we may, I think, pre- 
 sume to calculate not only on finding the virulence 
 of these propensities of our nature neutralized, but 
 on endowing them with a bland, and dulcifying in- 
 fluence. Repressed by civil and moral ties, the 
 same propensities would disclose themselves, in the 
 service of improvement and on a more extended 
 scale, and in a more systematic way, they would ad- 
 vance the character, and extend the authority of 
 that beneficent order of things, under which their 
 • powers had been enlisted.
 
 853 
 
 Although, however, all these great stimulants to 
 warfare and disorder would be absorbed under oth- 
 er influences, we do not conclude, that we have 
 irradicated them from our system, or changed their 
 nature, or their character. It is impossible for us to 
 prevent them from disclosing their influences afresh, 
 and forming themselves under new banners, for the 
 pursuit of their object. This object, however, we 
 have in the proposed scheme, removed to a distance; 
 we place it in foreign regions, and amongst the fields 
 of commercial and political enterprise. There, 
 we may be able to assuage, though not to avert 
 bloody contestation. Wars, in such a situation, 
 in spite of all we can do, may still ensue ; these, how- 
 ever, we may hope, will be no more than the contin- 
 gent and transitory ebulitions of the times ; ebuli- 
 tionsover which the influence of a more genial im- 
 pulse, we may expect, will in the end prevail. In the 
 meantime, if we may hold that Europe is to remain 
 m tranquillity, its fields and its cities will be replete 
 with the best fruits and effects of this tranquillity, 
 the advantages of the whole arrangement as well 
 those as of the general system, will disclose them- 
 selves ; each system will confirm and consolidate the 
 other, and, amidst social and civil attraction, suffici- 
 ently concentrate and cnvigorate the improvement 
 of the whole. In this way, the whole system will be 
 harmonized and established ; and in its operations, 
 political and juridical protection, more and more 
 adapted to the circumstances of the whole nations 
 that have been implicated within their range, will 
 be secured ; and the nations, confident in such pro-
 
 854 
 
 tection, will become continually more regular 
 and more consistent, both in their character and in 
 their deportment. 
 
 It will be recollected, that all this time, I consider 
 each of the European nations as fully fixed in its own 
 territory, and as holding in security for its posses- 
 sions, the full guarantee of every other Christian 
 power ; and that it is placed in circumstances, 
 wherein a range of commerce and of industry, eve- 
 ry way correspondent to its character is maintain- 
 ed. How very important this object is, is suffici- 
 ently evident. Each national system will develope 
 itself, and all its concernments in safety, and enjoy 
 the results of these developements under the most 
 resplendent course of things. A benevolent and 
 exalted way of thinking and of judging, respecting 
 political and commercial interests, must prevail ; for 
 each will see in the prosperity of its neighbours, 
 blessings, in which it must some way or other par- 
 take. As the kingdoms and colonies of the w^hole 
 world will be open to their intercourse, they will 
 have no inducement to burden themselves with ex- 
 trinsic possessions of their own, or with any foreign 
 establishment, wherein their resources may be un- 
 profitably thrown away. Every nation, therefore, 
 under the operation of the proposed sj'stem, may 
 be held to devote itself most sedulously to the im- 
 provement of its own peculiar internal resources, 
 and into the augmentation of these seek the re- 
 solution of every commercial and political concern. 
 In doing this, each nation will find the basis of its
 
 855 
 
 security and happiness augmented, and the attain- 
 ments that are rested on it, every way more sump- 
 tuous and profuse. 
 
 I AM well aware that it may be started as an ob- 
 jection on the part of Britain, that the colonial sys- 
 tem, in such circumstances, may become more bur- 
 densome than profitable to her ; and that by giving 
 free access to her foreign possessions, not only her 
 maritime prcpondcrancy, but the interests of her 
 industry would be endangered. This objection, I 
 must be allowed to answer in a very cursory way — 
 for if Britain, or if any power, fi-om narrow views 
 of its own particular interests, is to be allowed to 
 prevent an equitable arrangement of the affairs of 
 Europe, we must be content to go on in war and 
 in desolation, until the whole shall be absorbed un- 
 der one monarchy. There is, however, an answer 
 at hand to this objection. Britain is superior in 
 mechanical power and invention to every other 
 nation, and all that is necessary to ensure her as- 
 cendancy in any market, is to give her direct ac- 
 cess to it. But under this very arrangement, Bri- 
 tain might not only ensure the ascendancy of the 
 leading classes other industry, but obtain correspon- 
 ding concessions from the nations thus favored, in 
 other departments of trade. Much of the manufic- 
 tures, exported by Britain to the continent of Eu- 
 rope, passed, until lately, through Transatlantic bot- 
 toms ; might not her own colonies, when direct in- 
 tercourse betwixt these and the ancient states of 
 Kurope was provided, serve her interests in a simi-
 
 856 
 
 lar way ? It will be recollected, that as these states 
 are held to be'solvent in their whole circumstances, 
 the intercourse that must take place betwixt us will 
 proceed on a basis the most secure — that they are all 
 set forward in a progression of advancement, and as 
 such are likely to be better customers than before — 
 that the welfare of the colonies, thus promoted by 
 such intercourse, must be held to be the same with 
 that of the dominant country — and, that our citi- 
 zens abroad for the most part remit their wealth to 
 their parent shores. 
 
 But all these considerations, are of a very subor- 
 dinate kind, when compared with the great lead- 
 ing object of procuring tranquillity and indepen- 
 dence to the nations of Europe, and placing them 
 in circumstances to maintain their own ground, 
 in the common system, without our interference. 
 What misery and bloodshed would by this means 
 be prevented? What security and improvement 
 and happiness would be procured ? These are 
 blessings for which no sacrifice is too great ; and 
 these blessings, let it be noticed, would all revert 
 to our system, and bring along with them, in a 
 tenfold ratio, all the advantages, that in their at- 
 tainment, had been sacrificed. When freed from the 
 burdens of incessant warfare and foreign subsidy, 
 how rapidly would all our national burdens and 
 taxes disappear. In this way, our commodities 
 would be lowered in price, and our ability for com- 
 peting with our rivals abroad be increased to our 
 hands. Our intercourse would not be the result
 
 S5' 
 
 of circumvention and dissimulation j it would be free, 
 and be supported on grounds indisputably our own. 
 We would enjoy, w-ith all our attainments, the hap- 
 piness of contributing to the wealth and advance- 
 ment of all with whom we transacted, and in thus 
 contributing, perceive that the gain that ultimately 
 devolved on us, was not thereby either diminished 
 or destroyed. Nor is this all ; as each nation has its 
 own peculiar system, and an ultimate resolution of 
 its powers, having a cast of character that is peculi- 
 arly its own, so the fruits and productions of each 
 particular system would be varied almost indefinite- 
 ly, and the taste for appropriating these correspond 
 dently diversified. This taste, it must be recollected, 
 will be constantly devolving itself amidst fastidious 
 excellencies, and in all its successive changes, it will 
 set still farther forward the reproductive processes, 
 which it supports. On the whole, therefore, whatev- 
 er partial inconveniency the proposed concessions 
 may produce upon the circumstances of Great Bri- 
 tain, these, from the circumstances of the case, 
 must be compensated and made up. It belongs to 
 her industry to conform itself in an easy and regu- 
 lar way to her occasions ; and for this reason, her 
 true interests have never been altogether unpro- 
 vided for, or left behind. When America had with- 
 drawn her support from her industry, her ijidus- 
 try found out new objects for its support. In the 
 East, the very change here referred to has already 
 taken place ; and there a partition, of our colonial 
 commerce with foreign nations, has produced the 
 advantages above described. The commerce, thus 
 
 5 Q
 
 858 
 
 procured, has been most sedulously cultivated, and 
 it has more than compensated every loss that has en- 
 fjued. Nor is this matter to be wondered at, when 
 for the prosecution of such commerce the range 
 is so immense. To it Spain and Portugal throw 
 open their immense territories, and the wide Asiat- 
 ic continent, with America its abettoi, following 
 up the advantage begun by this inroad on our co- 
 lonial monopoly, effectually traverse all its peculiar 
 advantages. 
 
 But besides this, it will be recollected, that the 
 nations of Europe must be held to be not only at 
 full liberty, but in a general capacity, for forming 
 colonial enterprises of their own, and that they 
 are to be precluded from availing themselves of this 
 privilege, only by the accommodation that our gene- 
 ral policy may accord. That they could, if great- 
 ly put to it, institute colonies of their own, from 
 means within their povvcr, may be inferred from the 
 advantages guaranteed to each state by the whole. 
 These means must be such as will not only preserve 
 them alike independent and respectable, but nurture 
 and maturate their resources and their strength. We 
 may no doubt infer, that they will not soon nor 
 rashly betake themselves to enterprises that will 
 draw off their resources so powerfully, as planting 
 colonies will do ; a regard to more important inte- 
 rests, and other peculiarly pressing duties, must 
 render these undertakings noways either tempting 
 or safe. Still, however, as we can lay claim to no 
 power or right to interfere in their procedure, in
 
 859 
 
 regard to sucli an object, it evidently becomes us 
 to conform oiir'colonial policy to their views, and to 
 subserve these as completely as possible; and not on- 
 ly to give them no just cause for complaint against 
 onr leading policy, but to take out of the way what- 
 ever would draw them aside from their own line of 
 duty into ours. 
 
 Although, however, we can traverse none of their 
 colonial enterprises ; yet, as on the same principles, 
 we can hold fast the provisions necessary for securing 
 to ourselves the sovereignty of our established colo- 
 nial possessions, and all the advantages connected 
 with this sovereignty, we may maintain these as inde- 
 pendently, and upon the same high ground that these 
 nations can maintain their guaranteed territory at 
 home. This guarantee to our colonial power, and 
 this acquiescence in the rights of independent na- 
 tions, arise alike out of the fundamental principles 
 of the new arrangement, and they alike render it 
 necessary for the nation, projecting a colonial enter- 
 prize, to qualify its exercise of the right referred 
 to, with all that deference to our established colonial 
 rights, that circumstances may point out. Still, 
 however, it must be recollected, that all such con- 
 cessions and understandings as may thereupon en- 
 sue, arc matters completely subordinate to the 
 grand arrangements previously set at rest, and that 
 these arrangements must be held to imply the ful- 
 lest exercise of this right of colonizing ; which right, 
 being placed underthesafeguardof the whole nations 
 of Europe, not only no consent nor concession pro- 
 
 5 Q 2
 
 860 
 
 cured on the ground of co-operation, but no subse- 
 quent ultimate arrangement must anyways affect or 
 infringe on ; this right being held to be ah'eady re- 
 cognized, and completely set at rest. Tiie world, 
 in so far as not affected by the general guarantee, is, 
 by the spirit and import of this grand arrangement, 
 thrown open for enterprises of every kind, and 
 every interference with these enterprizes is most ex- 
 pressly debarred. On this vast field, arrangements 
 may be made, and they may be altered ; but none of 
 these alterations must disarrange matters of ulterior 
 moment. Nay, the guarantee of the nations, to this 
 latitude of construction in regard to subsequent ar- 
 rangements, is implied as a mute point ; so that any 
 thing that would preclude the application of this 
 construction, must be held to be an attack on the 
 system, which all are bound determinately to op- 
 pose. In forming these arrangements, we are not 
 making concessions ; the nations of Europe have al- 
 ways been as free and as capacitated to plant colo- 
 nies as ourselves. Heretofore, indeed, the circum- 
 stances of many of them have not been such as to 
 warrant any such diversion of their strength. At 
 length, however, their several systems have been re- 
 cruited, in returning to their independent charac- 
 ter, they cannot but resume those concomitant pri- 
 vileges and advantages that attend it as its shade. 
 Amongst those that may be thus resumed, surely 
 the full right of extending colonial possessions is 
 one of the most unobjectionable. 
 
 Although, however, we cannot pretend to inter« 
 fere in the operations of nations in this matter, we 
 may lead on an influential policy that will bear these
 
 861 
 
 operations away from amor.gst our most interesting 
 concerns. In doing this, liowever, our nerves as 
 •well as our views must be steady, we must neither 
 seek what is unbecoming, nor be afraid of what is 
 bold. Certain risks are unavoidable, others may 
 be rendered innocuous by the train of measures in- 
 to wliich they run ; and all of them may be moder- 
 ated, if not removed, by a sagacious, determined, 
 and intrepid line of conduct, in the management of 
 our affairs. We have always been afraid least 
 France should become mistress of Egypt, and of the 
 lied Sea ; and if we are to maintain a timid lax 
 scheme of government, in regard to our East India 
 possessions, our fears, perhaps, can never outgo their 
 just cause. But if our Indian Empire is established 
 on sound and solid principles, if its resources arc 
 drawn out, its powers and its means organized and 
 established, and its general energies and capacities 
 exercised under our system, we will have little oc- 
 casion to be under any apprehension on this score. 
 In my opinion, the Mediterranean states would, 
 under the system proposed, as naturally cling to 
 Africa, as the resort for their colonial enterprises, 
 as the states that lie upon the G reat ocean do to its re- 
 motest shores. I can see no injury, that can happen 
 cither to our trade, or to the economy now insti- 
 tuted, although Austria could pour the produce of 
 the Moorish territory into the Russian domains ; and 
 though Italy could command the shores of her an- 
 cient rival, and could stretch her line of territory 
 into the Lybian sands; for we could have balances 
 of colonies, as well as of international strength. We 
 would have a new set of customers, for a new set
 
 862 
 
 of objects, as well as iiew opponents in the common 
 market ; and whichever way we turned ourselves, 
 rivalship would be set aside by the multitude of its 
 claims, animosity would vent its strength in useful 
 competition, and its virulence find in improvement 
 a sheath to its rage. Proudful deference would 
 thereupon take place of oppression, and in tlie ex- 
 altation of its object, obtain the satisfaction to 
 which it aspired. 
 
 I AM hence led to take into view, the circumstan- 
 ces of an empire that has hitherto been left out of 
 our great scheme of improvement ; the empire of 
 the Grand Seignor. I apprehend, that the over- 
 throw of the Turkish dynasty is an event which 
 would give uneasiness to none. We may not, how- 
 ever, project it, nor calculate upon it ; but surely if 
 there is too much reason to look forward with anx- 
 iety to its accomplishment, it cannot be wrong to 
 contemplate its issue, and to pourtray that arrange- 
 ment of its affairs, which coincides most completely 
 with the genial principles to which we cling. It 
 would be highly impolitic to partition this empire, 
 or to dismember from it any provinces that are not 
 already disjointed to our hands. To Austria, per- 
 haps, it might be proper to secure the territories a- 
 long both banks of the Danube, as well as a suffi- 
 cient extent of territory on those shores, that con- 
 nect her with the main. It would, however, be 
 highly impolitic to transfer any of its territory to 
 Russia, to Britain, or to Spain. To aggrandize 
 Russia in this luxuriant region, would be to at-
 
 863 
 
 tempt to change her character. If we should suc- 
 ceed in effecting this change, what would be 
 the consequence ? would we not sever the whole 
 into two nations, and leave behind us, the nation 
 best prepared to assert its superior power ? The 
 strength of Russia consists in the austerity of her 
 character ; her political prowess is rested on the pri- 
 vations that she can sustain. Remove her from the 
 severities of her northernly capital, and like other de- 
 spotic monarchies, she will disclose the hideousness 
 of the system that she sustains. Enervated by in- 
 dulgences, if her territory were augmented from 
 Turkey, civil discord would ensue, and transfer to 
 the army the power of the state. Every general would 
 become a conqueror, and a rival of the throne, and 
 the myriads that would support him, would frequent- 
 ly make good to him his highest claims j such re- 
 vulsive principles may seem inconsistent with the* 
 harmony that now prevails in Russia. Let it be 
 remembered, however, that under inauspicious des- 
 tinies, or an infeebled sovereign, crimes would lead 
 to aggrandizement, and aggrandizement w^ould pre- 
 pare for crimes their appropriate reward. But be- 
 sides this argument, there is another still more co- 
 gent against transferring the government to the 
 Greeks, or to any system that is purely their own — 
 the deep animosity betwixt this race and their op- 
 pressors could never, under such influence, be sub- 
 dued ; there is betwixt them and the Turks no one 
 principle on which co-operation could be founded ; 
 but there are incentives to jealousy and rage of the 
 most interminable kind. The Greeks themselves
 
 864 
 
 arc not sufficiently reclaimed from their profligacy, 
 to be intrusted with high authority in such critical 
 circumstances; their dispositions are debased, and 
 their principles luiformed. From such a system, it 
 would be impossible to exclude coertion, or to es- 
 tablish in it a common national spirit, that would de- 
 vclopc itself on beneficent and independent grounds. 
 
 It occurs to me that, if circumstances favored it, 
 these once highly pri^^leged regions, might be 
 placed under the expatriated dynasty of France ; 
 under the auspices of that family for which Europe 
 has so deeply bled. It is impossible for the Bour- 
 bons ever to obtain in France a sure footing, or to 
 allay that incessant jealousy and animosity that 
 would beset all their steps. The utmost condescen- 
 sion and benignity would never procure full confi- 
 dence ; the smallest change of circumstances would 
 revive the spirit of contestation, and give rise to 
 those terrors and conscriptions, with which France 
 has been so long famiharized. In Turkey, however, 
 the case would be different ; there, the protection of 
 a mild and dignified domination would be ahke ne- 
 cessary and valuable to all. Turkey requires re- 
 finement as well as improvement. A train of meas- 
 ures, cautious as well as irresistable, matured in si- 
 lence, but executed with precision, arc necessary to 
 this end ; and to these, the deep experience, and 
 incessant energy of new governors would, in such 
 circumstances, most naturally dispose them to be- 
 take themselves. In Turkey, religious toleration 
 must not only be established, but its rights must
 
 865 
 
 be secured by the highest autliority of the state j 
 and what but such toleration and protection could 
 subsist, when, by the prince, and by all his subjects, 
 this boon was alike required ? The truth is, in 
 Turkey, there cannot for ages be any fixed eccle- 
 siastical establishment ; all must enjoy that religious 
 belief which they profess ; but to none can the privi- 
 lege of interfering with that of others be with advan- 
 tage transferred. When prejudice and passion have 
 been brought down by coltfsive exercises, such pro- 
 visions may do good ; but until a thorough change 
 of character shall have become manifest, the secu- 
 rity, which a dynasty, implicated by its character 
 in the cause of toleration, must carry along with it 
 to the throne, is the highest ecclesiastical blessing 
 that should be required. 
 
 A STATK, in the circumstances now described, 
 eould never be too powerful to be dangerous, nor 
 too weak to sink under its assailants. Russia on one 
 side, Austria on another, Italy at hand, and France 
 and Britain prepared at a distance, would each pro- 
 tect its rising energies, and be security against each 
 other for its integrity and independence. It cannot 
 be said that it would connect itself too closely with 
 France; for there, similar revulsion, but much higher, 
 with that which keeps Britain and America apart, 
 would prevail. Neither can it be said, that this 
 empire would co-operate with Austria or Russia 
 in plans of aggrandizement ; for its security consists 
 in maintaining each of these in its place, and in 
 formiPig a common cause, with all the powers that
 
 ^6G 
 
 have this for their object. Tranquillity, improve- 
 ment, and refinement, must be its chiefest good ; 
 and, under the shade of an ameliorating system, 
 these would soon spread their influence every 
 where around. There, the genius of ancient Greece 
 might again rear itself aloft, and her spoils and her 
 trophies again be displayed ; there too, within the 
 hallowed precincts of the ancient Palestina, may be 
 introduced that sacred radiance from which they 
 had been cut off by their crimes. Perhaps, it is to 
 this very object that Heaven may have disciplined 
 this illustrious house. These remarks may appear 
 fanciful, but they are very important, and very ne- 
 cessary in this place ; for they are only fair and ap- 
 propriate inductions from the above illustrations. If 
 it is an excellency peculiar to our own system, that 
 it unfolds the connexion that subsists betwixt the re- 
 gular and conscientious discharge of political and ci- 
 vil duty, and its appropriate reward, and betwixt 
 gross, deliberate and determinate prostitution of pe- 
 culiar advantages thereto,and correspondent debase- 
 ment in every other point of character and condi- 
 tion, surely, in contemplating the fate of a country 
 that has forfeited Heaven's highest behest, no one 
 can avoid imbibing the sipirit which such lessons af- 
 ford. No subversion of political tyranny or cor- 
 ruption, that has as yet taken place, has been a- 
 ble to upraise this ill-fated country, nor to transfuse 
 into the character of its inhabitants that energy, 
 which, amidst their licentious rites, they had lost. 
 They had prostrated themselves most vilely to the 
 lowest of their passions, and, the introduction of new
 
 867 
 
 principles and new cliaracters, seems at lenpjtli io 
 have become indispcnsible to their recovery. When 
 recovered, may we not liopc tliat this people will 
 prove the cape-stone of our system, and fill np that 
 scheme of improvement whence all our excellencies 
 are destined to arise ? 
 
 It is into a form of this kind, that I would re- 
 solve the whole energies and resources of the Eu- 
 ropean commonwealth ; and it is in this way, that I 
 would maintain in independence, the powerful and 
 multiflirious developements of its mighty system. 
 I would, in the first place, aggregate them under 
 those influences that were most favorable for their 
 developement, and bestow upon each of them 
 a characteristic national impulse. In the next 
 place, I v.'ould secure and guarantee to them, all 
 those territories and advantages that coincided 
 Avith their peculiar range of developement, and 
 ])lace those under the safeguard and protection of 
 the whole commonwealth. In the third place, I 
 v»'ould prepare and mature all these arrangements 
 and provisions that were necessary for drawing forth 
 and exercising their respective powers and facul- 
 ties within their own territories, and there I would 
 expect that each system would strike its deepest 
 roots, unfi)ld its most valuable branches, and scud 
 forth its choicest fruits. But in the fourth place, I 
 would not confine these high virtues at home, I 
 would give them the range of the world for their 
 developement, and provide facilities and advanta- 
 ges, in every quarter, for receiving and resolving 
 
 5 u 2
 
 868 
 
 these (levelopements. As all this v>lilie, the bene 
 ficent influences of our re-animating and envigorat- 
 ing, civil and religious institutions, would pervade 
 the whole system, as the surcharge of one portion 
 of the system would spontaneously make up the de- 
 ficiencies of the other, and as pressure on one quar- 
 ter, would draw forth directly most appropriate re- 
 lief from another, I would preserve an equitable 
 progression in the whole order of improvement, 
 that might be induced. And as the sources whence 
 these improvements first sprung, would constantly 
 attract to themselves the most precious and the 
 most plentiful supplies, so I would, under these very 
 influences, and by the regular movements of the 
 same system, and by the very means thus provided, 
 replenish most abundantly the parent ibuntain, and 
 bestow ample remuneration, for all the sacrifices 
 that might be necessary. 
 
 In order to be satisfied tliat the great sclieme of im- 
 provement, as unfolded and illustrated in the ])re- 
 ceding pages, when thus provisioned and extended, 
 would tend to resolve all the energies and resources 
 of every nation which it might comprehend, in this 
 very manner, it is only necessary to advert to its gene- 
 ral circumstances. Its great object, it will be recol- 
 lected, is to preserve nations and individuals in such 
 a state of independence, that they may severally ad- 
 vance on their own basis, in that course of improve- 
 ment that is before them. The necessities, and the 
 acquirements, of Britain and of certain other nations, 
 have been taken up and followed out, in this view ;
 
 8G9 
 
 but as the principles tliiis illuslrated are common 
 to every state and nation, whereof improvement 
 and civilization, under beneficent and ennobling in- 
 fluences are the cliaracteristic features, and as such 
 results flow as directly from their devclopements in 
 the states and nations sketched out above, as from 
 those for whose service they were primarilydesigned, 
 so it must appear evident, that tliese conclusive de- 
 vclopements of eacli of these national systems, may 
 be held to proceed forth in the same form, and to in- 
 corporate and concatenate with each other, in the 
 same way, so much the more, when a great and inva- 
 luable accession of strength and of means to llie gene- 
 ral system has been obtained, and when avast butne- 
 cessary and appropriate extension ofits natural pow- 
 ers has been secured. Let it however be farther re- 
 collected, that the introduction of tliese states into 
 the system, and their advancement to a high rank and 
 importance in it, is not only an accession to, but an 
 indispensible part of, the great scheme. These na- 
 tions necessarily constitute a counterpoise to the 
 pretensions of those other nations, who would take 
 umbrage at the supremacy of Russia and of Britain ; 
 for they have an interest in maintaining this supre- 
 macy, as the rampart of civilization. They are in- 
 dispensible instruments or agents, in giving effect 
 to the subtile and ultimate resolutions of the gene- 
 ral system ; for each of them will receive and car- 
 ry forward, those higher and more interesting de- 
 velopements of the general system, that are peculiar 
 to their respective characters ; to which dcvelope- 
 lopement, without some such paramount protection,
 
 870 
 
 these agents would be incompetent ; and without 
 which, of such resolutions ihe system itself would 
 otherwise be absolutely destitute. When thus pro- 
 visioned and extended, however, we perceive not 
 only that throughout our general system, improve- 
 ment, in the nicest and most delicate points, may 
 without difficulty proceed, and become established ; 
 and the progress of corruption and perversity be 
 cut short, before their baleful influence can spread 
 themselves abroad; but that, in this way, and by these 
 very means, the system may be carried every where 
 along, in its strongest and most immediate course. 
 
 While these considerations demonstrate the great 
 coincidence and correspondence that subsists be- 
 twixt the ulterior developements above referred to, 
 and the due establishment and regular develope- 
 ment of the great system itself, there are other 
 considerations, no less urgent, which shew that 
 this is the very resolution into which the circum- 
 stances of the nations of Europe would most di- 
 rectly lead them, if they could regularly pursue 
 those greatest objects, towards which their best, 
 their highest, and their strongest propensities are 
 bent. What those circumstances are, is abundant- 
 ly evident, let us therefore, briefly consider those im- 
 munities and provisions, which the general system 
 has in store for each of these nations. In the first 
 place, each of them has secured to it, the most di- 
 rect access to all the colonies and possessions of e- 
 very other nation, whereby the most immediate 
 and most effectual excitation and support to all its
 
 871 
 
 reproductive powers may be held to be provided 
 for it. Along with this, the power of planting co- 
 lonies, and of obtaining foreign possessions of its 
 own, is recognized and secured to each as a neces- 
 sary part of the whole plan. Secondly, as each na- 
 tion may have a validated paper currency of its 
 own, sufficient to bear out all the operations of 
 its re])roductive powers to their proper object; 
 and as each nation will be in a manner necessitated 
 to resort to this as an indispensible instrument in 
 its national economy, so each will be obliged to con- 
 form its general system as nearly as possible to those 
 circumstances, that are proper to give full effect to 
 this provision. In particular, each state must not 
 only respect the property, the rights, the obligations 
 of foreigners, and give to all their transactions effect 
 of the most prompt and decisive kind ; but it must 
 institute municipal and juridical provisions compe- 
 tent to the protection of all classes in the fullest 
 and most regular manner. Hence not only returns, 
 but equal and immediate returns will be secured to, 
 and be provided by, each community, for the service 
 of its neighbours, as well as for its own immediate 
 use. Thirdly, as the whole of these advantages 
 will bear in the most direct manner on those courses 
 of reproduction and developement, which it is most 
 convenient for each state to institute and sup- 
 port, so the returns, so to be obtained, will ultimate- 
 ly become both valuable and appropriate, eve- 
 ry way improved, and every way excellent and de- 
 sireable. Fourthly, a stimulus sufficient to induce 
 high and strenuous competition in the exercise and
 
 872 
 
 appropriation of these advantages is provided. It is 
 not enough for a state to be abundantly replenished 
 with all that is excellent and desirable, to be en- 
 trenched amidst vast energies and resources, to be 
 installed amidst immeasurable dignities and attain- 
 ments ; it is farther necessary that these advantages 
 be borne on by circumjacent objects of sufficient 
 power to give high efficacy to their developemcnts ; 
 that tliey be kept in full exercise by means of in- 
 cessant-vcompetition and most strenuous collision; 
 and that the character and spirit of its system, and 
 of all its parts, be made to exhibit themselves with 
 every advantage, which unlimited space, unbound- 
 ed means, and a powerful personal impulse can be- 
 stow upon them. In like manner, it is not enough 
 for the preservation in safety of the greatest por- 
 tion of personal freedom, and of national indepen- 
 dence, that are consistent with national happiness, 
 that establishments and institutions of the higher 
 sort be set down, that these diffuse all the advan- 
 tages that appertain to their character without res- 
 traint ; it is farther necessary, that these be borne 
 on by the influences of other systems which can 
 serve, to give life and strength to all their move- 
 ments, to expose their imperfections, and to correct 
 their obliquities , that the experience and exam- 
 ple of other nations in similar correspondent or 
 analogous circumstances, be pressed upon their re- 
 gard ; and that these nations, and these systems, 
 themselves, be capacitated to bear their respective 
 powers and attainments with full effect upon cor^ 
 respondent circumstances in other nations and sys-
 
 873 
 
 lems. This is an advantage that is pecuh'ar to the 
 European Commonwealth, and it is one whereby 
 its chief excellence is displayed. Therefrom com- 
 petition in matters of the highest and most essential 
 importance, and upon the most extended and ex- 
 alted fields of action, is obtained ; and thereby emu- 
 lation and collision in exercises, wherein the most 
 noble powers and faculties are elicited, are excited. 
 The peculiar appetency of the resources and ener- 
 gies of Christendom to its vast and multifaiious oc- 
 casions, is the result of this genial bearin^ts parts 
 on each other, and the preservation and extension 
 of this animated congeries of systems, is indispensi- 
 bly necessary for the existence of the whole. The 
 special object and business of the proposed scheme, 
 being to give full range to the energies of each 
 particular nation, and to harmonize and envigorate 
 their movements, the territorial and extrinsic ar- 
 rangements of each state being adjusted under this 
 view of its interests, and the whole attainments and 
 advantages of each system being made to resolve 
 themselves in the easiest and most effectual man- 
 ner, into the service of the whole, the extension 
 and establishment of this very peculiar advantage 
 must evidently be held to be a necessary conse- 
 quence of its ordinary operations. 
 
 Before this treatise is closed, it is proper to 
 
 taksi into consideration the influence of the system 
 in its most extended scale, on the character and 
 pursuits oi' men in their personal, and relative capa-^ 
 cities. The system has for its object the happiness,' 
 
 3 s
 
 874 
 
 and advancement of individuals, as well as of com- 
 munities. Its design is to disembarass the affairs 
 of individuals, and to make them independent in 
 their character, as well as in their circumstances, at 
 the same time that it draws out combines and con- 
 denses their energies in the service of the state. 
 Personal industry and enterprise, in consequence 
 of the facility that is given to the resolution of the 
 value of their produce, must, under its influence, ad- 
 vance and extend itself in every direction, and bear 
 up at once the condition and character of individu- 
 als. Over the whole, it will be recollected, a most 
 beneficent, purifying and ennobling general system 
 is stretched, every where pervading and diffusing 
 its influence. Science and erudition, a multitude 
 of social civil and political attainments, and a form 
 of society prepared for giving full effect to these 
 are at hand. May we not therefore expect, that un- 
 der these advantages, the progress of improvement 
 will reach every feature of the human character, 
 and dispose and enable mankind to pursue their 
 best and highest interests with redoubled success ? 
 
 Let it be farther recollected, that the whole sys- 
 tem goes to establish peaceful and benevolent pro- 
 pensities, and to blunt and disarm those that are of 
 an opposite kind. War and aggrandizement are 
 the objects to which its leading principles are op- 
 posed, oppression and circumvention are the foes 
 against which its highest energies are exerted. 
 The exercises induced by it lead to the establish- 
 ment of peaceful industry, and to the extension and
 
 875 
 
 security of general enterprise. Talent is not only 
 called into action by the most powerful incentives, 
 but it is supported in its occupations, by every thing 
 that genius, science, combined policy and articu- 
 late provisions can afford. Individuals, in pursuing 
 their own interests on the most secure and indepen- 
 dent footing, are led into plans and exercises thai 
 promote and extend the general good. In prose- 
 cuting their own interests on this honorable footing, 
 they meet at every turn, objects, that support and 
 envigorate them in their course, and find faculties 
 springing up in their own minds, and in the minds 
 of all around them, fitting them for every advance- 
 ment that may ensue. By this means, individuals 
 of every class may become not only independent, 
 but powerful ; but this power and this independence 
 being circumscribed by energies which fix them 
 down to their proper station, these will only dispose 
 and enable them the more to develope and advance 
 the best interests of all with whom they may hap- 
 pen to be connected. 
 
 But besides this, we may infer that society will 
 gradually disengage itself from many of those cum- 
 bersome and fastidious forms and avocations, that 
 disturb the harmony of social intercourse, and mar 
 its progressive advancement. In the articles of 
 dress, furniture, etiquette, and many others, various 
 heavy and unmeaning appendages have been clear- 
 ed away. With these, some avocations that served 
 no other object, but to wear out the human frame 
 have disappeared ; may we not hope that when the
 
 876 
 
 iield ofenterprize has become so vast, when intel- 
 lect has been exercised so powerfully in every hu- 
 man occupation, when the philanthropic feelings of 
 our nature have been so much refined and extend- 
 ed, and when our notions of excellence have been 
 so greatly purified and exalted, that the same pro- 
 cess will go on in other departments of human af- 
 fairs with accelerated power, and gradually disen- 
 gage our pursuits, and extricate our faculties from 
 every debasing and worthless occupation ? Here, 
 let it be noticed, I quarrel not with fastidious ex- 
 cellence, either in the arts or in the perceptions of 
 men. All that I look to is, disengagement from 
 immeaning laboriousness, and from perplexing in- 
 tricacy, in matters of a subordinate nature. What 
 man of fashion would now-a-days chuse to re- 
 vert to the bushy wigs and buckramed apparel of 
 his forefathers ? What lady would throw aside her 
 limber apparel for the damask gowns and hideous 
 hoops of her great-grandmother ? Yet in procuring 
 these articles, the lives of myriads were consumed, 
 articles which we now perceive to be worse than 
 useless. In like manner, in literature, elaborate 
 discussion on abstruse and unimportant points of 
 controversy, together with frivolous distinctions 
 which tend only to occupy in the most unprofita- 
 ble manner the powers and talents of men, are de* 
 servedly thrown aside, and made to give way to the 
 superior occupations which extended knowledge 
 and higher acquisitions have prepared. May we 
 not expect, that when the inlet to improvement has 
 been thus extended, and its streams and their force
 
 877 
 
 thus increased, that the same defecating course will 
 continue, and that when mankind will not only 
 have higher objects of pursuit, but powers and ca- 
 pacities proportionate to these objects, they will 
 constantly disengage themselves more and more 
 from the servility of their condition, that they will 
 have more leisure, and higher matters with which 
 to occupy this leisure, that they will have nobler 
 employments, and greater advantages resulting from 
 these employments ! 
 
 But in contemplating the effects of the preced- 
 ing system upon the human character and condi- 
 tion, we have to take along with us not only those 
 effects that result from its direct influence, but 
 these that may flow from those establishments, in- 
 stitutions, ordinations and other provisions to which 
 it may give birth. Among these we must class 
 those political and civil immunities and privileges 
 that may be procured for the service of mankind 
 at large, and that tend to extend and fortify all 
 their powers and faculties. Even at present, kings 
 and subjects, nobles and plebeians, judges and peo- 
 ple are taught to look to one another with a respect- 
 ful and confidential regard, which, a score of years 
 ago, were unknown ; they seek the welfare and se- 
 curity of each other, not merely from instinct, and 
 a consciousness of obligation, but from a sense and 
 a conviction of the necessity of such conduct for 
 their own particular safety and prosperity, and of 
 the deep interest which t!iey have in maintaining 
 their relative connexion with each other on the
 
 878 
 
 most honorable footing, and also from an assurance 
 that this can be done in the most liberal manner 
 with perfect safety and complete advantage. These 
 feelings and propensities are not now held to be de- 
 fects resulting from surreptitious advantage, the es- 
 tablished badge of antecedent depression, they arc 
 seen to be regulated and instigated by principlesthat 
 indicate a superior origin, and that enable all of us 
 to contemplate their operations as well as their con- 
 sequences, with satisfaction and complacency ; the 
 duties, as well as the privileges of all classes, as de- 
 fined, are received, and as recognized, are followed 
 out in their various ramifications, and the implica- 
 tion of the concernments of all parties, in the es- 
 tablishments that are necessary for this purpose, as 
 it is admitted, so it is acted upon, on every suitable 
 occasion. In such circumstances, where could be 
 the danger of excluding that mass of corruption 
 from our representative system, that is so much 
 complained of by reformers ? I contend not for 
 any principle of government or of representation, 
 that is not universally received ; I would deprive 
 none of any right without a full and fair indemnifi- 
 cation ; I would invest none with any immunity 
 that could discompose the general system ; but sure- 
 ly, there could be no disadvantage in permitting 
 those, who for ten or a dozen of years have paid a 
 handsome tax on their income, and who have given 
 every cogent proof of the independence of their si- 
 tuation that can be required, from procuring on fair 
 terms the right of voting for a Member of Parlia- 
 ment upon the express condition of their indemni-
 
 879 
 
 fylng those, into whose hands such a right may at 
 present have been constituted. I set fbrtli no 
 leading principle for adjusting this important busi- 
 ness ; all that I would indicate is, that the arrange- 
 ments and adjustments that are necessary may be 
 accomplished, without either difficulty loss or dispar- 
 agement, to the state, or to any individual whatever. 
 
 In whatever light, however, we may think pro- 
 per to regard this subject, one thing is certain, that 
 as we as a nation derive our grandeur and our pow- 
 er from our free constitution, so we must lay our 
 account with seeing the whole nations of Chris- 
 tendom not only emulate us in this particular, but 
 strive to improve on our plan, and to out-measure 
 us in our civil and political advantages. The ad- 
 vantages that must result to the prince as well as 
 to the people, from a free, uncontaminated course 
 of legislation have now ceased to be disputed. In 
 military and in marine afl'airs, and in jurisprudence, 
 as well as in the arts and sciences, and in agricultu- 
 ral and commercial establishments, all nations emu- 
 lously compete with us. Will they be behind hand 
 in that which is the source and parent of all these 
 advantages ? Certainly not ; that power and sta- 
 bility which Britain has derived from her free con- 
 stitution ^f government, other nations and states 
 will aspire at, and Britain herself will be obliged to 
 enter the same emulous course. This course, let 
 it be noticed, is circumscribed and pressed upon 
 by circumstances, that must render deviations that 
 are unfriendly to good order, altogether impossible.
 
 880 
 
 The parties are conducted alongst it by principles 
 which cannot mislead, for experience itself will 
 clear the way before any thing like change or par- 
 tial innovation can take place. When the primary 
 object is known and admitted to be, peace and ge- 
 neral prosperity, when for this purpose, a course 
 of reproduction and civilization, in which all are 
 implicated, and with which every great concern is 
 concatenated, has been established ; when for the 
 maintenence of peace and concord abroad, an ad- 
 justment of every momentous national concern, in 
 which every state and nation of Christendom is a par- 
 ty, and for the support of which it is impledged, have 
 been provided ; how could the public safety be en- 
 dangered in the way of following out its own ad- 
 vantages ? Let it be remembered, that for the ex- 
 ercise and free developement of every latent and 
 high personal propensity, a field of enterprize, com- 
 mercial and political, that embraces the globe, is 
 laid open, in which the inhabitants of every coun- 
 try may exercise themselves under every advantage ; 
 that to give due effect to these, and yet to preserve 
 the high and governing powers above the sphere in 
 which these enterprizes are carried on, a financial 
 and commercial system that must nurture, matu- 
 rate, and advance all that is excellent and valuable 
 in civil life, that must lead in the most direct man- 
 ner, to jurisprudential and municipal improvement 
 are also held to be obtained, and to be fully em- 
 ployed in the service of the state, as well as in advanc- 
 ing and protecting the general interests of society. 
 In such circumstances, must not loyalty and bene-
 
 881 
 
 nc€ncc keep pace with virtue and independence, 
 aiul invigorate the parent stem wliile they add fer- 
 tility to her branches ; and must not the spirit and 
 genius of tlie system give strengtii and energy to 
 its constitution, at £hc same time that it renders its 
 influence paramount to every opposing principle ? 
 
 A SYSTEM comprizing such advantages, improved 
 and extended amidst a colHsion of liigh and pow- 
 erful energies, being held to be thoroughly and 
 completely established in every kingdom, and its 
 power and influences to be every where promptly 
 and effectually obeyed, we must suppose tliat in- 
 tegrity and virtue, from the strength and solidity 
 of the basis on which they rest, will in like manner 
 every where prevail ; and that tendencies to de- 
 pravity and corruption will gradually fall off in 
 their strength. The avenues to wealth, to power, 
 and to high personal consideration, being all 
 through the well beaten roads of well directed in- 
 dustry and enterprize, and honourable and respect- 
 ed employments ; and these avenues being on all 
 hands beset with barriers which render deviation 
 injurious as well as difficult, at the same time that 
 the stimulants to virtue and the incitements to high 
 personal improvenient, press every where around — 
 may we not warrantably expect, that the ways of 
 licentiousness and folly will be disgraced and for- 
 saken, and that even the basest of the multitude 
 will find themselves crowded into the paths of wis- 
 dom r Since the means and characters of those in 
 respectable circumstances will thus be enlisted on 
 
 ,5 T
 
 882 
 
 the side of virtue, may we calculate upon it, thai. 
 every extension of their sphere of influence will 
 prove an advancement in the course of virtue ? 
 The lower orders of society not only follow the 
 footsteps, but they imbibe the spirit of their supe- 
 riors : as they share in their public enjoyments, 
 and partake of their general advantages, and as 
 their passions and dispositions are affected by the 
 same common concernments, may not the same 
 benign character and the same ennobling princi- 
 ples, the most powerful and the most important 
 agents in the human soul, by the general system 
 upheld, and under its influence exercised, be ex- 
 pected to diffuse themselves amongst the crowd, 
 to harmonize and ameliorate the whole frame of 
 social life, and to give stability as well as efficacy 
 to this great progression in the paths of virtue and 
 of peace ? 
 
 There still lies open one great avenue to public 
 immorality that seems to transcend all these provi- 
 sions, and to preserve, in spite of every other ten- 
 dency, its contaminating influence over the human 
 character. This avenue is situated near the heart, 
 and its course, as well as its power, commands ev- 
 ery other principle and sentiment in the mind. In 
 the palace of the prince, and in his highest coun- 
 cils, its influence is irresistible, and in the enter- 
 prizes and pursuits of the best of human characters 
 it uniformly displays its pre-eminent power. In 
 place of attempting to unravel and dissipate the 
 mazes of intrigue and licentiousness, let us see
 
 883 
 
 what means are provided by our system for enlist- 
 ing these propensities under its power, and for ren- 
 dering them what the Author of our nature has 
 specially destinated them to be, incentives to social 
 virtue, the most powerful of any of whicli our na- 
 ture, in its present imperfect condition, is suscep- 
 tible, as well as pure sources of natural delight. 
 
 Here, the essential importance of domestic vir- 
 tue, and vast inducements for cherishing its growth, 
 alike force tliemselves on our notice. Nothing is 
 more deservedly prized than domestic happiness, 
 and nothing can be more conducive thereto than 
 abundance of means, and an assured prospect of a 
 happy settlement for posterity. Under the pro- 
 posed system, the facilities provided for this pur- 
 pose are immense. Industry and interprize every 
 where pouring forth their plentiful supplies on one 
 side, solicit an accession of hands to urge on their 
 reproductive processes, and hold forth the incite- 
 ment of a plentiful return for all the care and la- 
 bour, and talent and means that may be laid out in 
 their service. Peaceful security, and generous li- 
 berty and independence, on the other side, promise 
 that the results of these sliall be satisfactorily en- 
 joyed. Above, a beneficent ameliorating system 
 sheds forth animating and exhilarating influences j 
 and underneath, establishments, institutions and 
 provisions are prepared to receive constant supplies 
 of strength, liom every accession of hands or of 
 means, that may be produced under their influen- 
 ces. One thing, however, remanis to tluow -^ 
 
 5 T 2
 
 884 
 
 shade over these blessings — the profligacy and li- 
 bertinism of the age. While the treachery and 
 perfidy of females is eyed with indiflercnce, and the 
 crimes that lead to their shame clothed with the 
 gentler names of frailty and gallantry, these advan- 
 tages, that would otherwise have been excitations to 
 virtue, become but too frequently allurements to 
 vice. Like tlic luxuriousness of the soil, the rank- 
 ness of abundance is more apt to send forth the 
 weeds of noxious intem})erance, than the inestima- 
 ble and delicious fruits of ingenuous truth and love. 
 
 In my opinion, the cure as well as the cause of 
 this profligacy which prevails in our days are alike 
 obvious, if we can but take the courage to look 
 them fully in the face. The laws and customs of 
 our times favour gallantry, and unless the conse- 
 quences of the crimes that follow be permitted to 
 fall with their full weight on the guilty head, these 
 tendencies must prevail, and the wary and the pru- 
 dent remain, under every incitement thereto, averse 
 from matrimony. When shame has lost its influ- 
 ence, power must intervene ; and if power at all in- 
 tervenes, it must give relief, and demark its object 
 in an appropriate manner. The law, when it can 
 detect, fails not to punish the seducer, as he is cal- 
 led ; but what relief does this bring to the injured, 
 what sorrow to the partner of his crimes ? It is not 
 customary, for it is thought inhuman, to propose in- 
 flicting more than what her own feelings have pre- 
 pared ! On such a subject it is in vain to reason, 
 for in giving his opinion, every one will be govern-
 
 885 
 
 ed by motives that are peculiarly his own. For my 
 part, I would propose as the direct and immediate 
 punishment of the guilty — in the first place, a com- 
 plete divorce in the usual form, and this, as in ev- 
 ery other case of punishment, without the least 
 regard to the injured or the injurer's feelings or 
 character — and in the next, the same or an analogous 
 stigma with that which we inflict whenever the solemn 
 pledge of a vow is forfeited. I would thenceforward 
 hold a female thus demarked as ever after incapa- 
 ble of demanding a similar validity to her pledge. 
 Let her, if things favour it, again take a husband — let 
 her enter into any marriage covenant that she may 
 please — but let her never be able to demand any 
 provision for her offspring, excepting only that, 
 which the law of the land in cases of illegitimacy, 
 or the deliberate act of the husband, may bestow. 
 I am aware, that there are many great and weighty 
 objections to this scheme ; but since it is evident, 
 that it places the guilty in that very plight that she 
 has prepared for herself, and since it draws a ne- 
 cessary and therefore a strong demarkation betwixt 
 the circumstances of the pure and the vicious, I 
 consider every objection that may be urged on this 
 score as quite below, and undeserving of^ our re- 
 gard. Let us not say, that the punishment outgoes 
 the offence. In Rome, where assassinations were 
 so common, that the incitements to them were 
 thought to be irresistible, the French operated a 
 complete cure, by causing every convicted assassin 
 without distinction, to be shot. The .Jewish females 
 though inhabiting a region on the Cyj)rian borders,
 
 886 
 
 derived their fame for chastity from the severity of 
 the laws with which conjugal rights were maintain- 
 ed. The person who could procure the enactment 
 of such a law, far from meriting obloquy, would de- 
 serve to be hailed by the fair as their greatest friend 
 and benefactor, as alike the guardian of their peace, 
 and happiness, and truth, and improvement ! 
 
 Having thus placed female virtue under its na- 
 tural safeguard, strengthened and secured accord- 
 ing to existing circumstances, let us next see what 
 can be done for giving due effect to the advantage 
 thus obtained. The principles and maxims of the 
 times are not at all friendly to matrimonial associ- 
 ations ; — can we not make way for the establish- 
 ment of a sober method of thinking, favourable to 
 domestic felicity ? Profligacy and avidity, volup- 
 tuousness and licentiousness, go hand in hand in 
 bringing celibacy and libertinism into repute, is it 
 not necessary that provisions, sufficiently powerful 
 to overbalance these tendencies, should be intro- 
 duced into the system ? 
 
 The burdens of the State press heavily on those 
 who have families to maintain. By these all the 
 indirect imposts are met at least in a duplicate ra- 
 tio. To them, an extension of annual income and 
 annual expenditure, things on which direct imposts 
 are laid, without any extension of the means of en- 
 joyment, is peculiar. Why should not appropriate 
 relief be accorded to those who are thus burden- 
 ed, seeing their burdens resolve themselves into
 
 887 
 
 tlie public good ? And as ft is impossible to give 
 this relief in regard to the indirect taxes, why 
 should not effectual relief be given in regard to 
 those of a direct kind, and this in proportion to 
 the nature and extent of these burdens ? There 
 surely can be no objection to deducing one half of 
 the tax on income, and of all the assessed taxes, 
 in cases where two are to be maintained by it in 
 place of one, nor to the deducing of one tenth more 
 for every child living in a family under the age 
 of fourteen ; continuing at the same time, to such 
 personages, all the public privileges that are an- 
 nexed to the rate of assessment from which these 
 deductions are made. I am aware that by this 
 means the produce of these taxes would be dimi- 
 nished, and that in some instances parties would be 
 assessed, and admitted into privileges, while in fact 
 they had nothing thereto correspondent ; but while 
 the constitutional strength of the country is there- 
 by only the more increased, we cannot greatly re- 
 Gjret a retrocession of this kind. In adverting to 
 this point, let it however, be recollected, as an ad- 
 vantage incident to this arrangement, that by this 
 means much light might be thrown on the occult 
 subject of income. Those, who for the sake of im- 
 munities would increase their proportion men ts, 
 would find their reports checked by the party whose 
 interests were reversed ; while these again would 
 find theirs counterbalanced by the informations 
 that came out against them in the investigations 
 into which jarring reports would necessarily lead. 
 While truth would be thus elicited, the fair an'd o-
 
 888 
 
 pen character whicli our system upholds would be 
 developed. In the meantime, while these immuni- 
 ties would afford relief to those who live in families, 
 the provisions on which this relief was founded, 
 would go to rescind the unhallowed enjoyments of 
 those who wouhl traverse the happiness of others 
 by their licentious displays. 
 
 Therk is anotlier class of objects, wherein a de- 
 cided advantage may be given to domestic associa- 
 tions, with manifest benefit to the community. We 
 all complain of the desolations produced in our af- 
 fairs by bankruptcies, and of the ineflicacy of every 
 public provision to check the presumptuous ad- 
 venturer, or to procure redress for the injured. The 
 principles of justice cannot be applied in such a 
 case, without such an undue proportion of mercy, 
 that the presumptuous debtor ceases to regard his 
 danger, and the unfortunate creditor is left as de- 
 fenceless as if the law had been made alenarly for 
 those who have injured him. We do not enthral 
 those who are completely ruined ; and this is but 
 right. But why are we to turn out the presump- 
 tuous anew as unrestrained, as if no particular 
 check to their conduct was requisite. In remedy- 
 ing this general evil, 1 would give full relief to the 
 bankrupt ; but I would encumber this relief with 
 conditions that would render him amenable alike 
 to the public, and to those whom he has injured. 
 The first effect of bankruptcy should be to place 
 the bankrupt's effects under commission. The next 
 effect should be to stop all interest from running U[)
 
 88y 
 
 iiguiiist him, for his stock being now obviously unpro- 
 ductive, no revenue ought tlicrefrom to be expected. 
 The third effect, would be to place his person in ii 
 state of security ; and this security, unless some 
 tiaud sliould be made out against him before the 
 end of the first year, should thenceforward be irre- 
 fragable, on account of any thing that may have 
 taken place before the bankruptcy. As a farther ad- 
 vantage, I would permit him to begin business anew 
 whenever he pleased, but only in association with 
 some other parties, and only upon condition of con- 
 tributing annually one half of his profits to his for- 
 mer creditors. In case such associations could be 
 made with one of the bankrupt's own family, I 
 would limit this to one fourth, and in either case, 
 take the partner's oath as a sufficient proof of the 
 truth of his report. This is tlie extreme length to 
 which I would carry the law of bankruptcy against 
 the debtor ; and I would mollify my procedure by 
 the following rules. A complete discharge should 
 be given whenever one year elapsed for every shilling 
 per pouiid that the stock was deficient; and every con- 
 tribution should becounted double, in making up this 
 deficiency; and this rule, I would hold to have taken 
 effect at the expiry of the period thereto necessary, 
 without any proces of law whatever. In order to 
 give every encouragement that was possible to 
 industry, even on the lowest scale, it might be com- 
 petent for the majority of the creditors to account 
 any sum paid in as above to their division funds, 
 to be triple or quadruple its import, wiienever 
 the circumstances of the case pointed it out a'; 
 
 5 u
 
 890 
 
 adviseable. In no case whatever, would it be pos- 
 sible for creditors to receive such contributions, 
 otherwise, than as double their import, nor to inter- 
 fere with a common stock, nor to violate any per- 
 sonal right, nor to hold the bankrupt as otherwise 
 than discharged when the due period had elapsed. 
 
 I AM aware that many formidable objections 
 might be started to an innovation in our bankrupt 
 laws so great. In such a system as that which has 
 been laid down, however, where security is made to 
 go hand in hand with prosperity, some such innova- 
 tion would be necessary. The radical evil of our 
 commercial attainments is their instability, a thing 
 inseparable from overtrading and from desperate 
 enterprizes. The only cure for these is to keep the 
 consequences of such conduct always fully in the 
 eye of the commercialist, and to let him perceive, 
 that though mercy may intervene, it will never dis- 
 parage itself by being an abettor of wild far less of 
 criminal pursuits, that it has a regard to the suf- 
 fering creditor, as well as to the unfortunate debtor, 
 and views with an equal eye their different claims. 
 As things now stand, no rule, founded on equity, 
 intervenes for regulating the matter of procuring a 
 general discharge or certificate. In bestowing it, 
 there is seldom the least regard paid to the funda- 
 mental maxims of justice and sound policy. Here, 
 however, a rule is given, and this rule carries the 
 whole business completely out of every difficulty. 
 
 It is, however, chiefly as it favors domestic and
 
 891 
 
 sober associations, that I value the plan now set 
 down. To family expenditure, many of our bank- 
 ruptcies can be traced; on family inmates, therefore, 
 I would throw part of the burden of extricating 
 their head out of his difficulties, and I would encour- 
 age them in so doing, by every incitement of which 
 the case could at all admit. Thus, I would exercise 
 family connexions in honorable gratifying pursuits, 
 and I would take care that these should be amply 
 recompensed. As to those who want this advan- 
 tage, it would doubtless be necessary for them to 
 trim their way in the best manner that they could ; 
 all the indulgence however, to which their unset' 
 tied condition can lay claim, is accorded; only, they 
 are made to contribute in proportion to the light- 
 ness of their natural burdens. It is amidst such 
 fair and honorable discriminations as these, that 
 I would exercise female virtue ; and it is towards 
 these that I would draw out the social propensities 
 of a people, who are but too prone to personal in- 
 dulgence ; having done this, I would calculate on 
 finding the female character every way respecta- 
 ble, placed in that situation wherein its greatest 
 value would be most effectually disclosed ; female 
 virtue advanced in its estimation and stability, as 
 well as in its power and influence, would produce 
 on the hearts of men correspondent dispositions. 
 
 It is only under such advantages as these, th:it im- 
 provements in tiie process of educating youtl; can 
 be truly beneficial. The progress of general im- 
 provement, under the system proposed, may be a- 
 bundantly successful inamclioratingthe circumstan- 
 
 .5 u 2
 
 892 
 
 ciib, aiicT advancing the intellectual powers of man, 
 without ever reaching his heart, so as to renovate 
 its propensities. It may draw forth displays in all 
 the arts and sciences that will fascinate our minds, 
 while they extend the range of our enjoyments and 
 attainments ; and yet our moral condition may all 
 the time be very low and degraded. Like the lux- 
 uriance that spontaneously springs forth in certain 
 climates, our system may be most exuberant in 
 precious results ; but these results may pass over 
 our perceptions without mollifying the temper, or 
 ha,rmonizing the dispositions of the heart. Nay, 
 when pampered amidst abundance, we are apt to 
 spurn at our blessings, and to display the uncurbed 
 virulence of our passions only the more from the in- 
 crease of our means, and when we yield to the ge- 
 neral restraints of our system, is not our fervor 
 but too frequently resolved into subtlety ? It is 
 necessary that the heart be softened with purified 
 intercourse and amidst most endearing connexions, 
 before its propensities can be held to be fully en- 
 listed under the banners of civilization — that the 
 propensities of the individual be harmonized to his 
 peculiar condition by that suasive yet powerful dis- 
 cipline which intimate domestic associations ne- 
 cessarily induce, before his other attainments can un- 
 fold themselves in perfect concordance, with the dis- 
 charge of relative duties, or diffuse their influence 
 benignly in support of its interests. But when this 
 advantage has been fully superadded, when our 
 moral, intellectual and corporeal powers are alike 
 impresseti with the whole powers of the system, 
 WQ may look forward to results, which, as they must
 
 89ii 
 
 have the blessings promised by the Most High to 
 nations who duly avail themselves of the talents 
 that he has bestowed on them, must transcend in 
 every point of excellence whatever we have yet 
 been able to discern *. 
 
 * This is all that seems to be necessary in this place to say 
 on the subject of education. In a treatise published by me a 
 few years ago, entitled ^Improvements in Glasgotv,' I think I 
 have exhausted all that in following out the proposed system of 
 improvement it is possible for me at present to adduce ; for when 
 I wrote that treatise, the principal features of the system now 
 sketched out were as familiar to my mind, and perhaps even more 
 strongly impressed on it than they are at this moment. It will be 
 recollected that this is a subject, that to be discussed at all, must 
 be treated systematically. 
 
 I HOPK, however, that it will not be considered as impertinent 
 for me to give a compendious view of the scheme of education a- 
 bove referred to. The publication, when sent to the press, was 
 meant merely to comprehend the outlines of a plan for procur- 
 ing certain improvements in the most important suburb of Glas- 
 gow ; but before a couple of sheets had been thrown off, occur- 
 rences had taken place wliich rendered the whole plan, as speci- 
 fically laid down altogether impracticable. I thereupon proceeded 
 to draw out the ideas already developed in such a manner, as to 
 make them suit the circumstances of that great community with 
 which this suburb was connected ; but in doing this it became 
 necessary for me to give not only a full, but a systematic eluci- 
 dation of the general subject. In this way, I was led in the 
 end to give an elaborate exposition of the general principles of 
 municipal and institutional improvement. 
 
 The plan of tuition, developed in that treatise, compri/.ed a 
 process whereby the whole moral, intellectual and corporeal 
 powers of man might be advanced simultaneously on one great 
 academical foundation. In consequence of this hist advantage, 
 and of the various improvements and general economy of the
 
 894 
 
 These views might no doubt be carried over ma- 
 ny other departments of our national economy, and 
 it might be shewn that even amidst the most ne- 
 
 whole plan, means for procuring real and essential advantage 
 in general tuition were to be effectually provided, and a power 
 was to be given to every department of tuition, and to be borne 
 home on the circumstances and character of each individual,'-that 
 was no otherwise attainable.- The result of the whole was — that 
 a competent proficiency in every branch of science and attain- 
 ment was to be brought within the reach of every"; class and 
 rank of men in the community ; for the saving was not only in ^ 
 money but in time, not only in the adjustment of the powers of 
 the general establishment, but in the adaptation of the faculties 
 of the student to these powers. As an instance of the advan- 
 tage to be thus procured, it may be noticed, that it was held to 
 be competent for any student of an alert disposition, who had un- 
 dergone the discipline of the previous courses, to commence and 
 complete the study of both the French and Spanish languages, 
 in their proper courses, within the year ; taking along with him 
 at the same time, such a complete practical course of Mathema- 
 tics and Chemistry, as would render the elements of both these 
 sciences ever after familiar to his apprehension. 
 
 The agency, by which these advantages were to obtained, was 
 chiefly distinguished from the common method, by introducing 
 into general use those principles of improvement in the first 
 part of the process of education, that have lately attracted so 
 much notice ; which principles, however, when followed out and 
 reijiforced by others of an analogous nature, it was shewn, ne- 
 cessarily led into practical improvements that have not hereto- 
 fore been attended to. The student, in consequence of the vari- 
 ety of his occupations, and of the powerful means by which \us 
 study is impressed upon his perceptions, is gradually accustom- 
 ed to lengthened class hours, and to exercises, which, though la- 
 borious and ardent, are rendered as interesting to his mind, and 
 as familiar to his perceptions, as any ordinary amusement or
 
 895 
 
 cessary movements of the general system, various 
 improvements of the most radical kind might be 
 effected under its influence, coincident with, and 
 illustrative of, its general character. Enough, how- 
 ever, has been said to convey an adequate idea of 
 the nature and character of these resolutions, in so 
 far as the ordinary circumstances of social exis- 
 tence are concerned. It is necessary, however, 
 both for the sake of completing the views now ta- 
 ken, and for that of placing the advantages now 
 
 lucrative occupation can be. Emulation and competition in e- 
 very thing great and valuable, were to be so fully, so universally, 
 and so incessantly, made use of, that it wds held to be difficult for 
 any one to escape its influence, or, having felt its influence, 
 not to derive advantage from it. In the languages, certain 
 improvements were superadded ; the verbal and grammatical 
 studies were carried on together, and the principles of each lan- 
 guage disclosed, by means which fascinated the mind, while they 
 envigorated the apprehension and the memory. 
 
 In the view of giving full effect to these institutions, and also for 
 the purpose of preparing a fund of appropriate exerciseand rational 
 employment to those in more advanced periods of life, there was 
 superadded to the above the plan, of a municipal and parochial 
 establishment. If was under the charge and authority of this 
 establishment, and of the paternal characters that it comprized, 
 that the proposed academical institution was to be laid. The 
 functions of this body were however to be extended to other ob- 
 jects correspondent to their circumstances, and consistent with 
 the general well-being of the whole commimity. It was, at the 
 same time incidentally shewn, that the same priifciples, maxims, 
 and rules of amelioration and improvement, begun in the tuitory 
 establishment, branched themselves out and developed their influ- 
 ence only the more fully on those which followed, and which 
 :-tood at its head.
 
 896 
 
 lield to hiive been obtained under influences com- 
 petent to tlieir preservation, to take into view the 
 higiier resolutions of our system, and to contem- 
 plate the advantages which it provides for those 
 who take the lead in human aflairs. It is a matter 
 of the first importance to render the procedure of 
 such individuals as concordant to, and as coincident 
 with, those of the community at large, as possible. 
 The influence of fashion and custom we know to 
 be in many instances irresistible ; it is individuals 
 in high life who give the rule and standard and 
 current stamp, to these powerful agents in human 
 aflairs, and on that account, it becomes us to regard 
 the resolutions of the general system whereby these 
 individuals are to be most particularly aftected, with 
 more than ordinary precision. 
 
 On adverting to the circumstances of these par- 
 ties, the first thing that strikes us is the amplitude 
 of the means that are brought under their power 
 by the general resolutions of the system. Those 
 things which promise abundant provision for the 
 w hole community, however, come short of the main 
 object of the solicitude of personages in these high 
 walks of life, which is to procure an elevated and 
 distinguished situation for their offspring, a pro- 
 curement which seems to imply the depression of 
 those that are around them, as well as their own ex- 
 altation. For this purpose, these parties are at pre- 
 sent in possession of advantages that enable them to 
 outstrip most of their competitors ; they can give 
 to their children a more complete education, im-
 
 897 
 
 press them with better habits, and set them agoing 
 for their own interests in the world, amidst estab- 
 lishments and connexions that are more definitely 
 calculated for their service, than it is possible for 
 any other class of the community to obtain. But 
 these advantages, (the safeguards and bulwarks 
 of the aristocratical order,) decided and brilliant 
 though they unquestionably are, can only benefit a 
 small number : nay, even amongst themselves, of 
 the competitors who surmount every difficulty that 
 lies in their way before that demarked elevation of 
 condition, of which all are in quest can be obtained, 
 by far the greater part are left completely behind, 
 and obliged to prowl in the dark, amidst hopeless de- 
 pendence on the good will of those others that have 
 already got the start of them. In what sense, there- 
 fore, (may it be said) can we consider the vast faci- 
 lities and attainments for founding and bringing for- 
 ward families, provided under the preceding system^ 
 as blessings to the higher orders in life ? — ought 
 we not rather to regard them as fatal lures, lead- 
 ing them on to degradation ; in place ofextending 
 their capacity and power, ought we not rather to 
 circumscribe their influence, and proceed to draw 
 salutary limits round them, least they prove curses 
 in place of blessings to the whole order ? We 
 have already contemplated the baleful effects of an 
 indefinite increase of this order in France. Our 
 frequent wars are said to arise but too frequently 
 from the necessity under which we are laid, to 
 provide for scions of high blood suitable employ- 
 ment ! Shall we increase the evil that calls loudest
 
 898 
 
 for redress, and expose the state itself to great and 
 imminent danger. 
 
 The pertinacity of the aristocratic order, in main- 
 taining every immunity and advantage appertain- 
 ing to their class, more particularly those having 
 for their foundation personal or family importance, 
 against which the foregoing objection strikes, are 
 very well known. But likeas when the violent ex- 
 ercise of baronial power, wherein the state of chief- 
 tains formerly consisted, was resolved into chas- 
 tened displays of patrician influence, the personal 
 antipathy of a few individuals could neither pre- 
 vent nor traverse the establishment nor the deve- 
 opement of the blessings which ensued, so, in the 
 present instance, we may fairly hold that the voice 
 of the objectors will be drowned with similar fa- 
 cility, amidst the acclamations of those, whose more 
 capacious minds can comprehend and relish the 
 general advantages, that are prepared to their 
 hands, by the necessary operations of the proposed 
 system. It therefore forms no part of my design 
 to take up the objection to our system, that is im- 
 plied in the fastidious prejudices and predilections 
 of this order ; the more especially at this time, when 
 the proposed system, as already illustrated, is seen 
 to comprize the whole leading and essential inter- 
 ests of this, as well as of every other class of the 
 community. Although, however, it be unnecessa- 
 ry to take up the subject in the view of solving a 
 difficulty, it is certainly proper to adduce a few re- 
 marks, for the purpose of exhibiting these peculiar
 
 899 
 
 adv^antages and facilities, that must be held to flow 
 from the general influences of the sys eni, into the 
 service of those amongt this class, who mav form 
 regular family associations, and for that of evincing 
 the transcendant lustre, which the whole scheme 
 must derive from the full developement of the ad- 
 vantages that are to be thus attamed. 
 
 In the first place, let it be remembered, that the 
 whole of the preceding system goes to extend the 
 views, and to liberalize the sentiments of the aristo- 
 cratic, as well as of every every other rank of life, 
 and to prepare them for discharging in a becoming 
 manner their several relative duties. To this sys- 
 tem, statesmen, as well as political speculators, 
 princes, as well as mere comrnercialists are rendered 
 obedient, and made to find the advancement of 
 their best interests, in the prosecution of the great 
 designs of its institution. In particular, all parties 
 are made to regard the security and prosperity of 
 every other class, as essential to their own, and to 
 act in correspondence with the clearest and fullest 
 views of general good. As, on the one hand, the 
 advancement of the superior orders is seen to bear 
 up the leading classes of society along with their 
 own ; so on the other, every regular advancement 
 of the subordinate classes is perceived to resolve it- 
 self, m like maimer, into an increase of the power 
 and means of those that take the lead. It is under 
 these com!)ined views, that the leading classes must 
 regard their own duties and privileges, and it is in- 
 
 5x2
 
 900 
 
 to the projects which these views imply, that they 
 must resolve their future prospects. 
 
 In the next place, let it be remarked, that as 
 there is an increase of power and of means, of the 
 subjects of possession and enjoyment, and of instru- 
 ments to procure and command these, and as there 
 will, under the contemplated multiplication of fa- 
 mily associations, be an increase of numbers in that 
 class, wherein these associations must be most fixed ; 
 so there also must follow an extension of the range, 
 wherein such operations may develope themselves, 
 and wherein this class must exercise influence, and a 
 more perfect security in the enjoyment of such ad- 
 vantages as may arise to its hands within the com- 
 pass of this range. There will not only be more 
 frequent and more momentous occasions for the in- 
 terference of the capitalist, but there will be more 
 powerful excitements for men of rank, to exercise 
 theirown peculiar influenceson theseoccasions; their 
 fixed as well as their circulable power, being made 
 thereto subservient. Subjects that admit of improve- 
 ment, and resolve their value into the service of 
 the industrious, as they increase in value, increase 
 in the intricacy of their constituent parts, and 
 constantly tend to the formation of that capital, 
 and of those possessions, that have a supereminent 
 value, and are of a fixed and inherent kind. Such 
 capital has already increased to an extent, that 
 at no very distant period could scarcely have been 
 comprehended. How many thousand illustrious 
 families, does the interest of our national debt now
 
 901 
 
 maintain, who, but for the improvement induced 
 by an ameHorating system, could have had no 
 means of subsistence ? How many thousands more 
 does the interest of capital vested in territorial im- 
 provements, in dignified employments, and in in- 
 vestments of the purest and most metaphysical na- 
 ture, support ? It is the special business of the pro- 
 posed sytem to augment the power of mind over 
 matter, and to impress, the superinduced operations 
 with benign influences , to draw out of these their 
 greatest and most sublime value, and to give to the 
 value thus created, a permanent and secure founda- 
 tion. Ought we not therefore to infer, that under the 
 proposed system, advantages more powerful, more 
 numerous, and more analogous and proportionate to 
 its circumstances than those in existence, will every 
 way increase, that patrician families will find means 
 for supporting their dignity, as well as for increasing 
 their numbers, arising into their hands with con- 
 stantly increasing force, and that, with every such 
 increase, talents and dispositions, conformable to 
 the change that has been inferred, will be produc- 
 ed, carrying along with them, those means and 
 principles, that are most concordant with the geni- 
 al progression of the ameliorating system, and with 
 the best interests of all its constituent parts. 
 
 Thiudly. But it is not so much the magni- 
 tude of the advantages that are prepared for the es- 
 tablishment of families, as the adaptation of these 
 advantages to the circumstances and character of 
 the class now referred to, interwoven and concate-
 
 902 
 
 iiated as the concernments of this class is with 
 those of com uunities progressively advancing in ci- 
 vilization and improvement, — that, in the case now 
 before us, demands our regard. In the view now 
 before us, wealth, that is floating and indefinite, yet 
 circulable power over objects of value ^ and authori- 
 ty or influence, that is established and inherent, yet 
 fixed and definite power over individuals to whom 
 such objects appertain, have this in common with 
 each other, that they are really and essentially es- 
 timable, not so much in proportion to their relative 
 greatness, and the ratio of force or potency which 
 they comprehend, as in proportion to the extent 
 and importance of the range over which they can be 
 exercised, to the value of the objects comprized 
 within this range, and to the adaptation of these 
 objects to the advanced state of those for whose 
 service they are destinated. 
 
 This position may be illustrated by familiar ana- 
 logies, and from these illustratioUvS, the peculiar 
 advantages, that are brought within the reach of 
 the patrician order for the formation and establish- 
 ment of fanily associations u;ider the proposed 
 system, must very manifestly appear. A Polish Jew 
 may possess wealth and means that, in numerical a- 
 mount, far exceed those of any English country 
 gentleman, and yet the capacity of enjoyment, in- 
 fluence, and improvement, brought under the pow- 
 er of the Jew, or of any family associations that 
 he may form, must be admitted to be every way 
 inferior to those of the English Squire. Though
 
 90S 
 
 overburdened with public imposts, and surcharged 
 with public duties, the squire bears up a pow- 
 er, and possesses a degree of personal consequence, 
 that cannot but be held to be estimable, for they 
 command for his use a portion of respect and in- 
 fluence, that to the other is unknown. Whereas 
 the Jew, while encompassed with the most valuable 
 possessions, must cower amidst his abundance, and, 
 amidst alternate feelings of satiety and disgust, pro- 
 cure even the most ordinary marks of personal es- 
 timation, in a manner, that denotes at once his own 
 degradation, and the impotency of his wealth. The 
 reason of this is obvious. The objects, over which 
 the wealth of the Jew can be stretched, are circum- 
 scribed by the narrow capacity of the society of 
 which he is a member ; they imply possessions, but 
 they imply neither excellencies nor faculties suited 
 to the character nor to the condition of one having 
 such possessions ; they belong to an inferior sort 
 of existence, and they bear the estimation of that 
 inferiority, in spite of all their power and splendor. 
 A British Duke, who can no more dispense with 
 existnig laws than a peasant, and who cannot dis- 
 play a single immunity appertaining to his rank, 
 without finding his influence, great as it is, com- 
 pressed to the sphere of a subject, will, for similar 
 reasons, be admitted to be every way a greater and 
 more dignified character than a Turkish Bashaw, 
 whose will is his law, anrl who disposes of the lives 
 and fortunes of thousands almost at pleasure. The 
 power of the British nobleman comprizes under it, 
 objects every way more excellent ; it commands and
 
 904 
 
 influences the services of men, whose faculties and 
 dispositions, advanced in their capacity, can con- 
 tribute means and services equal to his occasions, 
 and that too in a* way that corresponds with his 
 more elevated mode of existence. In obeying his 
 impulse, his dependents display the greatness of 
 their own attainments, and by administering to his 
 nobler wants, they procure supplies to their own 
 ofthe most valuable description. On the other 
 hand, the rude and inert dispositions of those un- 
 der the Mahometan satrap, render the co-action of 
 violent and sudden propensities, alike necessary in 
 the agent and in the instrument, and seal up those 
 refined perceptions that lead to civilized intercourse, 
 under the relentless aspect of revengeful rapacity. 
 Like the high culture of our verdant fields, our 
 civilizing processes provide for all who can attain 
 but a morsel of power and influence, faculties for 
 unfolding, and means for gratifying the best dispo- 
 sitions of his heart ; whilst the ruler ofthe forest, to 
 whose will regions unmeasured yield up without 
 reserve their most valuable productions, must ever 
 remain a stranger to such fascinating power. In 
 communities civilized to the degree proposed by 
 the foregoing system, there must be vast diversities 
 of condition, amongst the leaders, as well as among 
 the people, but to each of these degrees a pleni- 
 tude of power, and of means and objects every way 
 suited to their condition, must be secured, suffi- 
 cient not only to satisfy the beneficent propensities 
 of the mind, but to stimulate and support such high 
 expectations, in regard to futurity, as must en-
 
 905 
 
 courage the formation and promote the establish- 
 ment of family associations. 
 
 In the fourth place, let it be noticed, that the 
 whole attainments of the higher orders of society, 
 under the proposed system, must tend to resolve 
 themselves into greater and higher displays of ex- 
 cellence, which will prepare them for exercising 
 themselves in a style correspondent to their circum- 
 stances. In a corrupted loose and depraved state of 
 political arrangements, these very advantages may 
 create a tendency towards war, dissension and in- 
 furiate cabals ; but when the faculties of men can 
 develope themselves according to the principles of 
 an independent system, under beneficent influences, 
 and in the direct way of general improvement and 
 advancement, we may calculate alike on superior 
 attainments and higher security. In consequence 
 of all these advantages, we have not only the deve- 
 lopements of internal prosperity, but those of that 
 free and equitable intercourse with foreign nations, 
 to which such prosperity may give birth, for building 
 our improvements upon. This intercourse, while 
 it will bring into the hands of the commercialist 
 both wealth and influence, will prepare the way for 
 resolutions in the general system, of a much no- 
 bler and higher kind, such as must introduce into 
 it, fresh attainments, correspondent to the sphere in 
 which it moves. Such resolutions in such circum- 
 stances will be not only elevated but consolidated, 
 and, commanding a range for their developement, 
 that is equal to their greatest capacities, will not be 
 
 5 Y
 
 906 
 
 compressed either in their value or in their func- 
 tions, as those that appertain to petty states and 
 isolated systems generally are ; their powers and 
 influences will stretch to the extremity of the civi- 
 lized world, and their estimation be surmounted 
 only by resolutions, the superior value of which is 
 indisputable. This is an important fact, and it is 
 one that m a general point of view cannot be con- 
 troverted. Every thing that is excellent in any ci- 
 vilized country, bears its proportion and estimation 
 in every other, and, in passing this estimation, brings 
 back to him who owns it something of real honor 
 and advantage. A petty improvement m some 
 subordinate mechanical operation may raise its au- 
 thor to wealth and to celebrity. Nor does the po- 
 tency and lustre thus obtained, necessarily perish in 
 the display ; on the contrary, this estimation be- 
 comes marketable, and resolved or resoluble into real 
 property, and being surrounded with a maze of 
 peculiar influence, it may infer a potency that will 
 rival the most ancient hereditary possessions. 
 
 These advantages of the general system have a 
 deep root in its constitution. Every nation has 
 something of excellence as well as something of de^ 
 ficiency in its circumstances, that leads it into 
 commercial transactions. In the circumstances 
 that have been supposed, the exchanges that there- 
 upon take place must induce not only relief and 
 deliverance, but excellence and celebrity in the re- 
 sults into which these may lead. In the action 
 and re-action of the principles that are called inta
 
 907 
 
 exercise, virtues of the highest class are elicited. 
 Science, influence and example hence derive their 
 force, and amidst exchanges of the most inert sub- 
 jects, effect changes over the whole frame of ci- 
 vilized society. The means and incitations to in- 
 dustry, to regular domestic associations, and to the 
 interchanges of intimate and endearing regards, 
 thence to be obtained, must be of the noblest kind. 
 The dissertations of Lavoisier and Fourcroy have 
 not only raised legions of chemists amidst the up- 
 per ranks of society, and endowed them with wealth 
 and influence, but they have impressed those that 
 have been thus endowed with mild and beneficent 
 habits. The mechanical improvements of Watt 
 and Arkwright have led into the way of fair and 
 regular enterprise myriads of grandees, whose pow- 
 er and splendor, noways allayed, but on the contra- 
 ry greatly illustrated by means of their attainments, 
 discover the irrefragable connexion that necessa- 
 rily subsists between personal elevation of charac- 
 ter and general social advancement. 
 
 In the Fifth and last place, when we turn our 
 eyes to the natural and necessary tendency of ad- 
 vantages so vast and so high, on the whole exteid- 
 ed scale of human affairs, we discover a conti lua- 
 tio of the same benign and euiiobling tendencies, 
 and of the same har nonious accordance of princi- 
 ple and of opervition. Christendom, though the 
 greatest, is not the only vast system on our earth ; 
 it is the first in point of ilig^nity, and it is dcst.nat- 
 ed to swallow up and coin^iehend every otiier sys- 
 
 5 y 2
 
 908 
 
 tern, but of all its advantages, perhaps none is more 
 remarkable than its wonderful aptitude to renovate 
 and ameliorate all that comes into affinity with it. 
 This advantage, the result of generous and indepen- 
 dent competition, is the point, wherein, the improve- 
 ments to be introduced by the proposed system, are 
 most particularly distinguished. When we con- 
 template a system of this kind, operating upon a 
 most extended scale all over the world, and sup- 
 ported in all its denouements by means and pow- 
 ers and faculties prepared for upholding its reso- 
 lutions on this vast scale, we cannot but expect con- 
 sequences of the most powerful and extraordinary 
 description. Every thing immediately under the 
 influence of the system has already not only been 
 virtually bent under its power, but absorbed into its 
 essence. Over other systems the powers thus ma- 
 tured display a superiority that is irresistible. 
 Conquest and commerce have prepared the way 
 for its reception, and rendered its interests the main 
 object of human solicitude. There is, however, in 
 these adverse systems, a repulsive contravening dis- 
 parity of principles, which still keeps them apart, 
 and renders the benign influences that are shed a- 
 round them, unproductive of real and permanent 
 good. The votaries of Islam, while they greedily 
 imbibe our corruptions, repel from their shrine the 
 gentle and submissive doctrines of the cross. The 
 mazes of Oriental polity, having their frivolity ex- 
 posed and rendered subservient to our own selfish 
 designs, continue to bewilder and stupify an infa- 
 tuated race. Afi-ica, without any thing that can
 
 909 
 
 be called a civil or social system, bends horribly uii- 
 der our influence, and while she excludes the high- 
 est behests of our intercourse, regorges into our 
 hands, the fruits of her own enfuriated procedure. 
 America, less subtile in her operations, but not less 
 illusive in her principles, less savage in her charac- 
 ter, but much more prostrate in her condition, re- 
 ceives our powerful influences, as the desert heath 
 receives the dewy influences from above ; the 
 means resolved into her service, but render her de- 
 generacy the more morbid, and the power which 
 our virtues communicate, but the more enfuriate 
 her depravity ; and although these genial influences 
 have not been altogether abortive, they have, on 
 the whole, as yet only sealed down the more forcibly 
 the debasement of her condition. This, in a few 
 words, is the general character of the influences 
 at present exercised by Christendom over the other 
 systems of the world. The time is no doubt fast 
 approaching, when the effects will be widely diffe- 
 rent. Let us now see how the proposed improve- 
 ments will accelerate this happy change. 
 
 In the first place, that overflow of personal talent 
 and of general wealth, which is now hopelessly 
 spent in vain struggles after national and individual 
 aggrandizement, and that serves to dispose to, and 
 enfuriate the most desolating conflicts, may easi- 
 ly pass over into such services. In China, and 
 other prostrate countries, wealth, talent, and popu- 
 lation increase only to work out more effectually 
 the debasement and degeneracy of the system.
 
 910 
 
 There, individual prowess is not only compressed 
 by the weighty arm of unmitigated oppression, 
 strengthened by the brazen smews of ignorance and 
 fanaticism, but its energy is paralyzed, and its spirit 
 perverted, by the baseness of the system out of which 
 It arises. In Christendom, however, it is perso- 
 nal virtue, developing itself upon independent ex- 
 tended and liberal principles that does every thing. 
 The advantages thus attained are compressed by no 
 influences that are inimical to their progression ; on 
 the contrary, they are thereby upheld and expanded ; 
 the important resolutions thus induced mount a- 
 bove each other, and at every step of their progress 
 carry along with them the highest behests of our 
 system. In such circumstances, if we can suppose 
 war and unprofitable contestation at an end, peace- 
 ful commerce and international exchanges unfold- 
 ing all their blessings, and the general system, sur- 
 charged with powers and means, seeking only a 
 vent sufficiently capacious, and objects suflSciently 
 appropriate, to receive its influence, may we not 
 warrantably assume, that these will find their way 
 into other systems, and from their recognized excel- 
 lence and aptitude for communicating this excel- 
 lence, that they will transfuse the influence, and in- 
 sinuate the energies of the general system into the 
 debased systems that surround them, and establish 
 and consolidate its pouer upon the basis thus pro- 
 vided ? And may we not infer from all those ten- 
 dencies, that the power thus established will not 
 only raise up the fallen portion of our race, but
 
 911 
 
 bear up still higher the parent source, whence thw 
 force has been drawn ? 
 
 In the second place, the high spirit of enterprize, 
 which is tlie necessary result of a system unfolding 
 itself with such transcendent efJect, upon lofly 
 ground, together with the decided tendency of the 
 general system to beneficent and ennobling pur- 
 suits, must serve to give to the resolutions above 
 noticed, a force which no difficulty nor obstruction 
 can withstand. That high and strenuous emula- 
 tion, which at present seeks the ensanguined plain, 
 that enfuriate contestation which exhausts itself in 
 its own destruction, as well as in that of its object, 
 and that unhappy collision of interests which bear 
 off most unprofitably the best powers of society, 
 we may fa.rly suppose, will be attracted from these 
 desolating pursuits, into the course of beneficent 
 enterprize, and spend their vigor in services that 
 must ameliorate and advance the circumstances aid 
 character of mankind at large. War and broils it is 
 said are congenial to our race — if so, it must be be- 
 cause there are high qualities of the mind that can 
 find no other denouement, and because from the cor- 
 ruption and depravity of society such a destructive 
 denouement accords with its character. Under a 
 beneficent system, however, developing itself pow- 
 erfully amidst enterprizes of the most energetic, 
 and upheld by advantages of the most transcendant 
 kind, we cannot but apprehend that contestation 
 of every kind will resjlve its power into exercises 
 of a more peaceful nature ; that the incitements to
 
 912 
 
 rage and revenge will gradually lose their power, 
 and that these propensities themselves will change 
 at once their character and their aspect. For let 
 it be carefully attended to, that if once the horrid 
 aspect of war was regarded in its proper light, as 
 the foe alike of the assailant and of the sufferer, of 
 the victor and of the vanquished ; if the blessings, 
 of uninterrupted peace, amidst a high course of 
 prosperity and improvement, were once diffused 
 and firmly established — from the serene delights 
 obtained in the enjoyment of the one, and from 
 the horror that would be excited, whenever the un- 
 utterable anguish resulting from the prosecution 
 of the other presented itself to our notice, we 
 may warrantably infer, that every thing turbulent 
 and violent in human nature would tind its curb 
 within its own range. Gently restrained in its 
 first risings, the strength which inspired the vindic- 
 tive and wrathful passions would quietly pass into 
 mere genial exercises, or if impelled to something 
 like disorder, these would, from the paucity of ob- 
 jects around them on which they might spend 
 their rage, subside, before any lasting or impor- 
 tant consequences could be produced. Something 
 like an absolute and a most dangerous revulsion 
 from established and recognized principles is even 
 at present necessary to constitute a pretext or a 
 motive for breaking up a state of tranquil prosperi- 
 ty ; how much more must this be the case, when 
 such prosperity shall have been fenced all around 
 by such formidable barriers, when the avenues for 
 drawing off all that is incitative to contestation shall
 
 913 
 
 have become so numerous and so vast, and when 
 the system that has been estabHshed shall have 
 been rendered so powerful in its operations, and so 
 universal in its influence ? In such circumstances 
 primitive simplicity of character may be found uni- 
 versally conjoined with high attainments, and a 
 profusion of all that is excellent, with a vigorous 
 application of this excellence to its highest uses ; 
 each resolution of these respectively and conjoinedly 
 tending to extend and confirm the system out of 
 which they have proceeded. 
 
 In the Third place. From what we have seen of 
 the power of our system, and of the efficacy of its 
 operations, we may infer that amidst the strenuous 
 exercitations that would be excited by such advan- 
 tages, and directed towards such objects, rude na- 
 tions with their rude systems would be gradually 
 embued with correspondent influences, and by be- 
 ing prepared to receive that renovated character, 
 which it is the tendency of our system to bestow, 
 that these too would actively facilitate the progres- 
 sion instituted. Making every possible allowance for 
 inveterate prejudice, and deep rooted antipathy, and 
 other causes of revulsion therefrom, in the character 
 of rude nations, it must be admitted, that systematic 
 improvement, every way advancing, must in the 
 end envelope even the rudest. The American and 
 Hottentot tribes, with habits as opposite to regular 
 industry as it is possible to conceive, have not been 
 able altogether to resist the influences in which 
 they are emerged. But we have no proper data
 
 914 
 
 on which to form our opinion regarding the effects 
 that would be produced by the continued opera- 
 tions of a system, proceeding on principles tho- 
 roughly beneficent and independent. The few so- 
 litary Europeans, that have found their way into the 
 good will and confidence of rude nations, are con- 
 tented to secure for themselves good treatment 
 and personal respect ; their hands are tied up to ser- 
 vices incongruous with their duties as renovatists ; 
 and they become the dependents of individuals, 
 who have seldom any higher objects in view, but 
 the promotion of their personal interests. Under 
 the circumstances supposed, however, the case is 
 altogether different. When the boundaries of civi- 
 lization have been so enlarged as to comprehend 
 under its full influence every Christian nation, the 
 operations of the general system will be not only 
 powerful, but for the most part irresistible. The 
 fetters of commercial intercourse, now formed by 
 regulations that bind up industry to the service 
 of the lower propensities of human nature, will then 
 be broken asunder. Competition and emulation, 
 in occupations which have for their object the fur- 
 nishing rude nations with means for improving 
 themselves and their condition in its most essential 
 qualities, will thereupon be instituted. Commerce 
 of this kind must bear down every thing like jeal- 
 ousy and revulsive pride. The grand design being 
 to make the fascinating triumphs of ambition, those 
 gratifications that swell the mind by its mere emp- 
 tiness, give way to the plain gratifications of pro- 
 fitable intercourse, the progress of the system will
 
 915 
 
 ioon bring its ultimate object clearly into view ; 
 and when tins has been thoroughly effected, we can- 
 not consider the absolute attainment of our jrrand 
 design as either difficult or problematic. It will 
 not then be, as it now is, that two or three nations, 
 in virtue of their national prowess, will struggle 
 themselves into a kind of monopoly of every coui- 
 mercial and political advantage. If it were, we 
 might lay our account with a continuance of the 
 same rivalry, intrigue, and dissention that now pre- 
 vail, and expect to find as much solicitude exercis- 
 ed to depress, as in our present view is held to be 
 exercised in upraising, the character of the rude 
 tribes of our race. Neither is it a few benevolent 
 and privileged societies, with their deputies and 
 their missionaries, attempting to engross the honor 
 of civilizing the world, that are held to be burden- 
 ed with these high duties — It is Christendom at 
 large, each nation within its bounds, developing its 
 mighty energies with perfect freedom in the direc- 
 tion that must effectually meet tliis object — each 
 possessing a plenitude of political power and sta- 
 minal force — and each commanding every general 
 advantage that lies within the range of the system. 
 In such circumstances, what can preclude any one 
 nation, the meanest and the ;nost remote, as well 
 as the most favored, from availing itself fully of the 
 advantages thus brought within its power, from 
 stretching forth its strength to remote common ob- 
 jects, and from finding in these objects delightful 
 incitttions to the services that are peculiar to their 
 elevated condition ? It is the full developement of 
 
 5 z 2
 
 91G 
 
 a miglity system we are contemplating — a system 
 wherein individuals of the highest rank and charac- 
 ers seek those fields of enterprizc wherein the most 
 ennobling exercises are to be found. When we 
 take this consideration fully along with us, can we 
 doubt either its general success or its ultimate tri- 
 umph ? Its progression may at first be slow, and 
 be subjected to many interruptions. The advan- 
 tage gained by one denouement may seem to be 
 exhausted, before they can be reinforced by anoth- 
 er ; but the inroads upon barbarism will constantly 
 become wider and wider, and the stability of every 
 consecutive attainment, become greater and great- 
 er; until, from the constant advancement of the 
 paramount system, the barriers of barbarism be sur- 
 mounted, and its bulwarks buried in the dust. My- 
 riads of assailants, with the peaceful weapons of cor- 
 dial influence, mild example, and beneficent offici- 
 ousness, will follow on and raise the great cause of 
 our race upon its securest foundation. The spirit of 
 the system will thereupon animate the general pro- 
 gression, and give to every exertion and struggle 
 that may follow, a necessary, as well as a real ad- 
 vancement in its destined course. 
 
 Before we proceed any farther, let us direct our 
 attention to the advantages thus prepared for the 
 service of the upper ranks of society. And here 
 the value of these strike us with great force. The 
 very idea of emigration implies preparation tor 
 great struggles, such as we must apprehend to be 
 most competent to those in the upper stations of
 
 917 
 
 society. Without great means and bigli influence, 
 uncertainty and disappointment await the emigrator, 
 and may engulph his highest hopes ; but under a cer- 
 tain judicious expenditure of these that'such evils can 
 be avoided, and success secured. It is not enough 
 that a man of eminent talents and endowments be 
 set down precisely where these can be of most avail; 
 he must be placed in circumstances to unfold and dis- 
 play these with full advantage ; he must be able both 
 to bear these with full force on their proper ob- 
 jects, and to elucidate the connexion that subsists 
 betwixt his powers, and those consequences that 
 result from the due exercise of them, in a way that 
 will not only attract attention but ensure confidence. 
 How many thousands are lost to themselves and to 
 the world from defects in this particular advantage? 
 Yet this defect, the rich and the powerful alone arc 
 able effectually to supply. Thus amongst the rudest 
 nations wealth and power can procure equivalents ; 
 and although here the personal powers of man un- 
 fold themselves with peculiar facility, yet the su- 
 perinduced attainments of the great can seldom be 
 dispensed with. Eminent personal powers are no 
 doubt indispensibly necessary in such extraordina- 
 ry circumstances, but the extrinsic behests of for- 
 tune are for the most part equally necessary, in or- 
 der to make these powers answer their end. In 
 short, the great and peculiar advantages of these 
 higiier developements of our system may be held 
 as appendant on the condition of the leaders of so- 
 ciety. In its proximate advantages, there is some- 
 thing like a parity in the distributions of our sys-
 
 918 
 
 tein, and a regular proportionment betwixt the ad- 
 vantages of enterprize, and the personal powers of 
 those who embark in them ; but in these higher de- 
 velopements, where substantive wealth and para,- 
 mount influence are so necessary to procure prepa- 
 rations, and to ensure confidence and co-operation, 
 it is requisite that this wealth and influence be super- 
 added, before any thing that can be called a regular 
 proportionment betwixt the talents exercised, and 
 their reward, can take place. Without the benefit 
 of outfits, without the protection of friends and as- 
 sociates, the highest personal qualities, and the most 
 supereminent individual attainaients have seldom 
 made a permanent impression upon rude nations ; 
 with these however, something like insuperable pow- 
 er has not unfrequently been displayed. When the 
 established prowess of the system shall have univer- 
 sally secured placid acquiescence in our assumptions, 
 who can limit the efficacy of such influences ? 
 
 These high and powerful denouements of the ge- 
 neral system bring into vie^ such a multitude of 
 fresh exercises for human talent, and such a variety 
 of avocations, that call most directly for the inter- 
 vention of the first means and influence of commu- 
 nities, that we must consider the incitements to 
 form domestic associations amongst the leading 
 classes of society, as sufficiently strong to over- 
 come even the most fastidious objections that 
 can on such a subject be listened to. These are 
 considerations of high importance, and although 
 strictlv taken, the subject does not fall under our 
 view, as a principal, but as a subsidiary develope-
 
 919 
 
 uient of the general system, it carries such weighty 
 consequences along with it which bear so directly 
 on its most essential parts, that we cannot dismiss 
 it without some farther attention. As things now 
 stand, a grandee, on dismissing into the world, one 
 of the junior branches of his family, must be under- 
 stood as addressing him thus, " Raise your fortune 
 " to that pitch, that I can without disparagement 
 " to my dignity acknowledge my relationship to you, 
 " or let me never see or hear from you again. 
 " Keep this my purpose steadily in your eye, and 
 " count on means and nifluence sufficient to make 
 " good your claims to personal deference. Neither 
 " the principles of religion nor the voice of con- 
 " science, a regard to your own comfort, nor to 
 " life Itself must be held to be too much to be sa- 
 " crificed, if in the pursuit of your leading object, 
 " such sacrifices should be necessary." That pa- 
 rental injunctions now-a-days delivered by the great 
 to their dependents amount to this, and to little 
 more than this, is not to be disputed, for though the 
 meaning may be wrapt up in sentimental pathos, or 
 in sarcastic rhapsody, the import is nearly the same 
 — fa,, ily pride and family importance, the grand 
 and ultimate object to be attended to, are alone to 
 be subserved in every family arrangement. 
 
 But in the circumstances of society, set forth 
 in the preceding context, we cannot but sup- 
 pose that such sentiments as the foregoing, even 
 where they are most powerful, will be moderated 
 and limited by su[)erior principles. It will be seen
 
 920 
 
 that no family power nor ftimily object can com- 
 pete with the progression of a system, which has 
 for its object the advantage of our whole race, and 
 which carries individuals along with it, not so much 
 according to their relative importance in the gene- 
 ral system, as according to the powers and offices 
 which they can introduce into its service ; and that 
 this system, while it comprehends in its object, ev- 
 ery social and real good, of which the human 
 condition is susceptible, apportions to individuals 
 their share thereof, on sound and equitable princi- 
 ples. It will be seen also, that in following out 
 these principles, neither deficiency nor disparage- 
 ment to family expectations need take place ; for 
 that as these coincide with, so they are respected as 
 essential parts of the system. The views that must 
 thereupon be formed, and the projects into which 
 these views may lead, must be very different from 
 those that are now formed, when the court and the 
 camp, the senate and the bar, the bench and the 
 pulpit are the sole objects towards which these may 
 be formed. At present, the narrowness of the 
 sphere of competition, whets cupidity to an inordi- 
 nate degree, and gives rise to the most daring and 
 licentious intrigues, in which the parties interested 
 unhesitating acquiesce, as mere ruses de guerre, to 
 which it is permitted to all parties, as occasion of- 
 fers, to resort. In the case before us, where the im- 
 portance of pure and upright dealing is so great, 
 and the temptations to an opposite practice so 
 small, it must be the business of the father to fol- 
 low out the general tendency of the system, and to
 
 921 
 
 form the views and projects, as well as the for- 
 tunes of his child in coincidence with its character. 
 There will be no necessity to concentrate in one 
 branch all his hopes, and to devote all the rest to 
 the service of, and to dependence on this branch, 
 tor he will perceive, that without anywise abridging 
 the fair claims of his immediate successor, he may 
 provide abundantly for each descendant. He may 
 not be able to give them all fixed possessions, but he 
 will most assuredly be able to set them agoing in cir- 
 cumstances wherein possessions not less valuable, 
 may be procured in a fair and regular manner. He 
 may say to them — "You are born for the good of 
 " others as well as for your own, you have the ad- 
 " vantages of birth, education, substantial influence, 
 *' and a variety of facilities and advantages, to enable 
 " you to prosecute this good on the largest scale. 
 " By prosecuting it in the fullest manner, under 
 *' the influence of beneficent and liberal principles, 
 " you will most assuredly attain to independence, 
 " power, riches, and high respect, as well as to the 
 " great and primary objects to which your labors 
 " have been conformed. Restrain your licentious 
 " passions, for their object perishes with the using, 
 " and they will lead you on to ruin. Cultivate 
 " your noblest endowments, for these will never 
 " die, and they will bring into your hands heavens 
 " highest behests. I dismiss you not to the ensan- 
 " guined field, where you must seek the life of oth- 
 " ers, least they take yours. I consign you not to 
 " the mazes of political intrigue, where you must 
 " debauch all that is excellent in your nature, and 
 
 6 A
 
 922 
 
 " struggle to bring all around you into similar and 
 " greater debasement. I send you to the fields of 
 " enterprize, where in doing good to others, you 
 " find your own good. As your talents may there 
 " be exercised, not only nobly but profitably; as my 
 *' influence can procure for you both protection 
 " and respect, and my means serve you in double 
 " stead at every rencountre, count on these assafe- 
 " guards, and never shrink although misfortune or 
 " disappointment should cut short your hopes. 
 " The glory and renown you earn are mine as well 
 " as yours, and I am at hand in your straits to 
 " succour and relieve, or to uphold and advance 
 " you, as occasion may require.'* 
 
 The diffusion of such sentiments would provide 
 stimulants to virtue of the purest and most ennob- 
 ling kind. Here, too, the same powerful springs of 
 action that produced such wonderful effects during 
 the feudal era would rise up into our hand. Female 
 excellence, when made to bear on the youthful 
 mind with its native force, not only defecates its 
 debasing qualities, but fills it with the most gener- 
 ous emotions, and disposes it to the most benefi- 
 cent pursuits. It is true, that a strong line of de- 
 markation is now drawn betwixt the different ranks 
 of society, which seems to preclude the operation 
 of such emotions, and that fastidious etiquette 
 now sheathes most unrelentingly these enthusias- 
 tic advances, which, in the era of feudalism, fascinat- 
 ed the heroic mind amidst the most arduous exploits; 
 and perhaps, while moral and political profligacy
 
 923 
 
 and groveling perceptions of personal interest 
 are so prevalent, it may be proper not only to 
 give efficacy to these and to every other rule 
 by which the rights of superior rank are to be 
 maintained, but to inforce their subservance. Let 
 us not deceive ourselves, however, the time, is 
 now forever gone, when the mere tinsel of birth 
 and pomp of wealth can carry forward the leiding 
 concerns of nations. Personal talent and individu- 
 al force of character are now as requisite for the 
 patrician as for the man of business, for the prince 
 as for his confidential servants ; and these advanta- 
 ges, without a full participation in the arduous ex- 
 ercises of the incumbent system, are altogether un- 
 attainable. The arguments that are adduced for de- 
 priving the monarch himself of the advantage of do- 
 mestic enjoyment are not worth tiie listening to. 
 Say not that thereby his spirit will be drawn out into 
 pursuits unworthy of his station. Were yourPIan- 
 tagenets, who scarcely ever passed the precincts of 
 theirtiomainsfor a wife, either debased or enfeebled? 
 It must not be asserted that tliereby the order of suc- 
 cession may be endangered ; the only instance in 
 English history, that could support such an asser- 
 tion, is that of King Edward the fourth ; and this 
 merely proves a fact that has never been seriously 
 disputed, that before the principle of succession as 
 now received was fully admitted, while society was 
 in such a rude and disordered state, that the mere 
 force of eclat and lustre of importance, attendant on 
 daring and resolute acts of usurpation could shade 
 their criminality, — that in such circumstances, 
 
 6 A 2
 
 924 
 
 the vacillating character of a monarch, and the 
 monstrous depravity of those in whom this monarch 
 placed his confidence, could make way for transac- 
 tions that went to cut off his progeny from their 
 rightful throne. Let it be noticed, however, that the 
 order of succession was much better established in 
 King Edward's family, than it was in that of this mo- 
 narch's predecessor; and this too, in spite of the high 
 birth and high spirit of King Henry's, and the lowly 
 connexions of King Edward's, spouse ; for King 
 Edward's line remained unimpeached, until his pro- 
 geny was cut off by the unprecedented bruta- 
 lity of his brother ; whereas King Henry's was for- 
 ever and completely set aside in his own and his 
 son's lifetime. For which reason, taking these 
 facts along with me, together with the eventful 
 history of the Stewart dynasty, I cannot but infer, 
 that it is a calamity, rather than an advantage, for 
 monarchs to burden themselves and their subjects 
 with high matrimonial connexions. The alliance 
 of King Charles with the first monarchy of Europe 
 saved neither his throne, his character, his life, nor 
 his family ; while that of his son with a family bare- 
 ly patrician, so far from debarring his line of des- 
 cent from the possession of his abdicated throne, 
 actually secured it to them, until, in the natural 
 course of things, his protestant line became extinct. 
 The events, that have taken place within our own 
 day, would tend to carry this point much farther ; 
 for they certainly prove, that much greater dis- 
 paragement may ensue to sovereigns from their 
 refusing to avail themselves of the advantages re-
 
 925 
 
 suiting from a commixture of their blood with that 
 of the highestclassesof their subjects, than can pos- 
 sibly result from giving way to its worst effects. 
 Would it have been possible for Bonaparte to have 
 set aside the Spanish dynasty, if this dynasty had 
 struck its roots sufficiently deep withui its na- 
 tive territory ? Might not the Stewarts and the 
 Bourbons themselves, in spite of all their tyranny 
 and misgovernance, have filled their respective 
 thrones in security, if their lawful line of descent 
 had prepared an host of natural connexions, a- 
 mongst the upper ranks of their subjects, sufficient- 
 ly strong to protect their common patrimonial in- 
 terests ? Or rather, would they not have been pre- 
 vented from falling into the crimes and follies, in 
 which their calamities originated, had the genial 
 influence and example of their natural connexions 
 been exercised around them ? 
 
 I CONTEND not here for any peculiar advantage 
 in favor of the royal or patrician lines of descent. 
 I contend for an advantage that is common alike to 
 the sovereign and to the people. Whenever the 
 nobler propensities of our nature are bent down to 
 services, and applied to objects, that are purely fac- 
 titious, while at the same time, high stimulants 
 are applied to such propensities, there, we may ex- 
 pect that these will develope themselves in the most 
 irregular and licentious manner. Every one knows 
 that these developements lead into the baleful ma- 
 zes of criminal intrigue; tluit intrigue always re- 
 quires obscurity and intricacy; and that rather than
 
 926 
 
 want its accustomed subterfuge, it will shroud its 
 head in the destruction of nation.i. On the other 
 hand, we know that regular domestic associations 
 most certainly do give birth to the best feelings and 
 propensities of the heart, that these are the source 
 of simplicity of manners and purity of conduct, 
 that the influences, thus prepared and maturated, 
 must bear on society at large with their full and na- 
 tural force, and that as they are held to take effect 
 under advantages that are most intimately adapted 
 to the character of each individual, so they cannot 
 but operate with irresistible energy, in advancing 
 the interests of the industrious and the sober- 
 minded part of every community. 
 
 This position will appear more evident, if we 
 take up its counterpart, and examine the conse- 
 quences of an opposite state of things ; one wherein 
 these highly honorable connexions, by which society 
 is bound up in its relations, can be violated with im- 
 punity, and without reprehension. When debasing 
 propensities usurp and set at nought these hallow- 
 ed privileges, and when the highest influences in 
 society are placed in circumstances that incite 
 these to throw their whole weight into the scale of 
 licentiousness, then, and in every such case, we 
 may count upon it, that libertinism will prevail, and 
 breed in the whole frame of society, corruption and 
 depravity, the harbingers of every political and civil 
 calamity. This fact is obvious to the perception 
 of every one who has bestowed the least attention 
 on the history of mankind, and it requires no illus-
 
 927 
 
 tration whatever. Its consequences, however, are 
 deserving of regard. However high the character 
 of any profligate society may be, however great, 
 however splendid its political and intellectual re- 
 nown, its decided tendency, in such circumstances, 
 must uniformly be to the debasement of the indivi- 
 ual ; and the greater the abundance of desireable 
 objects with which this society is replenished, the 
 higher the excellence of these objects, and the 
 more extensive the facilities for distributing and 
 appropriating them, the more strong and the more 
 determinate will the progress of this degradation 
 become, and the more irresistible the torrent of pro- 
 fligacy and depravity be, that will thereupon ensue. 
 Corruption and oppression will assuredly become 
 installed at the head of its affairs, so that the purest 
 will be efl^ectually bent under their power. That 
 the degradation that must follow will become at 
 length so intolerable as to render any revolution 
 or convulsion, an enviable deliverance, no one 
 can possibly dispute, who has attentively con- 
 sidered the fate of corrupted nations. If we would 
 look for a remedy to that extremity of human mi- 
 sery and moral evil which some philosophers have 
 of late fancied to be the natural consequence of 
 excessive population, we must look for it amidst 
 the scenes of pure domestic society. It is a fact 
 that admits of no controvention whatever, that, in 
 such society, the more helpless and the more hope- 
 less the state of individuals arc, the more clossly 
 does the parent cling to those objects, and exercise 
 for its preservation an affection that is most pure and
 
 928 
 
 disinterested. Amidst the endearments which fol- 
 low such intercourse, there emanates a fervor of en- 
 joyment, which most abundantly recompenses all 
 the pain and sorrow that one would naturally con- 
 nect with such a condition. Here, however, as I am 
 discussing a theory, that in my opinion has nothing 
 to support it but apprehensions as fallacious as 
 they are presumptuous, I shall dismiss the subject 
 entirely, without any farther remark. 
 
 I HAVE been the more particular and express up- 
 on this head, because it appears to me that there 
 is implied in it, that very point, upon which, as its 
 apex, the highest results of the whole system turns. 
 When those relations, which are the fountain of our 
 purest and best affections are duly respected, and 
 those ordinations, by which the most sacred and ap- 
 propriate rights of these connexions are maintain- 
 ed, can be preserved inviolate, feelings and percep- 
 tions and habits, congenial to the most refined and 
 ennobling intercourse, are engendered, brought 
 forward, and nurtured, throughout the whole social 
 system. In such circumstances, it must, I think, 
 follow as a natural and necessary consequence, that 
 the standard of manners will become constantly 
 more and more conformed to moral excellence, 
 that habits, dispositions and propensities, dis- 
 ciplined for general advantage, will more and more 
 prevail, and that society at large will steadily ad- 
 vance and improve in the most important points 
 and features of its character. This conclusion must, 
 I think, appear to be altogether uncontrovertible,
 
 929 
 
 wlien it is considered, that it is during their youth 
 and nonage, and amidst domestic endearments, 
 that mankind receive their most forcible impres- 
 sions of character, and that the disclosure of perso- 
 nal talents, that takes place amongst individuals 
 connected together by the ties of consanguinity, is 
 always most determinate and efficient; our improv- 
 ed system being always understood as bendingthese, 
 at the same time, towards proper objects, and af- 
 fording them an enlarged and independent sphere 
 of developement. 
 
 If by these means, or by such other means, as the 
 principles now unfolded would educe, we can ef- 
 fectually stop the flood-gates of corruption, we shall 
 have accomplished an object of the utmost magni- 
 tude and importance, and one most eminently con- 
 ducive to the attainment of the great and benefi- 
 cent design of the whole system ; and we shall not 
 only have destroyed a worm, that incessantly gnaws 
 at the root of every denouement of excellency, but 
 we shall have succeeded in diverting the whole 
 strength of the most generous and most powerful 
 propensities of human nature, into the service of 
 the system. The tendency of the proposed ordi- 
 nations thereto, cannot be held to be at all pro- 
 blematical ; the whole system evolves subjects that 
 elicit faculties of the most ennobling kind : it co- 
 incides, most completely, with virtuous and re- 
 spectful sentiments, such as these ordinations are 
 calculated to maintain : the human character and 
 condition are not only to be thereby improved, 
 
 G B
 
 930 
 
 but by its most ordinary and necessary movements, 
 to be developed in a way that is most exactly 
 coincident with pure and unsophisticated enjoy- 
 ment. From the general depravity of mankind, 
 we are only the more prone to vitiation, when our 
 attainments are the greatest ; but these ordinations, 
 by resolving the energy and inflammability of our 
 nature into their proper object, and by passing them 
 under the influence of beneficent and appropriate 
 absorbents, destroy the corruptibility, in which this 
 danger consists — it is neutralized, and its force 
 drawn up under the power of the system. 
 
 Let us now take a brief retrospect of the advan- 
 tages that we may at length hold to be fairly provid- 
 ed for our service. Our system, as we saw at the out- 
 set, though powerful both in means and in resources, 
 had nevertheless become incompetent to its object, 
 in consequence of a deficiency in that instrument, 
 whereby these means could be distributed and ap- 
 propriated, and those resources drawn out and ap- 
 portioned. This instrument, we perceived, though 
 connected with, and emanating from, the precious 
 metals, was strictly considered a pure representa- 
 tion of every species of circulable wealth ; such as 
 could only exist where a suitable efflux and con- 
 sumption of this wealth could be fully maintained- 
 This eftiuxand consumption, we also perceived, na- 
 turally flowed from, and mutually supported each o- 
 ther, and were the direct and necessary results of 
 well dnected industr\ and enterprize, when upheld 
 by suitable civil, municipal, and political provisions
 
 931 
 
 and advantages. We thus discerned, that our gene- 
 ral system was like a stately oak, which sent forth its 
 developements, according as its roots could supply 
 its stem with appropriate nourishment, and that 
 these developements partook at once of the strength 
 and of the character that could thus be infused in- 
 to them. We were thereupon led to consider the 
 character, origin, and tendency of our established 
 industry and enterprize, and of the various exist- 
 ing institutions, provisions and advantages, whence 
 this stem drew its nourishment from the parent vsoil; 
 to do this in comprehensive points of view, and to 
 sketch out express and articulate plans, for the 
 amelioration and improvement of each of these clas- 
 ses of provisions. 
 
 As the result of" the various discussions into 
 which wc were led, and of the plans and methods 
 for renovating the character, and extending the in- 
 fluence of existing establisinnents, wc were inrluc- 
 ed to propose and to digest various arrangements 
 civil, municipal, and political, most directly con- 
 ducive to human improvement, and to draw them 
 out into a regular system, wherein national and in- 
 dividual wealth, and relative importance, were un- 
 folded, not only so as to display their augmenta- 
 tive power, but so as to dispose these to elicit higher 
 and greater advantages. The human character, as 
 well as the human condition, are thereby alike ad- 
 vanced, and the general attainments, that have been 
 thus procured, are born on subjects, every way coin- 
 cident with the exalted influences of the system. 
 
 6 R 'J
 
 932 
 
 Every thing, that is or can be brought under the 
 influence of the system, is made to conduce to its 
 extension and establisliment ; and an aggregate 
 power is provided for carrying forward its general 
 developements, amidst higher, and greater, and no- 
 bler results. All this, too, is to be accomplished not 
 only without at all interfering with prior attain- 
 ments, or marring individual or public happiness or 
 enjoyment, but in such a way as to give to these 
 their purest and most exquisite relish, so as, in fact, 
 to make them alike excitative to higher exercises, 
 and instrumental to present gratification. 
 
 Having thus laid for our system a basis so deep- 
 ly fixed in the frame of human nature, so compre- 
 hensive of all that is powerful and excellent in 
 mundane affairs, and so thoroughly constituted for 
 high and beneficent purposes, we perhaps might 
 without impropriety proceed to sketch out, at full 
 length, and with very great precision, the outlines 
 of the whole superstructure which this basis is 
 destined to sustain. This, however, is a task that 
 must for the present be declined, on account of 
 the difficulty of doing any thing like justice to it, 
 in a treatise already so much encumbered with 
 matter. I cannot however dismiss the subject, 
 without attempting to convey some idea of those 
 ulterior results which, under the views that have 
 been taken, may still be held to be but imper- 
 fectly adhibited. By doing this in two or three 
 particular instances, the nature and character of
 
 933 
 
 the vvliole of these results will, I apprehend, be not 
 imperfectly illustrated. 
 
 In the first place. — In virtue of the provisions 
 and regulations above referred to, individuals of e- 
 very class will have more ample and more appropri- 
 ate scope for enjoyment and personal happiness, 
 as well as a greater range of attainments and pos- 
 sessions, on which to occupy all their faculties ; 
 and consequently, they will have stronger induce- 
 ments to prize and to maintain their highest advan- 
 tages, and less temptation to throw these out at a 
 venture, for the sake of objects contingent and at 
 a distance, than they now have. In other words, 
 individuals, considering the real excellence of the 
 attainments that are secured to them by the esta- 
 blished order of things, will not only become sen- 
 sible of their advantages, but have these borne on 
 their minds, in such a way, as to make them, cha- 
 racteristically and systematically, averse li'om con- 
 testation and disorder, and ardent and sedulous in 
 every fair and honourable pursuit. It has been 
 well remarked, that a little learning, and a little 
 power, are apt to be more productive of mischief 
 than of advantage to their possessors, and that this 
 mal verse propensity has been most particulary effi- 
 cient, when such attainments and possessions have 
 been rare and s[)lendid. Such attainments, however, 
 must be held to be stripped of their lustre under 
 the foregoing system, by their being rendered so 
 common, and by their being so readily and so uni- 
 versally applied to the most ordinary purposes of
 
 934 
 
 life. An effectual curb to the impetuosity of mere 
 personal feelings is also provided ; for this curb, 
 which is only to be found in the domestic connec- 
 tions of mankind, is reinforced by all these peculiar 
 U' and accessory jtyguments, which proceed from our 
 resolving every supervening power into its service. 
 These provisions are seen to arise out of the insti- 
 tuted order of things, and to resolve the most irre- 
 gular movements of the system, into the more com- 
 plete establishment of this order. The tendency 
 towards domestic association, the first and the most 
 powerful link in the social scheme, is thereby render- 
 ed alike fascinating and beneficent. The links of the 
 social chain which follow are every way most impor- 
 tant ; for these associations, and the propensities in 
 which they have their rise, in a high state of so- 
 cial improvement, never fail to become possessed 
 of the most commanding force. Give to mankind, 
 amidst such a plenitude of excellent provisions for 
 all their wants, peace, and security, and comfort at 
 home, and you take the most effectual method pos- 
 sible, to produce and to cherish mild and beneficent 
 habits, tender and indulgent dispositions ; you fix 
 their views and desires, as well as their talents and 
 endowments, upon tranquil and concordant exer- 
 cises, and you implant in their minds the utmost 
 possible aversion to every thing like contestation 
 and disorder. It was not till their domestic feel- 
 ings had been outraged, that the French became a 
 nation of savages. The cupidity of individuals 
 may be whetted, and their rapacity excited, so as 
 to disturb the orderly train of human aftairs ; but
 
 935 
 
 so long as the sentiments, appertaining to husband, 
 and father, and brother, subsist, tiiese may again be 
 tranquil ized. 
 
 By such means, established indu^Jry becomes it- 
 self a link in the political chain, possessed of para- 
 mount influence, and it is made to conduce to uni- 
 versal peace and security, as well as to individual im- 
 provement and advancement, in the most efficacious 
 and irresistible manner. In such circumstances, e- 
 very condition of life will be seen to have charms pe- 
 culiarly its own to unfold. Mankind will have more 
 leisure, and more delightful offices with which to 
 occupy this leisure, as well as more means and 
 higher personal powers upon which to exercise 
 these means. There will not only be a greater 
 multitude of public and common attainments, to 
 which all will have equal access, a higher profusion 
 of blessings brought within the reach of the indus- 
 trious and deserving, but there will be produced a 
 more complete relish for these blessings, more am- 
 ple satisfaction in these attainments, and a greater 
 capacity to appropriate these blessings and these 
 attainments to their destined services ; these at- 
 tainments and these blessings themselves, becom- 
 ing always more and more adapted to, and concate- 
 nated with, the wants and circumstances of man. 
 
 Secondly. — The paternal character of the go- 
 vernments held to be instituted in the different na- 
 tions ot Christendom, the multitude of irresistible 
 impulses by which these must be urged forward
 
 936 
 
 in the direct path of national duty, the noble and 
 independent dispositions and character which must 
 thereupon be produced among people thus govern- 
 ed, and the immensity of means and of resources, 
 that are prepared and laid to hand for the purpose of 
 giving unbounded efficacy to all these superinduc- 
 ed advantages ; all these things, togethei with the 
 beneficent and energetic spirit of the great incum- 
 bent system, and the peculiar excitation by which 
 its faculties must be incessantly envigorated and 
 unfolded, must dispose and enable the rulers of the 
 nations to resort to and to carry forward measures of 
 the most liberal and comprehensive kind ; such as 
 will best promote the most essential interests, and 
 advance the highest concernments of the people 
 under their respective charge. This is a most im- 
 portant consideration, and if we duly attend to the 
 real state of human affairs, it will appear that it is 
 only by such means that that intrigue and embarrass- 
 ment, which create so much mischief amongst na- 
 nations, can be moderated. Low and partial views 
 of advantage beget inadequate procedure ; the con- 
 sequence of which is, an absolute want of cordial co- 
 operation betwixt the governed and the governors 
 in matters, wherein, the most decided precision and 
 energy are most indispensibly necessary, and much 
 timidity, revulsion and jealousy, whenever the least 
 appearance of mischance or uncertainty appears : 
 whence it is, that the destruction of the object about 
 which all parties are most solicitous, is but too apt 
 to take place. Under the system now proposed, 
 however, it is seen that not only the interests and
 
 937 
 
 pursuits, but the views and feelings of all parties 
 roust be so completely identified, that while no 
 ordinary calamity, nor difficulty, nor mischance 
 will be able effectually to contravene the general 
 progression of its powers, every advantage, that can 
 come in the way, must resolve itself fully in the 
 public service. 
 
 The position, above referred to, may be both il- 
 lustrated and established by a direct appeal to the 
 circumstances and character of Britain and of 
 France. I'he first, under a load of national debt, 
 a pressure of public imposts, and a volume of pub- 
 lic expenditure, that have no parallel, either in 
 ancient or in modern history, not only supports, in 
 an easy and becoming manner, that majestic char- 
 acter which she has attained, but she prosecutes 
 the boldest and most determinate measures, with a 
 facility, precision and energy, that indicates at once 
 the plenitude of her prowess, and the high confi- 
 dence which the people and the state have mutually 
 in each other. This confidential regard evidently 
 proceeds, not less from the wise and comprehensive 
 views which the nation and the government take of 
 tlieir duties, and of their interests, than from the 
 complacency which these severally feel, in the be- 
 neficent and ameliorating operations of the great 
 system under which they act. On the other hand, 
 France has always had upon her hand so many 
 Ci af'ty and daring projects, which she dare not com- 
 pletely avow, and so many tailacious a[)pearances 
 to support, wliicli iihe cannot make good, and has 
 
 fc> c
 
 always been so much entangled amidst half mea- 
 sures, and desperate measures, that were disgrace- 
 ful alike to the state and to the nation, that, not- 
 withstanding the immensity of her resources, and 
 of her attainments, of her sacrifices, and of her 
 sufferings, she has procured neither the esteem nor 
 the confidence, either of her own people, or of for- 
 reign nations. She has, no doubt, made astonishing 
 displays of political prowess and physical strength, 
 and whenever crooked measures, or daring flagi- 
 tiousness could reach the object, she has seldom 
 been otherwise than splendid in her achievements. 
 But while she thus exhausted her staminal vigor, 
 and disciplined hostile bands, that made her pay 
 dear for her presumption, she effectually denuded 
 herself of ten thousand fascinating influences, that 
 constantly emanated from her attainments. The 
 French government never attempted to cut asun- 
 der the connexion that subsists betwixt paper 
 money and the precious metals, so absolutely as 
 Britain has done, and yet France never could main- 
 tain her currency, even in her most favorable cir- 
 cumstances, on such an equal par with these metals 
 as Britain, under this unprecedented measure, has 
 maintained it. Britain could renovate her civil and 
 ecclesiastical policy, almost without effervescence, 
 and without inducing any necessity for foreign in- 
 terference, and that too, under circumstances the 
 most unpropitious ; while under circumstances the 
 most propitious, in attempting this object, France 
 not only failed most completely, hut created a tur- 
 moil and effervescence, that the greatest and most
 
 939 
 
 absolute combination of foreign power, that ever 
 the world witnessed, could scarcely allay. 
 
 Under the scheme proposed, the same advantage 
 extended and encreascd to a very great degree, 
 may be expected to be attained. The circum- 
 stances of each government must be so pressed 
 upon by objects that fix them down to their duty; 
 this procedure must be so borne upon by institu- 
 tions, ordinations, laws and usages, to give full 
 effect to every beneficent tendency ; and the views 
 and sentiments and feelings of all parties, both 
 governing and governed, must be so assimulated 
 to such objects, that measures of the most power- 
 ful and comprehensive nature, may be pursued 
 with every advantage in the full face of day. By 
 illustrating this position under two particular views 
 that have been already familiarized to our apprehen- 
 sion in the course of this treatise, its importance, 
 as well as its truth, will plainly appear. 
 
 First. In regard to taxation — we all know and 
 feel the extremity to which the public burdens have 
 been carried, and lament the necessity of their con- 
 tinuance. The proposed system, however, opens 
 the way to relief; for by inspiring both the govern- 
 ment and the people with confidential regards to- 
 wards each other, it prepares them for resorti:ig 
 to these measures, whereby the pressure of tiiese 
 imposts, may be either alleviated, or so borne upon 
 the processes of reproduction, that compensation, 
 and sometunes even advantage, may result from 
 6 c 2
 
 940 
 
 their operation. Already many of our assessments 
 have this tendency ; thereby, certain kinds of in- 
 dustry, which would otherwise have been depressed 
 by rival importations from abroad, are upraised 
 and established ; and thereby, also other kinds of 
 industry, that when unduly extended are detri- 
 mental to the moral character or political interests 
 of the nation, are kept under restraint. On the 
 return of peace, many of our taxes that would dis- 
 tress our commercial interest, must be either mo- 
 dified or repealed : our income and assessed taxes 
 and convoy duty will fall to be rescinded ; and as 
 the burden of our national debt will nevertheless 
 be noways met or alleviated, some new impost that 
 will conciliate the minds of the people, while it 
 amply replenishes the national treasures, will be 
 found to be awanting. 
 
 I APPREHEND that the only tax, that can in such 
 circumstances be ventured upon, is an income tax, 
 conceived in the view of establishing some great 
 public concession of right to the people. In a tbr- 
 mer part of this treatise, (page 887, &c.) I took 
 up this subject at some length ; it will be recollect- 
 ed that it was there proposed to deduct one half 
 from the rate of assessments laid on married peo- 
 ple, and one tenth more for every child living in 
 the family. Besides this allowance, however, and 
 that at present made to the lower rates of income, 
 I would, following out the same equalising princi- 
 ples,assuii:e the importive value, and not the absolute 
 amount of income, as the rule for ascertaining the
 
 941 
 
 assessment to be kid on each individual. For in- 
 stance, taking an income of 5^500 per annum, and 
 the tax as 10 per cent. For a given case, I would 
 designate the importive value of such an income 
 from land £ 12,000, and levy £60 from it; from 
 funds as £ 10,000, and levy £50 from it; from life- 
 rent as £6000, and levy £30 froin it ; and from 
 contingent salary or profits in trade as £4000, and 
 levy i^20 from it. Proceeding on the same ground, 
 I would venture, in certain cases, to augment the 
 rate of assessment. For instance, when a land- 
 holder resides in a country under a foreign crown, 
 I would double his tax ; and even when he merely 
 lived above the half of the year in a different por- 
 tion of the united kingdom from that where his 
 concernments lay — tor instance, at London, when 
 his property lay in Scotland, Ireland, or any of the 
 colonies, (otherwise than on public duty) — I would 
 add a fourth or a fifth more to his assessment. 
 
 The amount of the returns of such an assess- 
 ment might through time be made immense, while 
 its operation would be every way salutary : but I 
 would begin it at a low rate, always comprehending 
 all the circumstances by which it could be aflfectefl, 
 and annexing to it certain peculiar immunities in 
 favor of public liberty. I would divide the high- 
 er rates of contribution into four classes, taking in- 
 to account the run of time, during which, a contri- 
 bution may have been made, as well as the real 
 anjount contributed, and carry down the account 
 thus ootained, through the direct line of descent in
 
 case of death. To the lowest class, I would give a 
 voice in all parochial concerns, and subordinate 
 matters of a local kind : to the next, along with 
 this, I would give a voice in county meetings, and 
 a voice in choosing a parliamentary representative : 
 to the third, 1 would give the privilege of being 
 appointed to the office of assessor : and to the 
 fourth, that of being eligible to a seat in parlia- 
 ment. I would give full effect to all these regula- 
 tions, and also provide an effectual check on re- 
 turns, by publishing annually, within each district, 
 a complete statement ot its whole assessments me^ 
 thodically arranged. 
 
 On the same grounds, I would annex immuni- 
 ties to districts in proportion to their contributions. 
 I would, in the first place, proportion, in the most 
 exact manner, the amount of validated impledg- 
 ments emitted in each, to its contributions by validat- 
 ing precisely the same sum of impledgments within 
 its bounds, that was drawn off in the way of income 
 assessments. There could be no hardship or diffi- 
 culty in this, for if it was seen, that the whole a- 
 mount either exceeded or sunk under the demands 
 of the district, the period of their currency could 
 be shortened or lengthened. The same period of 
 currency, however, behoved to be adopted all v)ver 
 the kingdom, for I would consider the amount of 
 income as a test of the value of industry, every 
 way correspondent to the object, and hold it to be 
 incumbent on us to proportion the emissions of im- 
 pledgments by the rule thus obtained. Farther, I
 
 94S 
 
 would put into the hands of the body of contribu- 
 tors, the premium obtained for the privilege of 
 emitting impledgments within their particular dis- 
 trict, to be laid out by them in procuring such 
 public improvements for that district, as they them- 
 selves should appoint. The time might come too, 
 when it would appear to be both wise and proper, 
 and every way safe and befitting, to resolve a great 
 part of our whole taxes into this very impost ; in 
 such a case, I should imagine it to be highly ad- 
 viseable to follow out the plan above given, by pro- 
 portioning within each county and town, the num- 
 ber of members to be returned to the house of com- 
 mons, to the extent of its contributions. 
 
 It is very evident, that the whole of this plan 
 goes to favor the provincial and remote parts of the 
 general empire, more particularly our colonial 
 possessions. A paper currency resting on, and 
 resolving itself into local acquisitions and improve- 
 ments, as well as political privileges and attain- 
 ments, bearing onward the business of the state, 
 as well as that of the community, is just what these 
 need in the situation which they are now held to 
 occupy in the general system. We stand in a 
 threelbld relation in regard to our colonies, and 
 have duties to discharge, and interests to provide 
 for, in each of these, of no unimportant kind. 
 First, we have a paternal character to sustain, we 
 are understood to have given our colonies free in- 
 tercourse with the rest or the world, and to have a- 
 dumbrated them with the whole influence of our
 
 944 
 
 institutions ; our financial impledgments, as adapt- 
 ed to their internal circumstances, and the funds 
 to be drawn out of these, and placed at their dis- 
 posal, for procuring to them peculiar provisions, 
 are necessary accordingly to give effect to these 
 advantages ; these would not merely advance and 
 improve their condition in the sphere which tliey 
 occupy, but they would diflfuse a cordial sense of 
 these invaluable behests. Secondly, as the domi- 
 nant state, the absolute dependence of these distant 
 possessions, in civil as well as in political affairs, 
 must be provided for. This the above provisions 
 may be understood to effect most completely — by 
 the ultimate resolution of their currency in the com- 
 mon centre of commerce — by the representation 
 and consequent influence held to be secured to 
 them in the legislature — by the patronage exer- 
 cised by the state, and by such other measures 
 resulting from these, as circumstances may sug- 
 gest. Thirdly, we have to take care that returns, 
 sufficient to compensate for the care and burden of 
 maintaining our interest in these colonies, be se- 
 cured. The income assessments, which must affect 
 alike every description of commerce and of pro- 
 ductive industry, will bring honie to the state, a 
 revenue perpetually increasing, and always pro- 
 portioned to the extent of the advantages secured 
 to the colony by the general empire. The direct 
 and indirect benefit, resulting to our general mer- 
 cantile and territorial interests, from this devclope- 
 nient of our common means, thus provisioned, and 
 -^e iiacilities obtained from our having at all times
 
 945 
 
 these validated impledgments to remit homeward, 
 and funds, the value of commodities transferred to 
 other countries, to draw for, must in like manner 
 tend to place this object, in so far as the mercantile 
 and mother countries' interest is concerned, on a 
 footing the most advantageous. It is thus that we 
 may discharge the delicate and highly important 
 offices attached to our connexion with these distant 
 members of the empire, not only with perfect safety, 
 but in such a way as to render the connexion mu- 
 tually beneHcial, identify our interests, and combine 
 them into one. Thereby, too, the state will animate 
 individuals in private pursuits, that go to abet its 
 designs, infuse the fervor of true patriotism into our 
 common enterprizes, and to make our public feel- 
 ings beat with simultaneous emotions. 
 
 In the next place, the necessary consequences of 
 the establishment of this paternal character, in the 
 different nations of Christendom, would be not only 
 to facilitate arrangements, the most momentous 
 and interesting into whicii their circumstances might 
 lead them, but to endow these arrangements with in* 
 fluences of the most beneficent and of the most dif- 
 fusive kind. This will take place more particularly, 
 and more completely, in regard to matters of a ti* 
 nancial kind ; and the position, here adduced, may 
 be illustrated by a familiar instance taken from these, 
 that of Britain adhibiting her financial prowess, in 
 aid of a foreign potentate. In order to do tiiis in 
 such circumstances, it is only necessary for this po- 
 tentate to institute general arrangementi, aii fa* 
 
 6 D
 
 946 
 
 vorable as possible for commercial intercourse with 
 Britain, and for Britain to remit the necessary sum 
 in financial iiiipledgments, to be paid out, and to 
 be run off, periodically, within regular definite spaces 
 of time, and according to a fixed and determinate 
 mode ; the subjects of both powers being alike 
 bound to receive and pass these impledgrnents at 
 par with bullion, and the state and public function- 
 aries of each government to do the same. The 
 direct and unavoidable effect of this arrangement 
 would be, first, that the sum advanced would be 
 obtained without abstracting funds that were at the 
 time occupied in the support of the processes of 
 reproduction then going forward. Secondly, to sti- 
 mulate and support other processes that lay in the 
 direct way of supplying the public wants for which 
 this sum was provided ; such as those that could send 
 forth abundance of naval or military stores, if these 
 were wanted ; for, into the hands of the holders and 
 providers of such, these funds would directly pass. 
 If the sum provided was merely to relieve the gene- 
 ral exigencies of the state, the same effect would 
 follow ; for, if the relief wanted was once operated, 
 it would diffuse reproductive influences all over th^ 
 community. And therefore, thirdly, a stimulation 
 of production all over both kingdoms, and corres- 
 pondent returns of wealth, would forthwith ensue, 
 sufficient, within a short period, to return tothe state, 
 through tlie medium of the income assessments, 
 a revenue, certainly, in ordinary cases, adequate 
 to the whole denjands at first created against it. 
 This matter has already in principle been sufficient*
 
 947 
 
 ]y illustrated. When funds are sent into circulation 
 in industrious and enterprizing communities, thus 
 situated, and thus connected, thus bearing on each 
 others processes of industry, and thus harmonized 
 in their political, commercial, and financial opera- 
 tions, the stimulus and support thus provided, will 
 insinuate and infuse itself so powerfully and com- 
 pletely into these processes and operations, that 
 means and funds, to the requisite extent, cannot but 
 arise into their hands. For, it must be remembered, 
 that it is of the nature of circulable wealth, to sub- 
 stantiate itself in every form that is coincident with 
 the wants and circumstances of communities, and 
 to resolve itself thereunto, in the most powerful and 
 plentiful manner, when the range of its circulation 
 is most extended, and best provisioned. The truth is, 
 that if any thing whatever can make nations conduct 
 themselves harmoniously towards each other on a 
 great scale, it is this reciprocation of impledging 
 and guaranteeing each others general procedure, 
 and acting in full confidence on the guarantee thus 
 given. 
 
 I COME now in the third and last place, to consi- 
 der these grand ulterior results of the system, which 
 proceed from the convergence of its whole parts 
 and influences on the highest objects of human so- 
 licitude, on the most sublime points of the destina- 
 tion of our race. We have seen, that in consequence 
 of the aptitude of its parts, to the developemcni of 
 Christian and independent principles, society will 
 become alike replenished with means, and with 
 
 6 D 2
 
 948 
 
 funds for distributing these means,in correspondence 
 with the general character of the system ; and that 
 the harmony of operation, thus induced, must en- 
 dow both states and nations with tliose sentiments 
 and propensities, which must inspire them with full 
 confidence in each others good, and thus render 
 them mutually instrumental in each others weltjire. 
 We have seen too, that provisions may be made to 
 arise out of these advantages, that tend to defecate 
 the corrupting tendencies incident to a state of 
 great prosperity, and that may serve to enlist the 
 strongest propensities of our common nature in the 
 service of the system ; thereby rendering our indi- 
 vidual faculties most subservient to our most inpor- 
 tant duties, and most conducive to our most essen- 
 tial interests. Let us next proceed to consider the 
 grand and ultimate resolutions of these advantages. 
 Ihe human being himself, is the object on which 
 all our greatest attainments converge ; the capacity 
 of this being, to exercise himselt in coincidence 
 with his highest distination, is that point of his cha- 
 racter and condition, to which these attainments 
 must be most completely adapted. Let us theretore 
 contemplate more nearly, the manner, in which, 
 the stimulus and support, the objects and exercises 
 that have been provided, as borne on him in this 
 capacity, will operate and conduce to these ends. 
 
 But what are these supreme objects of regard, 
 these ulterior results of the whole progression ot the 
 system, wherein such excellencyprincipallyconsists.' 
 Do these splendid attainments, these ennobiuig
 
 949 
 
 institutions, these superior means of enjoyment 
 and i nprove nent, of exercisitior and expanding^ the 
 faculties and eneri^ies of our race that we have 
 been contemplating, constitute these objects? I 
 answer, that in themselves they do not, but as e- 
 manatiiig from, and enveloped in, a system, which 
 inspires the most beneficent manly and concordant 
 feelings, these advantages either constitute or com- 
 prize these objects Attainments the greatest, and 
 means and institutions the most comprehensive, 
 might administer only so much the more plentiful- 
 ly, to the corruption and malverse propensities of 
 man, and ultimately induce a prostration of his 
 character, and a debasement in his pursuits, of the 
 mo>t deplorable and hopeless description. It is, as 
 following out the grand design of the Divine Author 
 of the Cliristian system, as introducing into our 
 social and civil intercourse, all those purifying, 
 ennobling and beneficent influences, which are its 
 characteristic excellencies, that the greatest advan- 
 tages, with which this intercourse may be fraught, 
 can be held to be either blessings or valuable behests 
 to our race. 
 
 These views of the honors, advantages and im- 
 munities to be connected with a domestic way of 
 living, that have been so much extended and so 
 fully considered in tiie preceding context, already 
 illustrate a most important |)art ot the subject. 1 hat 
 the absolute deveiopement of the concerns and ex- 
 position ot thecircumsiancesot individuals, held to 
 be constituent parts of the system, must have the
 
 950 
 
 same tendency, will distinctly appear, if we consider 
 the natural and necessary consequences of this de- 
 velopement and exposition. These must tend in 
 the most direct and powerful manner, to raise the 
 minds of men above that fastidious and pompous 
 nicety, or affectation of nicety, in re^jard to mere 
 personal concerns, wherein the finest feelings of the 
 human heart, and the most acute perceptions of the 
 human mind, are so generally ingulphed, and exer- 
 cise them on subjects every way more deserving of 
 their attention, as rational and moral beings. It is on- 
 ly under such circumstances, that all that is valuable 
 and respectable in human society can be brought 
 forward and matured, and identified, and incorpo- 
 rated with its general acquirements, and that go- 
 vernments can be held to be fully invested with, 
 that paternal character in which their supreme excel- 
 lence c(msists. In such a state of things, laws and 
 ordinations, and customs, and habits correspondent 
 to such a state, will become prevalent, and facili- 
 tate and dulcify the developement of social feeling 
 that may be adduced, and of social prowess that 
 will thereupon follow. The displays of wealth will be 
 gradually resolved more and more in such services, 
 and be seen to be gratifying, fascinating, and power- 
 ful, according as they approximate the great object 
 of the system, and to be capable of diffusing its 
 influence in a supereminent degree. There is an 
 emanation of power, that is inseparable from per- 
 sonal respectability of every kind, which begins at 
 the highest class in the community, and reaches 
 more or less even to the lowest. To this power
 
 951 
 
 and personal influence, however, in such circum- 
 stances, favor and esteem, love and veneration, will 
 be more and more annexed. It will be seen, and 
 known, and felt, that the character thus estimated, 
 shrouds nothing sinister or unbecoming in its as- 
 pect. These influences, spreading themselves every 
 where around, always augiuen'ing and extending 
 themselves, will constitute powerful restraints upon 
 vice, and supports to virtue : they will be transfer- 
 red from those, who, without the substance of them, 
 could adduce their appearance, to those who pos- 
 sess the substantial quality, and the excellence to 
 which they are attachable. In the mean time, the 
 great and leading advantage, that, without which, 
 all others are of no avail, that of a consciousness of 
 merit and integrity, resting on itself, and not on 
 deceitful appearances, will rise out of these candid 
 and intelligible displays of personal prowess, and 
 bear in the estimation of each individual, all that 
 weight which its importance deserves. 
 
 These considerations bring before us, the second 
 and last particular, in the illustration of which, the 
 importance of the grand ulterior resolutions of the 
 systcin, must prominently appear — Colonization. — 
 In the preceding context, and in other parts of the 
 treatise, this sulject has bee : taken up, and its im- 
 portance and hading interests unfolded at consid- 
 erable length. But the extent and importance of the 
 considerations which this subject embraces, seem 
 to render something more than these incidental 
 expositions necessary. Man himself, is of all the
 
 952 
 
 subjects about which he is conversant, the most 
 iinpoifant, and consequently those concernments, 
 oi' which he is the inmiediate object, are of all 
 others to each of us, the most deserving of" regard. Of 
 these concernments, what can be of more impor- 
 tance than colonization — the deportation of our 
 species? Indeed, the value and importance of all 
 the advantages previously considered, appear only 
 in their lull and proper light when viewed, in con- 
 nexion with this subject. As the advancement of 
 tlie character and condition of man, personally 
 considered, is the grand point into which all our 
 acquisitions converge, so the fliflusion and exten- 
 sion, as well as multiplication and increment of 
 these acquisitions, and of all the advantages con- 
 nected with them, are the direct and necessary 
 consequences of this convergement, and they lead 
 most dnectly to these deportations, or colonial en- 
 terprizes, as the sole channel wherein full effect 
 can be given to these tendencies. A surcharge of 
 marketable ctmimodities points most determinately 
 to an augmentation of the general market of con- 
 sumpt; and in the ordinary way, the augmentation 
 brings forth into exercise fresh resources and ener- 
 gies, which more than make good the subtraction 
 from the absolute amount of these commodities, 
 that has in the n eantime taken place. In like 
 manner, and upon similar princi{)les, an exuberance 
 of wealth and of populaticm, of latent and of ener- 
 getic ardor, calls most distinctly for deportations of 
 these on a correspondent scale ; for thereby alone, 
 can the powers and means thus comprized, develope
 
 953 
 
 themselves with full advantiijre, and in thus deve- 
 loping^ theaiselves, not only give full effect to the 
 ulterior destination of the systein, but replace for 
 the advantage of all concer.ied, the powers and 
 means that for the moment may have been with- 
 drawn. 
 
 That colonial enterprizes constitute the grand 
 ultimate resolution of a system, whereof a progres- 
 sion in all that is excellent, an extension of all that 
 is truly estimable is the tendency, as naturally, and 
 as necessarily, as intestine broils, and international 
 warfare, constitute the result of that system where- 
 of continued corruption, and aggravated perversity, 
 are the most prominent points of character, I hold 
 to be a point already fully and completely estab- 
 lished to our hands. If the state and character of 
 Europe had been such, that these four or five mil- 
 lions of human beings, with their families and effects, 
 who have fallen sacriHces auiidst the devastations 
 created by France, could have been drawn off, and 
 implanted in regions wherein their acquirements 
 would have been real and essential blessings — If 
 the same spirit that had actuated the simple hearted 
 renovatists of Britain, a century or two ago, had 
 prevailed in France, Germany and Italy, the whole 
 terraqueous globe might, by this time, have been 
 one vast scene of renovating industry, wherein the 
 acquirements of Europe, nurturing civilization and 
 improvement, under Christian princii)les, would 
 at this moment have been tully unfolding them- 
 selves in tiie most transcendent manner. Europeiier- 
 
 6 E
 
 954 
 
 self, though bereft of such invaluable possessions, 
 in consequence of the fresh and vigorous stimulants 
 to newer and higher exertions in the paths of ex- 
 cellence, to be thus applied to all her energies and 
 resources, and in consequence of thus having means 
 of the most valuable and exalted description pro- 
 vided for her service, might, not only have had all 
 her sacrifices compensated, but have found herself 
 surrounded with the purest radiance of glory. War, 
 however, and desolation are seen to have been more 
 congenial to the degenerate temperament of the na- 
 tions of Christendom, than any such progression in 
 virtuous excellence, and the miseries which war in- 
 duces to have been requisite to impress her with a 
 suitable abhorrence of moral turpitude. There is 
 at length, I hope, a disposition to return to the 
 forsaken paths of peaceful improvement. As co- 
 lonization may be regarded as the ultimate end into 
 which an advancement in these paths necessarily 
 leads, the views that have been given cannot be 
 closed, without a more ample exposition of this most 
 interesting subject, than has yet been given. 
 
 In the earliest ages of society, colonial expedi- 
 tions must have been great and frequent ; there was 
 then a steady and constant increase of men and of 
 means, and abundance of scope for developing 
 these on the largest scale. In general, cattle formed 
 the principal subject of w^ealth, so that migrating 
 habits became at once natural and necessary to 
 mankmd. It was not until possessions became 
 fixed, and territorial improvement estimable, that
 
 955 
 
 these deportations occasioned either turmoil or 
 sensible inconveniency. But when the concrete sys- 
 tem, reinforced by lesjions of captive slaves, had 
 obtained the complete ascendancy in human affairs ; 
 when improvements in the arts had begun to display 
 their power and value, and the importance of a 
 concentration and organization of human acquire- 
 ments had been disclosed ; and when coertion had 
 become the universal instrument for urging forward 
 human industry, then, colonization, as it had pre- 
 viously existed, may be held to have ceased. Man- 
 kind, goaded in by an insanguined and fatuous 
 superstition, resorted to exhibitions more congeni- 
 al to the system under which their energies were 
 drawn up. In place of peaceful migrations, which 
 at once relieved and replenished the social body, 
 devastating irruptions came to prevail, such as had 
 it for their object, to carry off and enslave the person 
 of the individual, as well as to seize and enjoy his 
 effects, to devote him and his posterity to the most 
 debasing thraldom, as well as to usurp his fixed 
 possessions. The character and operation of this 
 system, having been already illustrated under anoth- 
 er head, it is only necessary to notice, that while 
 the whole exuberance of the social body was appro- 
 priated, by the dominant class, to such services as 
 coincided witli the concrete character of the sys- 
 tem, and while the effluxes of population and of 
 means, did little more than diffuse its coercive in- 
 fluences, however much the occasions and the 
 views of the dominant class might be subserved, 
 and, however splendid and valuable the public and 
 6 E 2
 
 956 
 
 private attainments, that were procured under it, 
 might l)e — the overturn ngs o" established advanta- 
 ges and authorities, and the devastations that per- 
 petually followed, more than overbalanced, even to 
 this favored class taken in the aggregate, the pecu- 
 liar immunities that had been secured to them. 
 
 It must nevertheless be admitted, that in many 
 instances, these devastating irrupticms served to 
 convey the knowledge and the power of important 
 improvements in human affairs, and that at all 
 times, they were instrumental in impeding that 
 progression of corruption and perversity, which 
 tends most directly to public and universal degene- 
 racy, in all that is characteristic of man The com- 
 mercial states in the Eastern coasts of the Mediter- 
 ranean, and Carthage, Greece and Roujc, (them- 
 selves colonies from P'gypt and the Asiatic shores,) 
 formed more or less under the influences above 
 dtscribed, and highly exemplifying the peculiar 
 character and operation of these influences, failed 
 not to introduce certain kinds of their own civilizing 
 processes, into the colonies which they implanted, 
 and to draw up the native energies which were sub- 
 jected to their power, under such modifications of 
 their own laws, institutions and customs, as tended 
 toamelioraie the general circumstances of the subju- 
 gated, and to endow them with faculties of improve- 
 ment, and of enjoyment, that not only greatly 
 uj)ra!sed their character and their condition, but 
 ultiUiately ri>ade them highly efficient members of 
 then conunon polity. Ihe importance of those co-
 
 957 
 
 lonial innovations appears from the acquirements 
 which were made, and from the consequences which 
 these continued to produce, for many succeeding 
 ages, and centuries. Nay, at this moment, after the 
 lapse of two thousand years, impressions, made by 
 the civilizing processes of Greece and Rome upon 
 rude nations which they had subjugated, still re- 
 main, and in estal)lished institutions and attain- 
 ments, evince the liberality of that colonial policy, 
 by which their first characteristic lineaments were 
 formed. 
 
 Let us, however, leave these unaspicious deve- 
 lopements of the exuberance of society, which, at 
 the best, were but productive of aggrandizement, 
 and were necessarily more or less directly opposed 
 to radical improvement, and pass over the barba- 
 rous irruptions of the northern nations, the instru- 
 ments appointed by Heaven for breaking asunder 
 the concretion of human powers, so pertinaciously 
 obstructed to the progression of beneficent and in- 
 dependent principles ; because both the one and the 
 other of these subjects have already been sufficient- 
 ly elucidated under another head, and because it 
 is inexpedient, and indeed unnecessary, to burden 
 our present views any farther with them ; and let 
 us proceed to take under consideration those ef- 
 fluxes of the system, in which we are ourselves in- 
 volved, the characteristic property of which is 
 radical improvement, on independent and diffusive 
 principles, but unhappily comprizing many deteri- 
 orating and corrupting tendencies, which have in-
 
 95» 
 
 duced a correspondent propensity to disorder, civil 
 and political, and beset it with many obstructions 
 which have marred its superior developements, and 
 which frequently resolve its noblest and most be- 
 nign qualities, in base and vitiating services. 
 
 It belongs to this beneficent system, to influence 
 the character and pursuits of men, in the most 
 powerful manner — and to introduce into their civil 
 institutional and political concerns, its principles, 
 and its spirit, and to send forth its peculiar develope- 
 ments,with such efficacy, as to evince that power, es- 
 sentially transcendent, prevails in their production. 
 The effluxes of the system partake of correspondent 
 advantages, and accordingly, differ from the effluxes 
 of every other system, in most important particulars. 
 First, the character and circumstances of the agents 
 are such, that motives and conduct, more or less 
 conducive to the extension and diffusion of the cha- 
 racteristic beneficence of the system, must prevail; 
 and fruits, more or less congenial to its principles 
 and spirit, must result, from their procedure in 
 its service. Secondly, even when there is a de- 
 ficiency or perversity in the agents, the native ener- 
 gy and irresistable operation of the system will ulti- 
 mately disclose itself, amidst every developement of 
 exuberance, and evince the supereminent value and 
 importance of the systematic improvement which 
 it comprizes. Lastly, there is seen to overshade 
 all these developements, an influence which displays 
 itself to be divine. Along with the blessings accord- 
 ed to Christian nations, with this system, a para-
 
 959 
 
 mount duty of disseminating its principles all over 
 the world, was devolved upon them. According 
 as these nations, more or less zealously and faith- 
 fully, wisely and determinately, discharge this of- 
 fice, blessings or curses, punishments or rewards, 
 manifestly tbllovv their footsteps, sometimes indeed, 
 not immediately or perceptibly, but always ulti- 
 mately and consecutively, and decisively indicative 
 of the character of such adumbration. Christendom 
 is as it were the advanced guard of our race, in its 
 conflicts with vice and ignorance ; and on it, of 
 course, falls the general consequences of success 
 and mischance in this service. 
 
 These facts may be abundantly illustrated, by a 
 reference to the great enterprizes of the nations of 
 Christendom, and in none more than in the history 
 of the Crusades. The necessity of meeting the ir* 
 ruptions of the Mahometan marauders with appro- 
 priate means, and the sound policy of doing this 
 before their system had developed itself, with full 
 strength, and stretched its influence loo near to the 
 centre of Christendom, cannot be disputed. The 
 generous and pious motives of those who devoted 
 themselves to this service, the sublime and mag- 
 nanimous sacrifices, which, in discharging it, they 
 spontaneously made, and the heroic exploits, which 
 they achieved, are as little matters of dispute. We 
 all know too, that though success was varied, though 
 the losses tiiat were sustained were immense, and 
 though the degenerate corrupted empire of the 
 East could not ultimately be saved, yet that Eu-
 
 960 
 
 rope itself was delivered, and an effectual stop 
 given to the farther progress of Mahometanism in 
 the west. These were glorious achievements, and 
 in the circumstances of Europe, they could not 
 have been effected without the redoubted and disin- 
 terested services of the Crusaders. The follies and 
 aberrations of the Christian knights, their licen- 
 tiousness and rapacity, no doubt, but ill accorded 
 with the high and resplendent character which they 
 had to sustain. But did not these meet with the 
 chastisement and punishment which always follows 
 such demerit? The disgraces, depressions and ca- 
 lamities that were induced, were every way most 
 peculiar ; and they plainly indicated, not only the 
 ineptitude of the mental and moral prowess, that 
 were borne onward, to the objects to which they 
 were to be appHed, but the divine displeasure at 
 such flagitious procedure under such sacred ban- 
 ners. The derision of succeeding ages, has been 
 excited by the presumptuous zeal of these high- 
 minded champions of our faith ; but before we give 
 in too explicitly to such views, let us attempt to ap- 
 pretiate, with some degree of precision, the magni- 
 tude and importance of the blessings that have de- 
 scended from them into our hands. 
 
 We all know, that at the time when these Cru- 
 sades were projected, Europe was overspread with 
 the deepest shades of ignorance and oppression, and 
 that in civil, political, ecclesiastical and jurispru- 
 dential affairs, its system exhibited a very chaos 
 of incongruity, from which common sense, and
 
 961 
 
 common honesty, were frequently excluded. What 
 has produced the wonderful change which we now 
 see ? The seeds of moral, intellectual and religious 
 improvement, long before shed abroad, owed even 
 their preservation to circumstances which indicated 
 their divine origin, and their independence of all 
 the destructive elements with which they were sur- 
 rounded: these formed the germ whence this ex- 
 alted series of objects have arisen ; but what was 
 it that darted upon them the full effulgence of su- 
 pernal li^rht, endowed their shoots, with energies so 
 diversified and so resplendent, and elicited from 
 these, fruits so precious and so excellent ? The lore, 
 locked up in the recesses of the East, thrown open 
 by these Crusaders, and by tlicm set forward in a 
 Westerly direction, prepared the way for these high 
 developements — but it was the sublime genius which 
 the lofty spirit of the times had called forth into 
 auch vast, and such ennobling fields of enterprize j 
 it was the transcendence of moral energy, which 
 made individuals, of the highest rank, of the most 
 eminent talents, and of the most diversified mental 
 porowess, abase themselves from their station, and 
 en^baik themselves and their all in services the most 
 arduous and the most complicated, that gave that 
 high excitation to the Euroj)ean system, and pro- 
 cured for it the superabundance of means, of re- 
 sources and of energies, which have so completely 
 renovated and advanced its character, and endowed 
 its former attainments with energies and excellen- 
 cies which were till then unknown. The sacrifices 
 of the Crusaders threw loose lor the service of the 
 
 6 K
 
 962 
 
 deserving of every class, possessions, honors and 
 influence ; their researches prepared for the exercise 
 of these, means the most appropriate ; and theii fire 
 and genius kindled amongst them a congenial spi- 
 rit which nerved them for every exertion. 
 
 It must be admitted, therefore, that it is to these 
 Crusades, these transcendent developements of the 
 exuberance of society, as the instruments thereto ap- 
 pointed, that we are indebted for all our discoveries 
 in science, all our improvements in the arts, for 
 the discovery of the new world and of these innu- 
 merable worlds in the starry heavens, for the art of 
 printing, and the art of navigation and all the com- 
 plicated advantages that result from these ; and for 
 many arrangements, social, civil, religious and po- 
 litical, favorable to mankind at large. This, it 
 may be said is true, but as these knights knew no- 
 thing of the nature and character of the advantages 
 that they were preparing for Christendom, and as 
 for the time their exploits served more to display 
 their aggregate folly and licentiousness, than the 
 spirit or genius of those sacred banners under which 
 they fought, it is impossible to attach to them the 
 merit of procuring for us such advantages. I an- 
 swer, first, that thepersonal conduct of these knights, 
 was such, as to excku'e ev^ery thing like vaunting, 
 and that their personal fate acct^rdingly coincided 
 with their procedure; but, secondly, that as they 
 were animated with hi^.h and generous sentiments, 
 made sacrifices, which indicated a plenitude of de- 
 votion to their sacred cause, it coincided also with
 
 963 
 
 the designs of heaven to make them instrumental, 
 not only in warding off the inroads of Mahometan 
 barbarians, but in introducing into Christendom 
 those means, whereby its character, energy and des- 
 tination were ail supereminently advanced, and to 
 preserve for us so much of the history of these ex- 
 peditions, of the motives from which they arose, 
 and of their general operation and tendency, that 
 while we are possessing and enjoying multiplied and 
 invaluable attainments resulting from these, tracing 
 their mutual connexion and dependence on each 
 other, and contemplating their final and necessary 
 tendency, \ve may discern the high estimation in 
 which unreserved self-devotedness to high services, 
 and supereminent exercises in these, are to be held 
 and appretiated *. 
 
 * To some, no doubt, these views may appear to be more 
 fanciful than real. It is impossible to contend with any one at 
 such weapons, for the ideas themselves possess importance, only 
 as we choose to attach importance to them. For my own part, 
 looking at their general motives, procedure, tendency and con- 
 sequences, I have no hesitation in declaring it, as my fixed 
 opinion, that the Crusades, as historical facts, constitute a proof 
 of the divine origin of the Christian dispensation, inferior only in 
 point of importance to the history of the obduracy and impreca- 
 tion of the Jews, the subsequent overthrow of their system, and 
 dispersion of their race, and their continued existence and preser- 
 vation as a separate people, blinded and maledicted, overthrown 
 and dispersed. It partakes too of the same authoritative aspect 
 with that irrefragable historical testimony ; it marks the cha- 
 racter of the dispensation, while it announces its certainty; it 
 illustrates its operations, while it appeals forcibly to our own con- 
 victions of their force and realiry ; and it displays before us, the 
 vast range over which its interests and its concernments extend, 
 
 6 F 2
 
 964 
 
 None of the effluxes of the European system, 
 subsequent to the era of the Crusades, have pro- 
 ceeded from principles so truly heroic, been pro- 
 secuted upon grounds so truly exalted, nor been 
 followed by consequences so supremely conducive 
 to the advantage of Christendom, as those which 
 we have been contemplating. As it is out of the sa- 
 criHces then made, that our progress in the arts, 
 and subsequent high attainments in every depart- 
 ment of knowledge, have been drawn, so it is from 
 these acquisitions, that the exuberances of so- 
 
 the absolute subserviency of every other object to its ends, and 
 the necessity, under which individuals are thence laid, of enter- 
 taining sentiments respecting future retribution, at once sub- 
 lime, and correspondent to the expositions of the Divine Author 
 of the system. Our highest wish must be amidst hun ility, and 
 self abasement, to promote its beneficent designs ; while our con- 
 fidence in the superintendence of the Most High, must in the 
 meantime be absolute. 'l"o a future and eternal state alone, 
 we accordingly must look forward for the completion of our 
 personal happiness. We may farther learn from the same cir- 
 cumstances, that methods the most unlikely, and means the 
 most despised, according to human appretiation, are often made 
 use of for the greatest and most important purposes ; that in the 
 different shades of human character and of human conduct, the 
 Divine eye discriminates every diversity of motive, and every 
 particular movement of the active powers, and while he chastises 
 what is amiss in the way that corresponds best with its nature, 
 he crowns with success whatever is excellent, in a way that 
 evinces his own supremacy ; and that, while he lays open the 
 truth in that way which is fittest for our apprehension, he leave* 
 it to ourselves, by exercising the powers with which we are en- 
 dowed upon such subjects, to elicit suitable views of this tiuth, 
 and to engrave on our minds the lessons which such truths 
 necessarily give forth.
 
 965 
 
 ciety, in spite of the decided propensity of states 
 to hostile and devastating enterprizes, !>ave tend- 
 ed so powerfully to general improvement. 
 
 Until the discovery of America, and the passage 
 round the Cape of Good Hope, nothing that de- 
 serves the name of colonial expeditions took place. 
 But after that period, colonial expeditions assumed 
 an aspect very different from any thing that had for 
 a long time existed. Like these of the early ages, 
 these constituted enlargements of the general sys- 
 tem, the paramount influence of which they every- 
 where established. Displays of political prowess, 
 of martial skill, and of irresistal)le valor and cour- 
 age, altogether unprecedented, accompanied these; 
 yet those magnanimous sentiments, those generous 
 motives, and that disinterested self-devotedness> 
 which had characterized the Crusades, ceased to 
 exist. Ambition, avarice, pride, cruelty, revenge, 
 raged without control, and laid prostrate at their 
 feet, every principle of religion and humanity. A- 
 midst the horrible struggles that followed, the range 
 of the general system was however enlarged, and 
 its capabilities augmented. Its virtual power and 
 energy, too, were increased, and an additional 
 foice and impulse given to its extended move- 
 ments, that speedily rendered the European na- 
 tions lords paramount, wherever their power could 
 be borne. 
 
 Thk ensanguined atrocities committed by the 
 ISpaniards, on laying the tbundation of their colo*
 
 966 
 
 nial system, are not to be palliated by ascribing them 
 to the savage temperament of a few individuals ; the 
 Spanish character, arrogant, bigotted, vindictive 
 and unrelenting, had long been nurtured amidst 
 scenes of horrible bloodshed and devastation ; and 
 neither then, nor at any subsequent period, has it 
 ever developed itself in a manner that can be term- 
 ed magnanimous or disinterested. Their only vir- 
 tue seems to be a characteristic aversion from certain 
 pursuits, that are considered as degrading and un- 
 seemly, and an unbounded veneration for certain 
 customs and instituticms, that elucidate the loftiness 
 of their system. The Spaniards of course, are vio- 
 lently attached to those ecclesiastical formalities that 
 have been established amongst them, and extreme- 
 ly pertinacious in extending and defending the Ro- 
 mish discipline. Though such bhnd and unworthy 
 devotion amounts to nothing in a religious point of 
 view, it has served to draw a strong line of distinc- 
 tion betwixt their colonial polity, and that of every 
 other European nation. The coertion, by which the 
 reproductive processes are urged on amongst them, 
 though most proudful and unrelenting in its prin- 
 ciple, is not debased by that criminal licentiousness, 
 nor aggravated by those acute severities, that are 
 so prevalent in the other colonial settlements of 
 Europe. This proceeds partly, no doubt, from the 
 loftiness of their character, that cannot condescend 
 to such practices, nor burden itself with the details 
 of incessant and accumulated coertion; but it pro- 
 ceeds in no small degree, also, from the adumbrating 
 and soothing influences of the established supersti-
 
 967 
 
 tion, which, in securing to itself its own pecnh'ar 
 immunities, casts down every intervening claim 
 and pretension, that would oppose its paramount 
 influence. It is none of my business to enter deep- 
 ly into the peculiarities of the Spanish system, nor 
 to point out with precision, either its radical im- 
 perfections, or the means of removing them. It 
 having been customary, however, to consider this 
 system, as necessarily devolving itself amidst atro- 
 cities, similar to these on which it was founded, I 
 consider it necessary to suggest a few observations 
 that will bear such matters closser home to our- 
 selves, and dispose us to enquire how far our own 
 procedure, in regard to our own foreign settlements, 
 does not implicate us in a similar arraignment. 
 
 The Tropical possessions of the Europeans in 
 the west, are all of them founded on, and support- 
 ed by, deportations of unhappy captives from the 
 coast of Africa, whose forlorn ci'udition, wretched 
 and pitiable in the extreme, is as evidently pro- 
 duced by our colonial polity, as the desolation of 
 the American regions was by that of Spain. May 
 we not therefore, consider ourselves as having given 
 our sanction to these misdeeds, and become par- 
 takers of their consequences ? May not the proud 
 pre-eminence of Spam, as a colonizing nation, not- 
 withstanding its deep criminality, arise from a still 
 greater degree of morul and political turpitude, in 
 the general polity of other nations — that of their 
 abusing and perverting greater and higher means 
 of improvement, and disregarding the end tor wiiich
 
 968 
 
 these means were bestowed. It is truly wonderful to 
 mark the fktuities into which the corrupting influ- 
 ences of the European system liave led its different 
 nations. It is evidently the design, as it is con- 
 fessedly the command of the Most High, when he 
 crowns its nations so plentifully with his best bles* 
 sings, to make them his instruments for diffusing 
 these all over the globe ; and it has again and 
 again, in the course of providence, as well as in the 
 knguage of the gospel, been demonstrated, that ar- 
 rogance, rapacity, licentiousness and revenge, coin- 
 cide not with such services, but must give place to 
 that moderation, justice, temperance and charity, 
 which lie at the foundation of our system. How 
 have these designs been followed out ? In the first 
 place, as to the discharge of the great paramount 
 duty, on the principles above mentioned ; it is evi- 
 dent that nothing which deserves to be named, was 
 so much as attempted, until the reign of his pre- 
 sent Majesty. It is very true, that previous to this 
 period, America, and certain districts in Asia and 
 Africa, were appropriated, colonised, and dra.Nvn 
 up under the aurpices of certain European systems, 
 But in what did this originate ? certainly not in 
 any great preconcerted schemes of national enter- 
 prize, having for their object the improvement aind 
 advancement of the human character: for these 
 were generally undertaken and patronized for the 
 sake of national aggrandizement, and expressly cal- 
 culated and limited to this object. In some instan- 
 ces, indeed, as in the colonisation of some of our 
 North American provinces, and Carribean Islands,
 
 969 
 
 forlorn outcasts, men in whom neitlier the state nor 
 the nation took any interest, came to have it in 
 their power to dispose of the effluxes of our system, 
 in some such way, as that which took place before 
 national law was established, whereby, within the 
 precincts described by them, the principles of so- 
 cial improvement and advancement, peculiar to 
 our system, were regularly developed. But can 
 any one call this following out the object of the 
 system on liberal principles, correspondent to its 
 design ? By no means. What has been the conse- 
 quences and the tendency of these estal)lishments ? 
 Most assuredly, something very ditferent from the 
 diftusion and consolidation of Christian and inde- 
 pendent principles. We search the whole in vain, 
 for traits of systematic beneficence ; we are at every 
 step appalled at the almost total dereliction of the 
 most commonly received principles of rectitude; 
 and, whenever we meet with amelioration, either of 
 character or of cotidition, we discern nothing less 
 efficient in procuring it, than the arm of the state. 
 
 His present Majesty, at a very early period of 
 his reign, set forward certain voyages of discovery, 
 concerning the beneficence and propriety, of which 
 it is impossible to cavil. These seem as yet to have 
 produced no consequences that at all correspond 
 with the beneficence of their design ; l)ut are we 
 therefore to conclude, that the moderation, conde- 
 scension and liberality that have been displayed, 
 are absolutely lost? Certainly not. These have 
 made way for our system, and they will, if a wise 
 
 6 G
 
 970 
 
 and steady plan is followed out, lead ultimately to 
 its establishment, within regions the most immense. 
 The indigenous inhabitants have already tasted of 
 our generosity, but they have hitherto been spared 
 the salutary discipline of our system ; a shameful 
 prostration of sentimental forbearance has spared 
 them this discipline, and disposed us to bend our 
 own system under barefaced villany and imposture, 
 in a manner the most disgraceful ; nay, we have con- 
 ducted ourselves towards their most abominable and 
 pernicious customs, as if these were scarcely in the 
 least obnoxious to us. Is the bare announciation 
 of our design, a sufficient indication of our earnest- 
 ness in our own cause ? It is in vain to mince the 
 matter : wherever we go, the power, the terrors, 
 and the consequences of depravity must be display- 
 ed, enforced and impressed, otherwise all our good 
 intentions must go for nothing ; without this, our 
 system never can be established, and the blessings 
 which it comprizes must pass off in the using. The 
 mild and merciful inhabitants ot^ Otaheite, the most 
 gentle of these barbarians, are, in the lump, inferior 
 in character to those of our countrymen whom we 
 consign to the hulks and to the gibbet, and although 
 we must make the necessary allowances for their 
 deficiency in intellectual attainments, we must also 
 make them feel the salutary restraints of our laws, 
 taste their blessings, and exult in their operation, 
 before we can hold that we have made the smallest 
 advances in the improvement of their general cha- 
 racter. 
 
 At a subsequent period, schemes, professedly and
 
 971 
 
 ybviously destinated for diffusing the knowledge, 
 and extending the power of the Christian system, 
 were adopted. Missionary Societies and Bible So- 
 cieties, having under their influence, funds adequate 
 to the most comprehensive objects, w^ere instituted. 
 The beneficent object and charitable procedure of 
 these are not to be disputed ; as little, however, is 
 their inefficiency in the great design to which they 
 were destinated. In sending abroad our mission- 
 aries, we seem as if we were impressed with the 
 idea, that it was enough for us to provide and send 
 forth the spirit and the instrument, without concern- 
 ing ourselves much about the circumstances of the 
 mission, and without consolidating the scheme under 
 which these were destined to operate. This, accord- 
 ing to my apprehension, is just as if in Htting up 
 their vehicle, we had contented ourselves with set- 
 ting aboard the mariners and the compass, without 
 furnishing the vessel with the provisions needful for 
 completing the voyage. Why do we with-hold a co- 
 lony, when our own exuberant system tells us, that 
 a colony, fitted to give effect to a mission, might be 
 spared ? When about to engage in war, we previous- 
 ly digest a plan of operation that will meet every 
 ordinary contingency, and regularly make the pro- 
 visions necessary for every campaign — why do wc 
 act otherwise, when the object is to civilize barbari- 
 ans, and to absorb them under the Christian system? 
 God, it may be said, will provide for his own ser- 
 vants, and for his own cause. No doubt, he always 
 does so; but why do we pretend to serve liim faith- 
 fully, zealously and determinedly, when we with- 
 6 G 2
 
 972 
 
 hold any thing that it is competent for us to give, 
 ■w':eii we keep back these invaluable institutional 
 e~rahlishments, these immense, political and physi- 
 cal attainments, these powerful, moral and intellec- 
 tual endowments, and these exhaustible means, en- 
 ergies and resources, that are fairly applicable to 
 such services ? It was not thus that the Crusaders 
 deported themselves, and, notwithstanding their 
 misfiirtunes, left behind them such notable monu- 
 ments of their heroism. 
 
 The Bible Societies have so much of pure Chris- 
 tianity in their design, object and operation, that 
 it seems almost sacrilegious to impugn their proce- 
 dure ; but who told us that the word of God, with- 
 out the accompaniment of the means instituted for 
 giving it effect, is to work irresistibly at our bidding? 
 Let us not deceive ourselves; there is in human na- 
 ture, an aversion from every thing that is charac- 
 teristically excellent, until in consequence of the 
 labor, and solicitude, to be sacrificed in attaining it, 
 we become duly sensible of its value. Discipline 
 must be enforced by systematic rules, and these 
 rules must be educed from and supported by, attain- 
 ments and provisions correspondent to their ob- 
 ject, which imply something beyond the bare de- 
 livery of the Bible. The present may be valued, 
 the book may be prized, its precepts may be, ve- 
 nerated, but is not UiCntal as well as bodily exercise 
 under its influence, necessary to beget and support 
 that habit of" subjection to these, which more than 
 every other testimony evidences their truth and their
 
 973 
 
 power over our minds ? Although therefore, I do 
 by no means call in question the value and impor- 
 tance of Bible Societies, I am completely satisfied, 
 that by resting too much in them, as instruments, 
 we have been led to neglect the most important 
 part of our duty, that of bearing the force of the 
 doctrines which the Bible unfolds home upon the 
 minrls of those whom we would proselyte to the 
 truth, by means of the exercises that may be in- 
 duced, and by means of the examples that may be 
 held forth. If the great design is to be prosecuted 
 in full earnest, our system must be transplanted — 
 its precious effluxes must pass off under a well con- 
 certed scheme, in such services as will evince, with 
 sufficient force, its character and tendency. But, 
 alas ! a fashionable or fatuous devotion, to matters 
 altogether inconsistent with sucn objects, prevails; 
 and the only competent means for extending its in- 
 fluence are most grievously perverted. 
 
 The truth and importance of these considerations, 
 will appear in their full force, if we attend to the 
 course of developemeiit, which the ultimate results 
 of our system generally descril>e. I am not for in- 
 vestigating too closely, the ordinary procedure of 
 the state, nor the ordinary ex[)ences of the nation. 
 But into what are the extraordinary effluxes of the 
 system most generally resolved ? How is its exube- 
 rance disposed of? In pursuit of what object are 
 these most plentifully exhausted ? Is it not in gra- 
 tifying the ambition of a few pre-eminent families? 
 For their sakes, the whole exuberance of society, to-
 
 974 
 
 gether with its vast physical and political attainments, 
 have been set forward, almost at a venture, amidst 
 hostilities the most infuriate and desolating. If these 
 could have terminated in any grand display of moral 
 or intellectual prowess, in any superb, social, or po- 
 litical attainment, the rivers of blood, poured forth 
 on such occasions, might not be held to have been 
 shed altogether in vain. But no such object has been 
 sought for, and of course no such object has been 
 obtained. The possessions of a few great families 
 may have been trimmed, to suit more convenient- 
 ly some of their domestic arrangements ; certain 
 junior and dependent branches may also have been 
 more amply provided for, and a few nitches in the 
 temple of fame filled up by peculiarly fortunate shoots 
 from these branches. But the great mass of human 
 affairs remains much as it was, saving only in those 
 instances, where the hand of destruction has bared 
 the scene, of some one or other of our most precious 
 attainments. Our grand paramount duty, that of 
 proselyting the heathen, continues undischarged ; 
 and the supreme object, towards which all our at- 
 tainments, the most estimable, as well as the most 
 immense, ought to have been applied, so far from 
 being promoted or advanced, is not only unobtain- 
 ed, and even unattempted, but is effectually dispar- 
 aged and set at a distance, by the procedure into 
 which these attainments have led. 
 
 These misdeeds have found, and they will always 
 find, their own punishment, in the consequences 
 which they necessarily produce. Our proud hearts.
 
 975 
 
 however, bear us up under such calamities ; we are 
 incompassed with sparks of our own kindliiio-, which 
 we hail as the radiance of the brightest glory, and 
 disdainfully exhibit our contempt of those who have 
 not the advantage of being involved in this maze. 
 Let us attend to this fact, however, that the para- 
 dise in which we thus bask, is but a fool's paradise ; 
 and that we are even, on our own principles, no 
 gainers by our achievements. Spain, proud and em- 
 becil, as we scornfully term her, carries off without 
 making any acknowledgement for it, the most pre- 
 cious fruits, and the most estimable results of all 
 our achievements. While Britain and France, two 
 or three times every age, hurl the flower of their 
 strength to premature destruction, Spain manfully 
 spreads her whole exuberance over the finest, the 
 richest, the most extensive, and the most valuable 
 regions upon earth. While we are satiating with 
 the keenest rancor our petty jealousies, and prose- 
 cuting with the most determinate fury our pitiful 
 plans of aggrandisement, Spain is peacefully ma- 
 turing influences and energies, means and resources, 
 which, in process of time, must establish under 
 her syster-i, an empire that must most effectually 
 overshade every other. I am aware, that intestine 
 broils are now blighting those fair projects, and 
 that the Spanish system, as n.)w constituted, is not 
 conipcrent to su[)erb designs. But I am aware also, 
 that such circu istances form no objection against 
 the views which have now been taken, which go not 
 to demonstrate the wisdom or n}agnanimity of the 
 Spanish government, but to contrast the advanta-
 
 976 
 
 ges of its system, under its manifold disparage- 
 ments, with those of our own. Takina: the whole 
 circumstances of the case fully along with us, these 
 mortifying conclusions may accordingly be held to 
 be only the more completely established by those oc- 
 currences, that seem at first view, to form exce|)tions 
 to their import : these evince at once their justice 
 and importance, to the Spanish counsels as well as to 
 ours; they demonstrate the necessity of a thorough 
 renovation of tlie Sparish system, and they give fair 
 hopes that this will be done with promptitude and 
 effect. 
 
 Thf. bearing and force of these remarks can only 
 be made to appear in their full strength, when the 
 leading advantages, possessed by Spain as a great 
 colonizmg nation, are compared with those posses- 
 sed by Bjitain, as a great industrious nation. It is 
 not to be disputed, that the British capitalist, as 
 characteristically industrious, ingenious and well 
 informed, as incessantly exercised on subjects sterile 
 in themselves, but by dint of highly concentrated 
 exertions, made both valuable and important to 
 mankind, is a personage every way more respec- 
 table than the Spanish Hidalgo, who, though he 
 has extensive and highly improveable possessions, 
 scarcely bestows sufficient attention to the course 
 of reproduction, which a bountiful climate is inces- 
 santly advancing under his hand, to enable him to 
 supply his own exigences. It can as little be dis- 
 puted, that the results of the exercitations of the 
 one, are deservedly prized on account of their ad-
 
 977 
 
 mirable applicability to our circumstances, while 
 those of the other are for the most part extremely 
 crude. It is nevertheless certain, that the Briton, 
 in spite of all his earnestness to better his condition 
 by such laudable means, and in spite of the utmost 
 endeavours of his government to second his exer- 
 tions, can seldom improve his general circumstan- 
 ces so much as the Spanish Hidalgo could do, pro- 
 vided his government were as liberal in its pv-.licy, 
 and as wise and energetic in its measures, as its 
 concernments require. If the govern ment of Spain 
 were to admit the genius, and foster the risings of 
 improvement of every kind, in a generous orderly 
 manner, a Spanish Hidalgo would find his proper- 
 ty constantly rising in value, as well as increasing 
 in productive power. If it were farther with a 
 strong hand to bear down obvious obstructions to the 
 advancement of the character, and improvement 
 of the condition of its subjects, this personage 
 would come to possess vast advantages and endow- 
 ments, as well as high estimation as a gentleman. 
 On the other hand, the utmost tiiat the British ca- 
 pitalist (though aided to the utmost by his govern- 
 ment) can do, in the way of extending his advan- 
 tages, is to make more room tor the developement 
 of his reproductive processes, and to bring back 
 greater returns for these. These returns may be 
 anew invested in nieans for increasing and concen- 
 trating the powers of industry, and for making their 
 results still more estimable ; i)Ut, like the consum- 
 able objects which they send forth, these returns 
 are all the time liable to perish, or to become un- 
 
 6 H
 
 978 
 
 profitable attainments. These resolutions of value 
 are familiar to all of us ; our population is not unfre- 
 quently disorganized and overwhelmed with dis- 
 tress, our means are at times exposed to contin- 
 gencies in foreign markets, which absolutely anni- 
 hilate their value, and our general system is, in 
 consequence, constantly liable to become complete- 
 ly paralyzed in its highest, as well as its most im- 
 portant functions. 
 
 These may be held to be contingencies, insepa- 
 rable from an overflowing population, and from an 
 exuberance of reproductive energy ; from Britain's 
 having determinately devoted itself to attenua- 
 ting employments, while Spain contentedly adheres 
 to those that are most luxuriant. The Spanish sys- 
 tem, in consequence of its immense and invaluable 
 territorial possessions, constitutes as it were, an en- 
 tire aristocratic order in the system of general im- 
 provement ; she remains invested with domains and 
 possessions the most valuable, in which every im- 
 provement, in every other part of the general system, 
 might be found ultimately more or less drawn up. 
 Whereas, Britain, besides its proper aristrocratic 
 order, compj ises, as the chief part of its essence, an 
 immense ordei of industry, which can have no other 
 returns as its portion, but those fruits that are pre- 
 pared for its service; all which fruits and their value, 
 althoigh for the most part neither small nor unim- 
 portant, from the tenure by which they are held, 
 cannot but be both precarious and insecure. The 
 chief advantage, derived by Britain from this state
 
 979 
 
 of things, is, that she has always at hand a vast po- 
 pulation, disciplined to obedience and the highest 
 exercises, and bound by the strongest liguments to 
 our interests and to our cause, immense means pre- 
 pared for every service, and applicable to every e- 
 mergency, and incalculable resources and irresista- 
 ble energies, that can be borne home upon every 
 great occasion. When we come to cast up the results, 
 to look into the disparagements and defalcations 
 to which our advantages give rise, to tlie radical 
 deficiencies and imperfections of the system out of 
 wliich they proceed, to its corruption and perver- 
 sity, and to the calamity and desolation into which 
 these vitiating tendencies subject her, we must feel 
 our complacency in our own excellency, only so 
 much the more allayed and composed. 
 
 Britain too, however, possesses important and 
 invaluable coh)nial settlements, and enjoys verv pe- 
 culiar advantages from their possession. It is upon 
 these, that her maritime power has always been 
 most securely rested, and from these, that her great 
 manufacturing establishments have derived their 
 chief excitation and support. Before the American 
 irruption, these advantages were of immense avail to 
 us. Our mercantile and naval prowess was thereby 
 promoted; with steadiness and with power, it struck 
 its roots deep in our system ; our internal industry 
 was thereby extended, strengtiiened and invested 
 with additional value and efficacy ; in virtue of its 
 connexion with tlie grand reproductive energies of 
 our colonies, (the fruits and results of which, be- 
 
 6 n 2
 
 980 
 
 came augmented and invested with value and im- 
 portance, proportioned to the advantage and stabili- 
 ty of the connexion then subsisting,) a vast financial 
 system was created and gradually more and more ex- 
 panded, and our resources were replenished, diffused 
 and consolidated, in a way that was altogether new. 
 Britain, at this moment, partakes largely of the ad- 
 vantages then procured, and of others of the same 
 character, emanating from her extensive colonial 
 establishments. Britain, however, neither then, 
 nor at any period of her history, ever devoted her- 
 self with that systematic earnestness to colonial 
 enterprizes, which their importance to her required. 
 The extended regions, thus annexed to her domains, 
 were seldom treated otherwise than as provincial 
 appendages of her empire, deserving only of a very 
 subordinate degree of attention. They had been 
 peopled by outcasts, and others in whose interest 
 the nation at large took very little concern ; and 
 they were continued under a system, which, though 
 it provided, in general, sufficiently for the safety of 
 the state, contributed nothing to assimilate and 
 anialgamate the connexion, that had been institut- 
 ed. On the contrary, the supercilious phlegm and 
 caustic humor of the step- mother was frequently 
 displayed, when a conscientious discharge of duty, 
 and a due regard to real advantage, called for the 
 earnest solicitude, the unremitted tenderness, pa- 
 tience, and good offices ot the affectionate parent, 
 and faithful friend. 
 
 The fact is, the exuberant wealth and resources
 
 981 
 
 of Britain, have for the most part a destination of 
 a very different kind. Colonial, commercial and 
 financial enterprizes suit well enough the habits of 
 the middle and lower orders of her population, and 
 to such interprizes, these orders are for the m-ist 
 part completely devoted. The industry, talents and 
 genius of these orders, accordingly give vigor to 
 such of the reproductive energies ot the system, as 
 their force can be applied to, and they seldom fail 
 to produce proportionate results. In the meantime, 
 however, the upper classes of society, those in 
 whose hands these results are drawn up, who possess 
 power, means, wealth, leisure and opportunity, to 
 converge and exercise these upon proper objects, 
 and to control and direct the great movements of 
 the nation, have business of a very different kind 
 before them. The court and the cabinet, the mitre 
 and the bar, are held by such as alone deserving of 
 their regard: to these pursuits accordingly, the 
 minds of this class are bent, and from them their 
 pleasures and gratifications extracted. Civil and 
 political manoeuvering, intrigue and circumvention, 
 tending ostensibly to prevent contestation, but, in 
 effect, producing it, together with corrupting and 
 blighting international arrangements, arise out of 
 this tortuous order of things. The occupations and 
 exercises thereby produced, are devolved upon the 
 dependent and enterprizing part of this class, whose 
 hopes and fortunes he entirely in the contingencies 
 that may thence arise. These availing themselves 
 of the supineness of their senior brethren, to whom 
 the chace and the race-course seem matters better
 
 982 
 
 worth their personal regard, come to manage the 
 whole. These fail not to conduct the national ener- 
 gies two or three times every age, into infuriate and 
 desolating warfare. In this way, the best means of so- 
 ciety, the flower of our population, and that exube- 
 rance which might have adorned and replenished the 
 earth, come to be consigned to destruction, in the 
 way of making suitable provisions for the inferior or- 
 ders of the dominant class: the whole order of things, 
 wherein the leading interests of society consist, is, 
 thus set up at a venture, in order to afford to these, 
 convenient opportunities for catching hold of those 
 civil immunities and offices, which alone are thought 
 to be deserving of their regard Nay, as these immu- 
 nities and offices, must, from their character, and 
 from the general circumstances of society, be limited 
 in a variety of ways, so, to these evils, a caballing and 
 dissentious spirit of equal malignity, is by the same 
 means added and kept alive, in every department 
 of the state, which not unfrequently infuriates the 
 temper, and debases the procedure of the nation, 
 even more than international contestation. In short, 
 the great courses of improvement are by this means 
 universally cut short, and a multitude of deterio- 
 rating influences constantly kept in full exercise. 
 
 Unhappily the circumstances of Christendom 
 give but too much effect to tht^se malverse propen- 
 sities. It is evidently necessary for the great states 
 of Christendom to preserve a certain balance, and 
 a certain bearing of political power, that will insure 
 to each its independent existence. The way in
 
 983 
 
 which this has generally been attempterl, is to pre- 
 serve as nearly as possible, those limits ot territories, 
 and those demarkations of power, that are held 
 to be already established. This plan, although its 
 basis could be admitted to be equitable, and its design 
 conformable to its object, (which however, is far 
 fi-om being the case,) is liable to many objections 
 from the imbecil and noxious character of many 
 existing establishments, and from the constant ten- 
 dency of these, to resolve themselves into other 
 descriptions of power. This tendency, influenced 
 sometimes by the general progression of improve- 
 ment, and at other times by factitious liguments 
 of connexion, gives rise to many real, but to more 
 imaginary dangers in the general system, which in- 
 duce a multitude of interferences, which again lead 
 into transactions and intrigues, the certain harbin- 
 gers of infuriate contestation. This takes place, even 
 when the object in contest is trifling, problematical, 
 and at a distance. Into tliis field of enterprize, how- 
 ever, our leading characters are drawn, and along 
 with them they carry the flower of our nation, who, 
 from the frequent recurrence of such enterprizes, 
 and from the principles instilled into them by their 
 public education, may be lield to be systematical- 
 ly brought forward, under the influence of this 
 inverted order of things. It is not at all my in- 
 tention to set about decyphering this abstract 
 view of this subject ; it is enough for me briefly 
 to notice prominent iacts and circumstances. Ev- 
 eiy scheme for prest.'rvr.i^ tranquillity in such a 
 system, has heretofore proved nugatory ; and it is
 
 984 
 
 evident, that every idea of universal improvement 
 must be scouted, when we can calmly and delibe- 
 rately consign the junior part of our offspring, and 
 the unformed political entities of our system, to per- 
 petual commotion in seeking self-balancing prin- 
 ciples, amongst states who have no political energy 
 within. High and resplendent deeds have, no 
 doubt, thereby been achieved, but are such deeds 
 to be placed in comparison with those noble and 
 animating exercises, whereby the blessings of Chris- 
 tianity and civilization are to be universally diffused, 
 in which our greatest sacrifices will ultimately be 
 most abundantly compensated, and the superemi- 
 nent excellencies of our attainments, most complete- 
 ly unfolded and displayed ? 
 
 It has frequently been remarked, that Spain has 
 became feeble and inert, and has fallen off" in po- 
 pulation and in national provvess, since she began 
 to empty herself so profusely into her foreign set- 
 tlements, and an argument has thence been drawn 
 against colonial enterprizes, on a great and extend- 
 ed scale. This matter, however, has been much 
 misapprehended. The deportations that were made 
 from Spain into the New World, perhaps never a- 
 mounted to so much as she had formerly spent in 
 wars and other desolating pursuits; and it is cer- 
 tain, that it never could have affected her population 
 otherwise than advantageously, if the tyrannical 
 procedure of a tianatical government had not disor- 
 ganized her whole system. Colonial and commer- 
 cial interprizes necessarily give a powerful stimu-
 
 985 
 
 lus to internal improvement, and seldom fail to fill 
 up, in the most ample manner, every void that they 
 create. This end, however, they reach only in the 
 way of stimulating and supporting processes of in- 
 dustry, and rendering their fruits and results more 
 plentiful and more precious. The impulse to im- 
 provement, provided by the commercial and colo- 
 nial interprizes of Spain, was evidently immense, 
 but its force was then spent in vain ; the Spanish 
 territory having been about this time denuded of a 
 million or two of its most industrious inhabitants, 
 by the banishment of the whole Moorish part of its 
 population. Let it, however, be supposed, that 
 this measure was necessary, and from the circum- 
 stances of the case unavoidable, would not a wise 
 government have set in earnest about re-establish- 
 ing the industrious processes now dismantled, and 
 reorganizing the courses of improvement on which 
 its prosperity depended ? This puerile government, 
 however, not only neglected these paramount du- 
 ties, but by its vexatious and tyrannical impositions 
 and restrictions, either neutralized all the virtues 
 of the superinduced impulse to industry, or trans- 
 ferred their influence to foreign realms. A ghastly 
 superstition took place of systematic improvement, 
 and absorbed the active powers of the most valuable 
 part of the population, consigning them to celibacy 
 and inaction, during the most active period of life. 
 Personal and family pride, grown rank from the 
 abundant nutriment that was on all hands adminis- 
 tered to it, consumed in listless and ininicaning 
 <lisplays, that wealth which might have rendered 
 
 6 I
 
 986 
 
 the proprietors of the rich soil of Spain, the most 
 respectable body of men upon earth. In the mean- 
 time, the multitude and the pomp of holidays, and 
 scenes, the most fantastical, paralyzed the great 
 body of the people, and absolutely unfitted them 
 for that systematic improvement, which was so ne- 
 cessary to render them duly partakers of the bles- 
 sings with which they were surrounded. 
 
 But while we thus reprobate the perversity of the 
 mother country, let us not forget the superior 
 power and excellence of that line of improvement, 
 which the colonies of Spain have described for 
 themselves. In spite of the absorption of their best 
 energies in the unprofitable services above noticed, 
 in spite of incumbent tyranny and fanaticism, and 
 in spite of palpable deficiencies in those fundamen- 
 tal principles of improvement, that were common 
 to Christendom, these colonies advanced in popu- 
 lation, in wealth and political importance, far be- 
 yond any other that had been subjugated to Euro- 
 pean influence. What is the reason of this? It 
 proceeds not from any particular virtue in the pa- 
 rent stem : what is it, therefore, in their internal 
 constitution that has given these colonies this high 
 advantage ? The cause must be sought for, in their 
 circumstances and in their condition. The Hispano- 
 American is at home within his own territories, 
 and is not like the British colonist, a mere transitory 
 incumbent on the ground, who repairs to inhospi- 
 table regions solely to make a fortune, that is to 
 l^e spent within the territories of the mother coun-
 
 987 
 
 try". No ; the Spanish emigrant in deporting him- 
 self, carries all his hopes and desires to his adopted 
 country, and there he accordingly developes his 
 powers and his means with that earnest regard to 
 futurity, that becomes one who considers himself as 
 established in a fixed possession. He forms and he 
 fortifies domestic arrangements ; he attaches him- 
 self to, and incorporates himself with, native insti- 
 tutions ; and he follows out and improves the train 
 of advantages that have been prepared for general 
 good by his predecessors, with all that placid cor- 
 diality, that becomes a person who regards them as 
 his own. Increased population, and augmented 
 energies and resources, flow naturally from the 
 course of life that is thus led. In the meantime, 
 the vast extent of the Spanish domains, their value 
 and their importance, render an enlarged system 
 of policy, sufficient to comprise all its objects and 
 all its interests, and sufficient to correct or mode- 
 rate the many perversities and deficiences that pre- 
 vail in the parent system, indispensibly necessary. 
 In such circumstances, the duty of maintaining in 
 vigor this system is laid in the most imperious man- 
 ner on the general government. These advantages 
 are altogether peculiar to the Spanish and Portu- 
 guese colonies, and as yet, tiicy have been adopted 
 by no other colonizing country ; free intercourse, a 
 fair and full way lor amelioration in general insti- 
 tutions, together with internal tranquillity, are ne- 
 cessary for giving effect to these advantages. What 
 would follow, if this free intercourse, and this ra- 
 dical amelioration were secured to them, it may be 
 6 I 2
 
 988 
 
 difficult to vset clown with precision or with certam- 
 ty. Of one thing, however, we might rest assured, 
 that these superinduced political advantages, to- 
 gether with those that these regions possess from 
 nature, would attract no inconsiderable portion of 
 the wealth and population of Europe, and that these, 
 under such advantages, would regerminate with 
 irresistable efficacy as soon as transplanted, so as 
 in the end, to outrival every other colonial posses- 
 sion in that part of the globe. From their circum- 
 stances, they are now, and would long be deficient 
 in all the liberal, and in many of the most neces- 
 sary branches of industry ; but would not this ren- 
 der the commercial connexion betwixt them and 
 the industrious nations of Christendom, only so 
 much the more irrefragable ? This connexion would 
 accelerate their progression in territorial improve- 
 ment ; and it seems to follow as a natural and neces- 
 sary consequence, that so far from endangering the 
 Spanish domination over them, this whole train of 
 advantages, would, on the whole, (taking it for grant- 
 ed, that government, all the while in a wise man- 
 ner, drew up the courses of improvement that were 
 instituted under its own influence,) only so much 
 the more fortify and consolidate this domination. 
 
 Let us next turn our attention somewhat more 
 closely to the British system of deportation, and 
 examine in a liberal and extended point of view, 
 its consequences and its results. Here such a mul- 
 titude of virtues and high energies, of splendid 
 achievements, and immense and invaluable at-
 
 989 
 
 tainments, burst forward upon our notice, that, 
 notwit standing the palpable inferiority of our sys- 
 tem, in various most important respects, to that of 
 Spain, we must admit that it carries the palm in all 
 that is essentially excellent, and that even amidst 
 its greatest aberrations, it stijl remains deserving 
 of our highest veneration and esteem. Commerce 
 and industry, the characteristic features of the 
 British system, necessarily beget colonization and 
 maritime enterprize ; these again, on the extend- 
 ed scale now subsumed, as necessarily give birth to 
 political and institutional prowess, advantages un- 
 der which the colonial system must proceed with 
 peculiar success, and which have accordingly in 
 our case, not only transferred the invaluable ef- 
 fluxes of our system, to the most distant and appro- 
 priate regions, but have made these regerminate 
 there with unparalleled vigor and efficacy. The 
 same ebulition that made France scatter over the 
 European continent, her myriads of forlorn out- 
 casts, every way forlorn, and every where burden- 
 some, disposed the British system to give birth to 
 the American Commonwealth, and to lay the foun- 
 dation of a vast empire, inferior only to herself in 
 powerful and magnanimous displays of social excel- 
 lence. The same improvement in the arts, that 
 made Italy and Germany a nursery and a recepta- 
 cle of connoisseurs and mountebanks, reared upon 
 the British shores thoroughly organized establish- 
 ments, which have placed under her control the o- 
 verflovving wealth of every clime. British power and 
 wealth, though thus exalted, and thus paramount
 
 990 
 
 and irresistible all over the globe, never became 
 the scourge nor the terror of the nations, as has 
 been done by France. These, acquired by lawful 
 means, and exercised on beneficent principles, be- 
 came the safeguard of the nations, and their secur- 
 est barrier against the inroads of barbarism. Bri- 
 tain is thus not only exhibited as the head of the co- 
 lonial system, but as comprising in her procedure, 
 all that is substantially good and excellent in that 
 system. 
 
 Industry is the parent of improvement of every 
 kind, but Britain is not only possessed of immense 
 resources and faculties for the excitation and sup- 
 port of industry, but these are essentially concate- 
 nated with colonial and naval establishments of the 
 most stupendous description, which give to them 
 virtues the most transcendent. These resources 
 and faculties have, by this means, not only been 
 brought into full exercise, but they have disciplined 
 and improved her whole population in characteristic 
 excellence of every kind, in so much, that every 
 individual, from the king on the throne, to the 
 meanest of his subjects, is necessarily at all times 
 more or less exercised under the influence of the 
 system. Mutual confidence in each others inte- 
 grity, and a respect for existing laws, sufficient to 
 give harmony and efficacy to the whole instituted 
 progression, arise out of these advantages. In short, 
 Britain may be held to be already completely pro- 
 visioned, and thoroughly organized for the most 
 comprehensive colonial enterprises. Already re-
 
 991 
 
 gions, known but by name, have learned to hail and, 
 bless the British nations. To the inmost recesses 
 of Asia, to the wilds of Africa, and to the unex- 
 plored regions of the north and of the south, by 
 means of factories, forts and establishments, both 
 political and commercial, our attainments have 
 been displayed. There our assiduity in transfer- 
 ing the blessings of Christianity and civilized ex- 
 istence, has been exhibited ; thereby, within certain 
 limits, our zeal has been rewarded with success ; 
 and although national rivalry, and the devastations 
 of war have so far marred these invaluable denoue- 
 ments of our system, still enough has been disclosed 
 to evidence the paramount excellence and stability 
 of the principles on which it is founded. 
 
 It must nevertheless be admitted, that all these 
 fair denouements of our system, are liable to be per- 
 verted, and have in fact been greatly perverted, 
 and that these must ever remain imperfect, without 
 that more radical and essential vigor which can 
 arise only from the absolute transplantation of our 
 system. This is not a new, nor, when the real cir- 
 cumstances of the case are tully considered, will it 
 be found to be a problematic doctrine. The pre- 
 ceding ilkistrations prepare us for entering upon the 
 consideration of it witli every advantage, and for 
 taking up the subject under those different aspects, 
 which our circumstances render most interesting 
 to us. 
 
 Befork however, we enter upon this sul)ject, it is
 
 992 
 
 proper to notice, that with us too, amidst the bles- 
 sings which we enjoy, the rankness of abundance has 
 generated corruption, and has given rise to evils of 
 the most pestilential and of the most dangerous de- 
 scription. This is a calamity altogether different 
 from that defalcation in the powers of industry, and 
 in the means for influencing these that have been 
 already considered at such length, but it points to 
 the same remedy ; it calls for high exercises in the 
 course of improvement, and abundance of means 
 for stimulating and advancing such exercises. It 
 bears no resemblance whatever to those contingent 
 and temporary disorders that flow from external 
 calamities, for it is radical, and it affects the most 
 powerful principles of the system. It is perpe- 
 tually advancing and striking deeper, and shooting 
 higher in the system, and it is as powerful in the 
 midst of national calamity, as in the most flourish- 
 ing circumstances. The evil discloses itself in the 
 upper ranks of life, in a factious and caballing spi- 
 rit, which substitutes party interests for rational 
 motives, and which subverts every moral considera- 
 tion that interposes itself before its object. Hence 
 a concretion has been produced in the most essen- 
 tial parts of the system. Men are drawn under 
 influences the most pernicious, and bound up in 
 their service, they are impelled into action, not by 
 emulation in that which is excellent, but by dint 
 of pure coertion. Men, in the most independent 
 and respected stations of society, are thereby made 
 to how before those in the most debased, and their 
 highest exertions in the service of a beneficent sys-
 
 993 
 
 tern, made to conduce to the subversion of its princi- 
 ples.Tliose in inferior circumstances, coalesed under 
 sucli influences, not only give to tiie superinduced 
 operations unbounded effect, but imbil)ing a con- 
 genial spirit, these introduce the prevailing influen- 
 ces into every department of social life. Such things 
 indicate a concretion of the system in its most 
 essential qualities, that calls directly for coertion in 
 its simplest form ; but as they point to a compression 
 of the principles of action as their immediate cause, 
 they discover to us plainly, that an enlargciuent of 
 the sphere of action, is the best means for relieving 
 and expanding the compressed developements of 
 the system. An enlargement adapted to such an 
 object, it is evident, can be fully attained amidst 
 our widely extended, well organized colonial enter- 
 prises. These will at once induce to high exercises 
 under genial influences, and inspire liberal motives 
 for the prosecution of exalted oijects; they will also 
 effectually wean from base habits, and, by means of 
 appropriate discipline, enure to ardent and indefa- 
 tigable pursuits. 
 
 Tuii above position maybe still farther illustrated 
 by casting our eyes downward upon the lower orders 
 of society. What is it that drives individuals in 
 these ranks into such a variety of wayward and 
 vicious courses, that makes them alternately destroy 
 each other in the way of rivalry and contestation, 
 and join together in wild and unprincipled cabals, 
 that are disastrous alike, whether their object be 
 accomplished or be lost? It is a frivolous answer
 
 994 
 
 to say that this arises out of the luxurious tempera- 
 ment of the age, unless you can, at the same time, 
 maintain that the case itself is hopeless. It is equally 
 unsatisfactory to declaim at the prevailing impo- 
 tency of moral perceptions, and the general debase- 
 ment of intellectual exercises. Place within the 
 view, and within the reach of such personages, a 
 sphere of action that will call forth their best powers 
 and faculties ; stimulate them to betake themselves 
 to this sphere by motives suited to their capacity ; 
 let them see that superior attainments are alike 
 characteristic of, and instrumental to, their personal 
 advancement; that along with more valuable results, 
 more animating objects of regard, are to be found 
 in the way of liberal enterprise ; and that present 
 advantage and enjoyment, as well as future happi- 
 ness and security, are attendant on those pursuits 
 wherein the good of all are concerned. Let these 
 things be fully exhibited to the eye of all classes 
 and ranks of society, and be borne effectually on 
 their circumstances, and then say whether our case 
 is thus deplorable and hopeless. 
 
 This subject is pressed on our attention by con- 
 siderations the most irresistible ; to pretend to draw 
 lines for the operation of deleterious principles, in 
 a system so diversified in all its parts, and in every 
 point of character, as ours is, is evidently impossible. 
 There is one view of the subject, however, that 
 calls forth our marked regard — these perverted 
 energies must be restrained by coertion generally 
 in the simplest form. This coertion, let it be no-
 
 995 
 
 ticed, in our circumstances cannot purge the system 
 of crime, though it may restrain its enormity. It 
 cannot irradicatc habitual principles of action, or 
 inveterate propensities to unlawful objects ; it can 
 only curb their excrescences, and in doing this, it 
 may make them send forth shoots more abundant 
 and more noxious, to which our power cannot, with- 
 out much concentration, be borne. Hence concre- 
 tion in the most important parts of the system must 
 arise. In such circumstances, the coercive influ- 
 ences must be constantly augmented, and yet they 
 will constantly become less efficient in regard to 
 their ultimate object. That the natural tendency of 
 such a course of things, is to an absolute concretion 
 of the whole system, and that a complete reliance 
 on coercive influences for its support may thereupon 
 follow, is clear from the history of past ages. There- 
 by, numerous and invaluable institutions and estab- 
 lishments, those political entities, wherein science 
 and moral excellence are endowed with political 
 influence, inspired with social energy, animated by 
 generous collision, and thus rendered instrumental 
 to universal improvement, will be changed in their 
 character, as well as in their circumstances. They 
 will become, as they have in former ages been, tlie 
 dark recesses of superstitious phrcnsy, the abject 
 organs of vindictive oppression. 
 
 The importance of tlie whole subject is farther 
 disclosed, by considering that the resources and 
 energies thus perverted, might be most beneficially 
 and delectably exercised in the glorious oflice of 
 
 6 K 2
 
 996 
 
 renovating the face of this globe, and ameliorating 
 the condition and character of our race. Let us 
 therefore attend somewhat more closely to the value 
 and importance of the advantages thus neglected 
 or sacrificed. Man, abstractly considered, is the 
 most estimable of all the objects by which he is 
 surrounded. No method can be devised more 
 effectual for improving his character, than setting 
 him in good earnest about improving his condition. 
 The consequence of exertion is, however, deter- 
 mined by the character of the system under which 
 it is made. Under our beneficent system, every 
 such exertion tends to elicit advantage general as 
 well as individual. Replete with means, it tends 
 to bring these into the possession of the individual, 
 whose systematic exertions are destinatedto increase 
 their aggregate amount : fenced round by ordina- 
 tions tending to secure to each individual his appro- 
 priate share, the increase of this amount stimulates 
 more generally and more powerfully, those who 
 have access to it, to correspondent and appropriate 
 exertions. In this way, man, impressed by a system 
 replete with means of improvement, is made in- 
 strumental in advancing the general improvement 
 of the species. The perversities of our system are 
 results that naturally flow from compressing such 
 influences, and exercising them incessantly on mean 
 and debasing objects. Give to these influences a 
 sufficient range, place them amidst affairs that cor- 
 respond with their character, and you may render 
 them universally diff'usive of those principles with 
 which they are fraught ; they will take up surround-
 
 997 
 
 ing powers and resouices, and amalgamate these 
 with the general system, and they will make the 
 combined energies thus obtained, conducive alike 
 to its progress, and to its establishment. 
 
 Let us now transfer these views into the subject 
 at present before us; let us suppose that the wealth, 
 industry, and power of Britain, are seriously, 
 strenuously, and systematically, engaged in im- 
 proving and extending her vast colonial possessions, 
 and in rendering them as instrumental in diffusing 
 the blessings with which they may be fraught, as 
 circumstances will admit of. Let us suppose that 
 political and commercial advantage, the sole or 
 principalobjectofour present care, are sunk in the 
 more generous and expanded idea of augmenting 
 the influence and happiness of our whole citizenship, 
 and of rendering these more and more consolidated 
 and substantial. What would follow ? In order to 
 have our answer, let us consider. First, Britain's pre- 
 sent advantages. Second, Those that have been held 
 to be provided for her, by the system now under 
 consideration. And Third, Those ulterior peculiar 
 advantages, which such an earnest regard to these 
 interests as is here supposed, would lead into. 
 
 First. Let us consider her present advantages. 
 Her marine commands the seas, and secures to her- 
 self, and to each of her colonies, direct, secure, and 
 complete intercourse with each other. Perhaps, no 
 empire ever could, from thejuxtaposition of its parts, 
 enjoy this advantage more fully. Her wealth, in-
 
 998 
 
 diistry, and commercial prowess enable her to turn 
 this advantage to the best account. There is no en- 
 terprise from which good can be expected, that is 
 so vast as to be disproportionate to her strength, or 
 to her means ; nor any aggregation of returns, from 
 such enterprises, that may follow, so peculiar, as not 
 to have points of contact, wherein it may resolve 
 itself into an augmentation of her staminal force ; 
 and when thus resolved, may not thereupon find 
 her prepared for higher exercises of duty. To this 
 advantage, her civil, municipal, political, and mili- 
 tary attainments, are prepared to do full justice. 
 Her social organization is admirably adapted to 
 give strength to the general arm, and security to 
 the body that wields this arm ; to digest and resolve 
 every advantage into a reinforcement of her staminal 
 strength, and to make that strength most efficient 
 for the general good. Her population is not only 
 fully drawn up, and habitually exercised in the 
 services that are thus provided, and in the prose- 
 cution of the duties that thence arise, but it is 
 imbued with a spirit, and fraught with dispositions 
 and propensities, that render these services and 
 duties the subject of delectable pursuit, the matter 
 of individual enjoyment, hope, and desire. Hence 
 the multitude and diversity of her institutions, es- 
 tablished in conformity with these results ; and 
 hence the power and efficacy of these institutions. 
 To add no more, the colonial possessions of Britain 
 are situated in every quarter of the globe, and pre- 
 cisely in those circumstances, that constitute them 
 the fittest receptacles for the diversified character
 
 999 
 
 of those transferable energies, which compressed cir- 
 cumstances destinate to colonial enterprises ; and 
 to render these receptacles most valuable in them- 
 selves, and in their connexion with tlie parent 
 stem, and with each other. The rude but necessary- 
 productions of Canada and the Cape ; the more 
 precious and valuable productions of the East Indies 
 and of the West ; our forts, magazines, and fac- 
 tories all over the globe, that introduce us into 
 every habitable country, exhibit a chain of ad- 
 vantages, that is every way correspondent to these 
 great objects, and fitted to give full effect to e very- 
 commercial and colonial enterprise that is wisely 
 and regularly digested ; and, when conducted on 
 liberal principles, to make such enterprises the 
 harbingers of blessings to the British nation, of 
 the most extensive and valuable description. 
 
 Secondly. Let us next consider the peculiar 
 advantages that are held to be provided for extensive 
 colonial enterprises thus concerted, under the pro- 
 posed system, as now sketched out. The most 
 prominent of these is, that universal intercourse 
 wliich is held to be secured to them in common 
 with the parent country. This of itself must give 
 an impulse to the improvement of colonies, at once 
 most powerful and efficient. They will thereby be 
 rendered generally the resort of men of talent, skill, 
 capital, and integrity, and the receptacle of means, 
 every way proportionate to the object in view. The 
 privilege of being able to procure and constitute 
 financial establishments, to be rested upon native or
 
 1000 
 
 other established resources, may be held to be the 
 next advantage in point of prominence. This will 
 give efficacy to the foregoing advantages, in all 
 their various tendencies and bearings ; it will enable 
 those implicated in the improvementof our colonial 
 possessions, to carry forward their projects with 
 the greatest facility, and it will excite them to pro- 
 secute these to the utmost. But perhaps the first 
 advantage in point of importance, stated as resulting 
 from the proposed system, may be held -to be the 
 benefits that must result from the liberal assistance 
 and co-operation of the general government, and 
 of the parent country, thereby improved in their 
 general policy towards them, and thereby prepared 
 for giving this improvement its most advantageous 
 operation. Here, reference is made not merely to 
 the advantageous circumstances in which our re- 
 productive establishments, and political connexions, 
 and the individuals concerned in these, are to be 
 placed, in regard to improvement, whereby the com- 
 mercial movements of the nation are to be so highly 
 benefited; but to the interest which all ranks, classes, 
 and descriptions of persons in the community, and 
 the state itself, are made to hold in regard to such 
 matters. We hold the king on the throne, and 
 the whole patrician and dignified orders, as well as 
 the merest hind, to have an immediate interest in 
 these establishments, on account of their being the 
 ground work, on which the more dependent part of 
 their families and other connexions are to be built 
 up ; and we hold the established order and consti- 
 tution of society, to be such as to render the con-
 
 lOOi 
 
 cernments of these inferior branches of family con- 
 nexions, pledges of co-operation, and bonds and 
 liguments of a common interest, the strongest that 
 can be conceived. We hold also, that the state 
 itself, from the extension of the income and other 
 direct assessments to these colonies, and from the 
 power and strength of the natural and necessary 
 combination to be obtained and secured by this 
 harmonious communication and amalgamation of 
 paramount advantages, must have all its peculiar 
 interests, and views of interest, as completely iden- 
 tified with the welfare of the colony, as with that 
 of the mother country. 
 
 Third. It remains to take under consideration, 
 the ulterior peculiar advantages into which an earn- 
 est regard to colonial interests, would necessarily 
 lead. These are of various kinds, which severally 
 require particular animadversion. 
 
 It was well remarked by an eminent statesman, 
 in discussing the constitution of government given 
 to Canada, that a distinct peerage was necessary 
 for that immense region. I would adopt the same 
 views, and extend them to Hindostan, to the region 
 at the Cape, to Jamaica, and to our great colonial 
 establishments in Dutch Guiana. In stating the 
 thing wanted, under the term peerage, all that is 
 usually appended to its honours and privileges, is 
 evidently included ; particularly an upper legisla- 
 tive house, comprised of individuals, whose exten- 
 sive entailed properties render the great leading 
 
 6 L
 
 1002 
 
 interests of the colonies in which tliey are situated, 
 essentially their own, and whose influence would at 
 all times be sufficient to give to these interests a 
 preponderating influence in the deliberative coun- 
 cils of the nation. Perhaps, it might be necessary to 
 attach these honours only to families whose entail 
 could be extended topossessionsin the mother coun- 
 try, or in colonies that belong to another class, as 
 well as in the colonies wherein these honours are to 
 be politically exercised ; because this would place 
 the parties thus distinguished, more efifectually 
 under the public authority of the state. But whether 
 this were necessary or not, it would most certainly 
 be necessary, that both the upper house and the 
 lower house should send representatives to their 
 correspondent branches in the Imperial Parliament. 
 To argue on this point would be vexatious and 
 tantalizing ; I shall only state, therefore, that by 
 this means, both the government and the people, 
 the mother country and the colonies, may have the 
 most immediate, the most complete, and the most 
 satisfactory method of coming to a full explanation 
 and understanding, respecting every colonial im- 
 provement or abuse, and respecting the best means 
 of promoting the one, and redressing the other. 
 
 Remarking the numerous and invaluable advan- 
 tages that result from consulates, and from commer- 
 cial and other constitutionpl associations, wherein 
 local interests are aggregated in the most respectable 
 manner, and made, as occasion requires it, to bear 
 on appropriate objects the full weight of the inter-
 
 1003 
 
 ests which they represent, I would farther recom- 
 mend their establishment in every department of 
 the empire, and their being so constituted as to be 
 a fair representation of every class of interests, in 
 every particular colony. The consulates, being the 
 appointment of the crown, would of course only be 
 in the great central cities, and regard only general 
 and leading objects ; but the associations might be 
 multiplied and varied in every way that circum- 
 stances seemed to require. The merchants of 
 Calcutta might have their association of merchants 
 trading to Quebec, as well as of those trading to 
 London ; the colonial interest of Jamaica might 
 be aggregated in London as well as in Kingston. 
 All these, however, and every association on similar 
 principles, behoved to be tied down most effectually 
 to the object of their association, and to be limited 
 in their operations to the mere matter of procuring 
 information, and the means necessary to obtain, and 
 diffuse, and present the information so obtained, 
 before the constituted authority. The advantages, 
 at present resulting from these associations and con- 
 sulates, are so great and so numerous, that I cannot 
 see how they can be either disparaged or impugned. 
 They must lead to a variety of improvements that 
 are not now thought of, they must obviate num- 
 berless difficulties that might otherwise be unsur- 
 mountable, they must prevent disorder in the 
 prosecution of colonial business, provide for it 
 facilities, and expedite its progress. 
 
 Thf-re is just another peculiar provision that I 
 
 G L 2
 
 1004 
 
 have to propose, and that is the transplanting, as 
 far as our circumstances will admit of it, our general 
 establishments and institutions into all these co- 
 lonies — liberalized in their plan as well as in their 
 principles, and accommo>!ated, organized, and a- 
 dapted to the case and circumstances of each of 
 these colonies. Universities, and seminaries of 
 education, are as necessary, nay, perhaps, from the 
 superior power and influence of personal attain- 
 ments in remote regions, they maybe more necessary 
 in Bombay, than in Edinburgh. Improved forms of 
 jurisprudential and municipal polity are matters of 
 the last moment, and they are indispensible, if we 
 are in earnest in diffusing the invaluable blessings 
 of our public law. Ecclesiastical power has been 
 so frequently abused, that it is dangerous to give 
 it any other but its native influential authority ; 
 this authority, however, may be of great use in 
 rude countries. The discipline of our reformed 
 churches is such, that they never can with one 
 voice exclude from their communion any other but 
 those who are absolutely unworthy of trust. While 
 I recommend, therefore, no destinction of party, I 
 would recommend, that no man, who did not ac- 
 knowledge the Divine authority of the sacred scrip- 
 tures, and prove his sincerity in that belief, by his 
 connexion with some Christian establishment, 
 should be admitted into any office of power or of 
 trust that is in the disposal of the state. 
 
 I HAVE here stated enough to give a general idea 
 of the line of improvement in which I hold our
 
 1005 
 
 colonial settlements to proceed; to enter farther into 
 detail is altogether unnecessary. Liberality of prin- 
 ciple, though the character of the spirit of these im- 
 provements, does not here want its necessary limita- 
 tions. Yet these limitations are sought in circum- 
 stances that arise out of the course of things, more 
 than in articulate provisions, especially constitute 
 thereto. Such provisions, indeed, can scarcely be 
 held to beat all necessary, tor it is all along under- 
 stood, that power remains in the state in its present 
 form, and that the means and establishments for 
 enforcing it, are in no sense whatever impaired. All 
 that is attempted, is to exhibit to view the obvious 
 and natural consequences of certain special pro- 
 visions tor ameliorating our present attainments, 
 and the positive advantage of paying due homage 
 to superinduced improvement, the source of all our 
 blessings. This object, the sketch now given suf- 
 ficiently expresses, it embraces the leading features 
 of the course of improvement, that is held to have 
 been superinduced ; it implies all that is at present 
 established, procured, and confirmed, in behalf of 
 the state, the nation, or the community ; but while 
 it does this, it respects every principle and object 
 to which our best feelings or perceptions can 
 possibly cling. 
 
 In place of going over any more of the provisions 
 and arrangements that might be held to be made 
 in such circumstances, let us now suppose, that 
 impressed with the importance and necessity of 
 wise and suitable regulations, the state, the com-
 
 1006 
 
 munity, and all who are to be affected by these, 
 will, as a matter of course, not only betake them- 
 selves in earnest to such provisions and arrange- 
 ments as may be requisite, but follow up their 
 import with correspondent energy. We have, 
 therefore, only to consider the general consequences 
 of Britain's betaking itself with full earnestness and 
 solicitude to the improvement of its colonial pos- 
 sessions, and to contemplate the train of blessings 
 that would necessarily flow from her carrying along 
 with her into such enterprises, all her vast, peculiar, 
 and attainable advantages. 
 
 We may begin with inferring, that the relief, thus 
 regularly given to the surcharge of her population, 
 would operate as an effectual remedy alike to that 
 virulent collision, and to that overwhelming com- 
 pression, by which her powerful energies are so 
 often most incessantly and unavailingly exercised. 
 This is a most important consideration, whether 
 the evils thereby produced, or the talents thus sa- 
 crificed, be taken into account. Most of the crimes, 
 and much of the turpitude which appal us, arise from 
 the irregular and desperate measures into which 
 overstretched competition amongst individuals, and 
 unbalanced compression on the part of those, in 
 whose favour the results of these are drawn up, tend 
 to lead. The obvious relief is to offer a new range, 
 into which these may be transplanted, wherein their 
 powers may be exercised on the largest scale, not 
 only without detriment either to themselves or 
 others, but with general advantage. 
 
 I
 
 100^ 
 
 Int particular, the lower classes of society may 
 therein find a place of refuge, whenever it appears 
 that the state of society is such, that their industry 
 will not bear its proper value in the public eye. In 
 a great and improving society, many individuals 
 will always be left behind, or thrown out of that 
 place in the general progression of society, which 
 their merit seems to have marked out for them. 
 Such it is evident are liable either to sink into des- 
 pondency, to resort to desperate courses, or to wear 
 themselves out in the most unequal and injurious 
 competition. The obvious remedy for all this, is a 
 new field of industry, wherein correspondent ex- 
 citements lead to more regular and satisfactory 
 developements. It is true, when society has become 
 vain and corrupted, and when in consequence, the 
 lower orders are contaminated and debased with 
 frivolous views, and perverted inclinations ; when 
 their principles, affections, and habits, arc all alike 
 prone to the dust, and rendered incapable of obey- 
 ing any generous emotions ; such inducements and 
 facihties may seem to be impotent. This considera- 
 tion, however, ought not to appal us, nor ought 
 we too hastily to conclude that our condition is thus 
 desperate. A little relief may produce great eflrects; 
 and who perceives not the virtuous struggles that 
 are made in every quarter for this relief? Nay, even 
 when the moral feelings have in truth become tor- 
 pid, tlie case must not be held to be hopeless. How 
 often has compulsive deportation been followed
 
 1008 
 
 with manifest advantage, to the individual, as well 
 as to the public *. 
 
 * There Is, no doubt, at present a harshness In the movements, 
 and a deficiency in the organization of this part of our system, 
 that render compulsive deportations particularly ofFensive. 
 These, however, suggest their own remedy, which remedy Is 
 obvious to all of us, but we are prevented from resorting to 
 it, from a peculiar aversion to turn ourselves seriously to the busi- 
 ness. Compulsive deportation as now managed, Is expensive and 
 arduous, and its application to any other but extraordinary cases, 
 is thereby rendered altogether Inexpedient. But how comes this 
 to be the case ? Has not the public a full right to destrain from 
 the labours of Individuals the fair and full value of the trouble, 
 if not the real amount of the expence, which their crimes have 
 rendered necessary to be applied to their persons for the general 
 good. Must all our deportations be confined to New Holland ? 
 Might not even these be made to proceed with perfect ease and 
 safety, provided we carefully separated individuals into these dif- 
 ferent classes, which their crimes, circumstances, sexes, ages, and 
 established character Indicated ? Might not their treatment dur- 
 ing the time of the voyage, in certain cases, be regulated by con- 
 siderations, arising from these ? Might not their term of durance, 
 as well as its mode and circumstances, be also In like manner af- 
 fected by these ? Might not individuals be kept plying, even 
 a ship-board, at some employment that would go far to pay 
 expences ? These questions must all be answered in the affirm- 
 ative, and they plainly disclose to us a truth of the highest 
 importance in itself, and as connected with the foregoing 
 system. They point out to us this fact, that deportation Is ne- 
 cessarily neither so arduous nor so expensive as we suppose 
 it to be, and that accordingly it might be extended to a mul- 
 titude of offences, which at present, from the want of a con- 
 genial mode of repression and of punishment, are not duly 
 thought of, or chastised. Offences, which we know, by escaping 
 without due notice being taken of them, make way for crimes of 
 the deepest die.
 
 1009 
 
 The importance of the proposed improvements 
 in the colonial system, to this numerous class of the 
 community, will appear, if we attend to their cha- 
 racter and condition. They are every way different 
 from those hcndes of wanderers, who, in the rude 
 stages of the world, sought only the extiemes if 
 perilous exertion and sloth.tul indulgence; to whom 
 adventure was the stimulant to action the most 
 gratifying, and to whom nothing was more abhor- 
 rent than continuous or systematic industry. With 
 the lower classes of society amongst us, on the other 
 hand, inc-ssant simultaneous labour is so habitual, 
 as to have become necessary alike to tiieir comfort- 
 able enjoyment of \\h t they possess, and to their 
 attainment of the means necessary thereto. In the 
 early part of" life, indeed, and while its entangle- 
 ments and obligations sit but light on the individual, 
 the y<Hithful fancy, in feasting on tlie pleasures of 
 varied existence, induces a restless spirit, tov\hic!i 
 adventure, with its concomitant difficulties and 
 hazards, njayfora tme appear delectable. But how 
 soon is this spirit exhaustid amidst frivolous pur- 
 suits, and puerile exercitations! how qinckly is the 
 fancy satiated with ideal enjoyments, when it must 
 be found th;it these can only be gratified amidst real 
 privations and distress. It is certain, that individu- 
 als of this class may in general be held to be so beset 
 with multiplied incitations to fix themselves early in 
 their own place, and within their proper sphere; to 
 have their best fieeliugs and propensities so wound 
 up within the simple i>ratificat;ons which this spheie 
 comprises j and to bQ no thoroughly impressed^ at 
 
 Q M
 
 1010 
 
 every prospect of change, with the wasteful expence, 
 painful incertitude, and accumulated labour and 
 vexation, and other necessary consequences of such 
 changes, that to them, for the most part, after the 
 first vagaries of fancy have spent themselves, nothing 
 can be more distressing and tantalizing than propo- 
 sitions, that have for their object, a change of coun- 
 try and place of abode. 
 
 In the mean time, the number and circumstances 
 of the industrious, are perpetually tending to out- 
 shoot the means necessary for meeting the demands 
 that they create : for even when the course of things 
 is favourable to peaceful habits, the disproportion 
 of means to demands is only the more augmented. 
 The reason of this is familiar to all of us. In a state 
 of improvement, when any leading branch of in- 
 dustry flourishes, it bears up along with it a variety 
 of other branches, each of which, in spite of their 
 dependence on the parent branch, introduces a 
 peculiar set of wants, correspondent to its particular 
 character and resolutions. In this way, the best 
 means, as well as the most productive powers of 
 the community, come frequently to be absorbed 
 under adventitious influences, and in this factitious 
 state, to. maintain a commanding influence over all 
 the resources and energies of the community. Thus 
 it is, that prosperity becomes the fore-runner of 
 disorder. Hence arise combinations amongst our 
 workmen, or, as they might more properly be term- 
 ed, conspiracies amongst dependents against their 
 upholder, in order to obtain greater and superior im-
 
 1011 
 
 munities than this upholder can consistently grant. 
 No one can for a moment regret the successive enjoy- 
 ments, that may be annexed to the condition of the 
 dependent, in consequence of these combinations, 
 but every one, who has any opportunity of knowing 
 the rank and abominable indulgences, to which, from 
 the prevalence of that very licentious spirit, which 
 gives birth to these combinations, these attainments 
 are applied, must pause, before he allows this con- 
 venient self-complacency to get the better of purer 
 and higher feelings. Did we see the sordid spirit, 
 the multiplied acts of oppression, violence and fraud, 
 committed by these conspirators against their mas- 
 ters, and against each other, as means necessary for 
 carrying forward their designs, the most benevolent 
 mind would shudder at the sight. Yet in the present 
 circumstances of these labourers, such combinations, 
 with all their consequences, not only are, but perhaps 
 must be tolerated; for, while they secure the rights of 
 this class, they develope those principles of indepen- 
 dent and individual improvement, amidst which the 
 generalblessingsofour system are prepared, diffused, 
 resolved into other and greater blessings, and again 
 drawn up into valuable establishments. It is by 
 these means that the results of general industry are 
 made to reach their value, are circulated on mercan- 
 tile principles, and, in the end, made to constitute 
 capital. 
 
 Such struggles, however, must, in the course of 
 time, come at length to a head. Industry is known 
 to be paralized from excess of nutriment, as well 
 
 6 .M 2
 
 1012 
 
 as from its general frame and order bein^ convulsed 
 on account of the multiplied unsubstantiated claims 
 that may be brought forward against its results. It 
 is amidst such excess, and while its flood-gates are 
 overpov eredy that the torrent of depravity,previous- 
 ly prepared, rushes down most forcibly. 'Ihe habits 
 of the industrious have fixed them down, not only 
 to a particular department of industry, but to a 
 particulai line in that department, which can alone 
 give to them their wonted supplies. They have 
 been drilled to regular obedience, but they have also 
 been familiarized v\ith violation of civil order, and 
 inspired with confidence in the daring leaders of con- 
 spiracy, which emboldens them to raise their hands 
 against that very progression ofimprovement,whence 
 their supplies must be drawn ; nay, they scruple 
 not to level with the ground those attainments and 
 institutions, in which the vital energy of their own 
 peculiar craft is concentrated. 1 hey oppose im- 
 provement, simply on this ground, that it abstracts 
 from the amount of their labour. Unmindful of the 
 public ii'jury that is thereby inflicted, they even bury 
 in ruins tixed capital, and menace the individual to 
 whom this capital belongs, because it is from thence, 
 that the obrjoxious improvement proceeds. No one 
 dares defend these brutal and horrible outrages ; 
 but how amidst the surcharges of population, the 
 multiplied and unconquerable claims of this popu- 
 lati(m, and the delault of means and instruments for 
 meeting their continually increasing wants, are we 
 to find a remedy ? British subjects are accustomed 
 to obedience and regularity, but they have none of
 
 1013 
 
 the sullenness and tameness of the Hindoo fatuists, 
 who repair to the high -ways in myriads, and abjectly 
 consign themselves and their families to destruction. 
 
 It is amidst our higlily improved colonial posses* 
 sions ah) e, that a remedy to this dreadful evil is to 
 be found. It is there that the surcharges of our 
 population may be employed with every advantage. 
 The necessity of enuring individuals to labour sys- 
 tematized and productive, is acknowledged. Let us 
 proceed.upon this ground, but let the circumstances 
 of our colonies be prepared tor it ; let their system 
 be so improved, that British, parents may, with a 
 whole heart, consign tliitiier their offspring, not 
 amidst the munnurings of a[)prehension, but amidst 
 the alacrity of confidence. Let tlie discipline to 
 which these young shoots are subjected, the appren- 
 ticeship under which their habits are formed, and 
 the hopes that are placed within their reach, be 
 such, as to make them betake themselves to the 
 employment that may thus be devolved on them, 
 with correspondent sentiments and feelings, and 
 then these surcharges of population will assume a 
 character altogether different. Virulent propensities 
 will thereupon be obviated or assuaged from the 
 timeous and constant relief thus given. An asylum 
 wdl be formed of inconceivable value and impor- 
 tance, amidst friends and connexions, scattered over 
 immense regions. These will not be enemies to, 
 but companions of, our industry. They cannot be 
 held to rival it, for in such varied circumstances, 
 diversified demands will regulate the claims of each,
 
 1014 
 
 and share out to each portion of the empire, its 
 own sphere of industry. We will thus not only 
 save a great part of our race from destruction, 
 moral and natural, but render them valuable and 
 highly efficient members of the body-politic. We 
 will advance the poor man's condition in his own 
 estimation, and in that of all around him ; we will 
 endow him with principles and motives, that will 
 make him worthy of this exaltation ; all our im- 
 provements, the abbreviations of labour, as well as 
 the increased value and amount of its results, will 
 be to him, as well as to his superior, precious. His 
 interest therein, and his participation in the general 
 advancement of society, will be great and incessant ; 
 and like the genial current of vital energy, these 
 will constantly develope the means of their own con- 
 tinuous progression. 
 
 In adverting to the circumstances of the enter- 
 prising class of the community, those, whose genius 
 and spirit, talent and means, carry forward and 
 sustain the general business of the nation, as affected 
 by this chain of improvement in our colonial pos- 
 sessions, a scene, bright and every where attractive, 
 rises upon our view. In the first place, the secure 
 and ample range of the British empire is provided 
 as a basis on which their undertakings may rest 
 themselves, from which they may diverge on all 
 hands, and inhale the blessed influences which the 
 power and splendour of the British name has pro- 
 vided for them all the world over ; from whence 
 again they may securely draw back property, and
 
 resolve its amount in invaluable possessions. In the 
 next place, the congeries of advantages, arising from 
 the native resources, and from the invaluable and 
 diversified industry and attainments of the colonies 
 thus stimulated and supported in the way of uni- 
 versal improvement, and thus converted into so 
 many free ports, having all their reproductive 
 processes fully borne on by the whole impetus of 
 unrestrained external intercourse, and thus pro- 
 fusely supplied, not only with all the means neces- 
 sary for their advancement in this course, but with 
 all the talent, skill, genius, spirit, and energy, which 
 these inestimable attainments may attract, will con- 
 verge, and be borne home upon their different es- 
 tablishments, so as to render the multifarious trans- 
 actions of this class, both lucrative and secure. 
 Lastly, Hence the processes and the subjects of 
 enterprise will become intrinsically valuable in them- 
 selves, and substantially powerful in realising this 
 value. Universally diversified, improved, and accom- 
 modated to the existing circumstances of all who 
 are to be affected by them, and their value — and, 
 harmoniously resolving themselves into objects, 
 establishments, and attainments, more capacious, 
 more excellent, and more valuable — they will con- 
 stantly tend to raise the individuals whose personal 
 concerns have been thus provided for, and whose 
 personal exertions have been thus favoured, into 
 higher spheres of action, exalt and consolidate their 
 interest, and incorporate it with that progression of 
 general improvement and social advancement, bene- 
 ficent, and resplendent as it is, in which they and
 
 1016 
 
 their all are involved, and make them participate 
 largely in its best and purest blessings. 
 
 The truth and force of these statements, have 
 already, perhaps, been sufficiently ilkistrated. There 
 is one class of" obj(xts, liowever, that has not been 
 set forth in its full light, and as it is only by taking 
 up the subject in its most extended, and most com- 
 pletely developed state, that the real character of 
 these advantages can he discerned, it is proper to 
 advert to this view with some precision. Taking it 
 for granted, that the interests of the dominant 
 country, and those of the colonies, have been as 
 completely identified as possible, and that the cir* 
 cunistaiices and establishments, both of the one and 
 of the other, have been so improved, organized, 
 combined, and borne on each other, and on the 
 various objects whtrein ti.e best interests of each 
 are contained, that the whole acquisitions, as well 
 as inheient advantages of each, may be developed 
 in the most powerful and splendid manner, I ap- 
 prehend, tliat the mere article of deportation, will 
 of itself afford a vast and invaluable source of en- 
 terprize. 1 am not to be told that emigrations may 
 be carried to an undue extent, when it is seen, that 
 the natural checks upon these are so powerful, and 
 must of themselves continue to increase in a redu- 
 plicate ratio, to all the incitements by which they 
 may be affected ; nor to be questioned about the 
 fate of the deported, when it is held, that the in- 
 terests of the enterprizing, as well as the care of 
 the state, and the force ot every respected principle.
 
 1017 
 
 have tbeir arms around them. My position is this, 
 thatin the supposed case, such will be the advantages 
 for exercising improved and concentrated industry 
 within all our colonies, such the stimulus and supjiort 
 that will be afforded to it, from varied external and 
 internal excitation, that the enterprising will univer- 
 sally perceive, that in stretching forth their hands 
 to the aid of those of their fellow-citizens, whose 
 circumstances dispose them to give the preference 
 to a colonial residence, they in effect provide means 
 for advancing their own interests ; and that the state 
 must feel its own interest in giving operation to these 
 advantages. It is merely transplanting energies 
 and resources from amidst corrupt and fruitless ex- 
 haustiture, to regions, wheie influences, the most 
 powerful and benign, may develope their inherent 
 excellence, and render them the means of vast im^ 
 provement; and it is doing this in a way that ame- 
 liorates the condition of all, and consolidates the 
 power of the state. 
 
 It is not to be supposed, that in such circum- 
 stances, deportations, accidental or preconcerted, 
 would take place betwixt the mother country and the 
 colonies al(;ne. I can see no reason why they may 
 not include in their range, not only the population 
 of the whole colonies, whose diveisified circun)stan- 
 ces may point to diversified denouements of then- re- 
 spective powers, but also that of foreign states, more 
 or less i.i plicated in our general line oi policy. Will 
 any one say, that the Hindoos, or even the Chinese, 
 might not with advantage, obtain seitleinents within 
 
 6 N
 
 1018 
 
 our Transatlantic possessions, or that the colonial 
 adventurer, whose genius has been matured under 
 every advantage in these last possessions, may not 
 carry along with him into the tameness of Eastern 
 enterprise, energies of the most beneficent operation. 
 Experience shews that we must not expect from 
 the temperament of adults, that which is only to be 
 obtained from the plastic activity of youth ; that we 
 must look forward to a time, when varied existence 
 can be contemplated under those extended views, 
 which knowledge and experience alone can give : 
 but it shews too, that we must, in the meantime, 
 avail oiuselves of every real and contingent advan- 
 tage, that can enable us to urge forward our general 
 p!an ; and, t' at in so doing, the difficulty of the un- 
 dertaking, like the asperity of the weather, will press 
 forward our design only so much the more forcibly, 
 and ultimately render every contravening power 
 and impetus valuable and important instruments in 
 our hands — agents that will encompass designs, that 
 without their aid, might have been altogether im- 
 practicable, but which when accomplished, will 
 make our general power and influence, only so much 
 the more secure and consolidated. 
 
 Thesp: views will be better apprehended, when 
 their relative connexion with the circumstances of 
 the dominant class of society is taken into account. 
 Those, in whose favour the results of industry and 
 general enterprize are drawn up almost without 
 any effort of their own, have an interest in the 
 general i'ate of all our great concernments, and an
 
 1019 
 
 influence over them that is peculiarly their own. 
 This class comprises the junior shoots of royalty and 
 nobility, who have so frequently produced hiij^h 
 effects on the great affairs of civil society. The 
 parent branches of these dependent stems, having 
 all legal authority in a manner vested in themselves, 
 look on the great affairs of state, as things complete- 
 ly under their control, and as implicating at once 
 the proper sphere of action, and range of resour- 
 ces for those of their dependents that may happen 
 to be in want of them ; and they are but too prone 
 to estimate the value of the objects which these 
 comprise, according to the weight which they can 
 be made to bear on their own personal and family ar- 
 rangements. Nevertheless, it is certain, that they 
 and all their concernments are necessarily com- 
 pletely enveloped in the ultimate result, much more 
 than in the immediate effect of every great national 
 measure, and that the aggregate amount of the 
 benefits resulting from these, are dut of all com- 
 parison, greater and more important to them, than 
 their most beneficent direct operation on their im- 
 mediate concerns. The enlargement of our colonial 
 policy, and the advancement of the general interests 
 of the remote provincial departments of the empire 
 to a parity with those of the dominant state, belong 
 to that class of measures, which is of all others the 
 most important to this high order of men. Thereby, 
 a most immense range of affairs is brought under 
 their influence, and their nearest and most essential 
 interests arc extended to objects of a value and 
 importance that transcend all their former attain- 
 
 6 N 2
 
 1020 
 
 ments. These great affairs, which now lie loose to 
 the mere adventurer, and which have of course been 
 digested into an order that eifectually excludes the 
 great influence of systematic exaltation, are, under 
 the improvements proposed, most effectually pre- 
 pared for their service, and endowed with qualities 
 and capacities, that in this service, may be rendered 
 productive of the most transcendant general and 
 particular advantage. In these operations, the 
 patrician carries along with him every other class 
 of the community, from the highest to the lowest. 
 Here they find an ample field for dignified and 
 heroic enterprise, subjects that call forth and exer- 
 cise their best and highest energies and resources, 
 which will not only most abundantly remunerate 
 all their labour and assiduity, every sacrifice, and 
 every [)rivation, that they may induce, but crown 
 them over and above with splendour and renown, 
 the most estimable and glorious that can be at- 
 tained by human beings. 
 
 In order that we may carry along with us some 
 general ideas of the true character and extent of 
 these advantages, it is proper to state at the outset, 
 that under the proposed plan we necessarily hold, 
 that in consequence of the advancement of provin- 
 cial and colonial interests, to a parity with those of 
 the dominant state, and in consequence of the en- 
 largement of that line of policy, under which the 
 leading concerns of the nation are to be conducted, 
 that the whole range of the colonial empire, and 
 the unfathomed extent of colonial resources, must
 
 1021 
 
 be not only thrown open to personal enterprise, and 
 to general improvement, but be permeated by the 
 purest and most genial influences of the incumbent 
 system. We hold, not only, that the parent state, 
 but that the entire range of our widely extended, 
 and highly diversified empire, are fully organized 
 in the service of the most productive industry, com- 
 pletely animated by the genius and spirit of the 
 mighty system, fed with population and means, 
 energies and resources, coincident with their wants 
 and circumstances, all regularly and fully drawn 
 out and exercised in the direct line of social ad- 
 vancement, and urged along this line by excitations, 
 the most appropriate and irresistible : but we hold 
 that this vast order of things extends itself, by dint 
 of commercial interprise, throughout the whole 
 circle of the earth, is upheld in its course by the 
 strength, talent, and policy of the British state and 
 nation, and is every where developing resources, and 
 exercising energies, that tend directly and irrefrag- 
 ably towards higher excitation and advancement. 
 All which advantages, resting upon British territory, 
 and resolving themselves into territorial improve- 
 inent,serve to identify and concatenate the interests 
 anfi advantages of every portion of this territory, 
 both at home and abroad, and thus to exalt and 
 fortify the dignity and prosperity of tiiosc, whose 
 lot it is to represent and stand at the head of these 
 territorial interests. If even under our present re- 
 stricted policy, the narrow precincts of our native 
 realms devclopc wealth sufficient to sustain so 
 many thousands of families of patrician and equcs-
 
 1022 
 
 trian rank, besides myriads of others of a most re- 
 spectable, though of a less dignified order, over and 
 above upholding that vast goodly franie of society, 
 which basks amidst the blessings and effulgence of, 
 highly refined, and civilized existence ; how many 
 millions more must be advanced to eminence from 
 the high cultivation of the most luxurious regions 
 upon earth, stretched alongst every shore, fer- 
 tilized alike by the most powerful energies of 
 nature, and the most strenuous exertions of indus- 
 try : every individual, and every class of individuals, 
 being instigated and animated to the full exercise 
 of their talents, by the full impulse of our mighty 
 system. 
 
 Let us next advert somewhat more particularly 
 to the exercises and circumstances of those, whose 
 circumstances are thus held to be implicated in 
 the improvement of the colonies. And here, as in 
 the case of internal improvement, we must begin 
 with fixing our attention on the external intercourse 
 that is held to be provided for the excitatioi) and 
 support which these require. These colonies, pos- 
 sessing within themselves immense resources, are 
 in the first place, stimulated and supported by 
 direct intercourse with the mother country, and 
 with each other. Establishments and facilities, for 
 abbreviating labour, and augmenting and perfecting 
 its results, are thereupon procured in vast abun- 
 dance ; hence a mass of invaluable productions, 
 adapted to all the demands that can be made to 
 bear upon them, is obtained. Hence too, the claims
 
 1023 
 
 of the landholder, and the mere capitalist, of the 
 state and of the community, as well as those of 
 every dependent order and class of men, are sa- 
 tiated, and provision made in their hands, for 
 higher and greater trains and courses of improve- 
 ment, in the arts and in the modes of society. As 
 these things come into existence under our author- 
 ity, and are exercised under our influence, we may 
 calculate on their proceeding in a secure, if not 
 in a steady progression. In consequence, however, 
 of these advantages, and of the other greater and 
 still higher advantages of our system, the whole 
 productions of our industry must increase beyond 
 our power of consuming them ; for our processes for 
 reproduction constantly tend to become more and 
 more multiplied, extended, improved, and conse- 
 quently to increase the surcharge, so that we are 
 not only called u[)on, but forced to seek outlets to 
 this surcharge, wherever these can be found. 
 
 If nations were actuated by wise and magnani- 
 mous views, they would avail themselves of this 
 tendency, as the surest means of calling forth those 
 internal resources peculiar to themselves, that are 
 best calculated for meeting the demands that would 
 in a regular way be created against them, and thus 
 turn the balance again in their own favours; they 
 would, by inviting such intercourse, and remuner- 
 ating those who maintain it on fair commercial 
 principles, render it necessary for those very par- 
 ties again, to find ways and means for relieving 
 them, on their part also, of those superfluous pro-
 
 1024 
 
 ductions, which the induced intercourse had stimu- 
 lated into existence. The nations of Christendom, 
 however, being generally actuated by very different 
 motives, in their procedure towards us, admit just so 
 much of our co.nmerce, as renders our courses of 
 industry dependent on theirs, and they unhesitat- 
 ingly cut asunder this course of dependence, 
 whenever it suits their views. In the mean time, 
 our progression in this dependent course of indus- 
 try, with its various branches, may have grown up 
 into such power within our system, that not only no 
 small portion of our population, of our resources, 
 (those of all orders of society, and the state itself 
 being included), and of our circulable wealth, 
 (which, from the growth of public confidence, com- 
 bines and concatenates the fate of whole legions of 
 the enterprizing into one), are placed in a great mea- 
 sure at the mercy of nations, the rivals, or the ene- 
 mies of our prosperity ; but a course of dissension, 
 of corruption, and of disorder, is perpetually main- 
 tained within our own system, which constantly 
 mars, and frequently interrupts its best and highest 
 progressions. It is altogether in vain to calculate 
 on remedying the evil, by means of commercial 
 treaties, and international arrangements. Ihese 
 things may serve to moderate the operation, but 
 they do not reach the source, of the evil ; nor can 
 such arrangements ever be made to reach this 
 source, while a tendency to such dependence is in 
 such forward progression. 
 
 That this is an evil that ought to be remedied.
 
 1025 
 
 and that must, under this proposed system, be most 
 effectually remedied, will sufficiently appear, if we 
 attend to the leading design of the proposed im- 
 provements, and indeed of all improvements what- 
 ever, that are of the same radical character. No 
 one courts labour and privation for their own sake, 
 and every one seeks to abbreviate them, and to 
 render their continuance when necessary, not only 
 productive of real and essential advantage, but as 
 far as possible pleasant and salutary. The difficulty, 
 referred to, arises from the necessity under which 
 individuals are laid, of following out instituted and 
 established forms ofproductivelabour and enterprise, 
 which may have tendencies and consequences of 
 the foregoing deleterious and unpropitious kind; 
 and it accordingly becomes the business of those 
 having influence over this course of things, to sur- 
 mount this difficulty, by giving fresher and higher 
 impulses to the system, such as is here proposed. 
 How is this to be done ? The power of our nation, 
 and of its whole provinces, including the capital 
 vested in them, the forms of industry and enterprise, 
 the general organization of society, and the objects 
 to which the general policy of our state and nation 
 are destinated, seem, in spite of ourselves, to be 
 destinated to services, which, in the first instance, 
 maintain us in our present resplendent condition ; 
 but in the next, these very advantages give to for- 
 eign nations, that very command over if, which im- 
 presses this dependent character on our system. Our 
 commodities must be suited to the n arket of rivals, 
 otherwise they and the establishments which pro-
 
 1026 
 
 duce them, will become useless. The commodities 
 produced, accordingly, and the establishments in 
 which the powers of these producers are concen- 
 trated, together with all the wealth upheld by them, 
 must continue to be under the immediate influence 
 of our consumers, who thus give us the law, and, 
 from the immense importance of the intercourse 
 thus upheld by them, drill us into conformity with 
 their circumstances, and learn us to accommodate 
 our institutions, customs, and habits, to their will. 
 Where then is relief to be attained, without consign- 
 ing to destruction all that is thus upheld ? I answer, 
 first, that it is admitted, that immense labour is 
 bestowed, where comparatively small returns are 
 obtained, and that real bondage is inflicted, where 
 high command might be exercised ; now the plan 
 that has been developed, does not so far exclude 
 those high agents from our system, as to deprive us 
 of the whole advantage of intercourse with them. 
 We retain these in their proper subordinate place in 
 our system, and we raise them and all our concerns 
 to higher ground. Secondly, this plan disposes us to 
 resolve our own acquirements within our own sys- 
 tem, as far as our own system can receive them, 
 and to adduce and support those higher and greater 
 acquirements, which must be the consequences of 
 these resolutions ; while it carefully husbands, and 
 readily admits any facilities or advantages, that 
 can naturally and necessarily arise out of external 
 relations, into our hands. 
 
 Thus it is that we advance our colonial possessions. 
 
 I
 
 1021 
 
 in the view of prosecuting this great paramount 
 object, the delivery of our system from degrading 
 and infatuated dependence on rival or hostile na- 
 tions, while we retain all those ulterior advantages 
 which our improved system has in reserve. In the 
 mean time, no doubt, part of the external intercourse 
 formerly maintained may drop out of our hands, but 
 the part that remains will be much more valuable, 
 productive, and efficient to the object that ought 
 always to be held in view. We will not throw loose, 
 and at a venture, the grand ulterior resolutions of 
 our system, amidst unauthorized enterprise, and 
 injurious consignations, where they are consecu- 
 tively engulphed in bad debts, and loss on exchange, 
 and in investments in productions that cannot 
 reach or return their full value, without travers- 
 ing courses of industry and enterprise of a do- 
 mestic and more valuable character. The unnatural 
 attitude, into which our courses of reproduction arc 
 thrown, in consequence of their dependence on 
 rival nations, will most assuredly be remedied, 
 whenever this dependence is counteracted by the 
 powerful diversion that must be procured, and the 
 improved intercourse that must be maintained, un- 
 der proposed circumstances ; which diversion, we 
 conclude, must affect the whole frame of society, 
 and raise it above the power, and beyond the sphere 
 of that low species of intercourse, which is its great- 
 est banc. 
 
 The vast importance of colonial improvements 
 
 6 o 2
 
 1028 
 
 which tend to place under the same genial influen- 
 ces, an immense expanse of productive energies 
 and resources, and to make these harmoniously 
 resolve their respective powers into the service of 
 each other, thence becomes evident. It is amongst 
 thes^, that the enterprising, under proposed circum- 
 stances, must be chiefly conversant; and, while they 
 thereby augment, at every return, the real wealth 
 and power of the community, and place this wealth 
 under the full authority of the state, and under the 
 entire influence of our civil laws and institutions ; 
 they, of course, ensure, not only to the individuals 
 concerned, but to the state and to the nation at 
 large, the full value of every consecutive resolution. 
 
 The interest, which the dependant branches of 
 the dominant class have in such resolutions, has 
 again and again been referred to, but under the 
 views now taken, they assume an aspect that is every 
 way important. These parties, although respectable 
 and dignified from their line of connexions, are, 
 happily tor us, to be regarded only as commoners ; 
 as such, they occasionally mix with the upper 
 classes of the enterprising, to which they frequently 
 add both power and eclat. It being, however, 
 chiefly in the various departments of the state, in 
 the civil administration, in the church, and in the 
 army, that they are disposed of, their personal or 
 nominal prowess is accordingly therein chiefly dis- 
 closed. Ihey are necessarily, however, in these 
 departments, so confronted with various kinds of
 
 1029 
 
 inerit, which the exigencies of our public business 
 elicit from individuals appertaining to other classes, 
 that few of them can bear up under the contest. 
 Hence it is, that so many of them soon fall into 
 insignificance, and exhaust their patrimonial means 
 and resources in paltry intrigues, or dastardly pur- 
 suits, sometimes in the flice of day, but more fre- 
 quently in obscure corners of our own, or of foreign 
 capitals, regardless alike of the results of their crim- 
 inal conduct, and of the burdens thereby entailed on 
 the better part of the nation. As it is in vain to dis- 
 guise the truth, and altogether absurd to expatiate 
 or amplify upon it, where the matter of fact is so 
 prominent, and is so fully established, I shall only no- 
 tice farther, that it were well for mankind, and it were 
 well for these parties themselves, if their affairs could 
 be thus limited and restricted ; for it but too fre- 
 quently happens, that they either directly, or through 
 the medium of their friends, maintain a very impro- 
 per, and a very injurious sway in the great affairs of 
 the state and of the nation; a sway which would keep 
 perpetually in motion, plans of daring turmoil or 
 deep corruption, were not their influence systema- 
 tically checked and counteracted by the talents and 
 means of other classes. To provide suitable employ- 
 ment for them, all that is really excellent and valuable 
 in civil society, being therefore thus incessantly ex- 
 posed to sanguinary and desperate national warfare, 
 the importance of the diversion to be obtained for the 
 profitable occupation of their talents, under the pro- 
 posed colonial improvements, is sufficiently evident. 
 There arc two lines of colonial enterprise, wherein
 
 1030 
 
 the interests of this class, and of the general class 
 of the enterprising, so happily and so completely 
 coincide, and wherein the importance of this diver- 
 sion is so pointedly disclosed, that it is proper in 
 this place, to take a distinct and separate view of 
 each. 
 
 First, raising our eyes above those cheerless 
 scenes, which intercourse, dependant on rival na- 
 tions, presents on every side, and carrying along 
 with us all the advantages that have been held to 
 be secured for our service, let us, in the first place, 
 fix our attention on the widely extended regions of 
 the African continent, where a vast and stable em- 
 pire, with numerous forts and settlements, set down 
 on various parts of its coast, have prepared for us 
 fields of enterprise of immense extent. Here the 
 dusky African solicits a participation in the fruits 
 of that industry, which those of a kindred com- 
 plexion spurn from their shores. These disconsolate 
 and unsophisticated beings think only of our in- 
 tercourse, as it affects their real and immediate hap- 
 piness; they never dream of paralyzing our in- 
 valuable industry, or insulting our condescending 
 urbanity, of undermining our establishments, or 
 overwhelming our social and civil attainments, by 
 acts of hostility, overt or clandestine, against our 
 general commerce. Sensible of the blessings which 
 our abundance can bestow, they eagerly strive to 
 find out some common line of connexion, some 
 commercial or social ligument, by which to append 
 their concerns upon ours, in order that they may
 
 1031 
 
 tliereby participate in this abundance. These vast 
 tribes of human beings are possessed of a country, 
 •whence returns to us the most valuable may be drawn. 
 Though their vague exercitations in the arts be rude, 
 and marked with the slothfulness and barbarity of 
 their minds, they themselves are possessed of fa- 
 culties that may be subjected to systematic im- 
 provement, and of powers which may be concen- 
 trated and borne home on appropriate objects. 
 They are not insensible of the obligations that are 
 laid upon them, of exercising their powers in such 
 a way, as will bring forward results sufficiently valu- 
 able and important, to interest us in their labours ; 
 they refuse not our instructions, they reject not 
 our assistance, they are neither averse from sys- 
 tematic operations, nor unfit for ardent and perse- 
 vering exertions. Their condition is, no doubt, 
 at present, altogether most unfavourable to radical 
 improvement, but are they not, thereby, only the 
 more disposed to adumbrate their system of indus- 
 try under ours ? Their dispositions are, perhaps, on 
 the whole, both stubborn and ferocious, but are 
 they not thereby only the better prepared for un- 
 dergoing these rude and boisterous toils, to which, 
 under our influence they must be subjected? The 
 intercourse, that can be maintained in such circum* 
 stances, has this palpable advantage, that great and 
 valuable natural resources, and powerful and ca- 
 pacious human energies, are placed under the 
 influence of a system which tends constantly to 
 develope their inherent excellencies and advantages. 
 The establishments that may thereupon be upreared
 
 1032 
 
 and supported, both in the dominant and in the 
 dependant nation, can scarce, under any contin- 
 gency that may occur, come into the rivahy of 
 competition : on the contrary, they must tend to 
 stimulate and support, to extend and confirm, the 
 power and the value of each other respectively. 
 The surplus value of production above consumpt 
 will, in the speediest and most complete manner 
 possible, be resolved into absolute value ; and in this 
 resolved state, it may, with equal facihty, be invest- 
 ed anew in other reproductive processes of equal or 
 superior value. The investments, thus made, are 
 sucli as cannot be depretiated j on the contrary, 
 they are such as must necessarily augment their 
 value and importance at each resolution. 
 
 In the case before us, the great difficulty and 
 danger lies in the slothful and savage propensities, 
 the brutal and disgusting practices of these nations. 
 They are in a manner destitute of the first principles 
 .of morality and civil polity. In encountering these, 
 however, we possess the advantage of carrying along 
 with us a train of operations, every way calculated 
 to renovate and exalt the human character. The 
 African society has done much for the civilization 
 of that quarter of the globe; much has been effected 
 by Bible and Missionary societies, and much more 
 may warrantably be expected from the beneficent 
 exertions of these, and other philanthropic institu- 
 tions. It is evident, however, that neither the 
 means at the disposal of these associations, nor the 
 instruments in their hands for giving effect to these
 
 1033 
 
 means, neither tlieir organization, their authority, 
 nor their capacity, arc equal to the great work of 
 civilizing Africa. As subsidiary means, they may, 
 under higher auspices, be made eminently useful ; 
 but while \vc have so much to bestow, and such 
 higli functions to discharge, it constitutes a species 
 of very gross impiety, to argue as if we had done 
 all that is encumbent on us to do; to vaunt of our 
 having complied with the authoritative injunctions 
 of the divine word, and, with perfect self-com- 
 })lacency to sit down as contented with what we have 
 done. Means and energies, much more extended 
 and powerful in their operation, much more com- 
 pletely and absolutely destinated to the whole great 
 lines of duty which lead to this object, are necessa- 
 ry. It is not enough to leave powerful impressions 
 on rude minds, while the individuals impressed, 
 from the circumstances of their condition, are in- 
 cessantly beset with allurements to return to the 
 very depths of that barbarity from which they may 
 have emerged. Rude and savage nations have a 
 strong attachment to their very worst customs 
 and habits, and it is not until it has. been made 
 demonstratively evident to tliem, that these are at 
 once disgusting and pernicious, that they will con- 
 sent to abandon them. They have no taste for, but 
 on the contrary, a decided aversion from, the pe- 
 culiar manners of a civilized state. In order to re- 
 novate their character, it is not enough to reason 
 the matter over with them, it is necessary to catch 
 hold of their most active powers, to bend these 
 gently under the influence of our own system, to 
 
 G !•
 
 1034 
 
 make tbem participate at once in its duties, privi- 
 leges, and advantages, and to improve with bold- 
 ness, pertinacity, and dexterity, every impression in 
 our favour that can be made. By these means, and 
 by these only, will we completely bind their strong- 
 est, most decided, and most valuable powers^ in 
 the cause and service of our system. 
 
 We are possessed of two most powerful advan- 
 tages, for working upon the mind and temperament 
 of Africans. First, these t>ot only admit their sense 
 of the value of our intercourse, but the necessity 
 that is laid on them to produce, by dint of corres- 
 pondent labour and solicitude, the equivalent that 
 we demand. The motives to personal exertion being 
 thus provided, and the power and virtue of the best 
 stimulus thereto, equitable commercial intercourse, 
 being thus received, we may look forward to a 
 gradual establishment of systematized and enlight- 
 ened industry. Man had this very lot assigned to 
 him, and correspondent hopes and fears set before 
 him, immediately after his deviation from the paths 
 of sanctity and rectitude ; and, thereby, not only 
 were his violent and perverted dispositions effectu- 
 ally curbed and moderated, but a direct and power- 
 ful impulse to urge him forward in the line of duty, 
 was provided. The same plan, and the same results, 
 have been disclosed in every age, and in every state 
 and condition of the human race. Even in Africa, the 
 human character improves, almost simultaneous- 
 ly, with the advancement of the power and genius 
 of our system ; and ameliorations in the arts of life.
 
 103^ 
 
 o'o liand in hand with the introduction of reg^nlar 
 stimulants to assiduous industry. Indeed, when 
 we look coolly at the character and condition ofman, 
 we see, that labour and solicitude, as connected with 
 fair and appropriate returns, each acting and bearing 
 reciprocally and fully on each other, constitute 
 the only fair ground, on which nations, so rude in 
 their perceptions of what is right, can be effectually 
 weaned from their barbarous customs. Impressions, 
 purely intellectual and moral, may be powerful for 
 a time ; but, without systematic exercise under cor- 
 responding influence, they can never be permanent 
 or deep rooted ; they will neither descend to pos- 
 terity, nor spread themselves effectually around. 
 In order to accomplish these objects, it is indispen- 
 sably necessary to render the individual proof against 
 every allurement to return to former habits, and to 
 enure him to a way and manner of living suited to 
 his renovated character. We possess all the means 
 and advantages necessary for effecting this with 
 comparative facility, and it only remains to apply 
 these means appropriately. 
 
 This ought not to be considered, as either an ardu- 
 ous or a problematical undertaking, when we advert 
 to the other advantage that is prepared to our 
 hands for such services. The Africans have in our na- 
 tion, a degree of confidence that must render every 
 exertion that we make for their behoof, peculiarly 
 forcible and impressive. Since the abolition of the 
 slave trade, the sentiments of respectful esteem, and 
 of congenial good will, manifested by the African 
 
 6 p 2
 
 1036 
 
 tribes towards Britons, do equal honour to both 
 parties. Thereby, they are now cfFcctually pre- 
 disposed to obey the impulse which our superior 
 policy and prowess may give to their personal and 
 national occupations. An uninterrupted systematic 
 perseverance in such conduct, on our part, is how- 
 ever necessar}^ to give to these confidential regards, 
 their full power in our general intercourse. Our 
 motives to this perseverance are every way most 
 powerful. We may look forward to the result with 
 much satisfaction, for we may calculate on the 
 general diffusion of those principles that eman- 
 ate from our great national institutions, and on the 
 establishment of corresponding institutions, in these 
 regions, as the direct consequence of our conduct; 
 and in the end, we may expect to find the ground- 
 work of civil and social renovation, completely con- 
 solidated under our own influence. The intercourse, 
 that must thereupon follow^ must be of the highest 
 importance to each party, for science will then open 
 the way to improvements of every kind : laws, and 
 other civil and social acquirements, will come to be 
 dispensed under our influence : leaders and rulers, 
 guides and instructors, will turn out to be the most 
 valuable behests that we can bestow. Thereupon, a 
 field of enterprise, peculiarly valuable and impor- 
 tant to the deported, will be opened, wherein, from 
 the force of surrounding improvement, all that is 
 truly valuable will be produced. On the other hand, 
 able and faithful indigenous labourers, adroit and 
 respected indigenous handicraftsmen and assistants, 
 will, as fair and suitable returns for such services.
 
 1037 
 
 advance to our aid, and enable us to carry forward 
 a system of industry, befitting alike the circumstan- 
 ces of the surrounding nations and our own, and 
 coincident with the whole commercial intercourse 
 which may be attached to the general industry of 
 this colonial empire. 
 
 Looking steadily to these, as the grand and ulti- 
 mate results of our labours, and bearing faithfully 
 along with us the whole of our attainments that 
 can be made to bear on such objects, our first busi- 
 ness must be, not to make these colonists regorge 
 the scanty resources, which at present float amongst 
 their hands, but to stimulate them, by dint of well- 
 timed supplies, to exercise their energies and fa- 
 culties on native means and resources, in such a 
 manner, as to make them improve their own powers, 
 (while they enhance the value and amount of their 
 native productions, and other general results of 
 their industry,) so as to form in themselves habits, 
 favourable to peaceful and ameliorating occupa- 
 tions. For this purpose, we must ourselves study 
 their real interests with much earnestness, and ac- 
 commodate our supplies to their real wants, as well 
 as to those that are apparent. Cattle and poultry, 
 seeds and saplings, tools, and other implements of 
 art, being of incomparably greater value than any 
 given quantities of commodities that are merely 
 consumable, these ought to be most liberally forced 
 into their Jiands. These must not only indicate the 
 value bestowed, advance the process of reproduc- 
 tion, and give a character of permanence to every
 
 1038 
 
 possession, but form habits of industry, regularity, 
 and sobriety, and give a consistency and solidity 
 to the form of society itself: whereas, subjects of 
 value, which pass off with the using, may unnerve the 
 character, and induce civil disorder and turmoil. 
 That supply, however, which of all others, must 
 be the most important to them, is precisely that 
 which our circumstances induce us most freely to be- 
 stow — colonies more or less numerous of those who 
 are capable of taking the lead in such ameliorating 
 processes. These colonies would, no doubt, require 
 to be settled in circumstances, wherein personal re- 
 spectability, and inherent authority, as well as indi- 
 vidual safet}^, would be secured to them. Organized 
 as we hold our great adumbrating system to be, we 
 could find no difficulty whatever, in securing to 
 the deported such immunities. In our procedure, 
 in regard to this object, the conduct of various 
 missions, and even that of the Jesuits amongst the 
 Paraguay Indians, may serve us alike as a beacon 
 and as a guide. As we carry along with us the 
 bold, the heroic, the enterprising of all ranks, as 
 well as the man of skill, genius, influence and 
 wealth, we may calculate on a fair, if not a signally 
 successful issue, to this leading part of our scheme. 
 As the whole is the result of the regular movements 
 of an immense, completely organized, powerful, 
 and impetuous system, we can scarcely fear either 
 defalcation of means, or inadequacy of force, in 
 any of our operations : and as we must, and cer- 
 tainly will, not only influence the progress of ad- 
 venture, so as to make its various resolutions har-
 
 1039 
 
 monize with our general interests, but take most 
 effectual care, that the fruits and advantages of 
 these shall be regularly applied to their proper ob- 
 jects, we may, in like manner, calculate on a gene- 
 ral, regular, and systematic increase of our national 
 means, throughout the whole course of our pro- 
 cedure. On the whole, as substantial amelioration, 
 throughout the whole range of social and civil exist- 
 ence, and radical improvement, in the character and 
 condition of individuals, would be constantly and 
 powerfully advancing under our direct influence, 
 we would come to possess the high satisfaction of 
 having thus happily exercised the invaluable talents 
 intrusted to us by the Most High, and obtain an 
 earnest of blessings, still greater and more import- 
 ant. 
 
 Secondly, proceeding onward from that great 
 line of enterprise, which the British empire on the 
 coast of Africa holds up to view, let us next direct 
 our attention to that which the vast empire, and 
 other colonial and provincial possessions, which the 
 British power commands to the eastward of the Cape 
 of Good Hope, have provided for our service. Here 
 the prospect bursts upon us with an effulgence and 
 magnificence, that is every way transcendent and 
 overpowering ; in place of being met by the stub- 
 bornness and ferocity of barbarous hordes, besotted 
 with ignorance and brutal propensities, we find 
 nations aggregated under our banners, basking 
 under the benign influence of our great civil insti- 
 tutions, and already prepared for sending forth those
 
 1040 
 
 productions of well directed, highly improved in- 
 dustry, which are most precious and important. 
 In place of having our way to grope amidst sandy 
 desarts, and howling forests, we find cities and 
 mansions, fertile plains, and delicious vistas, to- 
 gether with all the comforts and accommodations 
 of civilized society, thrown open for our reception. 
 Here too, many of our most valuable establishments 
 and attainments have alread)^ struck their roots 
 into the ground, and are unfolding with more or 
 less efficacy, some of their peculiar fruits and re- 
 sults, while the condition of each community, and 
 the general organization of society around, are 
 fully prepared for receiving the whole range of 
 blessings which it is in our power to bestow. In 
 the mean time, the immensity of the expanse that 
 is placed under our sway, and the multitudinous 
 population that are subjected to our command, 
 give to all these inestimable advantages in the 
 process of civilization, an importance and an in- 
 terest, that is at once most stupendous and most 
 transporting. In these highly interesting regions, 
 we possess an empire equal in population and ex- 
 tent to the best part of Europe, and incomparably 
 more replete with resources for general enterprise, 
 than any other region of equal extent in the world. 
 The indigenous tribes in these regions, thus sub- 
 jected to the British crown, are accustomed to our 
 intercourse, and familiarized with the peculiarities of 
 our national character, and they revere our estab- 
 lished authority, as the source and centre of all 
 their civil and social privileges. While the territory
 
 1041 
 
 abounds with every thing that our circumstances 
 seem to require, its inhabitants unconsciously stand 
 in need of a multitude of commodities, which our 
 industry can most advantageously supply. Thus, 
 while these countries, and those that possess them, 
 are, from their circumstances, completely prepared 
 for forming links of connexion, the most intimate, 
 and most beneficial ; the whole immediate, as well 
 as the whole remote, advantages that must result 
 from the full developementof their whole resources 
 and attainments, are, by being placed most effec- 
 tually under our control, and rendered obedient to 
 our direct impulse, already most effectually se- 
 cured for our own special service, and drawn up 
 under our influence ; having their results prepared 
 for being distributed anew, according as our cir- 
 cumstances may require. 
 
 Although the power and policy of the East India 
 Company seem still to be opposed as most formida- 
 ble bulwarks against the progression of improve- 
 ment in these regions, yet I cannot, for a moment, 
 suppose, that eitiier this power, or this policy, can 
 be pertinaciously exercised in the face of general 
 advantage, so positive and so decided. And though 
 the degraded character and temperament of the na- 
 tive tribes accord but ill with that elevation of cha- 
 racter and sentiment, which is the ground work of 
 the proposed system, I can as little suppose, tliat 
 these will be absolutely impervious to its spirit and 
 its influence. It belongs to the Christian system o 
 fill the mind at once with just impressions ui its own 
 
 6 Q
 
 1042 
 
 native incapacity for high exercises, and of the real 
 strength and virtue that are thereby communicated, 
 and that are inhaled, while urged towards its grand 
 object by correspondent views and apprehensions, 
 those particular dispositions and propensities, which 
 it cherishes, are called forth into exercise. We have 
 been accustomed to regard our Hindoo subjects, 
 merely as ministers to our ambition, combined un- 
 der our governance for the express purpose of con- 
 tributing to our personal and national aggrandize- 
 ment. At length, however, the horrors of that con- 
 crete system, under which their energies have been 
 drawn up, have been disclosed, and the blessings of 
 those mild and genial influences, that impress our 
 own population to high, independent, social exer- 
 cises, have been illustrated amongst them. Let us, 
 therefore, substitute, as the leading spring of our 
 governance, the principle of generous emulation, for 
 that of simple coertion. In place of abject prostra- 
 tion to the domination of ignorance and fatuity, let 
 science and self-possession, a consciousness of worth, 
 and an ardour after high objects, be made to animate 
 their minds, and to invigorate their active powers. 
 In short, let us place them directly and completely 
 under the full influence of our incumbent system, 
 cherish them in following out its objects, and make 
 them full partakers of its ultimate, as well as of its 
 immediate advantages. In doing this, it cannot be 
 necessary for us to divest ourselves, either of power 
 or of dignity ; for the principle, under which all our 
 sacrifices and exertions are to be made, obliges us 
 to retain our established authority, and to exercise
 
 1043 
 
 with vigour and with assiduity, every advantage 
 that we possess. All that is implied in this direct 
 application of the virtues and energies of our sys- 
 tem, is, that we treat as rational and intelligent 
 beings, those whose title to this appellation we dare 
 not dispute ; that we exercise our power, and unfold 
 our advantages over them, in that way, which we 
 know, that those who are conscious of their ac- 
 countability to Heaven, for the use that they make 
 of these high behests, are bound to do ; and that we 
 seek, as our supreme object, the diffusion of those 
 principles, and the establishment of those influen- 
 ces, from whence the superiority of our inherent 
 prowess is seen to proceed. Being fully aware, that in 
 diffusing these principles, we confirm only the more 
 completely our own peculiar advantages, and that in 
 establishing these influences, we substantiate and 
 consolidate our real power, let these with all such 
 concomitant advantages and immunities, as may be- 
 fit the case, be frankly and completely bestowed ; 
 and thereby, we will render all that we can call pro- 
 perly our own, more estimable in itself, and more 
 exalted in its nature and effects. 
 
 It does not seem to be at all necessary to go 
 into those complicated views and statements, which 
 a detailed outline of our procedure in this most im- 
 portant business would require *. We must calcu- 
 
 * At the time when the question respecting the continuance 
 of the East India Company's monopoly was undergoing parlia- 
 mentary discussion, certain views of our national duty, and of 
 correspondent advantage, occurred to me, which were published 
 
 6 Q 2
 
 1044 
 
 late on the direct operation of our general system, 
 and on the virtue and efficacy, with which this sys- 
 tem can, in the regular developement of its inherent 
 qualities, call forih and exercise all that is truly 
 valuable and excellent in human nature and civi- 
 lized society. Our great object must be, while we 
 give to its natural and proper movements their full 
 force, and bear them out of difficulties, which pe- 
 culiar occurrences, or unprecedented difficulties 
 may produce, to restrain violent and oppressive 
 tendencies, to disconcert factious and insidious de- 
 signs, and to dispel corrupting practices, and de- 
 basing propensities. The methods for doing this 
 must vary with their object, but there is one great 
 countervailing advantage, which must enter into all 
 our plans, because it is of such paramount power 
 and excellence in this business, that we can, on no 
 account or occasion whatever, dispense with its 
 service. Deleterious practices uniformly court the 
 shade ; they cannot bear the light, for the light dis- 
 pels their power. Let us, therefore, give to all our 
 conduct, and to every part of our procedure, the 
 advantage oi publicity and full disclosure. Our de- 
 sign itself requires no concealment, and the prose- 
 in a small pamphlet, entitled " Hints," &c. Although it was 
 only meant to take up the real circumstances and interests of 
 the parties then at issue with each other, as these then obviously 
 bore on this question, yet as the whole cumulated views and in- 
 formation, which several years attention to this subject had 
 furnished me with, were condensed under these hints, I must 
 here refer directly to that pamphlet for all those more particu- 
 lar details regarding this subject, that it may be necessary to 
 offer in this place.
 
 1045 
 
 cution of it in the face of day, is its highest advan- 
 tage ; thereby, confidence in the dominant party, 
 and in all by whom they may be surrounded, will 
 be produced and maintained : thereby, errors and 
 perversities will be discovered and rectified : there- 
 by, the high road to improvement, in every de- 
 partment of our operations, will be most completely 
 disclosed; and many foul and false steps therein be 
 avoided. Thereby, too, the progress of individuals 
 pursuing this path, will be quickened and confirmed: 
 and thereby, amendments and ameliorations, in all 
 that is deficient and imperfect, may, with perfect 
 ease and celerity, be procured and set in advance; 
 and plans and views continually more and more 
 correct, adequate, and pertinent to their object, as 
 well as more and more extended, enlightened, and 
 comprehensive in their design, be placed within 
 our power *. 
 
 * Taking a full view of the character and operation of our 
 whole system, it appears to me, that the liberty of the press is 
 the strongest bulwark of established power, as well as the surest 
 and best defence of the rights of all classes in the community. It is 
 for the advantage of all, that the king governs, and that the laws 
 are administered ; and are we not all sensible of the importance 
 of this advantage — that no one dare, in the face of day, make a 
 single inroad on authority, so constituted, with impunity? The 
 king, in the regular discharge of his high functions, must derive 
 much strength and confidence from considering the partiality 
 with which those of his public actions are viewed, which mani- 
 festly coincide with his public duty. A sense of this will there- 
 upon animate him, to shake himself loose from the bondage of 
 intriguers and corruptors, and enable him to overwhelm his 
 concealed, as well as his open adversaries, by a mere exhibition 
 of his supreme prowess. In such circumstances, the machina-
 
 1046 
 
 But while I am thus disposed to consign all the 
 minor arrangements of our great design, to the 
 ordinary movements of the general system, assisted 
 and reinforced by those multifarious energies and 
 resources, that may arise up as occasion for them 
 occurs, and to rely on the advantages and projects 
 which future emergencies may, through the pro- 
 gress of improvement bring forward into notice, I 
 cannot thus pass over certain preliminary matters, 
 which the means held to be aheady provided ne- 
 cessarily suggest to our attention. The dominant 
 class, and that of the enterprising commercialist, 
 are held to be both alike comprehended in our 
 scheme, and each to have a vast mass of population 
 and of means in reserve for our disposal. The sys- 
 tem itself is held to be prepared for our immediate 
 service, and to be ready to obey any impulse that 
 may be given to it. What is now to be done ? 
 Where are we to begin our improvements, our 
 operations, our designs? The statements which 
 an answer to these queries would suggest, will ap- 
 pear in their full and native force, if we pursue in 
 its proper order, the views and the plans, which 
 
 tions of the turbulent will be effectually crushed in the bud. Or 
 if it be possible, that for a moment, dissension and dissatis- 
 faction should distract the established order of his government, 
 the exhibition of these, which publication will afford, will only the 
 more fully illustrate the advantages of his reign, confirm and 
 consolidate his essential authority, and conduce, in the end, 
 to harmonize so much the more completely the great movements 
 of the state machine, to cover his enemies with more deep con- 
 fusion, and to absorb under influences peculiarly his own, those 
 energies that were opposed to his peace.
 
 1047 
 
 the developements of the great system heretofore 
 illustrated, throw open to our view. 
 
 Taking it for granted, therefore, that the state, 
 and the whole dominant classes of the nation, are 
 alike sensible of the duty and of the advantage that 
 must result from extending and improving our co- 
 lonial system to the utmost ; and that they are heartily 
 disposed to go hand in hand with the enterprising and 
 industrious, in transplanting our bountiful system 
 into every region that has fallen under our sway, 
 I can have no hesitation in subsuming it, as a point 
 thereby gained, that the dignified, yet condescending 
 and compassionate intercourse, by which the fatu- 
 ous pride, and stubborn ignorance of barbarous and 
 debased tribes, is to be overcome, will of itself 
 become a distinct object of generous and enlight- 
 ened legislation. Our American settlements have 
 already partaken somewhat of this advantage, and 
 the constant stream of blessings and advantages 
 that have flowed to all parties from it, is too obvious 
 and important, not to have fixed in all our minds 
 its supreme utility. Let us suppose, that this ad- 
 vantage is extended at once, in its principle, and in 
 its application ; and that our empires in Asia and 
 Africa, as well as that in America, have been in- 
 volved fully under parliamentary influence, so as to 
 have ready access to all those regular and systematic 
 legislative provisions, which their recognizal, as a 
 separate, yet peculiar department of our civil ad- 
 ministration may point out. As I can neither con- 
 sider the state, nor the dominant classes, to be remiss
 
 1048 
 
 in availing tliemselves of these advantages, and of 
 every consecutive advantage that must flow from 
 these advantages, wliile such blessings are seen to be 
 couched under them, nor to be unprepared for mak- 
 ing those sacrifices and provisions, that such circum- 
 stances evidently call for, I will proceed farther, to 
 suppose, that the whole dependent members of these 
 classes, are not only earnestly disposed, but com- 
 pletely trained and equipped for betaking themselves 
 to the high sphere of action thus prepared. 
 
 With such advantages, we will assuredly avoid the 
 difficulties experienced in the early parts of our co- 
 lonial history, when in the most improvident man- 
 ner, vast and invaluable grants of land were made 
 away with to particular families, without any specific 
 view to determinate advantage. In order, however, 
 to render the recurrence of such embarrassments 
 altogether impossible, I would have it provided, 
 that, of land no grant should be made, but under 
 the express condition of nullity, in case the party 
 himself does not forthwith occupy it personally, 
 and in this capacity, execute certain stipulated im- 
 provements, tending to raise its real value ; and 
 that no subsequent conveyance of the whole, or of 
 any part of the same grant should be valid, unless it 
 contained certain specific conditions, enforcing the 
 prosecution of the same general plan of improve-^ 
 ment, correspondent to the character and condition 
 of the property about to be transferred. As cases 
 of this kind would fall directly and completely un- 
 der the cognizance and authority of a native jury,
 
 1049 
 
 matter of course, meet with that candid and indul- 
 gent construction, which their general import re- 
 quired. But although at the first outset in these 
 colonial enterprises, such burdens and sucli penal- 
 ties may be indispensably necessary to secure the 
 progress of improvement, yet, through time, both 
 the conditions above mentioned, and the burdens 
 and penalties respecting them, may be expected to 
 go into disuse, and to be superseded by the same 
 ordinary stimulants to improvement, which, in our 
 own native territory, render such provisions alto- 
 gether unnecessary and inexpedient. It is proper, 
 and it is needful, to guard effectually against prodi- 
 gality the most pernicious ; but as soon as the main 
 weight of the burden itself, the appropriation of 
 the land under actual occupation, and the estab- 
 lishment of a regular system of improvement, com- 
 mensurate with the general advantages of the set- 
 tlement, shall have been effectuated to a definite but 
 competent extent, it is perfectly evident, that the 
 circumstances of each property ought to be held to 
 be of themselves, to the proprietor abroad, as they 
 are to the proprietor at home, a sufficiently powerful 
 and effectual stimulant to urge on the process of 
 improvement, as tar as his powers and tiacihties will 
 permit him so to do. 
 
 In order to give that full and permanent efficacy 
 to the regulations above stated, throughout the 
 whole range of the colonnial department, which is 
 necessary to attain the great object for which these 
 are to be established, and in order to place the 
 
 6 R
 
 1050 
 
 rights of individuals on the most secure and respec- 
 table footing, I would propose farther, that a grand 
 general register for recording all grants and trans- 
 ferences of territorial subjects should be established 
 within the central cities of each colony. For the 
 purpose of insuring regularity and respectability 
 to such records, and at the same time to give to the 
 public at large the amplest developement possible 
 of every territorial right and possession, together 
 with all its burdens, immunities and privileges, I 
 would proceed farther to provide, not only that ev- 
 ery grant and transference of territorial right should 
 contain an order or precept for engrossment on 
 the public records, without which clause, no grant 
 or transference should be construed to have been 
 completed, and without which it should be un- 
 lawful to enter the deed itself on the public re- 
 cords ; but, that priority of delivery at the regis- 
 ter, as certified by the proper officers, should carry 
 the property in all questions of competition, where 
 the rights of different parties were equally well 
 founded ; and that it should do this, even although 
 the date of such deed should happen to be ulterior 
 to the others. As such rights cannot be too pub- 
 lic, I see no good reason why the printing of the 
 original deed, under the authority of the register 
 office, should not be permitted ; each page being 
 duly docqueted by the proper officers, and the ori- 
 ginal deed being always most carefully preserved. 
 In cases where the lands transferred were extensive, 
 or the rights and immunities attached to them, im- 
 portant or peculiar, this measure could not but be
 
 1051 
 
 both useful and salutary. In no conceivable case 
 could it be in the least prejudicial, cither to the 
 lawful proprietors, or to the public at large. It is 
 evident, that this would not only prevent vexatious 
 disputes and distressing entanglements, but give a 
 character of respectability to transactions respect- 
 ing territorial rights, and produce a degree of se- 
 curity in the enjoyment of them, that would at 
 once procure general confidence for the individuals 
 holding such subjects, and illustrate and confirm 
 the real and intrinsic value of the subjects them- 
 selves. Let it be noticed, that the whole expence 
 of these establishments could not be great, and that 
 it would be entirely borne by those who derived 
 the immediate benefit of them ; that thereby the 
 best rule, for distributing public burdens, and for 
 surmounting or removing real obstructions to public 
 improvement, would be obtained ; and, that there- 
 by also, the feelings and interests of parties mainly 
 interested in every great measure of general con- 
 cern and importance would be regularly borne on 
 by the course of things then going on. In short, 
 not only all purchasers, but all civil administrators 
 might, as occasion required it, have regular access 
 to means for cxpiscating the real state and condi- 
 tion of every peice of heritable property in each 
 colony. The advantages connected with, and re- 
 sulting from these public records, have been so fully 
 illustrated in every country where they have been 
 adopted, and arc so manifest on the present occasion, 
 that it is unnecessary to say more than that, in the 
 case before us, these must alike give security to the 
 
 6 R 2
 
 1052 
 
 land proprietors, and permanence to the instituted 
 progress of improvement, and that, with this ad- 
 vantage, all the other advantages of our system 
 must be combined. 
 
 It is perfectly evident that those advantages, and 
 every other public advantage that can be procured 
 on general principles, can only be held to be valua- 
 ble, in so far as they are accompanied by, and ccm- 
 iiected with, the means and instruments that may 
 be necessary to exercise them with full effect. 
 That plentiful supplies of these means and instru- 
 ments are to be obtained from the mere operations 
 and developements of the general system, and that 
 in the course of these operations and develope- 
 ments^ such supplies will naturally and necessarily 
 be thrown into their proper place, has already been 
 sufficiently illustrated. Certain of these means, 
 however, are so very important in themselves, as to 
 call for additional light, to point out those principles 
 and rules by which the requisite supply is to be ob- 
 tained. One of these is the procurement of labour- 
 ers and handicraftsmen, upon whom the more bur- 
 densome and operose offices of the system are to be 
 devolved. From the character and circumstances 
 of the system, these can be no other than freemen, 
 developing their powers and faculties in the way of 
 general and of personal improvement, advancing 
 their owm individual condition, as well as that of 
 all around them, by every consecutive develope- 
 ment of their personal prowess. They must more- 
 over be impelled into action by principles, corres-
 
 1053 
 
 pondent to the established principles of the system. 
 Emulation and collision must be the great leading 
 motives to high exertion ; although, it is evident that 
 amidst such rude and boisterous, severe and strenu- 
 ous services as those, in which these must for the 
 most part be engaged, coertion the most simple, and 
 concretion the most powerful, must be frequently 
 resorted to. How is freedom in such circumstan- 
 ces to be secured and enjoyed ? How are individual 
 talents and advantages to be developed, exercised 
 and rewarded ? 1 hese questions involve consider- 
 ations the most important, but they present no dif- 
 ficulty that does not admit of a complete and satis- 
 factory solution. 
 
 In India, the mass of indigenous labourers and 
 handicraftsmen is in numerical amount, and also 
 in absolute competency and physical habits, equal 
 to our wishes in every respect. Their dexterity, 
 assiduity and complacency, in executing any trust 
 that may reposed in them, are equally unquestiona- 
 ble. But they are debased and fanatic in their 
 dispositions, and in many respects altogether unfit 
 to be partakers of the advantages, and co-operators 
 in the services, of a system, whereof individual and 
 general improvement, personal and social advance- 
 ments, are the leading objects. The evil we per- 
 ceive distinctly is a moral one, but it admits of that 
 cure which is effectual in every other case of de- 
 pravity. We must excite them to the discharge of 
 their respective duties, by motives alike correspon- 
 dent to their character and the end in view ; we
 
 1054 
 
 must make them feel the advantages of that superi- 
 ority which we wish them to earn ; and we must 
 put them in possession of all those facilities, advan- 
 tages and attainments, which it is in our power to 
 afford to them ; and in truth and sincerity, do all 
 that we can to accelerate their progress. If we do 
 this with firmness and pertinacity, and with due 
 discrimination of times and circumstances, we can 
 calculate, I think, with much assurance on attaining 
 our object. For this end, also, in intermixing our 
 own population with theirs, we must send to them 
 not only men of superior skill and attainments 
 capable to take the lead in every department of each 
 respective art ; and persons whose business it is to 
 inculcate sublime and heavenly doctrines, and to 
 illustrate the powers of these doctrines, in their 
 own character and deportment, and whose intellec- 
 tual prowess and philanthropic dispositions will 
 dispose, and enable them to enter with paternal 
 solicitude into the cares, toils and difficulties of 
 those whom they seek to improve : but individuals 
 and families whose pursuits, interests and concern- 
 ments lead them to pry into, and improve the whole 
 circumstances of this country ; active citizens who 
 will give to real amelioration a steady and a power- 
 ful impulse; and who, in consequence of their being 
 invested with legal authority and respectability, 
 will effectually counteract every opposing impulse. 
 Besides giving them these, we must give them all 
 our institutions and establishments, and every oth- 
 er advantage which we possess for bringing for- 
 ward and exhibiting our own natural talents, en-
 
 1055 
 
 dowments and advantages, and encourage them by 
 every method in our power to exercise themselves 
 strenuously under their influence. 
 
 The peculiar advantage of such procedure will 
 appear, when we direct our attention to the affairs 
 of Africa. There indigenous laborers and handi- 
 craftsmen are not to be looked for in such abun- 
 dance, nor in circumstances so prepared for our 
 purpose as in Asia. Individuals, however, fitted 
 form any services, may even there be found, perhaps 
 too in sufficient numbers for our immediate occa- 
 sions, if we attend with sufficient earnestness to the 
 means that are necessary for absorbing them under 
 our system. The Africans are noted, as we well 
 know, for muscular strength and plasticity of nerve, 
 but they are noted also for being not only obtuse 
 in their perceptions, but callous in their sensa- 
 tions. Be this as it may, it is certain that we, as a 
 nation, have found them to be to us on the whole 
 faithful, affectionate and trust-worthy, grateful for 
 kindness done to them, and reverential to those 
 whose characters and circumstances entitle them 
 to peculiar respect. We have used their services 
 to a vast extent, and for a long series of ages, and 
 we cannot, we dare not, impeach them, as a race of 
 men, for either crimes or misdemeanours, that can 
 render them unworthy of our best offices. An 
 exhibition of our advantages will not allure them 
 from their peculiar liabits, unless we can at the 
 same time make them feel the real value, and par- 
 ticipate in the real importance of the blessings
 
 1056 
 
 that we have in store for them. For these reasons, 
 and for those formerly stated, I would set it down 
 as an axiom, that the Africans are to be gained 
 chiefly by commercial intercourse, and that by 
 means of such intercourse, improvement can only 
 be communicated to them by slow degrees. No 
 doubt, industry, excited and improved, extended 
 and advanced, will gradually initiate them into our 
 privileges. Of those whose circumstances dispose 
 them to forsake their stated abodes, multitudes will 
 thereby be attracted into our service. But it will 
 for a long time be both necessary and beneficial to A- 
 frica, that our intercourse with them be for the most 
 part maintained by our own means, and through 
 the medium of individuals under the full control 
 of the state; for renovatists and commercialists, 
 who might devote themselves to such services, and 
 who would visit them in their recesses, and display 
 in the public sight, the advantages and the blessings 
 of superior improvement, would thereby only learn 
 to accommodate themselves, and teach us at home 
 to conform our services and enterprises to the real 
 circumstances of the Africans. And, although, for 
 some time, it might be requisite for our British co- 
 lonists themselves, to bear the whole weight of the 
 hardships and difficulties which the most severe 
 and uncommon of these enterprises might producej 
 yet, by and by, the Hindoos, and even the native A- 
 fricans, might be fully prepared for being associated 
 in the most important parts of these adventures ; 
 the honors and advantages, as well as in the bur- 
 dens and hazards of the business being at the same
 
 1057 
 
 time frankly accorded to them. Thereby, the pro- 
 gress of improvement would be accelerated, at the 
 same time, that its movements would become easier 
 and more pleasant. Thereby, too, the Hindoos 
 and the Africans, like the British subjects in every 
 quarter of the globe, would come to amalgamate 
 with each other in their feelings, habits and dispo- 
 sitions, and thus be prepared for various services 
 altogether foreign from their former habits, as 
 well as distant from their first abodes. The nerves 
 of British industry and enterprise would, by these 
 means, be more and more reinforced on every hand, 
 and their results be rendered in all respects more 
 valuable and more extensive. 
 
 It is here understood, that personal merit, and 
 not personal extraction, is to decide the claims of 
 the industrious, on principles analagous to what 
 takes place within our native territory. It must, 
 however, here as at home be understood in like 
 manner, that the virtues and qualities, necessarily 
 resulting from parentage and early education, are 
 not to be disparaged on trifling grounds. We hold 
 that the Hindoo, who has enjoyed the advantages of 
 education under a certain system of industry, and 
 who, relieved from the load of fanaticism and op- 
 pression, under which he had previously labored, 
 and emulous to share in the advantages of adven- 
 ture under our auspices, has betaken himself with his 
 mere personal attainments, to the African shores, 
 is capacitated to hohl a station in the general sys- 
 tem of enterprise and industry that is there set down, 
 
 G s
 
 1058 
 
 superior to that of an indigenous inhabitant ; but 
 we must not overlook the irresistible though hum- 
 ble claims on mere humanity and justice, which each 
 African can maintain in respect to many essen- 
 tial points, upon his native shores. Similar obser- 
 vations may be extended to our countrymen, whose 
 circumstances have made them deport themselves 
 to those regions. We can never forget their affini- 
 ty to us, even when their capabilities, in a moral 
 and professional point of view, are in the lowest 
 state. This leads me to advert more particularly 
 to the circumstances of colonists from the British 
 Islands, whose department is more properly that of 
 labor and industry than that of enterprise. These 
 colonists naturally divide themselves into two classes, 
 those whose deportation is free, and those whose 
 deportation is compulsory ; but both these possess 
 claims of a very peculiar kind, such as cannot pos- 
 sibly be under-rated or confounded with those of the 
 rude natives, who are to be absorbed under our 
 system. Every individual in both of these classes 
 has rights, of which neither Hindoo nor African can 
 have any distinct perception, until the knowledge 
 of them shall have been communicated to them 
 under our influence. -Each too, has an unquestion- 
 able title to be established in the full possession 
 and enjoyment of all and of each of those rights. 
 There is, however, a diversity in this respect, that 
 demands very pointed animadversion. 
 
 Those laborers, whose deportation is more or 
 less compulsory, and who of course must remain.
 
 1059 
 
 for a longer or shorter period, under restraints 
 that are incompatible with that full participation 
 in the whole privileges and advantages of a free 
 colonist, which has been heretofore supposed, can 
 only belong to one of two classes, corresponding 
 to the two extreme evils, to which, from their cir- 
 cumstances, the industrious are constantly exposed ; 
 for it is not to be supposed that colonies, in such 
 circumstances as those abovementioned, can, in any 
 point of view be held to be fit receptacles for cri- 
 minals, condemned to transportation for flagitious 
 offences. First, we have to guard against the in- 
 solence and insubordination that may result from 
 pride and corruption in the industrious. And, 
 though no one calls in question their full claim to 
 the whole value of their industry, or even the right 
 of any particular class, to make in a body a common 
 cause to attain this object, every one must see 
 the necessity of pulling down those conspiracies, 
 which raise their arms against the public peace, 
 and wantonly maim the progress of real improve- 
 ment, merely, because thereby the value of their 
 proper field of industry may be diminished. As it 
 is evident that no remedy is more proper for this ' 
 malady than forcible deportation ; the energies that 
 are superflous and outrageous being transported to 
 regions where they can be exercised with public as 
 well as with private advantage ; perhaps tlic mere 
 removal ofthedehnquent to oneor other ot'these set- 
 tlements, (to be determined by himself,) and placing 
 him under restraint until, he shall have by his in- 
 dustry discharged the expences which his deportation 
 
 6 s 2
 
 1060 
 
 has occasioned, may, in all ordinary cases, answer 
 the whole end that is held to be in view. After 
 this debt has been fairly and fully discharged, the 
 restraint that previously existed would necessarily 
 terminate, and tlie individual deported become, as 
 a matter of course, a free British colonist, having 
 a complete right to all the privileges and advanta- 
 ges connected with that character. 
 
 Secondly, we have to make provision for the in- 
 firm and the helpless, and such others as cannot 
 earn the means of their sustenance. The claims 
 of these, for those means at the hand of the public, 
 in all cases where such means cannot otherwise be 
 obtained, are rested on grounds that cannot be in- 
 validated, either by their extent or by their urgency. 
 The industrious have to earn supplies not only for 
 their own personal wants, but for those of their fa- 
 miles at rates of wages, that, by dint of competition, 
 are reduced so low, as to disqualify them for making 
 adequate provision for the extraordinary contingen- 
 cies to which they are unavoidably exposed. When 
 the charges inseparable from bringing up and edu- 
 cating a family according to the principles of our sys- 
 tem, are to be superadded to these, they must make 
 a very great proportion of the poor more or less 
 dependent on the contributions of the public. But, 
 ■while public impost is thus obviously unavoidable, 
 compensation at least adequate to its extent is de- 
 rived from it. In consequence of this state of de- 
 pendence on the good will and good opinion of 
 their superior?, a check is obtained and a control
 
 1061 
 
 exercised over the manners of the whole class of the 
 industrious, that must operate irresistibly in pre- 
 serving good order, and even good morals amongst 
 the people at large. So long as this check and this 
 control can be wielded with a due regard to the 
 character and circumstances of those who apply for 
 public aid, decency and propriety of deportment 
 will continue to be characteristic features of our 
 population, and our most valuable and important 
 interests will remain in a state of comparatively 
 complete security. But, while we thus provide for 
 the distressed and the forlorn, we must guard a- 
 gainst the pretensions of the indolent and the vex- 
 atious. There is one way, and but one, of effectu- 
 ally precluding these pretensions, and that is to put 
 an end to public mendicity, and to cause every one 
 who appears in this character to be subjected to the 
 discipline which his case requires. If he is infirm, 
 but not altogether disabled from working, let him be 
 furnished with his necessary supplies for that modi- 
 cum of labor that he can set forth ; and if he is so 
 reduced as to be unable to do any thing, let him, at a 
 corresponding receptacle, receive gratuituosly those 
 attentions which his case requires. If, however, 
 he is found to be able to earn his subsistence, and to 
 undergo those fatigues which deportation to our fo- 
 reign settlements induce, then and in every such case, 
 let the person wlio presumes to tax the charity of 
 his neighbours, be transported thither, and kept 
 under restraint, until his labor shall have discharg- 
 ed the expences of his transportation. These pro- 
 visions may not only repress mendicity, but pro-
 
 1062 
 
 duce most effectual relief to the public, both from 
 the evil itself, and from all the mischiefs that are 
 inseparable from it. They will gradually bring 
 down, the poor's rates, nay, perhaps, discharge 
 them at length altogether. At the same time, e- 
 mulation will be excited, even amongst the lowest 
 classes of society ; and the colonies abroad will 
 nurture and bring forward, as efficient and invalua- 
 ble members of the community, individuals who 
 would otherwise have been its greatest pests. 
 
 Let us next consider the general advantages, that 
 are to be derived from following out these provi- 
 sions on a great scale, according to a liberal but 
 determinate plan. In the first place, let it be no- 
 ticed, that those, thus taken away from their former 
 haunts of wickedness, placed amidst indigenous 
 and other laborers, who must mark their fallen con- 
 dition, and the occasion of it, and instigated to 
 amendment of life, by the assured prospect of great 
 and determinate advantage fully in view, will be 
 by these means, virtually subjected to that form of 
 discipline which can most effectually produce im- 
 provement. In the next place, as these individu- 
 als use the same language, are familiarized with 
 the same general habits and principles, and follow 
 out the same general views, expectations and de- 
 signs with the dominant party, the way to advance- 
 ment and to high usefulness in the general system, 
 being fully open before them, they may, according as 
 they happen to possess the advantages of education 
 under influences which have extended or improved
 
 1063 
 
 their attainments, warrantably indulge the pros- 
 pect of becoming ere long important constituent 
 members of the community. Native repulsion from 
 the coarse manners of a barbarous state, and para- 
 mount predeliction to the attainments of civilized 
 society, must operate powerfully in predetermining 
 them to favor the system that is going on. The in- 
 nate contrariety and opposition of manners and sen- 
 timents betwixt them and the indigenous tribes, giv- 
 ing at the same time an edge to their sense of personal 
 character, these deported persons will come to earn 
 the confidence of their superiors, which they stand 
 so fairly in the way of obtaining, as well as the 
 means of subsistence. The individuals, who may 
 have acquired the right of using the services of the 
 deported parties, though actuated by the merest 
 sense of interest, will come to employ them precise- 
 ly in that way that is most conducive to their person- 
 al advancement and general improvement; and the 
 deported themselves, sensible of the privileges which 
 they enjoy, as well as of those which they have in 
 prospect, while they, with a determined esprit die 
 corps, maintain all the peculiar rights and interests 
 of their class against every other, discerning the 
 real character and evil of insubordination, debase- 
 ment of pursuit,and instability of conduct, and, hav- 
 ing in their view, the attainment of free citizenship, 
 and all the ad van tastes in which they will thereby soon 
 so necessarily participate, will come to be in truth 
 and in effect, guardians of the rights, and protec- 
 tors of the privileges of their workfeliows, at the 
 same time, that they are models of industry, perse-
 
 1064 
 
 verance and ingenuity in their own personal char- 
 acter. 
 
 We are next led to consider the case of those 
 who are deported in free, but in dependent, circum- 
 stances. These are under engagements respecting 
 their personal services, which, like every other free 
 and voluntary obligation, must be discharged, de- 
 nuded indeed of every thing that is either oppres- 
 sive or usurious, but fairly construed according to 
 its full legal import. This, however, is all that can 
 anywise affect their personal circumstances, for they 
 must enter at once into the complete enjoyment 
 and possession of the whole privileges and advanta- 
 ges of the colonial scheme. This class is by far the 
 most important portion of our colonial population, 
 for it comprises, not only the instruments by which 
 the process of civilization within these settlements 
 is to be conducted, but that real and constituent 
 staminal power, by means of which alone this pro- 
 cess is to be impelled in its regular course. This 
 class will comprehend not only free laborers, han- 
 dicraftmen, artists and others from every rank and 
 order of society at home, who may find it necessary 
 to adventure themselves under the protection of 
 others, amidst this round of enterprise, but indi- 
 viduals of vast erudition, personal talents and family 
 prowess, whose circumstances render dependence 
 for a time at least necessary. This class, however, 
 must be made to comprehend also those, who, from 
 the inferior classes noticed above, shall have attain- 
 ed to the full enjoyment of their civil rights 5 if;
 
 1065 
 
 must shed its influences over the pallid Hindoo, 
 and the dusky African, together with those of the 
 compulsorily deported, who may have emerged from 
 their prostrate state ; and it must recognize as equal 
 competitors on the same field of enterprise, all to 
 whom the law annexes the character of a free colo- 
 nist. It is therefore of vast importance that the 
 respectability of individuals in this class, as well as 
 their inherent rights, be defended on the broadest 
 basis ; and not only that no disparagement be at- 
 tached to their condition, but such as is recognized 
 in the, parent state, as belonging to others in the 
 like class, but that every privilege and advantage 
 that can serve to consolidate their inherent rights, 
 and to make them, as constituent members of the 
 body politic, more valuable and important, be con- 
 firmed to them in the amplest and freeest manner. 
 The great end and design of the whole scheme is 
 to relieve the oppressed and circumscribed ener- 
 gies of our system at home, and, by a due applica- 
 tion of their virtues to their proper objects within 
 those remote regions, to civilize and proselyte to the 
 Christian faith, the indigenous inhabitants, who 
 must thereby be rendered at once valuable and high 
 ly efficient members of the British commonwealth. 
 This, it is evident, is a most momentous and a 
 most arduous work, and it can never be accom- 
 plished without cherishing, with care and attention, 
 the interests of that wiiole class of colonists who are 
 to be mainly devoted to such special services. The 
 manner in which this end is to be attained, may be 
 held to be fully expressed, by referring for particular 
 
 G T
 
 1066 
 
 explanation to parallel cases at home, and within our 
 other settlements, and by declaring it to be utterly 
 incompatible with those exclusive privileges claim- 
 ed and exercised by the East India Company. 
 Having said so much, I may fairly leave the matter 
 to its course, amidst the other general business of 
 the project. I have only to add, that if the British 
 crown, legislature and people, are still to remain 
 the dupes of the East India Company, we are utterly 
 unworthy to raise up our heads to any such object 
 as that which is professed to be in view ; and, that 
 whenever the British crown, legislature and people, 
 shall have determined to withdraw themselves from 
 under their influence, the hints already laid down 
 will lead to the formation of all those particular 
 laws and arrangements which the circumstances of 
 the case may require. 
 
 There are, however, two circumstances that 
 must be adverted to, before this subject can be dis- 
 missed altogether. First, it is obvious that the only 
 means that can, in such circumstances be resorted 
 to, for the purpose of influencing the industrious 
 and enterprising among the natives, to range them- 
 selves completely under our system, is that direct 
 appeal to their own perception of real and personal 
 advantage to be thereby secured to them, which 
 this system exhibits to their view. We are not to 
 have recourse to persecution, nor to any measure 
 that partakes of the nature of violence or coertion, 
 for the purpose of rendering their subserviency to 
 our general plan absolute and irrefragable. It will
 
 1067 - 
 
 be recollected, that very great allowance must be 
 made for defects in their perception of this matter ; 
 for however strong these inducements may oe, two 
 things effectually bar their power. First, inhe- 
 rent prejudices, and secondly, the ancient order 
 of things established around them. Suasion may 
 go far in removing the first of these bars, but no- 
 thing but systematic operations can effectually 
 counteract their conjoined influence, and raise the 
 individual above the reach of that order of things in 
 which he is entangled. Of the measures that may 
 be resorted to for this purpose, it appears to me 
 that none can be more effectual than that of exhi- 
 biting in the most marked and prominent manner, 
 our decided preference to the whole body of those 
 who may enlist themselves, for good and all, under 
 our banners. That is, by conferring upon them our 
 privileges, we must make them full partakers of 
 our national advantages, as soon as we can perceive 
 them to be capable of appretiating and enjoying 
 them. Secondly. It is indispensably necessary to 
 pave the way to the relief of those unhappy wretches 
 whose doom it is to be enthralled in abject slavery, 
 (tliis though consistent with their own established 
 order of things, is utterly repugnant to that of our 
 system,) and thereafter to raise them along with the 
 rest of the people, by regular graduated steps to 
 the station of free colonists. To give a fair com- 
 pensatioii to the proprietors thus deprived of a cer- 
 tain portion of their established power and means, 
 follows, according to our system, as a matter of 
 course. As this measure is only to be eficcted by 
 
 0x2
 
 1068 
 
 a positive statute, directly applicable to the case, it 
 would be necessary to make a general law, render- 
 ing all such power and authority, resoluble into va- 
 lue, at the option of each party having an interest 
 in the matter, and dischargeable, either by delivery 
 of the price thus ascertained, or failing this delivery 
 at the lapse of some definite period, and order of 
 regular service, when the time of service would be 
 held to have expired of its own accord. Individ- 
 uals, after this relief has been effectuated for them, 
 would be held to have fairly and fully placed them- 
 selves within the range of our most common and 
 most general civil privileges. 
 
 But in order to give to all these advantages a firm 
 and a permanent seat under our authority and in- 
 fluence, and in order to identify in the fullest man- 
 ner, the interests of all parties with those of the 
 parent state, it would be necessary to hold out to 
 the view of all these classes of colonists, a com- 
 plete share in the most valuable advantages of our 
 system, as the fair and natural price of their having 
 faithfully devoted them selves to its duties. For this 
 purpose, I would bestow upon every native Bri- 
 tish colonist, who could read, write, cast accounts, 
 and give evidence of his being of a fair character, 
 and christian profession, one hundred acres of good 
 land, in as favourable a situation as the interests of 
 each colony would admit of, in perpetuity, without 
 any qualification whatever, except that of being 
 bound, within a certain specific period, to set for- 
 ward upon it a suitable course of improvement.
 
 1069 
 
 His residence either in an absolutely free, or in a de- 
 pendent state, in circumstances not very remote 
 within the same colony, would be necessary ; but, 
 being fully aware of the invaluable public advanta- 
 ges, that must necessarily result from retaining in- 
 dividuals in circumstances, wherein the full and 
 proper value of their professional labors may be en- 
 joyed by them, at the same time, that the results and 
 proceeds of their labors may be readily invested in 
 territorial subjects, I would dispense, at least for the 
 greatest part of the time, with their having a fixed re- 
 sidence on the spot. 1 would give the same privilege 
 to every other description of colonists from regions 
 under the British sway, whether Hindoo, African, 
 Canadian, Creole, or any other ; but I would quali- 
 fy the grant in this last case with the condition, not 
 only that each applicant do give sufficient evidence 
 of his possessing a fair character, and having been 
 regularly initiated into the Christian faith, but that 
 he also satisfactorily prove his having served in some 
 useful or necessary part of productive industry or 
 enterprise, or in the service of the public, or of the 
 state, for seven full years. This arrangement would 
 not only effectually secure in our own interests, all 
 who were really worthy of public confidence, but it 
 would prove a stimulus, to every native within each 
 of these colonies, to betake himself to regular indus- 
 try, to embark in his duty with alacrity and with con- 
 fidence, to improve his capabilities with earnestness 
 and assiduity, and to conduct himself with fidelity 
 and circumspection. As the privilege would not 
 only be hereditary, but would reach to every male
 
 1070 
 
 in each family who could produce similar testimo- 
 nials, as soon as he reached the age of manhood ; 
 and as the privileges thus acquired could never be- 
 come dormant, but might, at any time that was con- 
 venient, be exercised, according to the option of the 
 party himself, its importance could not possibly fall 
 off or be disparaged. These are conditions, which 
 when duly executed, would tend to draw the ties 
 of connexion betwixt the different classes of colo- 
 nists more near, and make all of them hold their 
 common privileges in due estimation. Each indi- 
 vidual could look forward thereto, as the sure 
 consequence of a faithful discharge of his duty. 
 Those, whose capacity or circumstances happened 
 to be such as to disqualify them from aiming at such 
 attainments themselves, could regard them as pro- 
 vision in reserve to their offspring, and console 
 themselves with knowing that in the way of attain- 
 ing and improving heritable property, the highest 
 advantages of the system, to which they were thus 
 contributing, might, through time, become the fair 
 and lawful property of their descendants. 
 
 It is in this way, that I would gradually advance 
 the colonists in our general system. The advanta- 
 ges, to be derived therefrom by the state, as well as 
 by the community, are such, as to make me not 
 only calculate on their bestowing the land necessa- 
 ry thereto, upon a fair and equitable plan, and on 
 their affording every facility and advantage to the 
 process of improving it, that the case admits of; but 
 also that government will, in circumstances when
 
 1071 
 
 it is needful, purchase land at its own expence, for 
 the purpose of having it distributed in this manner. 
 The value of such land cannot for a long time be 
 anywise considerable, and the sacrifice thereto made 
 must soon be compensated by the multitude of in- 
 valuable permanent advantages, that will, in the re- 
 gular course of things, arise, from its improvement, 
 into the hands of the state itself. It is only as the 
 whole privileges of a British subject are succes- 
 sively transferred to the whole of these classes, as 
 soon and as far as they can appretiate and enjoy 
 them, tliat they can with one heart and one hand 
 concur in prosecuting the common course of im- 
 provement. 
 
 There is one great difficulty that here presents 
 itself, and if we are to take it up in the light, in 
 which it is sometimes received, it may prove an 
 unsurmountable one. What is to become of the 
 individuals, sovereigns, chieftains and others who 
 at present possess vast or rather immeasurable, yet, 
 legal and established, power under the old system ? 
 Arc they to continue as they are, are they to be 
 maintained in power ? I answer, How does Russia 
 do ? How did we do in regard to Scotch High- 
 land chieftains ? But without resorting to such 
 violent procedure to those who are already bent un- 
 der our power, or encumbering ourselves with their 
 obsolete claims, I propose merely to assume their 
 value, as wealth already resolved into our system, to 
 lend them a hand in resolving their unwieldy useless 
 power into solid acquisitions, into territorial posses-
 
 1072 
 
 sion, and to communicate to them the whole se* 
 curity and protection which our system can afford 
 them, in the resolution and in the enjoyment of 
 this wealth, either within their own native territory 
 or elsewhere. In following out this design, I 
 would, moreover, put it in their power, if they 
 chose it, to procure any advanced station under our 
 system, that befits their character and circumstan- 
 ces, and to divide their respective vast cumulations 
 of wealth, in such a way amongst their families, as 
 to create as many inferior but independent branches 
 of them as they please ; to all of whom, the option 
 of similar advancement might for a time be thrown 
 open. Let our great men, our philanthropists, our 
 men of science and of refinement concur in prepar- 
 ing these parties for the enjoyment of such advanta- 
 ges, and, under the blessing of God, we may hope 
 that the individuals, thus favored, will never regret 
 any change that may have taken place in their 
 condition and character, in consequence of the 
 progression of our system. 
 
 It is evident, however, that something still more 
 pointed than all this must be done, in order to 
 bring those whole cumulated advantages, under the 
 full and direct authority of the state. We can con- 
 ceive it possible, for individuals in such circumstan- 
 ces, to run into various most important mistakes, 
 that may be subversive of the general welfare, if 
 they be not timously checked. We can conceive 
 them to be overwhelmed by invasion from without, 
 or to be overthrown by commotion from within. Al-
 
 1073 
 
 though, therefore, we sliould suppoFe, as according to 
 the principles aheady iinfoh ed, we necessarily do 
 suppose, that to all these inniunitics, and every other 
 connected with them, that of having a public voice 
 shall, within tiuee years after the completion of the 
 improvements specified in the deed of conveyance, 
 be bestowed even on the lowest class of these several 
 descriptions of landholders, who, besides having pas- 
 sed the ordeal aforementioned, can s[)cak, read and 
 write the English language in a sufficient manner ; 
 still it would be necessary to resort to certain meas- 
 ures for the purpose of collectmg into one, their se- 
 veral influences, and binding them up effictually 
 under the power of the state. Their very advanta- 
 ges, we must recollect, may, in the course of things, 
 be laid hold of by some eneuiy to our nation ; by 
 whom again they may be not only inverted against 
 that paternal arm, imder whose influence they may 
 have been ujn'eared, l)ut rendered mere instruments 
 of destruction. These things, and the wliole cir- 
 cumstances of these colonies, point sodirectly to tlie 
 establishment of a local militia, as at once the best 
 means of defence against external and internal at- 
 tacks, the most effectual method for binding to- 
 gether the scattered public energies of each district, 
 and bearing them on to their proper object, and as 
 the most ready and efficient plan for exercisi \rr 
 them, tiius constituted, under influences that will 
 render tliem more and more coiifbrmable to the 
 great end of the whole design, that I at once 
 propose this as the most effectual means for pro- 
 viding for this object J and 1 w »ul:l lay it down as 
 
 6 u
 
 1074 
 
 a rule, that no foreign or native colonists, but those 
 who had been thus exercised, for at least five years 
 of their life, should be capable of holding any 
 civil office. I would, moreover, annex certain immu- 
 nities to those who were thus distinguished, that 
 would render their condition at once honorable 
 and advantageous. Amongst other immunities and 
 advantages, I would hold them as free citizens of 
 every great corporation in the empire. I would also 
 enrol them in a civil record, to be kept under pub- 
 lic authority, within each district ; wherefrom, ex- 
 tracts, duly certified, could, as occasion required it, 
 be obtained ; and I would hold their immediate de- 
 scendants as entitled to a continuation of the same 
 privileges, on terms as favorable as it was possible 
 to devise, in consistency with the maintenance of 
 the instituted order of things. Other honors, be- 
 sides those resulting from the duties of the militia, 
 should also be devolved on those thus distinguished. 
 The whole inferior class of them should be held to 
 be special constables, and out of the superior class, 
 justices of the peace, jury men and magistrates would 
 be appointed. In fact, I would rest in their hands 
 the local authority of each district ; and leave it to 
 them to draw up, under their own influence, the 
 whole mass of the population of that district. They 
 themselves being in every part of their procedure, 
 all the time, under the direct and complete cogni- 
 zance of all the instituted authorities, and being at 
 all times amenable to the laws and maxims of the 
 state.
 
 1075 
 
 Placed as a body in such circumstances, I cannot 
 for a moment doubt, but great and wonderful chan- 
 ges would soon take place, both in the character of 
 the African and in that of the Hindoo, borne on, 
 as we have all along held these characters to be, by 
 the pure and heavenly doctrines and principles of 
 our holy religion, and influenced and animated, as 
 we have all along held our renovatists and commer- 
 cialists to be, by the high designs and sublime prin- 
 ciples of the Christian faitli. 
 
 It does not seem to be necessary to advert very 
 particularly to our colonial empire in North Amer- 
 ica, nor to our valuable West India settlements, 
 nor to that vast and wealthy colony which is spring- 
 ing up into our hands in Guiana ; because these, 
 having already been established on principles that 
 harmonize with the general operations of the pro- 
 posed system, will receive its spirit without sustain- 
 ing any very important changes, and may according- 
 ly be brought under its influence, without exhib- 
 iting any novel appearances *. The territory of 
 
 * The slave trade being abolished, the general circumstances 
 of slaves must of course fall to be ameliorated ; and we may with 
 confidence look forward to the time, when the interests of all par- 
 ties will concur in inducing them to resort to all those arrange- 
 ments and expedients, that may render their ultimate manumis- 
 sion, only a convenient improvement in the general line of colo- 
 nial polity. It is evident, however, that at present this point is 
 too remote, and too much encumbered with prejudices and other 
 difficulties, to admit of that serious disquisition which its impor- 
 tance would call for. 
 
 6 u 2
 
 1076 
 
 these colonies will doubtless be laid out for the pro- 
 duction of a greater variety of commodities. The 
 face of the country in our larger settlements will be 
 generally better peopled, cultivated and improved 
 than it is at present. This must appear indisputa- 
 ble, if we consider that they will, under the pro- 
 posed system be thrown open to universal inter- 
 course, be rendered receptacles, wherein the indus- 
 trious and enterprising of every nation may obtain 
 settlements on the most favorable conditions, and 
 there find prepared, not only an ample well furnish- 
 ed range for developing their respective energies 
 and resources, but absolute security, extensive pa- 
 tronage, and that adequate supply of the medium 
 of exchange, which may correspond with their cir- 
 cumstances. The intercourse betwixt the imperial 
 colonies, about to be settled as abovementioned, and 
 these other settlements, must be great and highly 
 important to tliem. The general excitation, given 
 to commercial and colonial undertakings, must co- 
 ver their coasts with correspondent means of enter- 
 prise, while the circulation given to those means, 
 and the value, which those will necessarily repre- 
 sent and carry along with them in their circulation, 
 must penetrate itito the inmost recesses of the coun- 
 try, and itito every branch of industry and enter- 
 prise ; affording, at every turn, most invaluable stim- 
 ulation and support to the wliole processes of re- 
 proluctio 7, sufficient to bear up the various impor- 
 tant bra-R-hcs of internal improvement, and to 
 sustain tlie weight of a great independent and 
 powerful landed uiterest.
 
 1077 
 
 Let us now revert to the circumstances of this last 
 mentioned order in the community, and to those 
 of the dominant orders, and view their interests as 
 connected with tliis whole colonial scheme. In the 
 first place, let it be noticed, that it is, from the ag- 
 gregate influence of this class, by their means, and 
 under the direct exercise and application of these, 
 that we hold the whole system to derive its nutri- 
 ment, and that it is ultimately into their hands that 
 its best results are to be drawn up. Undertakings 
 of a colonial or commercial kind, prosecuted under 
 the management and conduct of the state itself, 
 seldom come to a good accouit. Individual sense 
 of interest, as well as individual talent and means, 
 must execute the detail of such business, or it will 
 never be executed as it ought to be. Besides this, 
 this class, from the whole circumstances of the case, 
 must be dee[)ly, permanently and intimately inter- 
 ested in the whole, and in every part, of the general 
 undertaking. It is to this class, accordingly, that 
 is, to individuals in the most respectable stations of 
 society, and to associations of them, that we are to 
 be understood as having transferred the manage- 
 ment of this business. On proper representations be- 
 ing made to the goverument, respecting projects 
 of enterprise undur their ciiarge, and for their in- 
 terest, setting t'orth their capabilities for availing 
 themselves of the advantages lying before them, 
 it is held, that suitable tracts of territory, would, as a 
 matter of course, be allotted to them, either in the 
 way of grant, or in that of an option to purchase, 
 (but always under the condition of improving it to
 
 1078 
 
 a certain extent, within a specific limited time, on 
 pain of nullity) and delegations of judicial and civil 
 authority, and military and municipal rank and 
 power; such power and authority being only trans- 
 ferred to those personages who may be worthy of 
 it. When w^e consider the nature and character of 
 the business, and of the agents at the headof it, we 
 cannot but conclude, that individuals of every rank 
 and denomination of the industrious would, in the 
 way of prosecuting their own interest, in such bus- 
 iness, hail with cordiality the advantage offered, of 
 making a common cause with them, and, after mak- 
 ing suitable arrangements and provisions correspon- 
 ding to the case, place themselves and their means 
 within the range of their authority and pati'onage, 
 in the most anxious and careful manner ; that in 
 this way, regular settlements all over the surface of 
 these respective countries would be set down, each 
 having respectable aggregations of local interests 
 constituted j and that these would set forward in ad- 
 vance their general object — a powerful well-digested 
 order of improvement, always developing itself in 
 the way of social excellence, and presenting in the 
 cause of civilization, a steady spirited phalanx, on 
 which the attacks of barbarity and ignorance would 
 prove fruitless and unavailing. 
 
 Let us suppose, that in these circumstances, and 
 on these terms, our notables, and others of the en- 
 terprising class, obtain grants of land in Africa, and 
 liberty to procure or purchase legal and heritable 
 rights to lands, and other possessions in Asia. Let
 
 1079 
 
 us suppose, that those, thus favoured, provide them- 
 velves with all the means, advantages, and facili- 
 ties, which their settlement in these circumstances 
 would require ; and moreover, that the most respec- 
 ted individuals amongst them are invested, with ci- 
 vil influence, judicial or municipal authority, and 
 such rank or dignity in the army, as will convey 
 military power correspondent to their character and 
 condition in society ; sucli influence, authority and 
 power, being always under the same control of the 
 established government abroad, which others, en- 
 joying the same advantages at home, would be sub- 
 jected to at home. Let us suppose, that these fix 
 themselves in their possessions, in such a way, that 
 they can co-operate with each other, with full ad- 
 vantage, in every great course of improvement that 
 it may be advantageous to institute, and can receive 
 prepared to their hands, with the greatest readiness 
 and facility, all these supplies that the spirit of en* 
 terprise may be able to furnish for their advantage. 
 Let us suppose, also, that for all these parties, the 
 dignified enterprising colonist, as well as the re- 
 spectable enterprising commercialist, the whole 
 regions of the globe, those of rival nations, in every 
 quarter of the world, as well as those of contiguous 
 nations all around, those of our colonies at a dis- 
 tance, as well as the parent state itself at home, 
 arc all thrown open, not only as the proper arena 
 for competition in all that is excellent, but as the ge- 
 neral field of profitable enterprise — must it not neces- 
 sarily follow, that thereby, not only abundant means 
 for meeting the wishes of all the parties implicated
 
 1080 
 
 therein, would tins way be provided, but that tlie 
 whole frame of that society, in which these are im- 
 mersed, would be so constituted and provisioned, 
 that the whole blessings and advantages of civilized 
 intercourse, would be at all times completely within 
 the range of its capabilities ? While such will be the 
 condition, the employment, and the advantages of 
 those of our community, who in tliese regions take 
 the lead amidst such affairs — What will be their du- 
 ties, and what their ultimate flite ? 
 
 In the first place, it is perfectly evident, that 
 being themselves the prime n)oving agents of this 
 whole grand progression of things, they will draw 
 up into their own hands its great leading advanta- 
 ges. These will enable them to consolidate and 
 fortify their own collective authority, influence and 
 wealth, throughout the whole range which these 
 can possibly circumscribe, and thus to diffuse most 
 universally, the great spirit and energy of the sys- 
 tem. In such circumstances, it will be easy for 
 them to make various articulate arrangements, for 
 carrying forward the business of colonial improve- 
 ment with the greatest celerity and effect. As it 
 will not be inciunbent on them to fix their atten- 
 tion on conmiercial objects, to the exclusion of every 
 other, they will be under no necessity to confine 
 their residence to low swampish situations, where- 
 in pestilential disorders prevail, on account of their 
 being best fitted for the purposes of civd life ; they 
 will find themselves at lull liberty to make selec- 
 tions in various places, wherein not only high duties
 
 1081 
 
 but means of securing to themselves personal com- 
 fort in tlie discharge of these, await them. Elevated 
 situations will be chosen for cities, which accord ahke 
 with the enjoyment of these advantages, and with 
 public security. Municipal and provincial estab- 
 lishments, and those other institutions, wherein 
 the various refinements and attainments of civilized 
 society are developed and exhibited, under every 
 advantage, will be set down in situations and cir- 
 cumstances, correspondent to their nature and ob- 
 ject. Amongst other appropriate provisions, a- 
 musements, that produce at once mental and cor- 
 poreal vigor will be at hand. The hunting of the 
 elephant, the antelope, and the tyger, „and other 
 beasts of prey, in which not only valor but skill, 
 and not only deep contrivance, but a course of 
 personal discipline and a round of adequate prepa- 
 rations are necessary, will brace up the faculties 
 of both body and mind, keep alive a brave and 
 independent spirit throughout the whole nation, 
 and cherish those feelings and sentiments, that are 
 necessary to bring this spirit forward into full play, 
 whenever it is necessary, and thus tend to harmonize, 
 dulcify and assimulate the national character to its 
 circumstances. Nor will the man of science or of 
 genius want his appropriate exercises. Where every 
 lineament of local territory calls for distinctive de- 
 markation; wiiere varied modes of existence, as well 
 as diversified appearances of nature, present them- 
 selves on every hand ; and where subjects that must 
 excite the curiosity, and occupy the attention of men 
 of every shade of cliaracter, of intellect and of tcm- 
 
 6 X
 
 1082 
 
 perament, are so profusely thrown around — there 
 can be no want of dignified, sublime and refined 
 occupation, nor any defalcation in the powers and 
 means that may be requisite in following up that so- 
 cial advancement, into which such occupations lead. 
 
 It would be an endless task to set about enume- 
 rating the variety of exercises and employments, all 
 tending to general improvement, and all resolving 
 themselves into the advancement of individual cha- 
 racter and condition, into which these advantages 
 would lead. Let it be recollected, that the power 
 and the habit of penetrating into regions unex- 
 plored, of examining and developing their various 
 resources, of bearing these severally to their proper 
 object, of traversing rivers, seas and oceans, all over 
 the globe, and of passing, with freedom and with 
 security, from clime to clime, always extending the 
 blessings of improvement, and always advancing 
 at once our own attainments, and those of all with 
 whom we may have intercourse, will come to be 
 most familiarly exercised ; and that these, and all the 
 exercitations connected with them, are to be fully, 
 permanently and universally circumscribed, im- 
 pressed and influenced by a system replete with 
 benign excellence, and effectually opposed to cor- 
 ruption and oppression. In these regions, in a few 
 ages, those junior shoots of the dominant classes, 
 who would otherwise have worn out their existence, 
 either amidst demireps, and other debased vota- 
 ries of loose enjoyment, or in hopeless or useless 
 plots or contestations, will spring forth with their
 
 1083 
 
 full native vigor, improved in all that is known to 
 be excellent, and fnlly tutored by proper discip- 
 line, to enjoy this excellence with the highest gust. 
 AVith a command much greater over blessings, more 
 valuable than any heretofore known or attained by 
 their ancestors at home, these resplendent shoots 
 of our ancient British peerage, will not only sustain 
 but advance the pristine honours of their race, not 
 only at home, but amidst immense and powerful 
 regions ; amidst which, our country has interests 
 and concerns of vast magnitude and importance to 
 provide for ; and in providing f )r which, much talent 
 and much dignity must be unfolded and displayed. 
 In these circumstances, each exhibition of our na- 
 tional prowess will call forth and exercise fresh en- 
 ergies, illustrate higher qualities, and ennoble and 
 advance the character of our race. 
 
 Let no one therefore say, that the scheme here 
 proposed is not calculated for the gay and ardent 
 temper of the youthful mind. It may be termed a 
 plodding on towards social eminence j but is not 
 the whole business of life, equally, or rather on the 
 whole, more completely of this character ? Those, 
 who have no relish for it, will no doubt let it alone, 
 and though there should be many such, tlie loss 
 will not be great. They, who thus prefer the ways 
 of vice and folly, (and we may expect that these will 
 not be few) will continue to pursue them, in these 
 circumstances, or in any circumstances. As such 
 conduct, however, must from contrast, only appear 
 the more odious, this, it is apprehetidcd, will not 
 
 6x2
 
 1084 
 
 be deemed a disparaojement. Since, then, accessions 
 will certainly be made to the real amount of hu- 
 man enjoyment and improvement ; since, there will 
 be no subtraction from the amount of our blessings ; 
 since the sacrifices and privations that are demand- 
 ed, exceed not those, to which the most buoyant and 
 proudful do, of themselves, most readily and much 
 more completely submit, and since every estab- 
 lished and received advantage and blessing, perso- 
 nal, domestic, social, civil, institutional and con- 
 ventional, is secured to all concerned in our scheme, 
 to its fullest extent, the scheme itself is not to be 
 undervalued on their account. It must be acknow- 
 ledged, that the scheme is not directed to characters 
 of a light and frothy cast. Let us hope, however, 
 tliat the course of public affairs, for the last twenty 
 years, has improved the tone, as it has wonderfully 
 advanced the circumstances of such characters, and 
 hold out to them the assurance, that amidst those 
 widely extended regions, and this bright scene of ac- 
 tion, wherein the flower of the nation is to be embark- 
 ed, means are prepared to conduct them to high ad- 
 vantage, amidst occupations at once honorable and 
 delectable, whereby their most powerful propensi- 
 ties will be duly exercised, and their perceptions 
 quickened, animated and extended, and let us re- 
 main satisfied, that the slaves to fashionable indul- 
 gence will so far acknowledge the force of such at- 
 traction, as to refrain from systematic opposition to 
 the general plan. Lightness of character, and un- 
 seemly buoyancy of spirit surely cannot, in such cir-
 
 1085 
 
 cumstances, present very formidable obstructions 
 in our way. 
 
 Lkt us now, however, address ourselves seriously 
 to a higher theme. However valuable, and howev- 
 er important the above, and all the foregoing reso- 
 lution of our system, may be, the great paramount 
 point remains yet to be considered. There re- 
 mains for the process of colonizing and civilizing 
 those immense and most delightful regions, another 
 set of means, which, with its peculiar instruments, 
 now demands our attention, as supreme over all the 
 rest, and which, unless we duly avail ourselves of to 
 the utmost, and exercise with becoming strenuous- 
 ness, we may be said to have in effect produced no- 
 thing. — We must carry along with us, and diffuse 
 around us, the power, and the knowledge, and the 
 whole influences, of our most holy faith. What are 
 all our other attainments without this, but gewgaws 
 that glitter in our eyes for a few years, in order to 
 plunge us more completely into primeval darkness ? 
 It is from this source that all our peculiar blessings 
 and advantages arise, and these are bestowed upon 
 us for the purpose, and in the order, requisite for 
 urging us forward in the discharge of this greatest 
 of all human duties. It is true, when we transfer our 
 system and our attainments into these regions, we go 
 a certain length in that road into which the discharge 
 of this duty leads ; for we put it in the power of in- 
 dividuals of all ranks and orders amongst us, who 
 may teel the power of the obligation, to carry for- 
 ward the great design, under very peculiar advan-
 
 1086 
 
 tages. When we give to our system, in tliese re- 
 gions, the same institutional advantages, and the 
 same institutional estabhshmentSjthat it has at home, 
 we moreover provide these individuals with most 
 invaluable instruments for their purpose. But is 
 this enough for a Christian nation, resting itself so 
 stably on its Christian privileges, to do towards 
 that object, in the prosecution of which, each and 
 all of us are required to leave every earthly pos- 
 session, every social endearment, every personal 
 enjoyment, in a case, Vv'here this object can be sub- 
 served, not only without forfeiting or abandoning, 
 but in the direct way of retaining, all those blessings? 
 Are we not far from having reached the full limits 
 of our own powers and capabilities ? Is there not 
 something more distinctly applicable to such an 
 object, yet more correspondent to its character yet 
 to be done ? If there is, let us recollect that while 
 this remains undone, there is absolutely, and in ef- 
 fect, nothing yet really done, for this, our own 
 highest end and good. 
 
 We have not to go far, before we discern most 
 distinctly, and at once, that such a duty lies still 
 upon us as a nation, and that it is now most com- 
 pletely in our power to discharge it. The manner 
 of doing this has been plainly announced to us in 
 the word of truth, and it is brought close home 
 upon our perceptions by the experience of this and 
 of every age. We must not only put into the 
 hands of the heathen the word of lite, but press it 
 close on their attention -, do this amidst dangers and
 
 1087 
 
 difficulties and privations of the most extreme kind : 
 we must do this in the way not only of grateful sua- 
 sion, kind benediction, and earnest expostulation, 
 but in that of exercising our gifts, talents, means 
 and powers, for the good, and for the advantage, of 
 those whom we would thus bless ; we must do this 
 powerfully, on the largest scale that it is possible 
 for us to reach, and in the most impressive manner 
 that is consistent with our capabilities. When our 
 Saviour had invested his disciples with extraordi- 
 nary powers and means for displaying the superio- 
 rity of the system to be propagated by them, and 
 had sent them with authority on their mission, we 
 know that they exercised those powers with suffi' 
 cient earnestness ; they healed the sick, and as they 
 had freely received this most extraordinary gift, so 
 they freely communicated it. Following his exam- 
 ple, it becomes us to send to the heathen, individ- 
 uals, who can not only announce heavenly doctrine, 
 but individuals, who can, by the superiority of their 
 characters and attainments, illustrate the truth and 
 force of these doctrines, and propagate the whole 
 system to which they have given rise. 
 
 Thkse considerations lead me to remark, that 
 missions for proselyting the inhabitants of the coun- 
 tries, connected with any of our foreign settlements, 
 must derive much advantage from being associated 
 with missions, that have other plans of improvement 
 or advantage to prosecute in these regions; and that 
 these other designs might, at the same time, be, in 
 I'ke manner, promoted by this conjunction of intc-
 
 1088 
 
 rests. It is not for us to scan the means and 
 methods, that the Most High may be pleased to ren- 
 der most eminently successful, in the attainment of 
 this grand object. Sometimes the most unlikely, and 
 sometimes the most despised, means are most effec- 
 tual to his designs. One thing, however, is certain, 
 that since we, as a great political body, have a 
 deep, solid, and permanent interest in the matter, 
 we ought to drop none of the advantages that we 
 possess for accomplishing our great design. Here, 
 as in every parallel case, when we withhold any 
 of the means that are necessary thereto, we become 
 so far amenable for the frustration which such de- 
 falcation may occasion. That accompaniments, 
 which confer security, respectability and power 
 on missions, are means necessary, and within our 
 power to contribute, is evident. Why then are 
 they withheld, why then do we not introduce into 
 this service, men of philosophical research, and in- 
 dividuals who, in the regular course of commercial 
 enterprise, would abet our design, while they could 
 contribute means to its support ? It is perfectly e- 
 vident, that if a suitable scheme were digested, and 
 a certain complement of means thereto provided, 
 individuals of various classes would aggregate to- 
 gether, for various objects, and, that by their mutual 
 countenance and assistance to each other, these 
 would severally contribute most liberally to the great 
 design. It is not necessary, and it is not expected, 
 that missionaries should themselves be greatly gift- 
 ed, either with wealth or personal qualities ; and 
 it is not necessary, nor is it expected, that those,
 
 1089 
 
 gifted with wealth, or gifted with great qualities, 
 should be missionaries ; all that is wanted is, that 
 both parties associate together upon a regular plan. 
 Those, versaut in philosophy, medicine and natural 
 history, would be most invaluable associates, in 
 such missions ; because, in the exercises that would 
 be induced, our various most peculiar advantages 
 and attainments would be gradually, yet fully, de- 
 veloped under their native influences, in a manner 
 correspondent to their character. Thereby, the 
 public attention would be every where aroused j op- 
 position, arising from prejudice and interested ness, 
 surmounted, and a clear road laid open for the 
 entrance of missionaries into their appropriate la- 
 bours. It was by means, somewhat analogous, that 
 our Saviour himself and his apostles excited the 
 public feelings, and secured a fair and full hearing 
 to their discourses. They healed the sick, and cured 
 diseases and infirmities; they arrested, and they 
 controlled the order of nature ; thereby announcino- 
 at once the superiority and sublimity of the faith 
 which they taught, and dispelling the stupidity of 
 those who would oppose its progress. This they 
 no doubt effected by a power that was supernatu- 
 ral. But is not the power with which we are fraught, 
 our high attainments in the arts, the legitimate off- 
 spring of similar divine energy, slowly indeed ma- 
 turing itself, through a long course of ages, and a- 
 midst a vast variety of circumstances, but as really 
 the result of consecutive developemcnts of our di- 
 vine system, as the other was of its direct impulse r 
 Tiiese miraculous indications of supernal energy 
 
 f> Y
 
 1090 
 
 were exercised by the first preachers of Christianity, 
 tor the immediate advantage of individuals, and in 
 the way of building up, through such means, a vast 
 order and system of beneficent and resplendent o- 
 perations. This same benign character, let it be no- 
 ticed, the indications now required, are held to 
 possess in a high degree. Evil, moral and natural, 
 have each its appropriate cure applied to it ; disease 
 and other bodily ailments, as well as ignorance, 
 prejudice and perversity, are made to give way to 
 superior skill and application. This way, too, there 
 is a palpable and immediate, as well as a sublime 
 and remote, advantage communicated. Blessings 
 are bestowed, which are an indisputable and inva- 
 luable earnest of those other blessings, which are to 
 follow from the subsequent developements of the 
 system. Powerful excitation is given to all who 
 behold them, to enlist under the banners of this 
 system, to contribute to its interests, and to qualify 
 themselves for its duties and services ; at the same 
 time, grateful and benevolent feelings are kindled, 
 and the character awakened to the mild and chari- 
 table influence of the Christian plan. Care, earnest 
 and indefatigable, must follow up the advantages 
 that are attained ; because it is thereby, only, that 
 the sublime doctrines of the cross reach to the rud- 
 est minds, excite and diffuse the spirit which they 
 breathe, and extend and increase their influence 
 over the temper, disposition and understanding. 
 
 For all these reasons, and in order that the ex- 
 pences and burdens of these missions may fall as
 
 1091 
 
 light on the public as possible, it appears to be a real 
 and positive duty, fairly and fully laid upon us, to 
 league with missionaries, men of philosophical and 
 philanthropic research, otherwise devoted to such 
 services, and to provide effectually for their safety, 
 in moving, in a body, over the face of the country 
 along with commercialists and others, whom bu- 
 siness or personal advantage might attract into 
 their society. These, all organized in an order- 
 ly manner, though respectively engaged in their 
 own respective avocations, would, in traversing 
 these regions, conjoinedly contribute much of that 
 aid and countenance to missionaries, which their 
 circumstances required. It would no doubt be ne- 
 cessary for the public to defray some part of the 
 expence of these missions, but I apprehend, that in 
 consequence of the protection and security that 
 might, through the exercise of public authority, be 
 bestowed on the commercialists, no inconsiderable 
 part of this expence, could, with perfect justice, be 
 devolved on that body. In the way of answering 
 this end, a mode of discipline ought to be institut- 
 ed, in which the interests of all should be placed 
 under proper authority ; for the exercise of which 
 authority, the parties entrusted with it should be 
 accountable. Under such auspices as these, each 
 party might calculate on carrying forward that bu- 
 siness in which he was engaged with manifest advan- 
 tage. The most decorous solemnity, as well as re- 
 gularity and propriety of procedure, would doubt- 
 less mark the whole conduct of all parties, least the 
 exercises of philosophy and philanthropy, as well 
 
 6 Y 2
 
 1092 
 
 as the duties of the mission, should degenerate into 
 mere spectacles for stage effect. The rules and 
 laws of justice and good order would also, as a mat- 
 ter of course, be extended to every commercial 
 transaction, that took place under such auspices. 
 The missionaries, being held to be personally at li- 
 berty to pursue any particular tract of usefulness 
 that came in their way, without being considered 
 as completely bound up with the course of these 
 stated peregrinations, no great or important hin- 
 derance to other business, could, in any ordinary 
 circumstances, be produced by their affairs. 
 
 That some such provisions as the foregoing are 
 required, and would be adopted under the progres- 
 sion of improvement, now held to be instituted, 
 we may warrantably infer. Their relative value 
 and importance, as a set of means for consolidating 
 and confirming our national power and influence, 
 within our extensive colonial possessions, will ap- 
 pear in their proper light, if we regard them under 
 the twofold aspect, which their inherent virtue and 
 efficacy, as specific instruments thereto, and their 
 peculiar aptitude to our circumstances as such be 
 fully taken inio account. 
 
 First, let us consider their inherent virtue and 
 efficacy, in regard to national advantage. That 
 the consciousness of acting under pure and heaven- 
 ly principles, of prosecuting great and transcen- 
 dently glorious designs, and of achieving objects, 
 incomparably more momentous and interestin^han
 
 109: 
 
 any other, which the human mind can be occupied 
 with, will carry over obstructions, otherwise unsur- 
 mountable, inspire with confidence and alacrity, a- 
 midst struggles the most arduous, and nerve with 
 vigor and fortitude, when called upon to submit to 
 great privations, is not to be disputed. But, besides 
 this, such principles, by raising the individual above 
 mere animal feelings, and personal or worldly con- 
 siderations, will bear him up with steadiness and 
 satisfaction, amidst scenes of duty, wherein disap- 
 pointment, vexation and distress on all hands harass 
 him ; they will steel the heart against temptations 
 to swerve from the paths of rectitude, and give an 
 efficacy and stability to all that may thereby be 
 accomplished, that is no other way to be obtained. 
 In such circumstances, difficulties the most ex- 
 treme, and exertions the most severe, hazards the 
 most formidable, and mortifications the most ap- 
 palling, will but draw forth more valuable means, 
 and more redoubted energies and resources. The 
 conviction of being possessed of such advantages 
 cannot but give assurance to those, who are main- 
 ly implicated in the leading design, and fill their 
 minds, and those of their dependents, with corres- 
 pondent reliance on the strength of their cause. 
 Each party must see, that not only instruments and 
 means, but principles and energies, are prepared and 
 set at work, for the good of the general cause; which, 
 along with the powers thereto necessary, possess that 
 supernal efficiency, which arises from their being 
 thereto destinated by the ordination of heaven, 
 and, from their being carried along that course,
 
 1094 
 
 which concurs most completely with this ordina- 
 tion. Nor is this all : there arises out of the sub- 
 lime regards, which it is the object of this system 
 to develope and cherish in the mind of all its vota- 
 ries, an intensity of apphcation in the discharge of 
 these high paramount obligations, a determined- 
 ness of procedure in following all our consequent 
 duties, and a vehemence of pertinacity in pres- 
 sing forward to great leading objects, that no ob- 
 stacles, except such as are disconformable to the 
 character of the system, and no advantage that co- 
 incides not with its great leading design, can appal. 
 
 The truth and certainty of the above position 
 might be illustrated by various references to the 
 history of nations. In none, more than in the ear- 
 ly history of the Jews, and in the first stages of 
 Christianity, would this appear. Regarding, how- 
 ever, more the established order of things, than the 
 supernatural results of direct Divine interference, I 
 apprehend, that the history of the colonial acquire- 
 ments of Spain, affords an illustration on tliis point, 
 which to us, under our present views, is at once apt 
 and conclusive. That I am no advocate for the 
 murderous fanaticism and rapacity of Spain, must 
 now be sufficiently manifest ; but confining our- 
 selves strictly to those views of the results of the pro- 
 cedure of her first colonists, which, their having 
 placed unbounded confidence in the superiority of 
 the Christian system, and their being animated by 
 irresistible zeal in the discharge of its paramount 
 duty, that of communicating its influence, wherever
 
 1095 
 
 it was in their power so to do, afford us ; and eyeing 
 the Great Governor of the world, as presiding su- 
 premely, wherever his great name and cause are 
 concerned, and as using those self devoted reli- 
 gionists, (grossly corrupted, and vitiously perverse 
 as they were,) as instruments, for punishing a race 
 of fatuous sensualists, (who had so far derationalized, 
 themselves, as to exclude from their apprehensions, 
 all notions of moral accountability,) and, for es- 
 tablishing over them, a domination more consistent 
 with their real character. — I say, considering the 
 Spaniards, according as in parallel cases, we consider 
 the Jews, as, in this instance, blindly, but assuredly, 
 fulfilling the will, and executing the purposes of 
 that God, in whose name, and for whose cause, they 
 professed to act, then, I apprehend, we have in the 
 consequences that have followed, a supereminent 
 proof and illustration of the power, value, and effica- 
 cy of religious principle, in political, civil and moral 
 affairs. A few obscure characters amongst them 
 laid two mighty and extensive empires prostrate at 
 the feet of their system. This system, these par- 
 ties there established with such paramount power, 
 that it overwhelmed all opposition, and absorbed 
 whatever its mighty energies came in contact with. 
 These immense empires the Spaniards still hold, 
 in spite of the enmity and hostility of neighbours 
 great and powerful, and notwithstanding their indo- 
 lence and ineptitude to avail themselves of such high 
 advantages. Their horrible bigotry, their ensan- 
 guined tyranny, and other antichristian procedure, 
 like that of the Crusaders, unfolded and displayed
 
 1096 
 
 along with the potency of tlier system, had lost 
 them invahiable terriiories, possessions and advan- 
 tages at home. But notwithstanding these cala- 
 mities, and notwithstanding all that their perversity 
 has done ; in spite of their fieeble and contemptible 
 scheme of governance, and their rude plan of civil 
 polity, while Spain keeps those empires which she so 
 splendidly acquired, her system still flourishes in 
 them. France, Netherlands and Britain, incessant- 
 ly contending with unconquerable envy and jealousy 
 against each other, for the privilege, of serving her 
 with adequate supplies to her wants, and of parti- 
 cipating in a share of that redundancy which she can 
 spare, contribute to balance her interests in per- 
 fect security. Nay, as if for the purpose of giving 
 her the most absolute repose, amidst her possessions, 
 and a tranquillizing lullaby, amidst her enjoyment 
 of this repose, they are constantly more or less 
 engaged in tearing each other to pieces, about the 
 merest trifles, trimming as it were their political 
 dimensions to that humble attitude of servitors, to 
 which it seems they consider themselves as desti- 
 nated to conform. It is no doubt true, that Spain 
 is all the while both base and contemptible, and 
 that much honor and advantage is attached to our 
 circumstances as servitors, insinuating, with meek 
 dexterity, our good offices into her system ; but is 
 not this just what we might expect? Spain is only 
 great, as wallowing amidst abundance, which she 
 has not faculties to enjoy ; while we, in consequence 
 of our exercising most manfully, those faculties 
 which we happen to possess, at once obtain the best
 
 1097 
 
 share of those advantages, with which tlnsabundance 
 is fraught, and enjoy that animated vigor, which 
 such exercise of our faculties is calcuhited to bestow. 
 Let us but give these improved faculties of ours 
 full play under that glorious system, which ages 
 have matured for our service, and we will not only 
 be relieved from our present inglorious dependence 
 on the humours and circumstances of others, but 
 regard it with that contempt which it deserves. 
 
 1 AiM accordingly led, in the second place, to con- 
 sider the advantages that must result, from intro- 
 ducing the highest powers and principles of our 
 system, into these great and general extrinsic move- 
 ments. The various sources and operations of cor- 
 ruption in the body-politic, even under the best 
 influences of our system, have already been suffi- 
 ciently illustrated. It is proper, however, now to 
 direct our attention to the aspect, under which these 
 things are regarded, by the political sages of the 
 day. It is alleged by these, and by certain sophists 
 who have contrived to array themselves in the garb, 
 and to express themselves in the accents of wisdom, 
 that the world is in danger of being overpeopled, 
 and that vice and folly, misery and bloodshed, are 
 needful to prevent this the greatest of all conceiva- 
 ble evils. That many good men, and great men, 
 deceived by tiie imposing placidity of the counte- 
 nance which utters such blasphemies, have so far 
 given way to their import, as to regard them with- 
 out due reprehension, is known to all of us. Wc 
 learn with horror, that it was at one time laid down 
 
 (i /
 
 1098 
 
 .HS a maxim of state, by the French anarchists, that 
 the extreme operation of that infernal agency, which 
 marked their system, was necessary to clear the 
 world of superfluous incumbents ; and yet we resent 
 not an imprecation, which is scarcely less tremen- 
 dous. It is seen that, in the way of procuring need- 
 ful supplies, we are led gradually to outstep the 
 measure of our demands, so as to render it neces- 
 sary for us to seek some outlet to our regorging 
 abundance, almost on any terras. The confusion 
 and desolation, which sometimes oblige our neigh- 
 bours to do us this good office, are accordingly 
 hailed with pleasure by these sages; and the tem- 
 porary evils, which these intestine commotions oc- 
 casionally produce, are not regarded without com- 
 placency ; these being held to produce the per- 
 turbation requisite, for hurling that destruction on 
 the heads of others, which is to render them depen- 
 dent on our supplies. At the best, and when things 
 go on as we would have them, our whole race (the 
 heads of leading families alone excepted ; for whose 
 sakes all their other members, throughout every con- 
 secutive generation, are, as it were sucessively 
 immolated,) are seen to be incessantly busied, in 
 jostling each other from the vantage ground of en- 
 terprise, wearing out their best energies in frivo- 
 lous displays, and bearing down their character in 
 licentious celibacy, until, under the chariot wheels 
 of the common destroyer, they pay their forfeit for 
 their perversity. All this, however, we are grave- 
 ly told, is necessary to procure for us an amplitude 
 of hands and of means, to maintain our nation in its
 
 1099 
 
 resplendent condition. On looking at the ordinaiy 
 employments of the prosperous part=; of the commu- 
 nity, and marking their assiduity in their respective 
 pursuits — that is — in creating and preparing luxu- 
 ries and embellishments for the use and service of 
 the votaries of fashion and of pleasure, in every 
 country whence the tribute of their wealth is drawn; 
 together with the anxiety and solicitude which they 
 evince, and all of us evince, in keeping the arts 
 and mysteries, exercised in procuring those sup- 
 plies, in our own hands, — we are given to under- 
 stand, that this, too, is indispensibly necessary ; for, 
 it being from our continuous industry and enter- 
 prise, and the supineness of our neighbours, that 
 commercial wealth is drawn, we not only must go on 
 in pampering the corruption, and in inflaming the 
 vanity, of all with whom we have intercourse, but, 
 we must take care that they never learn to do this 
 service for themselves, otherwise, the value of our 
 precious supplies will immediately fall off. On noting 
 the poverty and scantiness of the returns, which we 
 nevertheless must put up with for all our costly con- 
 tributions, and that these traverse our own industry, 
 and thus prove so much to tiie loss and detriment of 
 the nation at large, that we would at times be better 
 without them ; we are told of the importance of hav- 
 ing foreign balances at our command, on which, as 
 a nation in such high circumstances, we can ope- 
 rate at pleasure. The amount and the pressure of 
 our national debt and public burdens next stare us 
 in the face, together with the ruinous and tremen- 
 dous contests, in which we arc incessantly engaged 
 
 6 7. 2
 
 1100 
 
 in the way of maintaining this high cliaracter ; ex- 
 hibiting as it were the palpable hollowness of our ad- 
 vantages, and of the greatness which these uphold. 
 Even here, however, our complaisant sages do not 
 forsake us ; they point to the glory with which 
 we are surrounded, the dignified attitude we can 
 maintain, the aggrandizement that has fallen to our 
 share, and the national prowess which we, on all 
 suitable occasions, thereby disclose. Thus, we are 
 persuaded to console ourselves for the loss of the 
 sweetest and purest of human joys, for the lack of 
 moral improvement, for the prevalence of corrupt- 
 ing and deteriorating influences, and for our das- 
 tardliness in the discharge of the highest of all du- 
 ties, the communication of the blessings and im- 
 provements which we possess, to all with whom we 
 are conversant, and for the consequent forfeiture 
 of the rich behests, with which the faithful discharge 
 of these duties is connected. 
 
 Nothing can be more certain than that wicked- 
 ness and misery, oppression and debasement, will 
 continue to go on, until they are effectually stopped 
 by a much more powerful agency, than any that 
 can be brought against them by merehiunan force ; 
 and that, while this is the case, every subtraction 
 that we make from their amount, every mitigation 
 that we can give to their asperity, all the blessings 
 that we can elicit from their operation, and all the 
 advantages that we can extract from their existence, 
 are to be hailed, as victories gained over the evil 
 principle, and cherished as benefits of the most es-
 
 1101 
 
 timable kind. But wlieii we see it laid down as a 
 maxim, that this evil is to be pursued for the sake 
 of that good ; as if there was a necessary tendency in 
 the evil to produce the good ; and received as an 
 axiom, that there is a deplorable calamity hanging- 
 over our heads, which this evil repels ; that inexpli- 
 cable horrors arc attendant on excess of population, 
 and that we are in continual danger of this excess ; 
 it becomes every intelligent being to examine the 
 position, thus boldly advanced, with all its impli- 
 cations, before he give way to its import. The 
 rude savage, who sees his extensive forests with 
 difficulty furnishing his scanty supplies, would 
 doubtless be excusable, although he appeared in- 
 credulous, when informed of the millions, which, 
 by dint of improvement, these might be made to sus- 
 tain; but the man and the nation — who have learned 
 what the divine blessing can enable us to extract 
 from well-directed industry and enterprise ; who 
 hear God's voice, commanding them to multiply and 
 replenish the earth, and assuring them of his bene- 
 diction ; who perceive this multij)lication and this 
 replenishment, not only constantly going hand in 
 hand, but continually developing fresher and greater 
 excellence, raising and supporting masses of social 
 and national grandeur, of moral and natural dignity, 
 more and more energetic and sublime ; always pre- 
 serving a correspondence to, and coincidence with, 
 existing circumstances, and always exhibiting influ- 
 ences congenial to our highest interests, and purest 
 designs — I say that such rationalists cannot with 
 impunity indulge in such scepticism. ]"or my part,
 
 1102 
 
 sooner would I admit that improvement might go 
 on interminably, until it absolutely resolved itself 
 into a superior state of things, or that nature herself 
 would disclose new powers, principles and opera- 
 tions, of which we have as yet no conception, than 
 allow the fallacies which this scepticism implies, to 
 have the smallest weight on my mind. In regard to 
 such matters, however, one thing is most certain, 
 that they describe a range that is altogether above 
 our faculties of conception. We have the know- 
 ledge and the experience of the divine benignity 
 and supremacy ; and in these, with respect to such 
 matters, it becomes us most unreservedly to confide. 
 In pursuing that path of duty, which is laid open 
 before us, we are certain, that, in so far as we our- 
 selves are concerned, we confide not in vain. As 
 for the rest, it is the most unwarrantable presump- 
 tion to question the Almighty's provident care. 
 
 Now, let it be noticed, that in following out the 
 views now laid down, and in diffusing improvement 
 in itsfirstprinciples,nosuch humiliating depression, 
 in contemplating its course, can take place. Ages 
 have already matured to us axioms, which place 
 these matters fully under our eye, and have fur- 
 nished us with maxims, which we cannot disregard 
 without doing violence to our clearest perceptions. 
 Nothing is more consistent with the views thus 
 obtained, than that labor and talent, improved, con- 
 centrated, directed and exercised under such influ- 
 ences, must, as far as human sagacity can penetrate, 
 provide for us a redundancy of all things necessary
 
 1103 
 
 for human existence, sufficient to outshoot all our 
 ordinary faculties for consuming them. This po- 
 sition, it is apprehended, will be disputed by none. 
 That an increase of population, trained to follow 
 up these advantages, will, in ordinary cases ensue, 
 and that the continuous exertions of this encreased 
 population will, in following out established advan- 
 tages, only the more anticipate our faculties of con- 
 sumption, are positions, equally consistent with all 
 past experience, and to be with equal conHdcnce 
 looked forward to, wdl be as little disputed. We 
 must assume therefore, that these positions, in so far 
 as they go, are fair and proper grounds for us to take, 
 in judging of the ordinary progress of human affairs, 
 under our own established system ; and on assuming 
 this, we must admit, that the whole blessings, pecu- 
 liar to ourselves, emanate from, and arise out of 
 that grand beneficent order of things, which chris- 
 tian and independent influences have procured for 
 us, that all our acquirements resolve themselves into 
 other acquirements greater and higher, that these 
 ulterior acquirements call forth fresh facilities, and 
 more capacious advantages, tor subsequent resolu- 
 tions, and that, having attained these advantages 
 and facilities, the state of society, the whole march 
 of human affairs, is carried forward amidst a course 
 of universal amelioration, in which the improve- 
 ment of the character, and the advancement of the 
 condition, of every individual, is comprised. Wc 
 hence come to discern, that it is to the human being 
 himself, that all the resolutions of our system neces- 
 sarily converge. Either his passions or i)leasures are
 
 1104 
 
 fostered, or his character or condition bettered. 
 Society itself, in the meantime, in its form and as- 
 pect, indicating both the strength and the tendency 
 of these resolutions, developcs organized power 
 and means, that mark the high or the low standard 
 of excellence that is received, and therein prevails. 
 Our bounden duty and primary interest thereupon 
 appear to be so conjoined, as to be absolutely inse- 
 parable, and they lead us distinctly to perceive that 
 it is indispensibly necessary for us to have a su- 
 preme regard to the improvement of the species, 
 and to take the widest, fullest, strongest and clear- 
 est views of our path of duty, in following out these 
 views. We must consider man as himself tlie ulti- 
 mate object of regard, his personal concerns, ag- 
 gregately considered, as paramount to every display 
 of national or physical prowess j and since we 
 know, that we must pass our whole natural and ac- 
 quired means and powers, talents and resources, into 
 the hands of our successors, it becomes us to take 
 care that these resolve not themselves in vain, but 
 answer most completely that good end, which our 
 best feelings and most improved perceptions lay 
 before us; that we exclude nonewilfully from our 
 oood offices ; and that the whole concerns thus in- 
 eluded have the most extended range of develope- 
 ment. In short, in order to have the urgency and 
 importance of colonizing, on fair and pure princi- 
 ples, demonstrated to our fullest conviction, it is 
 only necessary, to have the whole circumstances of 
 our subject spread out before us, and in order te
 
 1105 
 
 have the fallacy of these doctrines, which would im- 
 pair or traverse that progression in improvement, 
 which dcvelopes itself in colonizing projects, fully 
 before us, it is only necessary to contemplate the 
 character and tendency, bearing and operation of 
 those principles, on which these proceed. 
 
 But it is said, that we must leave a family name 
 behind us, have it perpetuated, and for this pur- 
 pose, have it, along with the great mass of our pro- 
 perty and attainments, handed down in the most 
 direct line of primogeniture. We forget, however, 
 that in this favoured line, for any thing that we can 
 know, only disgrace may appear ; that it may sink 
 under oppression, or become the instrument of it. 
 Yet the fact is, that it is in this very point that the 
 charm lies ; the interests of the best and greatest 
 part of our offspring, though incomparably more dear 
 to our hearts than all the other objects for which 
 they are immolated, with their minds whetted for 
 high employment and indulgence, are disposed of, 
 according to some left-handed contrivance, in con- 
 sequence of the prevailing sentiment, for the sake 
 of this very consideration, so problematical in its 
 character, and so unavailing in its import. Let 
 the plan before us be but duly examined, and the 
 folly of such costly sacrifices will appear. In place 
 of one solitary line, docked short at every genera- 
 tion, and perpetually immured within one set of ob- 
 jects, this plan gives us an indefinite number of lines 
 spreading themselves, in the female, as well as in the 
 male line ; at every turn of affairs, embracing high 
 
 7 A
 
 1106 
 
 national concerns, and acquiring vast territorial 
 possessions in the different quarters of the world -, 
 each having their energies impressed with the most 
 dignified and important principles of action, each 
 strengthening and confirming the attainments of 
 the other, and each generally conducing to the 
 welfare of the parent line. These considerations 
 cannot but be held to be conclusive in favor of the 
 plan for which we contend, if this plan is viewed 
 in that fair and full light which our circumstan- 
 ces require ; they miglit be greatly amplified ; it is 
 enough, however, thus to hint at them. I earnestly 
 wish the great leaders of our nation would serious- 
 ly take up this subject, in that most interest- 
 ing light, which it necessarily presents to them, 
 and follow it out through all its bearings on their 
 own, and on the public concernments. By so doing, 
 their minds would expand, so as to embrace vast 
 views of public and private advantage, of the high- 
 est importance to themselves and their country ; 
 to see the powerful character of the benefits and 
 blessings, that must result from prosecuting the 
 o-reat plan of improvement now laid down ; and to 
 dismiss with indignation that presumptuous sophis- 
 try, which, ignis-fatuus like, devours the understand- 
 ing, and leads the judgment into paths that are 
 replete with criminality and danger ; and, which, 
 implying a delusion, lamentable as well as horrible, 
 disposes mankind to walk blindly forward, amidst 
 the paths of infidelity, towards objects at once vile 
 and flagitious, as if the secrets of providence, like as 
 it was one time held the secrets of nature, could be
 
 1107 
 
 made to give way to the magical touch of the phi- 
 losopher's wand. 
 
 Scouting, therefore, the fallacies of a vain philo- 
 sophy, which would set aside our best established 
 principles, let us, as a nation, follow out the path of 
 duty that is laid open before us ; let us freely 
 communicate of our exuberance to those who can 
 turn it to the best account, and spare neither our 
 means, our population, our powers nor our acquire- 
 ments, when we know that these can be productive 
 of real good. We have not to wander amidst 
 mazes that are unexplored ; for the course, which 
 mild and benevolent exercises, as well as that, which 
 industry and enterprise describe, in realizing to us 
 the value of our investments, has been determined 
 with an accuracy, and marked off with a perspicuity, 
 that render it impossible for us to go wrong. We 
 have not, in this course, to drop out of our hands 
 the value of our exertions and sacrifices, or, consider- 
 ing ourselves as devoted to sublime services, to look 
 solely for correspondentsublimeand rcmotcYewards. 
 No ; in this course, besides these returns, we may 
 expect others more suited to our present circum- 
 stances ; returns, which, to our immediate appre- 
 hension, must appear at once invaluable, interest- 
 ing, and most delectable. We prepare mankind for 
 that equitable commercial intercourse, which are 
 necessary for our occasions, and we reap the first 
 and best fruits of it ; we provide a receptacle for 
 wealth and improvement in foreign regions, and 
 we place ourselves in the chief scat of this recep- 
 
 7 A 2
 
 1108 
 
 tacle. In the meantime, we snatch our junior off- 
 spring from the altar, consecrated to licentiousness 
 and disorder. The great bulk of society, the whole 
 dependent part of the superior classes, and the 
 whole excluded and oppressed part of the inferior, 
 are thus restored to their proper place in society, and 
 ■we, by their instrumentality, provide an asylum 
 for our race, its establishments, institutions, acquire- 
 ments and advantages. We incorporate the whole 
 under one great dominant head, so constituted, as 
 to concentrate and diffuse the brightest honours 
 and advantages of the whole great community. 
 This, however, is only to be accomplished by build- 
 ing on the true foundation ; by disseminating those 
 principles, on which alone, the charities and thebles- 
 sings of our system can fully develope themselves. 
 We must not only bless but confide in each other, 
 not only transfer advantages, but cordially emulate 
 in our good offices to thos:*, who are turning these 
 advantages to the best acount. This is the spirit 
 of our system ; without this spirit its operations 
 must always be languid, irregular and insecure ; but, 
 under its influences, all that is out of place or dis- 
 tempered will speedily find its cuie. It becomes us, 
 accordingly, to cherish this spirit by every method 
 in our power ; never to be alarmed at petty dis- 
 appointments, although tiiese should imply difficul- 
 ties which we cannot solve ; and never to be ashamed 
 of its services, although these should demand sa- 
 crifices, not only of our means, but of our personal 
 feelings, such as, according to ordinary apprehen- 
 sions, seem to outmeabure their object.
 
 1109 
 
 We have now before us the grand ultimate reso- 
 lutions of that vast system, the multifarious deve- 
 lopements of which have been the subject of all 
 our illustrations. These final results coincide alike 
 with its beneficent character and glorious design. 
 They disclose themselves more or less in all its ope- 
 rations ; but, in the end, the whole advantages, that 
 have been attained, appear as absorbed under the 
 superior lustre, which the ameliorated condition and 
 exalted character of the human being himself, the 
 ultimate as well as the proximate object of regard, 
 gives forth. At the outset, it was seen, that though 
 industry and enterprise, urged forward in their most 
 productive course, by coercive influences, raised 
 the personal prowess of a few leading characters, 
 they left the great mass of the community, in a 
 great measure destitute, both of enjoyment and of 
 improvement, and bound up hopelessly under in- 
 fluences at once indurate and ensanguined. It was 
 Christianity, reinforced by feudalism, that tore these 
 concrete bonds asunder, and scattered the horrific 
 elements of which they were composed, to the wind. 
 The wants and desires of man, individually consid- 
 ered, in all liis circumstances, becoming thereupo)i 
 the object of universal regard, the processes of in- 
 dustry, of civil and institutional polity, were alike 
 conformed to his personal circumstances ; the scien- 
 ces and tlie arts, of which man, individually and in 
 society is the tlicnic, and of which his improvement 
 and advancement are the design, were thereupon 
 universally cultivated, cherished and matured. But 
 amidst the degenerating tendencies of our nature.
 
 1110 
 
 and the inanity of our general pursuits, a variety of 
 arts and other matters of regard acquired predomi- 
 nancy, and absorbed many of our best attainments 
 under their influences. In consequence of this, 
 concretion takes place in tlie superior places of our 
 system, amongst the leading ranks, and amidst 
 scenes of the most complicated enterprise ; the 
 great objects, on which individual regard ought to 
 be incessantly exercised, thereby losing their char- 
 acter. In the end we see, that by taking clear, strong 
 and full views of our situation we can reach the 
 source of the evil ; and by applying, steadily and 
 pertinaciously, the means that rise into our hands, 
 we can disentangle the superinduced concretion, 
 and dispose the course of improvement to flow 
 powerfully onward to its great leading objects, so 
 as, by dint of the potency and intensity of its own 
 operations, to clear its channel of its most formida- 
 ble obstructions, and thus to lay fully open the grand 
 ultimate design of all improvement. 
 
 We hereupon discover the importance of adhering 
 closely, to the regular path of duty. In the way 
 of free equitable enterprise, and in that alone, our 
 industiy is seen to receive all that incitation that 
 is necessary to render it effectual to the end for 
 which it is mainly destinated, that of returning to 
 us the full value of its fruits. We see farther, that 
 our characters, thereby rendered conformable to our 
 circumstances, and our energies thereby habituated 
 to correspondent exertions, receive those various 
 necessary improvements, which are the next object
 
 nil 
 
 of industry. Attainments of a public and private 
 kind being, by the same means, procured, we are 
 then led by the help of these attainments, duly or- 
 ganized in the high paths of excellence, towards 
 the supreme objects of our system ; each step 
 in this progress, rendering the next step easier, and 
 every consecutive acquirement proving an impulse 
 as well as a facility and an advantage, to the reach- 
 ing of the next. In fact, we have discerned, that in 
 the order of human society, there is comprised a se- 
 ries of resolutions, always evolving themselves in 
 higher and larger spheres ; begun excellence becom- 
 ing the parent and the forerunner of farther excel- 
 lence. In such circumstances, we see the advantage 
 of seeking constantly larger and larger ranges of en- 
 terprise, wherein, by exercising and transmitting the 
 evolving influences, a regorgement of means, to the 
 prejudiceof attainments already made, may be pre- 
 vented ; that as the ranges thus required lie around 
 us on every side, it is only requisite to remove un- 
 seemly obstructions ; and that as the principles of 
 system will thereby be also expedited in their de- 
 velopement, the benignant influences and impulses 
 already established will effectuate the necessary 
 changes ; the system itself having been too long and 
 too completely established, its principles too amply 
 diffused and its elements too intensely adapted to the 
 great object before it, and of a character too pow- 
 erful and too sublime to call for or admit of extrinsic 
 interference, or, when such is ollercd, to give way 
 to its impulses. In fine, we see that it is by following 
 out these tendencies that are best and purest, and by
 
 1112 
 
 administering those facilities that are most just and 
 forcible in themselves, and most closely applicable 
 to the circumstances that demand our greatest re- 
 gard, and by this way, and by these means alone 
 that we can hold ourselves to have reached these 
 grand ultimate resolutions, into which our various 
 illustrations have led. 
 
 It is now proper to revert to another part of our 
 subject. The bare extension of our commercial 
 range, and improvement of the circumstances of 
 our industry, are known to be of little avail to us, 
 without a plenitude of that financial instrument, 
 which constitutes at once the menstruum of these 
 processes, and their ultimate resolution ; bearing 
 these onward to the advantages before them, and re- 
 presenting these advantages when attained. The pa- 
 per currency which now serves us as this instrument, 
 is upheld by the capabilities of men in business ; 
 which capabilities rest chiefly on the success of ge- 
 neral adventure, as measured by balances of value, 
 secured amidst interchanges of commodities, which 
 are always ready to fall off, and even to disappear, 
 and to carry along with them the whole financial 
 prowess which they had upheld. To the other con- 
 tingencies of general adventure, we have at present, 
 therefore, to add those that arise from the peculiar 
 qualities of that instrument, which serves us as the 
 menstruum of our commercial processes. In order 
 to procure those articulate obligations, in virtue of 
 the transference of which, this instrument is drawn 
 forth into circulation, the courses of industr}'
 
 1113 
 
 and enterprise, that happen to have become estab- 
 lished, be they ever so useless or prejudicial, must 
 be urged on. Tlie loss and detriment that frequently 
 ensue, cannot but increase the difficulties of every 
 emergency; invaluable means and resources are 
 transferred to foreign countries, where they are in a 
 great degree fruitlessly absorbed ; while the best en- 
 ergies and faculties of the system are hopelessly ex- 
 hausted in services, which are lost to the state. Not- 
 withstanding all our sacrifices for the attainment of 
 this instrument, it but too frequently happens that 
 it refuses us its aid ; tor the connexion and mutual 
 dependence, subsisting betwixt the different courses 
 of adventure, sometimes run the general fortunes of 
 whole communities into one,. and thereby render the 
 difficulties of a few individuals common to a multi- 
 tude of others Nay, as if to render the concretion 
 thus produced, in a manner absolute and universal, 
 articulate obligations, on the strength of which a- 
 lone the financial instrument is to be obtained, must, 
 according as difficulties increase, carry along with 
 them fresh financial prowess, sufficient not only to 
 meet, but to satiate the jealous cupidity of those, on 
 whom the emission of this instru rent depends. The 
 national Bank, suprenely presiding over such ope- 
 rations, becomes accordingly at once the source 
 and the receptacle of financial prowess, the umpire 
 and the efficient cause of individual claims on pub- 
 lic confidence. Thus she is charged with functions 
 for which she has no faculties, but such as arise 
 from her ascendancy, and this ascendancy she 
 maintains, by virtue of that concretion which her 
 
 7 B
 
 1114 
 
 procedure induces. The whole circle of our com- 
 mercial and financial enterprises, comprising the 
 concernments of individuals of all classes, is thus, 
 as it were, merged into one. On these enterprises 
 thus aggregated, the fate of every individual pro- 
 cess is rendered more or less dependent, although 
 this dependence is neither necessary in itselfj nor 
 at all calculated to serve any good purpose. 
 
 It will be recollected that the plan of finance, 
 proposed in this treatise, mnst effectually dissolve 
 this concretion. The establishment of provincial 
 banks, resting on internal resources, such as the re- 
 productive powers of each district can easily supply, 
 must so far relieve each community, from baneful de- 
 pendence on the solution of articulate obligations for 
 its supplies of the financial instrument, (the induc- 
 tive cause of this concretion,) that individuals pos- 
 sessed of real property will find themselves placed 
 in such circumstances, that the supplies which 
 their peculiar processes of improvement call for, 
 during any stretch of adventure, will not only be at 
 hand ; (the property, transferable for that purpose 
 to these local banks, being replaced or withdrawn 
 without embarrassment to the proprietor,) but, un- 
 der this transference, the property transferred will 
 continue to yield its fruits, and may all the time 
 be improved and enjoyed. The plenitude of the 
 value that is called for, on making these transferen- 
 ces, while it will give real validity to the paper 
 emitted, must constitute a check of the very best 
 kind on the circulatory process, preventing its in-
 
 1115 
 
 crease beyond due limits, and confining its servi- 
 ces to that intercourse, which, from the circumstan- 
 ces of the case, must be most beneficial and saluta- 
 ry to all concerned. This plan it was seen, though 
 primarily destinated for the immediate service of 
 the reproductive processes, necessarily suited itself 
 to the whole circumstances of the community, ex- 
 pediting enterprises the most remote in their re- 
 sults, as well as the most immediate ; entering with 
 every advantage into colonial intercourse, and the 
 business of government ; and always performing the 
 whole functions of the instrument of exchange with 
 celerity and advantage. 
 
 I MUST nevertheless remark, that the complexity 
 of the principles, on which these several financial 
 processes were established, though, on that very ac- 
 count the more adapted to general enterprise, do 
 not so readily enter into, or amalgamate with, the 
 grand colonial design, now held to be instituted, 
 as the basis of such enterprise. In many situations, 
 where the want of financial means would be a se- 
 rious evil, such financial processes could not be kept 
 regularly and steadily in motion, and even in cases 
 where this could be done, the avocations and cir- 
 cumstances of individuals would not admit of their 
 burdening themselves and their property with the 
 detail of such affairs. For these reasons, and others 
 that will afterwards appear, I am disposed to bring 
 forward another great mass of financial resources, 
 which are most eminently appropriate to the whole 
 business in hand, and which, from their peculiar 
 
 7 B 2
 
 1116 
 
 importance in our system, may for a time near- 
 ly supercede the plan formerly laid down. With 
 that plan their leading movements and operations 
 may be held to be, on the whole, perfectly coinci- 
 dent. They proceed on the same principles, they 
 affect their objects in a similar manner, they must 
 at the same time tend to produce the same results, 
 for they are borne on by the same train of circum- 
 stances. That they admit, too, of the same or si- 
 milar restraints and limitations, in their progress 
 through the circle of general intercourse, will also 
 most distinctly appear. 
 
 In these circumstances, with these views and 
 prospects before us, and for the purpose and de- 
 sign of giving every furtherance and assistance in 
 our power to the developement and progress of the 
 whole grand and glorious project, in all its parts, 
 as these have been illustrated in the course of this 
 treatise, 1 have therefore to propose a simplification 
 and extension of the great financial scheme former- 
 ly laid down, in order to make it adequate to, and 
 commciisuiate with, the whole circumstances to 
 which it must now be applied. The national debt 
 of Great Britain, although it affects the nation at 
 large as a burden, is evidently, to the individual 
 creditors who hold it, an immense aggregation of 
 capital stock, which might, with much advantage, 
 be thrown into circulation. As it stands at pre- 
 sent, it is a dead weight on every great national 
 enterprise, a curb on all our exertions, which fetters 
 and sets limits to our most ordinary procedure, so
 
 1117 
 
 as frequently to make these fail of their object. 
 But wliile, as it thus affects our national measures, 
 it maims and traverses the progression of improve- 
 ment, absorbs its strength, and represses its vital 
 energies, it may, as wealth drawn up in the hands 
 of British subjects, circulable as well as accumula- 
 tive and productive, be made to expand and envi- 
 gorate the whole active powers of the system, and 
 to infuse life and strength into its most difficult ope- 
 rations. On this basis, the plan now to be proposed 
 rests ; it is in itself neither complicated nor diffi- 
 cult of application ; it derives its main advantages 
 from being introduced amidst improvements of the 
 highest class, and it is to be preserved in exercise by 
 being kept constantly under the impression of the 
 whole circumstances of these improvements. For 
 this last reason, with a direct view to these improve- 
 ments, and to the end that it may accomplish, in the 
 easiest and most effectual manner, the whole pur- 
 poses that have, in the course of this treatise, been 
 explained and announced, is it now proposed. It 
 consists in these two things. First, that it be made 
 optional to the proprietors of the public funds ("begin- 
 ning "iiith those rating at three per cent. J to have their 
 property/ in these converted at the quarterly terms into 
 authoritative impledgements, circulable all over the Em- 
 pire, including all its colonies and provinces, but not 
 bearing interest ; and next, that it be in like manner 
 made optional to all holders of these authoritative inu 
 pledgements, after a certain lapse of time, to require 
 that these be reconverted into the same description of 
 stock, bearing interestfrom that term as formerly. This
 
 1118 
 
 simple arrangement, which might be carried into 
 effect at the sight of special committees from both 
 houses of parliament, would have all the advanta- 
 ges of the plan formerly laid down, provided that 
 it was carried into effect, according to the design 
 and method therein stated, and acted upon under 
 the views, and in the circumstances now under con- 
 sideration. It never could be made instrumental 
 in corrupting our civil constitution, or undermin- 
 ing the legislative authority of the houses of parlia- 
 ment, while such glorious objects were before them ; 
 nor could it produce any depretiation of the circu- 
 lating medium, when it could be so easily resolved 
 into fixed capital, or converted, according as the 
 real exigencies of the case required it, into the 
 precious metals in the manner that is formerly laid 
 down *. That the leading results under this plan 
 would be nearly the same as under the former, must 
 appearobviousjif we consider that while the same ob- 
 ject is pursuing, and the same instruments affected, 
 industry and enterprise, of that kind which suited 
 
 * It is accordingly understood that different facilities pro- 
 posed in page 574-, for the purpose of expedithig all the neces- 
 sary resolutions of validated impledgments into the several kinds 
 of bullion, be adopted and carried into effect under the authori- 
 ty of the state : as also, that the process laid down in a note on 
 620, for fabricating the paper, of which these notes are to be 
 composed, together with the method therein proposed for exe- 
 cuting and applying the engraving, be severally resorted to and 
 followed out in their design. The limitation of the term of cur. 
 rency, and preventing its being defaced or mutilated, already 
 pointed out, and various other provisions of the like tendency* 
 are also understood to obtain the like regard.
 
 1119 
 
 the course of improvement, and corresponded to the 
 above circumstances, would be stimulated, support- 
 ed, and carried onward to its object under every 
 advantage. As these authoritative impledgements, 
 though universally circulable, could only be ob- 
 tained by the regular delivery of value received, 
 and reputed as such in the public market, genius 
 and talent would in like manner be excited ; where- 
 by industry would not only be carried onward to its 
 object in the most direct manner, but be improved 
 in all its results, and in all its circumstances, and be 
 advanced in its leading ends and designs. "While 
 colonial and commercial enterprise would thus be 
 replenished with means the most appropriate to 
 their object, and while individual prosperity would 
 go forward with a determinate and irrefragable pace, 
 individual character would become more estimable, 
 and individual acquirements and pursuits more im- 
 portant ; and wliiie the number of those in respecta- 
 ble and independent circumstances would thus be 
 constantly increasing, and their faculties of enjoy- 
 ment and of usefulness constantly distending, the 
 amount and the value of all our great public and 
 general acquisitions, institutions, and other means 
 of improvement, would, in like manner, and on the 
 sime principles, be augmented in capacity and 
 number, as well as in power and in importance. 
 
 1 -KNOW very well the strong prejudices that pre- 
 vail against all government agency in forming pa- 
 per money. It is said, that the state from its impe- 
 rious situation, may emit more paper money than
 
 1120 
 
 than the public are disposed to receive ; that even 
 within the narrowest limits, the confidence reposed 
 may be abused, and the means entrusted perverted ; 
 and that though the great trust sliould be thus vio- 
 lated in the grossest manner, there are at hand no 
 means adequate to the task of procuring redress, no 
 instrument fitted for reaching the source of the ag- 
 gression. The well established experience, of past 
 ages, in all countries, gives mucii countenance to 
 the difficulties thus stated, and render it necessary 
 for us to pause, before we can venture to dismiss 
 objections thus urged. It is completely understood, 
 that government is to enter upon the business with 
 caution, to emit no currency but such as can be at 
 once absorbed into the system, and to augment their 
 emissions, only as the increased occasions of the 
 public draws these from them. Still, however, 
 it is plain, that until we can preclude every idea of 
 uncertainty as to the character and operation of 
 the great agent, we must hesitate before we give 
 way to mere views of expedieucy. 
 
 That these considerations, from the power and 
 prevalence of corruption in civil administrations, 
 and from the laxity of the general order of respon- 
 sibility in public affairs, are liighly important, and 
 imply difficulties of no ordinary kind, is not to be 
 disputed. It is not enough to point to the dignity 
 oi the services in which these financial *©4^¥»e«6 are 
 to be employed, nor to the extent of the public 
 and private advantage, to be obtained in the fair 
 and regular use of these advantages, and thence
 
 1121 
 
 to claim, for our own government, a peculiar supe- 
 riority of character in regard to procedure. AVe can 
 as little appeal to the results of the Bank of Eng- 
 land's suspension of payments in bullion, as a proof 
 and instance of the efficacy of the varied checks and 
 restraints, whicii our circumstances impose on mal- 
 versation ; or adduce the care, accuracy and fidelity 
 whicli designate our complicated receipts, in the 
 Custom, Excise, and other public imposts, and in 
 the no less complicated disbursements of our pub- 
 lic expenditure, as indications of the strength and 
 integrity of the principles of our own system, and 
 as measures of the precision of their application 
 to their appropriate objects, sufficient to establish 
 our right to a general exemption from the charge 
 that is thus roundly laid against all government 
 agency, and furnisliing good grounds, vvhereupon 
 to rest a challenge for all that confidence and defe- 
 rence, that the case now before us seems to require. 
 Amidst all these grounds of assurance, the main 
 difficulty still remains. Government is now to be 
 called on to act in a new character, that of emit- 
 ting the financial instruments, which serve us in the 
 capacity of a menstruum to our reproductive proces- 
 ses, and represent in our liands, the ultimate reso- 
 lutions of these processes. 1 he Bank of England, 
 and other great public establishments, which have 
 a deep and an inunediate common interest with 
 the nation at largcs ^^t present furnish us with this 
 instrument ; but there is something in our circum- 
 stances that serves as a regular check to their pro- 
 cedure, in their emissions o( tl)is instrument. It is
 
 1122 
 
 evident, however, that Government can be brought 
 under none of these checks ; for its interests, para- 
 mount to every other, will, whenever the case re- 
 quires it, be exhibited as occupying a range that is 
 completely above public control ; and while its 
 debts are so immense, and its expenditure so enor- 
 mous, this trust would but prove the greatest pos- 
 sible temptation for it to display this superiority 
 in the most decided form ; not only in emitting au- 
 thoritative impledgements, beyond all due bounds, 
 but in applying their value to purposes altogether 
 different from those, for which the power of emit- 
 ting them might be granted. 
 
 In answer, however, to all these general objec- 
 tions, I have to remark, first, that the conversion 
 of stock into circulable impledgments, is not to be 
 effected according to the will or option of the state, 
 but according to the will and option of stockhol- 
 ders ; that this conversion is only to take place with- 
 in those limits, and according to those regulations, 
 that the legislature is to appoint ; and that the agen- 
 cy of converting the one into the other, is to be 
 conducted under the inspection of committees from 
 both houses of parliament. But farther, we see that 
 Government is thereby to be brought under no 
 obligations, but such as it can easily and most sa- 
 tisfactorily fulfil, without either trouble, difficulty 
 or hazard. If Government impledged itself to give 
 forth cash or bullion, or to perform any thing, the 
 fulfilment of which depended on contingent cir- 
 cumstances, there might be some ground for hesi
 
 1123 
 
 tating before we received its assurances. But what 
 does it do ? It merely issues an instrument, setting 
 tbrtbjtliat in consequence of the delivery of so much 
 three per cent, stock, the circulatory instrument in 
 hand carries along with it, a specific quantity of 
 the national medium, to be at the public ex- 
 chequer, anew converted into national stock, in 
 terms of the act of parliament, at the requirement 
 of the holder. This obligation, government can, 
 may, and will most certainly fulfil, whatever the 
 posture of public affairs may be. It is not very easy 
 to conceive how abuse can find its way into the 
 procedure hereto necessary. The business itself 
 is simple, and, to an immense extent, maybe done 
 by a very few hands. Those hands may be made 
 to account every night for the means entrusted to 
 them, merely by casting up the sum originally given, 
 whicli must, in stock and in impledgments, at all 
 times give out precisely the same amount. The 
 advantage accruing to the nation enters not into 
 the transactions of the agents thus entrusted ; for it 
 appears only in the saving of interest, on the long 
 score of the national debt, which of course will ap- 
 pear in another department of public affairs, and 
 be checked in the usual way. If proper attention 
 is paid by those witli whom the superin tendance 
 lies, no malversation, to the most trifling extent, 
 can possibly take place. Government, itself, there- 
 fore, in the business now under consideration, is 
 merely the fulcrum or pivot, on which each transac- 
 tion turns. One species of public property is to 
 be converted into another, and its servants have no 
 
 7 c 2
 
 1124 
 
 more to do but to trim and adjust the scale, by 
 means of which the conversion is made ; which trim- 
 ming and adjusting, proceed under the eye of the 
 whole parties mainly interested, and admit neither 
 of fraudulent nor oppressive interference. 
 
 Secondly, money, or the circulatory medium, 
 is, strictly and absolutely, circulatory pouer which, 
 in the hands of the possessor, can be stretched and ex- 
 ercised over all objects^ services and considerations 
 that happen, for the time, to be marketable, and who- 
 ever he be that stands in the situation of debtor to 
 another, is, from the necessity of his situation, ob- 
 ligated to deliver this circulatory power, or the 
 medium, the instrument that carries it, to his cre- 
 ditor. These conditions are absolute, and in strict 
 justice they admit of no qualification wliatever, al- 
 though the debtor or party obligated should hap- 
 pen to be a whole community, with its sovereign 
 and senate at its head ; and the party in whose 
 favor the obligation has been drawn up, a parcel of 
 Jew brokers, of no name or consideration whatever. 
 If you want to make a common cause with these 
 Jew brokers, you may clothe your procedure in 
 mystery and ambiguity, and either keep the matter 
 of ultimate payment out of view, or shroud in dark- 
 ness, the circumstances of the resolution, in such a 
 way, as to throw the management of this business out 
 of your own hand into theirs. T)o we then trim our 
 procedure for the benefit of stock-jobbers, whose 
 earnings and lucky speculations arise from their sa- 
 gacity or good luck, in seizing the moment when the
 
 1125 
 
 state of the money market favors their speculations ? 
 Although it is impossible to believe that Government 
 could warily conform its procedure to the views 
 of such gentry; yet this much must be admitted, 
 that were this the main object of the British Govern- 
 ment, it could not more etlectually subserve the lead- 
 ing interests of stock-jobbers tliau it now does. Give 
 to the holders of stock, aggregately considered, that 
 facility of converting their funds into the medium 
 which is now contended for, and you destroy all 
 the vacillations, on which the wily schemes of 
 stock-jobbers are founded. 
 
 The truth and force of the above remark will ap- 
 pear altogether irresistible, if we attend to the ope- 
 ration of the foregoing improve.nent or innovation 
 in the proposed financial scheuie. Tliat it would 
 regulate with much precision, the developement of 
 our financial resources, and indicate their capabili- 
 ties and tendencies, with pro.nptitude and accuracy; 
 and that it would by these means prevent luulue va- 
 cillation in the public funds, and restore these again 
 to their equilibrium when unduly affected, must be 
 very manifest. While these funds remained at par 
 with legal interest, the extent of the mediUiU of ex- 
 change in circulation, would be indicated to be at 
 its proper limits, and to be influencing every depart- 
 ment of industry and of enterprise, in a fair and e- 
 quitable manner, and in exact proportion to its value 
 and importance. That is, as the money market did 
 call for, any supply to, or subtraction from, the 
 medium then in circulation, so no alteration would
 
 1126 
 
 be produced in it, but what the ordinary course of 
 things, and the circumstances of individuals or of 
 the public might dispose them to introduce. But 
 when these funds sank in value so much, that the 
 legal holder of them received more than legal inte- 
 rest for his money, an indication would be forth- 
 with obtained, that the amount of validated im- 
 pledgments in circulation, was not equal to the 
 public demands for them. This, of course, would 
 induce individuals to convert their funded capital 
 into these impledgments ; or, in other words, to ac- 
 cept from the public, sixty for their three per cents., 
 in place of a smaller sum, from any other quarter. 
 In this case, and by these means, the deficiency in 
 the circulation would be speedily and effectually 
 made up j the courses of industry and enterprise 
 would be served in their regular proportions ; and 
 the price of stock would be restored to its fair es- 
 timation. Oil the other hand, however, when the 
 public funds rose in value so much, that the holders 
 of them did not receive the usual rate of interest 
 for his money, an indication would forthwith be ob- 
 tained, that the amount of validated impledgments 
 in circulation exceeded the public demand for them. 
 This, of course, would induce individuals to re-con- 
 vert circulatory impledgments into funded capital, 
 bearing interest, or, in other words, to accept from 
 the public three per cents, at sixty, when they could 
 not get these, from any other quarter, but at a higher 
 rate. In this case, as in the former, the inequality 
 in the means of circulation would be made up j the 
 surplus would be purged awayj and, while, the
 
 1127 
 
 courses of industry and enterprise would be served 
 in their due proportions, the price of stocks would 
 be preserved within their proper limits, so that on 
 the whole a confidence in the state and in its resour- 
 ces wouhl be created, which could not but be of 
 the last importance to the public creditor, as well as 
 to the state, and the community. The plan formerly 
 laid down, being expressly calculated to provide for 
 us an instrument to expedite the processes of ex- 
 change, and to measure and attest, as well as to re- 
 present, the value thereby circulated, might be held 
 to supercede the necessity of resorting to these new 
 means for procuring this indispensible instrument, if 
 the extroardinary circumstances of our situation 
 were out of the question. But that plan could not 
 regulate the financial processes with the facility, 
 readiness and precision of the plan now under con- 
 sideration. It could neither resolve the surcharges 
 of the public funds, into the service of establish- 
 ments tor industry and enterprise, nor resolve the 
 surcharges of these establishments into these funds, 
 without passing them through those receptacles, 
 wherein the views, interests and caprices of a new 
 set of agents prevail. It therefore merely provides 
 the means tliat are wanted, without destinating 
 them, or impelling them to their object. 
 
 It is necessary for us, at the same time, to attend 
 very particularly to the circumstances, in which we 
 at present stand, before we rest too much on our 
 attainment of the advantages proposed in the fi- 
 nancial plan formerly laid down. It is but too
 
 1128 
 
 probable, tliat it, like many other high national 
 projects, prepared for our advantage, though ap- 
 proved of and adopted, may remain inert, from 
 want of a sufficient stimulus and power to set it 
 agoing. We must recollect, that there lies upon 
 the nation, an immense, and a continually in- 
 creasing burden of debt, which we must ulti- 
 mately bend under, if by some exertions, coi res- 
 ponding to the pressure of these circumstances, 
 we do not extricate ourselves from under its influ- 
 ence. There, there is, as it v»'ere, a vast abyss, 
 which engulphs and absorbs the first and best fruits 
 of our attainments, leaving our enjoyments de- 
 nuded of their sweetest relish, and our avoca- 
 tions impressed with the most coercive influences. 
 The malignant and ruinous consequences of the 
 usurpations, and harassments, of money holders 
 that thereupon ensue, appal each and all of us, and 
 drive us to seek financial relief, wherever it can be 
 found, without calculating very nearly on the ge- 
 neral consequences of the plan which we patronize. 
 The truth is, we cannot calculate on the plan for- 
 merly proposed, until it be carried fully into exe- 
 cution, and we can never expect to find it fully 
 executed, m^til the established form of financial 
 procedure be rendered in some measure indepen- 
 dent of the Bank of England, and of all Bank in- 
 terferences, which have their establishments rested 
 on the present system. It must be held to be one 
 of the advantages of the plan now proposed, that it 
 leads directly and effectually to the ultimate adop- 
 tion of that plan, to the full developement of its
 
 1129 
 
 principles, and to its general establishment, because 
 it effectually supercedes the necessity of this de- 
 pendence. In the mean time it must be contended 
 that it is altogether impossible to state as an objec- 
 tion to it, that as it may be eventually superseded, 
 it is therefore incompetent for us to make our calcu- 
 lations from things as they at present exist. We find 
 ourselves, accordingly, reduced to the necessity of 
 comparing the advantages and the claims of the 
 system at present established and upheld amongst 
 us, with those of that which is now proposed, sim- 
 ply considered, and as taken by itself, before we 
 can estimate their comparative merits j to appre- 
 tiate the responsibility of the Bank of England, 
 and its dependent branches, having the resolubility 
 of their impledgments into the precious metals au- 
 thoritatively suspended, and that of the whole su- 
 preme legislative and executive powers of the 
 country, having their authoritative impledgments 
 articulately expressed and defined, and introduced 
 into circulation in a fair and competent state ; their 
 value being universally recognized, and their ul- 
 timate responsibility being placed out of all doubt 5 
 and to see which is most entitled to oui regard. 
 
 It is proper to begin with noticing, that we must 
 not be deceived with whimsical devotion to claims, 
 without foundation or consistency in themselves, 
 and alike foreign to those of justice and sound 
 policy. Bank of England paper money, like the 
 paper money of any other bank, is nothing but an 
 ideal representation of value, dependent every 
 
 7 D
 
 1130 
 
 hour, and in all its circumstances, on that concen- 
 tration of results, which a number of financial trans- 
 actions give forth. When we come to descend 
 into particulars, and set about decyphering the ab- 
 solute value of these results, they are seen to be 
 in themselves as vapid as those of any similar con- 
 centration of financial means ; they are absolutely 
 dependent on the contingencies of general enter- 
 prise, which again are most absolutely dependent 
 on the general circumstances of the nation. It is 
 true, the Bank of England, since its impledgments 
 have been authoritatively declared to be the ulti- 
 mate resolution of all other impledgments, stands 
 in a most commanding attitude, having virtually 
 the whole marketable and financial means of the 
 nation under its control. But shall we allow it to 
 rest its claims on an advantage that is not necessary 
 nor essential to it, and that it cannot retain JS: one 
 minute longer than our tolerance of it continues ? 
 It is evident then we dare not lay it down as a 
 maxim of state, that, like as Bank of England notes 
 can only be converted into each other, so the na- 
 tional debt can only be converted into these notes ; 
 because we would thereby be claiming a right to 
 place the creditors of the nation, for ever at the 
 mercy of the Bank. This claim would be much more 
 unjust, than if we were at once to tell these debtors 
 that they have no right that we cannot dispense with 
 at pleasure; inasmuch as our conduct would thereby 
 not only imply this very assumption, but proceed up- 
 on it in the most injurious manner possible ; consign- 
 ing the public creditor into the hands of parties who
 
 1131 
 
 have a direct interest in oppressing him, and who 
 can practise this oppression in a manner the most 
 vexatious. The Bank, in such circumstances, might 
 withhold its notes to such a degree, as to oblige 
 the national creditor to sell out stock at rates ex- 
 tremely low ; and it might thereafter, (having pre- 
 viously replenished its own coffers with stock, thus 
 procured at the very lowest prices,) again emit 
 these notes so profusely, as to raise the market 
 price extremely high. Well might the national cre- 
 ditor, in such a case say, the privilege of thus con- 
 verting stock into circulable funds, is sometimes the 
 only thing that is wanted, in order to support us un- 
 der, and extricate us from, our difficulties, why is 
 this privilege withheld ? The public funds can on- 
 ly be converted into the medium, through the nar- 
 row channel which the Bank of England com- 
 mand. Why must this aperture be defended with 
 so much care by the state ? Since no good rea- 
 son can be given, why the public debt of Great Bri- 
 tain should never be liquidated, but through Bank 
 of England notes, and since the nation, as things 
 now stand, can pay off its debt in no other way, but 
 by giving the options now contended for — upon 
 what principles of equity or reason can you withhold 
 these options ; which, in the circumstances sup- 
 posed, will answer precisely the same end, place 
 within the power of the national creditors, either 
 public stock, or the financial instrument, and ren- 
 der them for ever independent of Bank of England 
 politics and all its concernments ? 
 
 7 D 2
 
 1132 
 
 Before you can give a direct answer to these 
 questions, you must consider, that you, as a commu- 
 nity, comprise at once the debtor and the creditor 
 parties of the account, (the amount of the national 
 debt due to foreigners, being in the aggregate too 
 small, to render its subtraction in a general point 
 of view at all necessary,) and that, accordingly, you 
 cannot sacrifice your own interest or that of the 
 state to the body of agents, who may be in the ha- 
 bit of transacting this business, without doing equal 
 detriment to the national creditor and yourselves. 
 
 Since it is evident that the Bank of England has 
 no real right to compel us to accept of her im- 
 pledgments, except such as she has derived from the 
 state, and must surrender to it on demand ; since 
 it is undeniable, that the whole power which the 
 Bank thus exercises may not only be assumed, but 
 be exercised by the state, and since the state, from 
 its circumst5,Dces, is so well qualified and entitled 
 to exercise this very function, it becomes us to en- 
 quire, what these circumstances are, which would 
 influence government to assume this office. We 
 certainly can discharge the functions of this office, 
 in perfect consistency with our duty, character, and 
 interests, and we ought not to be diverted from our 
 purpose, by any other than the most powerful con- 
 siderations. Nay, as it has at length become but too 
 evident, that if we do not forthwith extricate our 
 inherent rights from the thraldom, under which 
 they have fallen, they will become proscribed in 
 the hands of those, who know but too well how to
 
 1133 
 
 avail themselves of the advantage, we must take care 
 that an immunity, incidentally and for a moment, 
 bestowed, be not effectually, though surreptitiously 
 converted into a right of absolute property, to the 
 prejudice of our highest interests, and to the dis- 
 paragement of our most important avocations; 
 whereby we may be not only precipitated into im- 
 mense loss and detriment, but involved in absolute 
 dereliction of duty, and abandonment of those very 
 principles of honor and good faith, to which we all 
 the time, professedly, with so much pertinacity, ad- 
 here. 
 
 But it may be said, that these parties transact- 
 ed with each other, under no other views, but 
 such as present circumstances hold up. This is 
 true, but do not these circumstances imply ev- 
 ery lawful access to relief, that government and 
 the nation can afford ? That the plan, now un- 
 der consideration, implies no other than lawful re- 
 dress, must appear manifest, if we consider the cir- 
 cumstances in which, and the objects for which, the 
 national debt was contracted. Things cannot go 
 on forever in this cumulative ratio, and be borne up 
 under them ; new and appropriate supplies have at 
 length become necessary. That this is precisely 
 our situation is indisputable. But is it possible, by 
 following out the plan proposed, to bear the inte- 
 rests of all parties out of the whole difficulties with 
 which they arc surrounded ? I answer by re- 
 ferring you to tlie illustrations already given. It 
 is there demonstrated, that as by giving full way
 
 1134 
 
 to equitable emulation, as the stimulant to the re- 
 productive processes, you make these processes 
 ten times more powerful and productive, so by 
 providing means for converting fixed into circulable 
 funds, or rather by recognizing the existence of 
 a privile{]^e, which is inseparable from the holding of 
 fixed funds, that of having these regularly converted 
 into circulable funds, you take from your system 
 dead coercive weight, and introduce in place of it, 
 active circulable power ; you remove a burden that 
 oppresses and restrains all your exertions, and you 
 establish influences which fritter down the burden ; 
 you introduce, amidst the walks of industry and 
 enterprise, that emulation which replenishes the 
 system with means, and powers, and energies, which 
 disposes you to invite the circulable burden ; nay, 
 to lay hold on it as the true and proper means for 
 bearing you out of difficulties, carrying you through 
 dangers, and establishing the most critical parts of 
 your system, on the most solid substantial grounds. 
 In short, it IS absolutely plain and indisputable, that 
 by placing the public creditor on the fair way of 
 circulating the burden that he rests upon you, you 
 dispose him, and capacitate yourself, to operate 
 fully and effectually, your own, as well as his com- 
 plete relief. This is what the Bank of England 
 cannot do, and does not pretend to do. Nay, on 
 examining into its constitution, you must be satis- 
 fied that it will rather contravene than aid you in 
 performing it for yourself. 
 
 In the third place, it must be considered, that, on
 
 113^ 
 
 the sound and broad principles of equity and fair 
 dealing, taking the claims of parties as they at pre- 
 sent stand, we can scarcely be held to have it in our 
 power to refuse this concession to government and 
 its creditors. The national debt was contracted, 
 in circumstances that lay it completely on the shoul- 
 ders of all and of each of us, in our personal as well 
 as in our public capacity, and that render our whole 
 property and means, all that we have, or can, in vir- 
 tue of our whole energies and resources, individual 
 or general, bring forward for the purpose, absolutely 
 amenable for it; and it was contracted for objects in 
 which all of us participate, for which all of us would 
 contend, from which neither our feelings nor our 
 interests can possibly be alienated. These views 
 appear still more irresistible, when we consider, 
 that government is in the full exercise of all the 
 power and authority, which these things imply. It 
 lays hold of all or of any thing we possess, for the 
 purpose of satisfying the national creditor. This 
 is no doubt done in a regular form, but do we not 
 see that its imposts and assessments reach to all 
 our concernments, and penetrate into all our affairs, 
 and that, without regard to our prejudices or pre- 
 delictions, plans or measures, it exercises all the 
 functions that are implied in these assumptions, ac- 
 cording to its own views of its own paramount occa- 
 sions, to the exclusion of every other consideration ? 
 Although, therefore, we were to regard the plan now 
 proposed as a new mode of impost or assessment, we 
 would have no right to challenge it, either in princi- 
 ple or in tendency j but it is merely a new mode oi'
 
 1136 
 
 exercising certain functions of government which, 
 it cannot possibly be disputed, belong to it, and this 
 for purposes which we cannot and will not for a 
 moment permit to be disparaged, and it is one w^hich 
 from our whole circumstances, we are imperiously 
 called upon to adopt. To each of us, accordingly, 
 it may be said — You have a debt to pay which is 
 undisputed, and the point, which involves every 
 other consideration respecting the fulfilment of your 
 obligation, is the fair, faithful and full payment of 
 your debt. At the same time, you are in cir- 
 cumstances not only to delegate, but to exercise 
 a power which virtually leads to the discharge of 
 it, and to the consequent relief of the communi- 
 ty, of which debtors and creditors are the con- 
 stituent members. If you are determined honest- 
 ly to fulfil your obligation in its strict terms and 
 import, you must, and you will yourself deliver 
 to your creditor, the instrument of exchange, 
 stamped with your own authority, and marked with 
 the full insignia of that sovereignty with which you 
 are invested. Let it be gold or silver, if these can 
 be procured, but since you cannot procure for him 
 these, and since you can nevertheless give him 
 an instrument that will serve the purpose every 
 whit as well, which necessarily exercises circulato- 
 ry power over all marketable objects, as fully and 
 as satisfactorily as the precious metals can, you are 
 obligated, in the fairest and fullest manner, to give 
 him this instrument. You can penetrate into the cof- 
 fers of individuals, and take therefrom, directly, and 
 at once, whatever your exigencies require, accord-
 
 1137 
 
 ing to rules and principles, which are recognized, 
 universally, as fair, equitable and irreiVagabic, and 
 you must and will continue thus to penetrate and 
 abstract their means while occasion for them re. 
 mains, although these subtractions should reach to 
 our vital energies, and our innate resources. Now 
 it is plain, that neither you, nor we who partake of 
 these burdens along with you, can long bear this, or 
 even look the hazard and dilemma broadly in the face. 
 So long as these imposts, though intruded into the 
 whole range of our affairs, were moderate, some- 
 thing like a compensation was derived from their 
 operation; certain salutary checks and restraints 
 were thereby laid on the ordinary forms of com- 
 mercial intercourse, judicial procedure, and es- 
 tablished processes of industry and enterprise. 
 But, accumulated and constituted as public im- 
 posts now are, they have become an absolute dead 
 weight on our reproductive energies, as well as a 
 source of perpetual inquietude. They hopelessly 
 wear out our reproductive powers, and they mar 
 the resolution of their fruits in every market. Nor 
 is this all ; the pressure is always the heaviest where 
 we are the least able to bear it ; for the public bur- 
 dens must be discharged, from the first and readiest 
 of all our possessions, although it should so happen, 
 as it sometimes does, that in satiating their de- 
 mands, there is but little left behind for our other 
 occasions. — With these irrefragable and irresistible 
 statements before us, the matter, on the ground of 
 justice and sound policy, may surely be left entirely 
 to our own teclincrs. 
 
 o 
 
 7 E
 
 1138 
 
 I AM far, however, from wfsliing to resign this 
 business into the hands of the state and its creditor, 
 in a loose, far less in any absolute form. Holding, 
 as I do, the circulatory instrument to be formed by 
 a combination of the inherent powers of the system, 
 according to the plan formerly laid down, and this 
 instrument alone to be thoroughly constituted, in 
 virtue of its own inherent value, strength and excel- 
 lence, the fair, natural and legitimate medium of ex- 
 change all over tlie empire ; so far from abrogating 
 or suspending the operations of that plan, for the 
 sake of this now proposed, I would cherish its deve- 
 lopements, and en, brace its constitution, so as to ren- 
 der these as simple and efficient in their manifold 
 operations, and as independent of state influence, 
 as it is possible to make them. Our financial sys- 
 tem, rendered by these means independent alike of 
 the state, and of the national creditor, and free and 
 secure in all its operations, would gradually become 
 more and more conformed to our circumstances. 
 But as I would not stop here, but declare that the 
 ultimate resolution of all financial transactions lay 
 in common betwixt the validated and authoritative 
 impledgments, and press them as such alike on the 
 public regard, improvement, simply considered, 
 would draw out each class of impledgments to the 
 requisite extent, and restore them to their fixed 
 state, just as the circumstances of the country and 
 community, and the feelings and interests of parties 
 mairly interested in tlie matter, might indicate. It 
 ■would be proper, and indeed necessary, not only 
 to submit to the legislature a detailed quarterly
 
 1139 
 
 account of the whole procechire, into which this 
 plan miglit lead, but to print these accounts, and to 
 send copies of them all over the kingdom, to be 
 exhibited in all public places, and to be disposed 
 of to all who might take an interest in tiie business. 
 This simple measure would enable the whole mo- 
 iiied interest to arrange their financial schemes in 
 exact conformity to existing circumstances. 
 
 I AM, accordingly, in the fourtii and last place, 
 led to notice, that the state, the public at large*, 
 
 * I am aware that clamors might be raised by the Bank of 
 England and other Bankers against this whole design, as en- 
 trenching on their department of the public economy. I sin- 
 cerely hope, that our leading men will not consider it to be very 
 necessary to pay much attention to coniplaints, which indicate 
 more the arrogance than the necessities of the complainers, and 
 which certainly would never have been heard of, had these par- 
 ties not already too long engrossed the advantage of providing 
 for us a circulatory medium. That these would be stript of o- 
 verweening influence in the commercial and financial world, is 
 sufficiently manifest. It must be admitted, also, that in some re- 
 spects they would resemble those, whi, in the progress of im- 
 provement, find themselves superceded in their appropriate busi- 
 ness. But was it ever expected or proposed, that improvement 
 should be arrested on such grounds ? Are the community and the 
 state to be denied the benefit of advantages of the most stupendous 
 kind, absolutely within their grasp, because it will conduce to 
 the interest of certain parties, that the state and the communi- 
 ty should dispense with them ? Before any clamor is raised on 
 these grounds, it would be proper to have the following ques- 
 tions answered — Who the clamorers are ? Monied men. What 
 do these want ? The privilege of shutting up your pockets, that 
 you may be obliged to borrow from them at usury. What will 
 
 7 K 2
 
 1140 
 
 and each of us individually, will necessarily be 
 benefited by the arrangement now proposed. As it 
 is perfectly clear, however, that the superior fa- 
 cility of resolving stocks into the medium, and the 
 
 be the consequence of your not gratifying them ? Not starvation 
 raost assuredly, not even a positive sense of deficiency or want. 
 At the worst they will be obliged to seek out other modes of in- 
 vesting their money ; which, in this improved course of things, 
 may not only be more advantageous to them, but lead on to great- 
 er and higher and more extended improvement. But as it is most 
 probable, or rather as it is on the whole very obvious, that the 
 business of banking, like other businesses, into which improve- 
 ment is introduced, will spread itself wider and deeper, accor- 
 ding as its lumpish and unseemly shoots are docked oflF, and will 
 draw nourishment from resources that at present are either totally 
 neglected, or not sufficiently attended to ; so we may warrantably 
 conclude, that new improvements and arrangements, correspon- 
 dent to the new established order of finance, will follow, and that 
 Eaukers will find means to pursue their business, in a form not 
 only more secuie and powerful, but n ore and more extensively 
 and essentially lucrative than formerly ; every way correspon- 
 dent to, and commensurate with, the im.mense advantages with 
 which the general system will be fraught. In order to be sa- 
 tisfied on this head, it is only necessary to consider, that the 
 proportion of their profits, which arises from the interest acquir- 
 ed in consequence of funds saved for other purposes by their e- 
 inission of impledgments, is necessarily burdened with heavy 
 expences, and daily becoming smaller, on account of the num- 
 ber of ccmj^etitors, in consequence of forgeries, and from a va- 
 riety of ether causes. On the other hand, the profits arising 
 from meeting the exigencies of the enterprising with needful 
 supplies of iunds, if once fully rested on a secure basis, as is 
 nov proposed, as they now constitute the greatest, so they would 
 thenceforward prove the most desirable profits ot their employ- 
 ment. If such fair and forcible conclusions do not satisf v these
 
 1141 
 
 medium into stocks, would carry the chief part of 
 the demandsfbr the mediiuii into the channel formed 
 under the auspices of the state, two great and most 
 important advantages would, in tlie first place, result 
 to the state from the whole of this arrangement. 
 First, These impledgmcnts, circulating all over the 
 empire, and deriving their whole value from the 
 stability of the central government, would bind to- 
 gether, in the most indissoluble and intimate bonds 
 of connexion, all parts of the British dominions. 
 Our most distant and most extended provinces and 
 colonies, finding that their supply of the medium, 
 their wealth and riches, (tor such, in effect, the 
 medium thus validated would be felt to be,) had 
 its source in tliis centre, and again resolved itself 
 there ; and perceiving that honours and advanta- 
 ges, of the most valuable kind, flowed incessantly 
 from this source ; that thence their security, and 
 thence the magnitude and extent of every advan- 
 tage proceeded — could no more consent to be dis- 
 severed from it, than territory the most contiguous 
 and most minute. Ihe industrious and enterpris- 
 ing classes, finding in like manner, that tlie suj.ply 
 of their wants, as well as the whole course of their 
 operations, thus po\\erlu]ly and eflectually provid- 
 ed for by the state, derived their whole value from 
 the instrument of exchange, which the state thus 
 upheld, would not only be bound up in its interests, 
 
 parties, it is time for the state to interfere, on the bare ground 
 of expediency, least they begin to plead a prescriptive title to the 
 indulgences, with which they have been so long favored.
 
 1142 
 
 by the strongest of all Jignments, a sense of vital 
 connexion, but be urged forward in the high paths 
 of duty, by the most powerful [)rinciples of the sys- 
 tem. The other classes of the community, from the 
 highest to the lowest, feeling themselves, on all 
 hands, influenced thus powerfully and thus benefi- 
 cially, by the dominant power, enlightened as to the 
 value of these advantages, and prepared for avail- 
 ing themselves of them to the utmost, would, as 
 organic parts of the same great social and political 
 entity, move in exact unison with the free develope- 
 ments of these primary principles. 
 
 Secondly, The interest, of the sum thus cir- 
 culated, would prove just so much clear gain 
 to the community, and this gain would speedily be- 
 come a most important consideration. In the 
 natural course of things, and after it had been ful- 
 ly settled, that all other impledgments, those of 
 the Bank of England not excepted, should be 
 resoluble, at the pleasure of the holder, either 
 into validated or into authoritative impledgments, 
 it might, at length, be authoritatively declared to be 
 unlawful Jor this Eank, or any other, to circulate any 
 impledgnients othermse than as bearmg inter est J rom 
 the date of their emission. In these circumstances, 
 perhaps three, or more, hundred millions of debt 
 might be circulated, and the interest thereof saved 
 to the nation. 1 his saving, conjoined with ether ad- 
 vantages, would speedily operate such rehef to the 
 nation, that, in no great lapse of time, the whole a- 
 mount of our national debt might be completely dis-
 
 1143 
 
 charged, or run out in impledejments. This is a sub- 
 ject the illustration of which, in a political point of 
 view, might be extended to a prodigious length. 
 The illustrations, given in their proper place in this 
 treatise, must, however, suffice for the present. It is 
 only necessary to remark, that as all paper that is fic- 
 titious, or unworthy of a place in the circle, is held 
 to be excluded from it, and as to every document 
 of value, its real, and only its real value is to be at- 
 tached ; so the amount of impledgements that might 
 be thrown into circulation, and supported in it in such 
 circumstances, must be immense, always universally- 
 conducing the twofold advantages of relief to the 
 courseof trade, and securityto the state machine; and 
 that, considering the prominent situation of Britain 
 in the supposed circumstancc^jher immense national 
 prowess, and the magnanimity, generosity and irre- 
 sistible energy with which she wields all these advan- 
 tages, it cannot, by any means, be deemed presump- 
 tuous to expect, that it might ultimately appear to 
 the other nations nf the world, to be advantageous to 
 themselves,as well as to Britain, the great friend and 
 abettor of improve;Tent and civilization, to admit her 
 authoritative impledgments into free circulation all 
 Ov.T^heir d minions, and to give them the same au- 
 thoritative character there, that they would possess 
 in Britain. Thereby, they would doubtless mature 
 their own commercial spirit, and strengthen their 
 own internal resources, and secure to themselves a 
 connexion with the centre and seat of wealth and 
 of enterprise, which would introduce into the ser- 
 vice of their several systems, the same or similar
 
 1144 
 
 excitation and support to their respective processes 
 of reproluction, with that, which Britain herself 
 possesses. 
 
 WiiiiTHER or not it mijrht coincide with the views 
 of^ier natio:)s, to ad nit the circulation of our 
 authoritative impledgaieats within their bounds, it 
 is impossible tor us to ascertain. There are two 
 things however, that may inckiceusto hope, that they 
 will not very deter minately resist their circulation, 
 in case they should find their way into their circula- 
 tory processes. First. They will obviously be sub- 
 jected to neither loss, hardship, nor detriment on 
 that account ; they will, in effect, merely consent to 
 accept of money at legal interest, as established in 
 Britain, whereby the industrious, the enterprising, 
 and the state itself, ma}^ carry forward all their 
 undertakings, in full plenitude, by means of our 
 circulated capital. Every thing that is realized 
 within their respective don;ains may be preserved, 
 by thus excluding fallacious support from the cour- 
 ses of circulation ; and every thing that can be con- 
 verted into absolute value amidst these facilities, may 
 have its value, in every nation, maintained and circu- 
 lated by them, through the greatest possible space, 
 merely by thus extending the range of the financial 
 operations of Britain. London, thus rendered the 
 centre of immense financial operations, will thereby 
 be rendered only a purer and a higher source of 
 real wealth. The motives, by which we will be 
 made to maintain inviolate the high character, on 
 which this and all our advantages rest, will be pa-
 
 1145 
 
 ramount to every other consideration, and as such 
 they will be irresistible and irrefragable. Second- 
 ly ; by these means, these nations will become 
 possessed of one of the highest advantages of our 
 system. The vast national debt of Great Britain, or 
 more properly speaking, the property which our 
 monied interest has in the national funds, is consti- 
 tuted chiefly, if not entirely, of balances of value 
 realized betwixt interchanges of commercial and 
 financial subjects ; which balances, to whatever par- 
 ty they belong, by being transferred into our funds, 
 are there preserved and transferred, according to 
 the views of the proprietors. Our funded system, 
 present in a certain sense in every British province, 
 will thereupon be everywhere prepared to receive 
 such impledgments, and to pass them in a drawn 
 up state, into the hands of monied agents, who* 
 have connexions with London. By which means, 
 every balance that is ours or theirs, here or abroad, 
 may be realized, and transferred or circulated. 
 
 In these circumstances, and under all these ad- 
 vantages, it seems to be altogether impossible to set 
 limits to the amount of the medium that could be 
 preserved in circulation. It is certainly the duty 
 of the state, to preserve in as secure circumstances 
 as possible, our whole train of commercial and fi- 
 nancial intercourse. This end, however, is only 
 to be obtained, l)y resorting to fair and regular 
 measures for excluding from the circulation, paper 
 unworthy of entering into it, and by affording a- 
 bundant means and sufficient facilities, for support- 
 ing this intercourse, without sucli unworthy in- 
 
 7 r
 
 1146 
 
 struments. How far it may consist with the policy 
 of other nations, to avail themselves of means and 
 facilities, which, while they thereby do themselves no 
 harm, will be productive of such immeasurable uni- 
 versal advantage, we may not be able to estimate. 
 Of this, however, we are certain, that in so far 
 as they do avail themselves of them, in so far will 
 we derive advantage, and to that extent will our 
 national prowess and benign predominancy be ex- 
 tended, confirmed and consolidated ; for to that full 
 extent, do these nations preserve means, to which we 
 have access, and resolve their surcharged power 
 and wealth into our system. On the whole, there- 
 fore, taking all the circumstances of our situation 
 into view, I think we go not beyond the fair bounds 
 of lawful conjecture, when we suppose that such 
 may ultimately be the amount of the validated 
 impledgments, that we may preserve in circu- 
 lation, and such the power of the machine, that may 
 be instituted for harmonizing those grand proces- 
 ses, that in course of time, the outstanding balance 
 of our whole national debt may, by these means, 
 come to be converted into authoritative impledg- 
 ments, and,along with corresponding public imposts, 
 fall to be done away with. Nay, may we not go on 
 still farther and suppose, that the time may at length 
 come, when, after our debt, along with our public 
 imposts are discharged, we may be able to defray 
 the expences of civil government and of the state 
 itself, without any other means, but what the in- 
 terest of money, to be thus saved and secured to the 
 nation, may be made to afford to us. This way, the na- 
 tions of the world may be made to repay us the sums
 
 1147 
 
 we have expended in tlieir common cause, not only 
 without distressing, but in the way of cnricliing 
 themselves. This way, too, we may transfer to 
 them the invaluable rudiments of civil, moral and 
 political improvement, as well as those of industry 
 and enterprise, and mutually build up the temple 
 of human society, in all its glory, and in all its ex.- 
 cellence. 
 
 The statements and considerations that have 
 been adduced, it is apprehende<l, must set aside ev- 
 ery diing like doubt or cavil, respecting the agency 
 of government, in our proposed financial scheme, 
 and impress a thorough conviction, that the business 
 cannot be better disposed of than in its hands. We 
 have seen that Government is already invested with 
 all the necessary functions and powers, and is pre- 
 pared, a priori, to enter into the full exercise of 
 these; that its interference to this end is every way 
 consistent with its character and circumstances; 
 that duties the most indispensible must remain un- 
 discharged, like as obligations the most imperious 
 must continue unfulfilled, until it assume this office ; 
 and that advantages the most important await its 
 due execution thereof. It remains, however, to 
 notice, that there is still one weighty difficulty in 
 our way, and it is one which government alone can 
 enable us to remove. Whence is this fhiancial pro- 
 cess to obtain its first impulse I Are we to wait, 
 till in the progress of things, it work iLscif forward 
 into lull play, and by dint of i:in:jLe prowess and 
 excellence, developc its superior influences, in spite 
 
 7 F 2
 
 1148 
 
 of all opposition and discouragement ? If this is to 
 be its fate, we must, it is to be feared, form a very 
 different estimate of our project, from that which 
 we have done. Many, very many and very excel- 
 lent schemes of improvement have not only been 
 lost from defect of power in the primordial im- 
 pulse, but have been rendered productive of much 
 mischief. As, in the case before us, not only great 
 difficulties, but severe and pertinacious opposition 
 may be expected, such as will affect all and each 
 of us in the most tender point, and bear hardest on 
 us where we are least able to sustain their bearings, 
 it would nearly amount to an abandonment of our 
 design to be remiss in this point. 
 
 In order, therefore, at once to overwhelm all the 
 opposition, that the Bank of England and other 
 banks may be able to bring up against us, I propose, 
 that Government do itself give the first impulse 
 to the scheme, by passing its whole disbursements, 
 during one entire year, in authoritative impledg- 
 ments, under the authority of a legislative act, 
 whereby it would be ordained, not only that these 
 impledgments are to be universally circulable all 
 over the empire, and resoluble into the public 
 funds, as aforementioned, but also, that the whole 
 promissory notes of the Bank of England, and all 
 others, shall thenceforward be resoluble into these 
 impledgments, at the demand of the bearer. This, 
 at first view, may appear to infringe on a proposi- 
 tion formerly laid down, wherein it was stated, that 
 these impledgments were not to be emitted at the
 
 1149 
 
 option of the state, but at the option of stockhol- 
 ders. It must be recollected, however, that in set- 
 ting our scheme agoing, we have a right, not only 
 to calculate on the experience we have attained of 
 the power of our paper currency, when under Bank 
 of England influence, but upon the whole circum- 
 stances, by which the primary impulse is to be af- 
 fected, and on all others that are characteristic of 
 our situation. Unless we do this, we maim our whole 
 design ; for it is only after we have discharged our 
 whole duty in regard to this point, that we can 
 fairly look to the consequences that are before us, 
 and calculate on receiving the necessary results of 
 which we are in quest. 
 
 But besides this, I would give every possible fa- 
 cility to the full developement of the great plan of 
 improvement, in which these funds are to resolve 
 their power. In order that they might concentrate 
 their essential advantages upon this plan, with the 
 utmost ease and despatch, throughout the whole 
 kingdom, I would establish proviiicial Boards, 
 in every district, into which Boards, portions of the 
 national funds, commensurate with their occasions, 
 would be conveyed from time to time by the cen- 
 tral Board. For the purpose of giving all par- 
 ties full assurance in their transactions, together 
 with all that aid and relief that their circumstances 
 required, I would also give forth a liberal supply of 
 the medium, at each of these establishments. But I 
 would take every possible precaution to prevent an 
 abuse of this condescending demeanour; I would
 
 1150 
 
 make it necessary for the parties requiring a re- 
 solution of authoritative impledgments into the 
 metallic medium, to give, at least one day before- 
 hand, a written notification of the quantity and 
 description of bullion that they wanted, and make 
 them state the purposes to which it was to be ap- 
 plied. By these means, while a most complete 
 check could be always maintained against abuse, a 
 very useful scale might be formed of the real occa- 
 sions for bullion in each community. These occa- 
 sions, it would become our business to meet on fair 
 ground, and to repress and circumvent every ma- 
 chination, that had for its object the withdrawing 
 bullion, in an undue manner, from the course of 
 circulation. 
 
 But I would not stop here, I would at once give 
 the community an earnest and a foretaste of the 
 advantages thus provided for them. For this pur- 
 pose, I would with the whole amount of that sum 
 that might be saved to the general exchequer, in 
 consequence of our meeting the national expendi- 
 ture with these authoritative impledgments, pur- 
 chase up a commensurate quantity of stock at the 
 market prices. The interest thus left with the 
 state, I would, with like promptitude, transfer into 
 the coffers of the nation, by abolishing one of the 
 most burdensome and impolitic of our public im- 
 posts. I here refer to the house and window taxes, 
 which have all the mischievous effects of a poll tax, 
 accompanied with this serious aggravation, that 
 they militate in the most direct manner against
 
 1151 
 
 improvement, in a department of general industry, 
 which, in our bleak and sombrous chmate, is of all 
 others the most deserving of patronage and protec- 
 tion. These considerations are of peculiar impor- 
 tance in the case before us. These taxes, superad- 
 ded as it were to our manifold indirect taxes, and 
 productive universally of harassment and distress, 
 seem to be of all others the most clamant, and their 
 abolition to be the most likely to excite that full and 
 genial complacency, in that whole class of measures, 
 whence deliverance from them might arise, and 
 thus to insure their general success. 
 
 Let us suppose, therefore, that our great finan- 
 cial project is set fully agoing by these means, and 
 under all these advantages, and that, while the re- 
 lief given to the financial department administers 
 abundant facilities, for carrying forward all that in- 
 ternal improvement, as well as all those external 
 enterprises, which our circumstances point at, the 
 wealthy patrician, as well as the sumptuous votary 
 of taste, ever on the wing for fashionable display, 
 betake themselves in_ full earnest to the embellish- 
 ment of their patrimonial domains, and other sub- 
 stantial exhibitions of financial prowess ; and that 
 accordingly, while, not only the useful arts, but the 
 fine arts receive all that countenance and support 
 which our circumstances can afford, the interior 
 classes severally follow out their footsteps, in the 
 same emulous train, and thereby contribute their full 
 quota, in rendering our domestic habitations both 
 delectable and comfortable, and our fertile plains 
 the secure seat of interesting employments; while
 
 1152 
 
 our rural scenery, teeming- with luxuriant abun- 
 dance, and even wliere it is most rugged, fascinat- 
 ing to the imagination, and cheering to the heart, 
 as well as sublime and interesting to t!ie mind of the 
 philanthropic observer — will not thereby our native 
 realms, in other respects the appropriate centre 
 of a widely extended empire, and the grand recep- 
 tacle of its overflowing wealth, be advanced and 
 ameliorated, in coincidence with the magnificent 
 progression of improvement that is going on, hav- 
 ing the full tide of its advantages borne forward 
 in that direction, which is most congenial to its 
 character, and evolving relief and replenishment 
 on every side ? Let us I say, suppose such things 
 actually to have taken place, and let us suppose also, 
 that with all these favoring circumstances the grand 
 scheme of improvement, previously sketched out, is 
 developing itself under every advantage, with full 
 effect. — What are the objects and what the circum- 
 cumstances, that, as a nation, we ought to have 
 primarily in view, in the way of following up the 
 the high course tnat is before us ? 
 
 I ANSWER, that the object, which of all others is 
 the most deserving of our attention, and, indeed, 
 which forces itself upon us most irresistibly, is the 
 magnitude and pressure of our public burdens. Al- 
 ready are the complaints on this score, loud and 
 strong, and if we do not set in earnest about their 
 redress, the superior allurements of more favored 
 climes, when thus reinforced by the comparative 
 lightness of their public burdens, will attract from
 
 1153 
 
 us the most effective and independent classes of the 
 community, who will thereby leave on our shoulders 
 a continually increasing load of public imposts. 
 In order to cut this evil short at the outset, be- 
 fore custom and fashion shall have rendered the 
 torrent of emigration irresistible, we must forth- 
 with avail ourselves of every accession of financial 
 advantage, to pay off a correspondent part of our 
 public debt, and thereupon discharge a proportion- 
 ate extent of our public burdens. It is of consid- 
 erable importance that this be done in a regular 
 steady manner. Much may be effected by repealing 
 a multitude of petty imposts, whereby Britain is 
 more severely assessed than Ireland. Both coun- 
 tries have exactly the same privileges and advanta- 
 ges, and it is perfectly equitable that they should 
 bear precisely the same burdens. It is true, the 
 Irish regard these distinctive imposts as the safe- 
 guards of their manufactures ; but it is equally true, 
 that their trade will be effectually borne up, although 
 no such safeguards existed, and that unless we want 
 to keep up incessant and perpetual feuds and ani- 
 mosities betwixt the two countries, those distinctive 
 imposts must all be sooner or later abolished. The 
 truth is; the Irish, from the superior richness of their 
 soil and the low price of labor, have, in effect, the 
 advantage both of the English and of the Scotch 
 manufacturer, seeing our civil and political privi- 
 leges are alike ; so that their seditious clamours on 
 this head are no more deserving of favor or indul- 
 gence, that those of a sturdy mendicant, whose 
 stubbornness causes him to nauseate the treatmeiU 
 
 7 G
 
 1154 
 
 you give to your own children, and whose insolence 
 disposes him to reject that provision, which you 
 bestow on those peaceful and faithful adherents, 
 ■who never spare themselves in your service. If we 
 seriously reflect on the matter, the impolicy as well 
 as the iniquity of our procedure in this business 
 must appear. To the Irish clamorers we have, as it 
 were, already conceded this point, that we ourselves 
 occupy, in regard to them, the vantage ground, and 
 that we do this only by currying favor with them. 
 The moment parties regard each other in this light, 
 discordance is unavoidable. A kind of malignant 
 indignation takes place within that breast, wherein 
 the sense of humiliation is excited, which destroys 
 every principle of gratitude, and induces hostility 
 where co-operation is looked for. Let both nations 
 take one and the same ground, and the principle of 
 self-possession will soon disclose itself; the original 
 distinction will disappear, except when it operates 
 as an incentive to emulation ; and both parties will 
 ^o far rise above the workings of a mind afflicted 
 with a sense of inferiority, that they will be anxious 
 to display their generous independent condition, 
 whenever an opportunity for so doing presents it- 
 self. The abolition of these distinctive imposts will 
 thereupon be found, not only to relieve the com- 
 munity, and to simplify a great part of our system 
 of taxation, but to neutralize some of the most ob- 
 noxious feelings in our national temperament. I 
 would next proceed to condense and consolidate 
 the remaining duties and imposts, cutting off all 
 forms and practices, together with the imposts with
 
 1155 
 
 which they are connected, that have a tendency to 
 oppress individuals, or to transverse the develope- 
 ments of the general system. The retrenchments, 
 which might this way be effectuated in the course of 
 a year or two, would certainly place the country in 
 such circumstances, that nothing very serious could 
 result from the magnitude of our taxation. Our 
 grandees would be incited, not only to improve but 
 to embellish the country of their ancestors, when 
 thus relieved and subserved in their procedure j and 
 our country, thus improved and embellished, in a 
 manner correspondent with its peculiar circum- 
 stances, would, from characteristic advantages pe- 
 culiar to itselfi be constituted the centre and the 
 receptacle of all those who, in every nation, could 
 duly relish our superior attainments *. 
 
 * One great and leading end and design of all these arrange- 
 ments is, to harmonize the process of levying public assessments, 
 with the progress of improvement in territorial subjects ; and to 
 place landholders and householders of every description in cir- 
 cumstances, wherein they may go on with their investments in 
 these, under the confidence, that they shall enjoy their whole re- 
 sults, in perfect security and tranquillity. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that this end can be held to be but imperfectly attained, 
 while parochial and burgage imposts, poor's rates and tythings, 
 which affect the progress of improvement in the most direct 
 manner, remain on their present footing. We have become so 
 habituated to the extreme liarships of these, that we seem almost 
 callous to the distresses to which we are thereby subjected, even, 
 where these tear from us the full value of all that we had pre- 
 viously procured the possession of, and when they absolutely 
 impede the execution of our most necessary improvements. As 
 these modes of assessment have all had their rise in antiquated 
 modes of valuation, and have no other affinity to, nor connexion 
 
 7 G 2
 
 1156 
 
 Let us therefore continue to suppose, that Go- 
 vernment goes on in discharging the national debt, 
 and in abolishing obnoxious or excessive imposts, in 
 every department of the revenue, more particularly 
 
 with, the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, than what 
 the merest accident can produce, they, in a case of this kind, de- 
 serve no quarter whatever. Under the ancient Jewish economy, 
 the produce of the earth, and that of the herd and of the stall, 
 were not only necessary means of subsistence, tokens of inde- 
 pendence, importing dignity of station, and indispensable in the 
 high ceremonies of their sacred ritual ; but they constituted also, 
 the general instrument of valuation, and they formed the ordi- 
 nary result of their reproductive processes. To levy the tenth 
 of these was, therefore, nearly equivalent to levying the tenth 
 part of general income : to levy in kind, at the end of harvest, 
 was nearly tantamount to levying income in its most mature and 
 resolved form. We pay blind devotion to obsolete customs, and 
 disparage their sacred basis. If we drop the antiquated form with 
 its useless encumbrances, retain the principle, and apply it to our 
 circumstances, it is evident, that we will be led to the adoption 
 of an income tax, to be proportioned to the exigencies of the 
 case ; and as the principle, with this application of it, is every 
 way respectable, when governed by the rules and principles 
 laid down in this treatise, it amounts to a dereliction of our 
 duty to disregard it. Thereby, we not only levy necessary 
 means in a way, that is fair, equitable, proper, and easily regu- 
 lated, but we establish one of the greatest bulwarks of our civil 
 and political rights and privileges, and we secure to ourselves 
 one of the most powerful and efficacious fences against the pro- 
 gress of corruption, one that will elevate and purify our national 
 character, while, at the same time, it will afford a range for 
 general improvement, in its most important departments, that 
 must effectually ameliorate our whole circumstances. 
 
 I AM aware that a check to sumptuousness, in domestic estab- 
 lishments, is generally allowed to be necessary and salutary. I
 
 1157 
 
 in the Stamp and Excise departments, where their 
 pressure is literally extreme ; and that it is availing 
 itself of every accessible facility for mitigating the 
 hardship of those that remain ; there will, in such cir- 
 
 must be allowed to state two things in contravention of this ge- 
 nerally received notion, to shew, that this mode of expenditure 
 is not without its good effects, and that restraint upon it may go 
 too fiir. First. Experience has shewn, that according as an indi- 
 vidual rises in the sumptuousness of his domestic accommodation, 
 he leaves, at depretiated rates, his former one to individuals below 
 him, who, thereupon again leave theirs to others below them, 
 who again leave theirs to an order still lower ; so as in the end 
 to distribute, in a fair way, every advantage of this kind that can 
 be attained, to the community at large. And secondly, we do 
 not thus assess other subjects of valuation. Do we, for instance, 
 tax the lady who wears silk damasks, more than the lady who 
 wears worsted druggets — the gentleman who feeds upon turtle 
 and venison, more than he who feeds on milk and potatoes ? 
 — Why is it, therefore, that we assess the person who distri- 
 butes his means to the public, by procuring a commodious, or 
 elegant mansion, more than the person who hoards these 
 means in a corner of his garret ? Shall we say that the first 
 ought to be restrained in his expences ? If this is your opinion, 
 tell him so by the letter of your law, and do not pretend to 
 ground your impost on any principle of right. But the fact is, 
 you do not restrain him from expending, you only draw the 
 sum expended into your own pocket. Shall you then say, that 
 this mode of expenditure is injurious to the public, or to the 
 morals of the people ? If you say so, you are wrong every way. 
 Let income be the rule of your assessment in every case ; let it 
 be fixed and published and perpetually borne on the circum- 
 stances of individuals : and you have a fair candid return, uni- 
 formly unimpeachable, and you excite and support a delicacy of 
 feeling in regard to personal expenditure, that will disclose it- 
 self in every part of one's character and condition. — When you 
 neglect this obvious advantage, and seek to interfere with the
 
 1158 
 
 cumstances, two very important advantages spring 
 Mp to its aid, and go some length in indemnifying 
 the supreme power, for the sacrifices which it may 
 have been led to make, for the good of the peo- 
 ple. The first of these will arise from the ope- 
 ration of a well-known principle of taxation. Ma- 
 ny of our imposts are so excessive, as to diminish 
 the use or consumpt of the thing assessed. As the 
 relief to be given will fall in with a progression of 
 prosperity and improvement, we must also suppose, 
 that wherever the relief is accorded, there, will a 
 powerful stimulus to the order of industry, thereby- 
 favored, be given. That this stimulus may in cer- 
 tain cases prove most immense, must appear mani- 
 fest, if we consider the parallel case, where in con- 
 sequence of the prosperous circumstances of the 
 lower orders, coinciding with the fall of the price 
 of certain commodities, that have come into vogue 
 with the great body of the people, an increased 
 consumption of certain articles of luxury has been 
 created. As, in this last instance, the comsump- 
 tion of every commodity of general use, that is thus 
 favored, must be increased, almost in proportion to 
 the relief thus given ; so, in the case on hand, the 
 funds saved will be again laid out according to the 
 state and inclination of individuals. Funds, thus 
 
 progress of improvement, so essential and so important as this, 
 you defraud the country of its regular nourishment, and place 
 it upon a regimen, that impairs its natural growth and excel- 
 lence ; which feeds baleful humours and disorderly dispositions, 
 and prepares for the most fatal consequences.
 
 1159 
 
 set at liberty, datinot be absorbed or be withdrawn 
 from the pubHc service ; they must in the way of ex- 
 penditure be extended to other objects ; all of which 
 objects will be found to be more or less productive 
 of revenue to Government. On the whole, as 
 the funds thus saved, will have their vent in other 
 assessable commodities, it must ultimately be found, 
 that the revenue can at the worst lose but little ; 
 taking it therefore for granted, that we must, at the 
 same time, acquire proportionate incentives and 
 means for carrying forward and extending our im- 
 provements, we must also conclude, that the ge- 
 neral returns to the revenue will, in the aggregate, 
 for a long time after the rate of assessment has been 
 diminished, be borne up to their former amount, or 
 rather be increased; these returns, no doubt, de- 
 scribing a longer circuit amongst our means before 
 they reach the exchequer, than they formerly did. 
 
 These things are all, on the whole, very obvious, 
 and it cannot be said that Government has alto- 
 gether overlooked the advantages, necessarily re- 
 sulting from digesting and consolidating the gene- 
 ral system of taxation. It is evident, however, 
 that while public l)urdens continue on the increase, 
 and indeed until there be a sufficiently disposable 
 revenue, to bear our affairs completely above all 
 the hazards of shortcoming, nothing more than a 
 simplification of arrangement can be looked for. 
 Under the circumstances supposed, however, be- 
 sides the foregoing direct advantage, there is anoth- 
 er of an indirect, but of a much more efficient and
 
 1160 
 
 powerful character that must rise up into its hands. 
 Commercial objects it is evident must fall in price, 
 in consequence of the subtraction of imposts from 
 their denominative amount, and in consequence of 
 the increased momentum, regularity, and improve- 
 ment, that will be introduced into the processes for 
 producing them. Government, as an immense 
 consumer of commercial objects, and as having a 
 large fixed definite revenue, to lay out on these, as 
 well as in liquidating its debts, must enjoy a pro- 
 portionate share of this advantage, common to all 
 consumers, and of course, be capacitated to effect 
 more by smaller means than it does at present. In 
 the meantime, in consequence of the progression 
 of improvement, and of the vast advantages inhe- 
 rent in the medium, and accruable from possession 
 of the medium ; and in consequence of the advanced 
 and advancing state of society, whereby every one 
 will be disposed to make the most of his means, and 
 to go on with his investments, the demand for the me- 
 dium will remain unimpaired, or rather, it will be- 
 come progressively more and more stable and power- 
 ful, notwithstanding the diminished sum that will 
 now command commodities, so that Government 
 will continue to have vast means to dispose of, even 
 although its nominal revenue should sustain an 
 abatement. 
 
 These circumstances bring into view the key-stone, 
 whereby the general system is bound up, of which we 
 have been so long in search. As it is evident, that 
 where there is a constant demand and necessity
 
 1161 
 
 for funds, and an actual subtraction from the price 
 of commercial objects, the power of funds, tlie in- 
 strument which commands such objects, must in- 
 crease ; so it is no less manifest, that since, as repre- 
 senting the public debtor, and as the impledger of 
 all our nation d debts, G.)vernment is merely that 
 fulcrum, which has suspended to it, on one side, the 
 taxes which are levied to pay these debts, and on 
 the other side, the counterbalancing duty and obli- 
 gation of discharging those debts, and that therefore 
 since it cannot, in the capacity of debtor, gain any 
 thing by the fall of commodities, whatever it may 
 gain by this fall, in its capacity as a great consumer 
 of such commodities, the advantage thus tar must 
 fall into the iiands of the national creditor, whether 
 he holds funds or impledgments. Farther, as it is 
 evident, that since, by means of the options provid- 
 ed for the national creditor, on which the whole of 
 this scheme turns, an indefinite supply of the me- 
 dium must be introduced into the money market, 
 commensurate with every demand that can be 
 made upon this market, and this, too, at the fair 
 regulated and determinate rate of five per cent, per 
 annum ; so it is no less evident, that the market 
 price of money will soon become completely and 
 permanently fixed and established at or about that 
 rate J so as that the ()rice oi conuiiodities, and of eve- 
 ry commercial object will fail lo be regulated accor- 
 dingly. Money will bt', in the circumstances sup- 
 posed, what perhaps it has never yet been, a fixed 
 and unalterable test, not only of the price, but of 
 the relative market value of all the objects to which 
 
 7 H
 
 1162 
 
 it can be applied. But as, on the whole, while the 
 demand for other objects, will amidst this progression 
 of things, be vacillating and unsteady, the demand 
 for the medium, in the circumstances supposed, 
 must be absolute, permanent, and uninterupted, 
 and altogether different from that, which an adven- 
 titious dearth of funds, while it prevails, produces in 
 the commercial and financial world; so the expansion 
 of the power of property, vested in funds, like as we 
 have seen the expansion of the power of property, 
 vested in land or other heritable subjects, will be not 
 merely fixed and established," but progressive; and 
 it will continue to give the money holder a similar 
 advantage, so long as the strength and purity of 
 the system can be maintained ; which we may war- 
 rantably hope, will be coeval with our national ex- 
 istence. In illustration of this position, it is only 
 necessary to notice, that the funds drawn out are 
 not fruitlessly expended, they run out into invest- 
 ments in the most productive of all processes, in ter- 
 ritorial improvements of vast value and importance, 
 throughout the whole extent of the British empire, 
 and in subjects and institutions, whereby personal 
 advancement, and individual prowess and improve- 
 ment, are unfolded and established. These funds 
 do not disappear from the circle; they are evolved, 
 by dint of the vital energies of our system, amidst 
 impledgments, validated and authoritative, and 
 establishments, commercial and financial, public and 
 private, and are thereby made to serve as a flux 
 or menstruum to the processes of reproduction, al- 
 ways maintaining, as well as circulating, the value
 
 1163 
 
 and power which they represent, and always dis- 
 closing the prowess, as well as the rights of every 
 object on which they are borne. 
 
 Let us now advance still higher, and see how the 
 key-stone thus provided is fitted to its place. We 
 perceive that the vast political fabric, which we have 
 upreared, rests on a basis that cannot be shaken, 
 and that all its parts are completely adapted to, and 
 concatenated with, each other ; but how is this fa- 
 cility of resolving funds into the medium, and the 
 medium into funds, to combine the whole into one, 
 and to give to its whole constitution stability and 
 excellence ? That vast body of public creditors 
 whom you would discharge from your system, 
 though upheld by a process of taxation, which drains 
 our vital energies, must, from the necessity of their 
 circumstances, again pour forth their attainments 
 through that tranquil channel, which their ordinary 
 consumption and expenditure will at times keep 
 clear ; and thus insensibly recruit those energies 
 which they had previously distrained. Of all those 
 virtues you dispoil our system, at the very time, that 
 you relieve it of its encumbrances. These you 
 pass away, or resolve into new processes of repro- 
 duction, new objects of labor and anxiety, which 
 you are pleased to designate new fields of enter- 
 prise. But where is the vakie, where is the advan- 
 tage of your scheme ? how can you make it bear 
 upon and support that beautiful order of improve- 
 ment, which we profess so much to venerate ? 
 
 7 n a
 
 1164 
 
 The answer to all this is found in the character 
 and object of our system. That tranquillity and 
 depression, which are thus extolled, are its greatest 
 bane. These are indications of plethorism, which 
 call directly for relief. The national creditors are 
 not to find their means decreased, or their labors or 
 their cares uselessly augmented, under the arrange- 
 ment above proposed. They have new objects be- 
 fore them, which call forth fresh energies and re- 
 sources having pre-eminent virtue and importance. 
 Eut these, while they maintain and improve myriads 
 of human beings, enable and dispose them to send 
 forth redoubted means and capacities, which are no 
 less subservient to immense commercial and finan- 
 cial, than to inestimable political and moral de- 
 signs : and the national creditor, in running off his 
 funds into territorial investments, is not only reno- 
 vating the face of the globe, but augmenting his 
 own and the national faculties for receiving and 
 replacing investments. It is evident, therefore, that 
 while the fruits of increase must, in such circum- 
 stances, be augmented, the means of enjoyment, 
 improvement and investment multiplied, and the 
 instrument for distributing and apportioning these 
 correspondently increased — it is evident, I say, in 
 such circumstances, that funds in an aggregate 
 state, and the resolutions of funds in a circulable 
 state, in a national, as well as in a commercial point 
 of view, must be proportii.nally facilitated. These 
 may not be proluscly thrown into the hands of the 
 state, or other public bodies, to be dispersed in pro- 
 jects of ambition, or in enterprises without end,
 
 1165 
 
 and without object : but that funds, thus fixed and 
 aggregated, will most assuredly continue to increase, 
 in great and powerful masses, amidst nobler and 
 higher objects of investment ; and that they will, in 
 this form, continue to give forth fruits to the mere 
 money -dealers, both more powerfully and more 
 steadily ; and that the value of these fruits will 
 be constantly and permanently on the increase, are 
 positions, so naturally and completely established 
 by all that has been said, as to require no farther 
 exposition or illustration whatever. 
 
 It must follow as a matter of course from all these 
 results, that the value, importance, and efficacy, of 
 Government emissions, will be more and more es- 
 tablished and confirmed. There can never arise any 
 great difficulty from the profusion of these funds; for 
 every difficulty will be obviated by Government's 
 continuing to give, amidst such profusion, five per 
 cent, interest, which no other establishment will 
 venture to give, and which must excite and support 
 a strong tendency to resolve its emissions back again 
 into fixed funds in its hands. Thus we see that our 
 key-stone will be not only ritted to, but, if I may use 
 the expression, rivetted into its proper place ; inso- 
 much, that not the pushing of these emissions for- 
 ward in the circle, but the preserving them in it, 
 when thus introduced, will be the great object of 
 solicitude. This circumstance may give rise to 
 new general emissions, on the part of government, 
 in the course of its ordinary expenditure ; new con- 
 sequent discharges of public debt ; and new abroga-
 
 1166 
 
 tion of public imposts. A diminution in the rate of 
 interest will ultimately follow, and still farther re- 
 lieve the state and the community. 
 
 It is here distinctly understood, that, all the while, 
 the price of labor, tlic wages of industry, the emolu- 
 ments of office, the fees and salaries of all func- 
 tionaries, and the revenue oi' all landholders and 
 annuitants, are to remain unimpaired ; and of course 
 that each individual, in every department of life, 
 from the Prince to the peasant, finds his circum- 
 stances advanced, and his command over the means 
 of enjoyment, improvement, and investment, in- 
 creased on all hands. It is entirely from the dimi- 
 nution of public imposts, from the enhanced ener- 
 gies of improvement, from the increased power of 
 our system, and from the extension of its general 
 range, and not from any encroachment on the 
 rights or means either of one class or of another, 
 that this ameliorated state of things proceeds. Vi- 
 gorous incentives, fresh means, genial influences, 
 are introduced ; and these endow individuals, not 
 only with a greater proportion of every thing de- 
 sireable, but with faculties and capacities for exer- 
 cising such advantages with superior effect, suffi- 
 cient to render their results, correspondent to the 
 character and Oj^eration of tiie general system. No 
 doubt, multitudes on all hands will be left behind. 
 Indolence, incapacity and perversity, must still 
 have their place in the world, and they niust con- 
 tinue to produce similar deleterious consequences. 
 These consequences, however, will be lost in the
 
 1167 
 
 great and overwhelming influences of that system 
 of improvement, in which they are engulphed ; and 
 dereh'ction of (hity will then, as it has always done, 
 not onlv bring down chastisement |)roportioned to 
 its character, but furnish beacons and incentives, 
 for keeping all parties close to their own sphere 
 of duty. 
 
 I proceed, accordingly, to remark, that taking 
 things on the great scale now laid down, all fully 
 along with us, we must hold, that we have at length 
 secured to ourselves those means of intercourse, in 
 quest of which we, at the outset, began our investi- 
 gations. We see that an instrument of exchange, 
 comprising faculties of increment, coincident with 
 our circumstances, is provided ; whereby our res- 
 pective possessions, like those of the pastoral fathers, 
 may be resolved under every advantage into abso- 
 lute wealth, and maintained in that state in any 
 shape or condition that suits our views, always 
 sending forth appropriate fruits, and always con- 
 form ini; itself to the circumstances of our proce- 
 dure. We, like these ancients, may always, indi- 
 vidually, preserve our establishments in a steady- 
 order of advancement, without interruption ; and 
 we, as one great political body, will always find 
 their value, and the amount of our respective ac- 
 quirements, resolved in nunerical increase ; and 
 thus effectually escape all tho^e losses and calami- 
 ties, worse tha'i tho-te that result from eartlujiiakcs 
 and volcanoes in the natiual world, to which at 
 present we are incessantly exposed.
 
 1168 
 
 I GO on farther to notice, that all these advanta- 
 ges may be enjoyed by us, in a state of comparative 
 independence. We have not, in our commercial or 
 in our political transactions, now to run the appalling 
 hazards, and encounter the tremendous disasters, 
 which are inseparable from constant dependance on 
 restricted intercourse. Those limits to our course 
 of production and consumption, whereby our means 
 and our talents were most injuriously compressed, 
 and that waitinofor andhastening on of those absorp- 
 tions of our valuable commodities and productions, 
 in which our strength was so fruitlessly exhausted, 
 will now be doue away with. We have always ad- 
 mitted, that it is of no moment to us who consume 
 our productions, if the value, in a realized state, be 
 but procured in return. The difficulty has al- 
 ways lain in this — how we are to obtain this value, 
 in that realized state, which suits our own necessi- 
 ties. We have accordingly been led to introduce our 
 commodities, by any means, into any market, and 
 to take in return whatever that market can afford 
 us, to be again through a longer or shorter course, 
 (for the most part, unprofitable, pernicious and ha- 
 zardous,) resolved anew ; and this, perhaps too, in 
 a way that calls more or less for fresli resolutions j 
 the value of our first investments remaining always 
 absolutely dependent on the ultimate fate of these 
 resolutions. Now, it is evident, that the whole of 
 this difficulty is completely got over, in consequence 
 of the abundance of our medium, in every quarter 
 of the empire; by means of the readiness, whereby 
 intercourse with every other nation can be main-
 
 1169 
 
 tained, throughout its vast extent; and in virtue of 
 these facilities and advantages that are provided 
 for giving every financial and commercial opera- 
 tion, its full and equitable bearing on those processes 
 of investment and reproduction, wherein all that 
 is, or can be dear and precious to us, as human be- 
 ings and moral agents, is comprised. The readiness 
 widi which the medium, thus procured, can again 
 be resolved into fixed funds, and, when thus resolv- 
 ed, can again, without risk, be converted into circu- 
 lable instruments, not only in the centre of the em- 
 pire, but in every other mercantile station within 
 its bounds, comes next into account. This pre- 
 pares for the mere money-holder a retreat for his 
 means, wherein he may securely enjoy their fruits, 
 without risk and without trouble. Thereupon, his 
 circumstances, always steady and progressive, will 
 maintain a command over commercial objects, and 
 bring these, ever and anon, under the power of the 
 medium, to its definite amount j which power and 
 command being absolute, wherever the British scep- 
 tre isswayed, the result unquestionably must be, that 
 our industry, as well as our means, will be placed in 
 the most commanding attitude. In place of being de- 
 pendent on every other nation, and resting entirely 
 on the immediate developements of our own indus- 
 try, always resolving themselves in similar means ; 
 we, as a nation, that transacts in funds, will at 
 length come to deal in that instrument, which uni- 
 versally commands means, and this instrument we 
 will, in the natural order of our affairs, be led to 
 aggregate, in a productive and consolidated form, 
 
 7 I
 
 1170 
 
 wherever our means are received ; and in this form 
 to introduce it into our territory, as both the ulti- 
 mate and immediate result of our financial and com- 
 mercial prowess. Abundance of means will neces- 
 sarily follow, but this abundance lands us into no 
 difficulty, it produces no regorgement, for it arises 
 out of, and resolves itself into our wants. No con- 
 cretion of our powers or faculties can in such cir- 
 cumstances ensue. Coertion is foreign to its charac- 
 ter, for the emulative principle must incessantly call 
 forth the instrument of independence ; and this in- 
 strument must exercise its power, in such a way, as 
 to render this independence as universal, as the cir- 
 cumstances of human beings, in a state of general 
 advancement, will admit of. Such a course of things, 
 it is evident, must have the most direct tendency to 
 break to pieces every thing like concretion ; for its 
 principles must be insinuated into every crevice of 
 social life. By paying deference to every human 
 want, and every human desire, relief from every 
 check that is inconsistent with the principles of 
 true liberty, as defined by sound morahty, has been 
 found to be ultimately attained. It is, however, 
 only by duly respecting those superior wants, and 
 those sublime desires, which arise from exalted and 
 purified principles, by following them out to their 
 object," and by accompanying them in their deve- 
 lopements, that we can raise our munificent system 
 above the range, which desolating corruption de- 
 scribes, and render its various evolutions, at once 
 independent and secure. This has been the main de- 
 sign of the project heretofore elucidated, and its
 
 1171 
 
 chief advantage consists in this, that while it effec- 
 tually combats the interests of selfish isolated ag- 
 grandisement, it bears up all that is congenial to 
 liuman advancement to its proper sphere. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been said to ob- 
 viate them, there is one sweeping class of objec- 
 tions that will no doubt be urged against the whole 
 plan. As these objections bulk greatly at first 
 sight, and are on the whole very plausible, and thus 
 may possess irresistible force with those who are 
 not disposed to enter deeply and seriously into the 
 subject, they cannot be altogether passed over, al- 
 though the answer to them has been already antici- 
 pated. Are we, it may be said, to bereave our system 
 of its staminal strength, and to unhinge its estab- 
 lished organization, by colonial enterprises, which 
 make full way to the lower classes of the commu- 
 nity, and to urge these on, amidst fascinating and 
 delusive scenes of adventure ? Are we, moreover, 
 as a favored race of men, to usurp supremacy over 
 every rude and depressed tribe of our fellow crea- 
 tures, whom accident or advantage has placed un- 
 der our power ? Are we, in fine, to set about dis- 
 solving that concatenated prowess, in which the 
 strength and stability of the state consists, in the 
 prospect of acquiring and maintaining paramount 
 influence all over the globe, by means of incessant 
 dislocations, to be operated by us, wherever we can 
 have access ? 
 
 That I do not rest any part of my answer to these 
 7 I 2
 
 1172 
 
 objections, upon that position on which our modern 
 sophists so ingeniously establish their apologies for 
 war, devastation, corruption and oppression, viz, 
 that there is such a tendency in the human race to 
 increase, that the great difficulty is, to counteract 
 and manage matters, so as to prevent our popula- 
 tion from overshooting our means, for supplying 
 its wants, and to dispose of the excess of this popu- 
 lation, with the least possible disorder ; nor proceed 
 to argue, that the project before us comes in aid of 
 this design, must now be sufficiently manifest. This 
 hypothesis, having been scouted as alike presumptu- 
 ous and erroneous, I betook myself to that mode of 
 meeting the difficulty, which coincides with all that 
 has been said, and which must, to all those who re- 
 cognize the divine excellence of the Christian sys- 
 tem, be acknowledged to be conclusive. Our 
 whole circumstances point out to us the advantage 
 of such an outlet to our teeming energies, as that 
 which is here proposed. Our great acquirements 
 will thereupon disclose themselves amidst high ex- 
 ercises ; and, in the direct course of communicat- 
 ing, on liberal mercantile principles, the surcharged 
 results of these exercises to others, amidst trans- 
 actions and communications, at once sublime and 
 benignant, will our constantly growing resources 
 arise up into our hands, and bring along with them, 
 adequate means and instruments for remedying ev- 
 ery deficiency, and for repressing every deletereous 
 tendency, according as these may appear, without 
 our burdening ourselves about incredible hazards. 
 On looking abroad into the world, we perceive that
 
 1173 
 
 our agency, in this very form, in as far as human wis- 
 dom can discern, so far from being intrusive, or in- 
 jurious, is indispensibly necessary, in order to carry 
 forward the great business of civilizing and prose- 
 lyting the human race, and of improving and ame- 
 liorating the human condition. This duty is ac- 
 cordingly laid upon us in the clearest and fullest 
 manner. We know, and all past experience com- 
 pels us to confide in our knowledge of it, that it is 
 only by following out our duty, amidst all its con- 
 sequences, that we are safe. Let us look to the 
 war, from which we have at length emerged, and 
 think what would have been the universal fate of 
 the world, if we, as a nation, had done any thing 
 less than we have done. We have now a different 
 object before us, but the career is precisely the 
 same. By adhering to our clearest apprehensions of 
 duty and of interest, our system must unfold it- 
 self in its natural character ; by refusing to ad- 
 here to it, it must change its character, and tend to- 
 wards its termination. Like as the riches and ho- 
 nors, and immense national and political advanta- 
 ges, left in the hands of King Solomon by his most 
 illustrious father, were destinated to the peculiar 
 service of heaven, and to a course of develope- 
 ment and display, correspondent to this destination, 
 witiiout being precluded from other objects, con- 
 genial to the general character of the system ; in 
 like manner, are the riches and honors, privileges 
 and advantages, that have fallen into our hands, 
 adapted to, and urged forward in, services equally 
 sublime and glorious ; having incitations and facili-
 
 1174 
 
 ties thereto borne on all its circutnstances. AVe 
 must exercise ourselves in these services, or consent 
 to become parties in projects of aggrandizement, 
 luxury and oppression ; and to go on in establishing 
 power, that can only be maintained by severe ex- 
 actions, in producing objects that can only admin- 
 ister to degenerate appetites, and in creating debts 
 and obligations in our own fiivour, which can only 
 be cancelled amidst bankruptcy, disorder and de- 
 solation. These two paths lie open before us j one 
 or other of them we must and will pursue. The 
 question with us, therefore, comes to be simply this ; 
 whether or not shall we, by following out that grand 
 career in which we have reaped so much honor and 
 advantage, conform ourselves to the design of Hea- 
 ven, pursue the path of duty, and obey the most 
 purified influences of our own system ; or give our- 
 selves up to these degenerating propensities, which 
 will speedily sink us amidst the mass of surround- 
 ding nations, loaded with the opprobrium of having 
 deserted those resplendent ensigns, under which 
 we had become so renowned. 
 
 As to the privations to be encountred at home, 
 from our being occupied amidst such high and ex- 
 trinsic affairs, it is only necessary to remark, that as 
 no one can embark in these affairs, without a suffi- 
 cient command over all mercantile objects, a com- 
 mand that is ojily to be attained in consequence of 
 the delivery of the full equivalent, so no one who has 
 it not fully in his power, to meet with his own 
 means, the full consequences of misadventure, can
 
 1175 
 
 possibly be affected by these. The impledgments, 
 which constitute in the hands of individuals this 
 power, are themselves the standard as well as the 
 emblem of realized wealth, to their full imported 
 amount, and as no one will part with these other- 
 wise, than as bearing that absolute value which 
 they represent, so it may be safely left to the option 
 of individuals, to choose for themselves, that line of 
 adventure, which best befits their own interests. As 
 to those changes in the condition of the lower orders, 
 about which such apprehensions take place ; can 
 we suppose, that any specific provision, however pow- 
 erful, comprehensive and apt, will be sufficient to 
 bear these out of their place ? Will not multitudes, in 
 every class of society, be left behind for inferior ob- 
 jects, in spite of all we can do to upraise them? Here, 
 however, we are fighting with a shadow ; it is not 
 the object of our system to dislocate the establish- 
 ed provisions of society, but to reinforce them, to 
 exercise them when thus reinforced on those ob- 
 jects which are most supremely deserving of their 
 regard, to dignify and embellish all their functions, 
 when thus exercised, aiid to carry these onward 
 to their object, under every advantage that our cir- 
 cumstances can disclose. The truth is, however, 
 there is amongst the dominant classes, a jealousy, or 
 rather a detestation of the inferior orders of socie- 
 ty, which disposes these classes to make great sacri- 
 fices, and to encountre vast hazards, ratlier than 
 meet these on equal, or any thing like equal, ground. 
 To individuals ttius disposed, it would be* a needless 
 as well as a thankless task, to go over the particular-
 
 1176 
 
 }y great and transcendent advantages, that through- 
 out this whole system are respected, as peculiar to 
 their class. When individuals can shew or can 
 express such sentiments, they know neither satiety 
 nor gratification j they must bear down all, or be 
 borne down themselves : every other consideration 
 is then forgotten. It belongs to such principles to ap- 
 pear most undaunted, when they have least strength. 
 All we can do is, to caution such men against pre- 
 suming too much on any advantage, to which their 
 station gives them a peculiar claim. Whatever their 
 advantages are, they are not held by a surer te- 
 nure than those, which each individual of the en- 
 lightened exalted population of Britain possesses, 
 to every advantage that can result from the exer- 
 cise of every faculty, talent, resource and energy, 
 which, in the course of Divine Providence, has fal- 
 len fairly and regularly into his hands, and to the 
 availing himself of these, to the very utmost length, 
 that his powers lawfully exercised can enable and 
 dispose him to do. It does not now depend altoge- 
 ther on the British Government, or on any govern- 
 ment, whether this immunity shall remain to each 
 individual of us in this unqualified state, or not. 
 The principles of our system are too strong for coun- 
 teraction on this point; resources innumerable, 
 whence deliverance and safety may be obtained, 
 are before us and around us ; such as must occur to 
 every one who thinks seriously on the subject ; and 
 these, were our Government to derelinquish its own 
 principles, (which we have, thank God, no reason 
 whatever to apprehend) would effectually bring
 
 1177 
 
 down upon its head, the full punishment of its 
 demerit. It is no less necessary for the go- 
 vernment, than for the community, to do its duty 
 fliithfLilly. It is in thus exercising ourselves, that 
 our safety as individuals is maintained ; and since 
 the state is no less dependent on a correspondent 
 faithful discharge of its duty, no order of men can 
 grossly disparage such duty, without experiencing, 
 as (he instrument of such disparagement, the bale- 
 ful consequences of its own procedure. 
 
 The chief danger, to which our system is exposed, 
 is that tendency to corruption and deterioration 
 which is inseparable from human affairs ; and th? 
 chief advantage of the scheme now disclosed is, 
 that it counteracts this tendency, in the most pow- 
 erful and strenuous manner. Licentiousness, in the 
 lower orders, can only be effectually repressed, by 
 that luminous and vigorous execution of the laws, 
 which it is its object gradually to introduce. Pro- 
 fligacy, in the middle orders, is only to be completely 
 restrained, by that wise and magnanimous adapta- 
 tion of these laws to all our circumstances, which 
 is held to follow from its developements. Perversi- 
 ty, in the powers which constitute the state, can on- 
 ly be curbed by tliat systematic application of their 
 offices to their object, which the radical improve- 
 ments, that are proposed, import. It is evident, 
 that in our Icgishitivc assemblies, wlierc above 
 a thousand of the most illustrious and respectaljlc 
 personages of the nation are aggregated ; where 
 great talents and virtues, of every kind, are most 
 
 7 k
 
 1178 
 
 assiduously exercised ; and where the benign princi- 
 ples of the system are kept in full play, amidst ob- 
 jects which excite the most emulous exertion, that 
 the great affairs of the nation will, on the whole,make 
 advances towards improvement, either in one way or 
 another ; and that, with these advantages, the struc- 
 ture of our laws and public regulations, even under 
 the administration of thcrn such as it is, may serve 
 tolerably well for the ordinary purposes of society. 
 But the circumstances of the world, more particu- 
 larly those of Christendom, and in a special manner 
 those of our own nation, and its multiplied and 
 diversified establishments, call imperiously for sys- 
 tematic improvement, on a scale much more ex- 
 tended, and much more appropriate to their object, 
 and point out the consequences of dereliction of our 
 principles, in a way, that is not to be misunderstood. 
 These, as the voice of Heaven, call us to our duty, 
 and lay before us the tendencies, the consequences, 
 and the results of disregarding its dictates. 
 
 Even as things stand at present, and have long 
 stood, the King of Great Britain wears the most 
 glorious and enviable crown, that was ever worn by 
 any earthly monarch. It is the centre, towards 
 which the whole honors and affections of a race of 
 men of the highest characters, necessarily tend; it 
 is the source, from whence the favour and the fer- 
 vor of a most powerful people incessantly flows. 
 The splendor and influence which it unfolds, are the 
 results of its characteristic advantages; and if de- 
 prived of these, if unsupported by a magnanimous
 
 1179 
 
 and enlightened nobility, and a respectable and 
 powerful commonalty, it would not enjoy its present 
 lustre, although it ruled over the whole Globe, with 
 unbounded sway. In like manner, the aristocratic 
 order, established amongst us, unlike that order in' 
 most other nations, where it has become the origin 
 of faction, and the instrument of oppression, has, 
 on several most important occasions, procured liber- 
 ties and immunities for the people, and upheld the 
 power and grandeur of the throne. The democra- 
 tic part of our constitution, so far from being an ob- 
 ject of terror or of hatred, either to the Crown or to 
 the patrician order, as is generally the case iii other 
 countries, where the interests of liberty are but 
 imperfectly understood, has voluntarily recognized, 
 defined and perpetuated to both these parties, their 
 respective rights and privileges, so that, in the end, 
 the splendor of the British nobility, like the lustre 
 of the British Crown, is unfolded by these very 
 means. It has been exalted above that of every 
 other set of patricians, that ever existed in any age 
 or in any country j and this splendor our nobility 
 enjoy in the most perfect peace, harmony and se- 
 curity, for the highest social and civil duties. 
 
 YriT it must not be forgotten, that all these ad- 
 vantages have been obtained in the way of doing 
 our duty, and of pursuing the whole objects which 
 it embraces, amidst every difficulty and danger ; and 
 that it is only, as irradiated with the blessings earn- 
 ed in the service of that cause, which it is the su- 
 preme object of man upon earth to promote, that the 
 
 7 K 2
 
 1180 
 
 glorious effulgence of our system is disclosed. It 
 is here that our prosperity, our safety, our improve- 
 ment, our excellence, are to be found. It is into this 
 point that the great project now before us converges 
 itself; and it is from it, that it again extracts those 
 blessingsinwhichallourpeculiar excellence consists. 
 The means, and the powers, with which we set to 
 work, are alike the result of its operations ; and the 
 strength of the increase, which these give forth, 
 flows incessantly from these supernal energies which 
 it inspires. It concentrates the advantages which 
 it produces, at the same time that it diffuses their 
 benign influences in every direction. Thereupon do 
 we derive confidence to look with humble submis- 
 sion to the Most High, for his blessing on all our 
 endeavours, and assurance that this trust shall not 
 be reposed in vain. Into his hands then let us 
 now resign these affairs, earnestly beseeching him, 
 that whatever portion of our plan he may be 
 pleased to favor, therewith his gracious counte- 
 nance may be given.
 
 1181 
 
 NOTE 
 
 Referred to in Page 836. 
 
 That part of the work, which is here referred from, was 
 passed through the press, about the middle of the year 1812 ; 
 when the whole disposeable force of France, and of the im- 
 mense territor)"^ under her control, was in full motion for 
 the invasion of Russia ; and when the Ottoman Porte, la- 
 bouring under internal disorders, which disclosed the inade- 
 quacy of its strength to approaching evils, and immersed 
 amidst the mazes of French influence, seemed to be as incapa- 
 ble of acting to its own interests, as the meanest Potentate in 
 Christendom. The chief part of the European Continent, 
 having been previously subjugated by the arms of the great 
 destroyer, and its strength and means resolved into his 
 hands, deliverance, in existing circumstances, was not then 
 looked for, from the solitary or collected exertions of any 
 of its political establishments. Its population, as well as its 
 resources, were already arranged and exercised under banners 
 that obeyed the voice of their common tyrant, and a success- 
 ful issue, to the blow that he was meditating, was all that 
 was awanting, to enable him to deprive them even of their dis- 
 tinctive name, and to absorb them into his political essence. 
 In these circumstances, an awful suspense hung over the 
 nations. The slow but steady advance of general improve- 
 ment, and a thorough devolution of the highest principles 
 of the system, (resources in reserve, and the main theme of 
 the foregoing treatise,) were then unequal to the press of the 
 occasion. It was not at that time foreseen, that the des- 
 troyer, with his whole means, and resources would be so
 
 1182 
 
 soon, and so completely, entrapped in a snare of his own 
 providing; nor was it conjectured, that after having been ex- 
 tricated from his embarrassments, he and his nation would 
 anew be hurled, with precipitancy, from their usurped supre- 
 macy. It was hoped, and believed, that the great events, then 
 on the tapis, would tend to the subversion of this baleful ty- 
 ranny, and that out of this overthrow, a renovated order of 
 things might arise ; and the reference to subsequent animad- 
 versions, to be introduced in the form of a note at the close 
 of the work, when it was expected that the progress of e- 
 vents would have rendered the subject more capable of elu- 
 cidation, was then made under these views. Since the 
 French system, however, has not only been subverted, but 
 the ancient regime, with as little alteration as possible, re- 
 stored, the animadversions to be introduced must be, in ma- 
 ny respects, different from those that were first contem- 
 plated. 
 
 The Grand Selgnor, true to his interests, had relied on the 
 solemn asseverations of the Christian Princes, and he has 
 profited accordingly. He has not only witnessed, but he 
 has experienced the operation, and reaped the advantage, of 
 their faithful and moderate councils. May the lesson of 
 magnanimity, and the blissful gust of genial and cordial com- 
 placency in the prosperity of others, thus bestowed, have 
 their full effect, both upon his councils and upon their affairs ! 
 and may the time soon come, when Constantinople shall 
 again find, in its lawful sovereign, a determined and an irre- 
 sistible renovatist, who will boldly uncover the shrine of ex- 
 ecrable imposture, and plant himself and his people within 
 the pale of the true religion ; placing their whole confidence 
 in its heavenly doctrines, and finding assurance thereto, a- 
 midst the sublime virtues which these unfold ! Then, will 
 our emotions, on adverting to the circumstances of the pos- 
 sessors of those delicious and highly interesting regions, be 
 no less gratifying than triumphant, and our beneficent de-
 
 signs towards them be unstained, by those darkening pro- 
 jects, that arise out of revolutionary schemes and interfe- 
 rences. 
 
 The restoration of the Bourbons to the throne of France 
 has been accompanied with circumstances, which call forth 
 transcendent veneration and esteem. This genuine proof 
 of the generous policy, and Christian forbearance, of the Al- 
 lied Sovereigns, must for ever silence the cavils of those who 
 taxed them with sinister designs, and add a splendor to their 
 fame, which no length of time can efface. It remains, how. 
 ever, to be seen, whether this great deed of sacred duty 
 shall be blessed to those who are the main partakers of it 
 or not. If these mutually offending parties — the dynasty, 
 by whose profligacy and depravity, France and all Europe 
 have been prepared for revolutionary horrors, and the na- 
 tion, whose unparalleled wickedness, treachery and debase- 
 ment have produced those horrors, shall, like our first parents 
 when taken in their fatal apostacy, receive, with sufficient 
 cordiality, their high behests, and cheerfully follow the paths 
 of prescribed duty, in conformity to the laws of that pure 
 system, which they virtually profess to revere ; and thereby 
 each, in their place, contribute to build up that frame of so- 
 ciety, which coincides with its character ; then, Europe and 
 France may long enjoy peaceful concord, and the memory 
 of the past evil serve only the more to attach to present 
 good. But should these parties, one or both of them, despise 
 the lessons given them by the Most High, and place their 
 confidence in criminal practices, or in outdoing each other in 
 plausible derelictions of their sacred trust : then, doubtless 
 a worse thing will befal them ; the elements of society will 
 l)c again endowed with deletereous principles, and their lat- 
 ter destruction will be more complete than their former. 
 As a mean for enabling them to bear themselves out of such 
 danger, ought not some part of that vast expanse of colonial 
 territory, which is so cumbersome to Spain, to be allotted to
 
 1184 
 
 France, for the purpose oi" receiving and exercising those 
 restless spirits, whose want of employment as boisterous 
 as their characters, renders them so troublesome at home ; 
 and for that of exciting and establishing a regular stimulus 
 to that species of systematic improvement, which coincides 
 most completely with the French character ? It may soon 
 be too late to resort to these alterative courses. Indeed, if 
 we do not now avail ourselves of it, the resorting to it af- 
 terwards may but aggravate the evil which it is our business 
 to irradicate ; that absorbent, which, if used in due time, 
 might have quenched combustion, will, when this shall have 
 reached its full strength, but add strength to its vehemence. 
 
 The events, that have brought down the power of France, 
 and overthrown the empire of Napoleon, cannot be regarded 
 with too much attention, when they are viewed as the 
 workings of Almighty power. That nation, professed to 
 disseminate universally the principles of pure personal liber- 
 ty, and to be zealous only to draw these forth in all their 
 fervor. They had a full opportunity of disclosing to man- 
 kind what they meant by these professions. Their chief 
 made professions, equally loud and strong, respecting his de- 
 ference to the essential interests of nations and of society at 
 large ; and he, too, obtained scope equally ample for giving 
 specimens of what he meant by these professions. It was not, 
 however, until monuments of the treachery of their profes- 
 sions, and of the atrocity of their procedure, with all their 
 consequences and results were produced, such as displayed the 
 character of their system, under a form the most unequivo- 
 cal and uncontrovertible, sufficient to challenge the attention 
 of men of every age and of every country that they were per- 
 mitted to envelope themselves, in that tremendous ruin in 
 which they were lost. This order of Divine procedure is an- 
 nounced to us in his word, and it becomes us as at all times 
 to carry it forward in our speculations, and to note its concur- 
 rence and trace its coincidence with passing events. I defend
 
 1185 
 
 neither the character of the Spanisli nation, nor the Gontluct 
 of tlieir patriots ; but when I see, in their supreme councils, 
 a dereliction of moral principle, horrible in the extreme, 
 an accumulation of crimes, progressively more and more ag- 
 gravated and atrocious, it is proper here, as in the case of 
 Bonaparte and his nation, to remark, that the systcmwhicli, 
 in defiance of tlie light of truth, in which it is immersed, 
 gives forth such darkness, and which converts such grate- 
 ful nourishment into such malignant poison, is hastening on 
 to its maturity. The time and space allowed it for deve- 
 loping its fruits in the greatest perfection and profusion, and 
 the means bestowed upon it for exhibiting these on every 
 hand, cause it to shew most powerfully its genuine character, 
 and to indicate with the greatest precision its deleterious in- 
 fluences. It is long since the nature and properties of the 
 Romish' superstition were first prominently set forth in their 
 true light, and analyzed in the face of Europe ; but hereto- 
 fore, it had not disclosed its gross dereliction of moi'al prin- 
 ciple, nor outraged the character of the system out of which 
 k arose, and to which it professedly clung, so completely as 
 it has now done. It seems to have been leserved for those, 
 who have been the most blind, pertinacious and furious ad- 
 herents of that superstition, to exhibit this to human view: 
 Considering those parties as but hastening on that consum- 
 Hiation, into which such matters necessarily lead, I have on- 
 ly to notice, that since these parties are disclosing, in the 
 face of the s\n\, an inveterate attachment to the works of dark- 
 ness; and moreover, since we, as a nation, have had abun- 
 dant proofs Uiat our safety and strength lies, not in such- 
 works, nor in any earthly object, but in the grace and mer- 
 cy of the Most Higli, it becomes us to beware of participat- 
 ing in their crimes, least wo also participate in their punish- 
 ment. 
 
 We must not, however, arrogate to ourselves merit which 
 is nob our due. We aix; a great commercial nation, and we 
 
 7 L
 
 1186 
 
 seek wealth and power with a strenuousness, that bears down 
 every ordinary consideration. There is nothing in this that 
 is in itself blame-worthy. But if, in our pursuit, we so far 
 forget the hand from which the blessing we are in quest of 
 proceeds, as to disregard or disparage those duties, which as 
 a peculiarly favored nation are laid upon us ; and still more, if 
 we ply towards our object in gross dereliction of those obli- 
 gations, and resolutely traverse the progress of that truth, 
 which it is our first and most imperious duty to maintain ; 
 then, most assuredly, we are pushing onwards to the same 
 goal, with the Emperor Napoleon and the King Ferdinand. 
 Our prosperity is but a tolerance from Heaven, to draw forth 
 our commercial avidity to its full extent, and our greatness 
 is but additional dimensions to that range of criminality that 
 is going forward. When this end shall have been reached, 
 similar and correspondent punishment will be found to be 
 awaiting us ; such punishment as will indicate at once the 
 true character of our procedure, and the height and the 
 depth of our demerit. The object and tendency of our pro- 
 per course of duty, having in the course of this treatise been 
 sufficiently elucidated, it is only necessary here to intimate, 
 that, at present, we are far from having conformed to its ob- 
 ject. Does not the territorial predominancy of the East 
 India Company, immured as it is by British Acts of Par- 
 liament, and Post Office arrangements, stand as directly 
 in'the way of the progress of truth, as the inquisition at Ma- 
 drid .'' To resort to such measures as these, for the defence 
 of our national means, argues, on our part, just so much 
 more disrespect for the cause, and distrust in the power, that 
 has saved us, than the re-establishment of that bloody office 
 does on the part of Spain, as our knowledge and experience 
 of the character of this cause and operations of this power, 
 exceed those of Spain. Furthermore, knowing that we can- 
 not with impunity become parties in, or guarantees for, the 
 immunities of foreign sovereigns, farther than these are ne- 
 cessarily resolved into the pure and beneficent character of
 
 1187 
 
 our system — has our complacency in the views of our foreign 
 connexions been circumscribed by this paramount considera- 
 tion ? No ; we cannot say that it has. Have we not for 
 very trifling, or rather for very worthless objects, consented 
 to bind up our procedure in regard to points the most im- 
 portant, in order to subserve the views of a cabal of despotic 
 kings, and to place our energies and resources, and all our 
 national means and attainments, under influences that cannot 
 improve, and that may degrade our national character and 
 condition ? 
 
 In order to place this procedure in its true light, it is ne- 
 cessary to call to remembrance the circumstances of our late 
 situation. Nothing can be more certain than that Bona- 
 parte''s plan extended to matters the most important and 
 comprehensive. We amuse ourselves by comparing him to 
 a demon, frantic with ambition, and delirious from success ; 
 and, considering his inroad into Russia as the result of these 
 wild propensities, we may concern ourselves little about the 
 leading object or design of this inroad ; here, however, as 
 every where else, Bonaparte disclosed a depth of contrivance, 
 that was equalled only by the darkness of his intentions. 
 Had he succeeded in overthrowing the Russian Empire, (and 
 who that carefully considers the extent and value, arrange- 
 ment and organization of his means, can hesitate in admit- 
 ting, that, on the ordinary grounds of computation, he might 
 warrantably calculate on accomplishing this overthrow,) all 
 Europe had been at his feet, and its immense means and 
 resources most completely at his disposal. The event has 
 shewn that he calculated not in vain on the co-operation of 
 America, which all the while was drawing off our national 
 resources, and defrauding us of our seamen, and which, when 
 the fate of Christendom hung in doubt, plunged herself in- 
 to his scale. That this diversion in his favour was to 
 his cause most important, and to ours most alarming, is 
 equally obvious. Let us suppose that cither in consequence 
 
 7 L 2
 
 1188 
 
 of the wiater's setting in later than usual, in place of earlier, 
 and being more mild in place of being more severe ; or in con- 
 sequence of his advancing more warily than he did, that Bo- 
 naparte had, in the end, proved successful. What would have 
 have been the consequence ? In the first place, the greatest 
 mass of naval resources in the world would have been at his 
 disposal ; and in the next, we would sjieedily have found our- 
 selves waylaid in every extrinsic effort. We know that the in- 
 fluence of terror and dismay, when thus exalted, would have 
 been universal and irresistible, and that their consequences 
 in such circumstances would have had the force and veloci- 
 ty of lightning. Our national arm would then have become 
 paralyzed ; and, as far as human eye can see, our condition 
 have been absolutely desperate. I know that we are accus- 
 tomed to separate our personal interests from those of the 
 state, and to cast fond looks to America as a resort in all our 
 difficulties. Let us recollect, however, that America was not 
 only committed against us, but in favour of Bonaparte and 
 all his designs ; and that, it is but too probable, that he would 
 have found it noways difficult to reconcile the philosophical 
 rulers of that hemisphere, by means of these patrician and 
 equestrian honours, whereby he would have proceeded to de- 
 mark their condition in society, to dispart their interests and 
 feelings from the cause of their republic, and to attach these 
 to some branch of his ow n system. No man can look at Bona- 
 parte's scheme of operations, without being satisfied that these 
 matters came within his design. He is blamed for neglecting 
 Spain ; but what would all the advantages that could have 
 been gained there have availed us, if he had overthrown 
 Russia ? The procrastination of that war served but to wear 
 out the strength of Britain, to encumber it with difficulties 
 in prosecuting her main interest, to bind the colonial em- 
 pire of Spain to that triumphal car which would carry the 
 palm at home, and to render our successes within the penin- 
 sula, not merely sterile, but devastating.
 
 1189 
 
 What has savetl Europe? We will no doubt be told bl' 
 the magnanimity of the Emperor Alexander, and the victo- 
 ries of Wellington, Perhaps it would be better to mention, 
 that Bonaparte, being in consequence of his connexion with 
 Austria, paralyzed on that side, where most exertion was 
 needful, and having, on account of his deadly hatred to Bri- 
 tain, and consequent ill advised Commercial interferences, 
 alienated the best disposed part of his subjects from his inte- 
 rests, was, from a kind of necessity, led to apostatize from 
 those princi[)les on which his career had heretofore so suc- 
 cessfully proceeded. In place of hurling the resources of his 
 allies into the field before him, he contented himself with 
 drawing out those means, which subjugated Europe, through 
 the hands of its legitimate sovereigns, could regularly collect 
 and transfer under his power. It so happened, however, that 
 these sovereigns, though in his estimation scarcely more than 
 titular,hadit in their power, (perhaps from his ill-defined com- 
 placency in his father-in-law's interests,) during the procrasti- 
 nation of the war in Russia, to act for once independently, and 
 under impressions of horror and despair, which his known 
 perfidy and treachery had produced. These resources, rested 
 upon, and held to be under his command, or at any rate as in 
 reserve, were thereupon found in battle array against himself. 
 The stupendous victories of the great Duke of Wellington, 
 and other monuments of British generosity and prowess, at- 
 tracted to our standards all that was disposable on one side ; 
 while the successes of the Russians, and their generous and 
 faithful deportment to the allied sovereigns insured this ad- 
 vantage on the other. Thus, while Bonaparte had forfeited 
 his honor so completely on all hands, that nothing but the 
 most complete success could bear him up, and this having 
 failed him, and his career hastening to its termination— the 
 Prince Regent — in consequence of his steady adherence to 
 the covmcils on which the British Government had already 
 acted, seconded by correspondent conduct on the part of the 
 Emperor of Austria, and availing him fully of qII these ad-
 
 1190 
 
 vantages — rallied round his standards the scattered forces and 
 resources of the whole European continent. 
 
 This is the matter-of-fact statement of that course of 
 events, whereby Europe was saved. But we must mount 
 still higher, before we can reach the source whence this de- 
 liverance flowed. It was the motto of an illustrious sove- 
 reign, when her enemies met with a similar destruction, to 
 acknowledge with humble reverence this source ; and we 
 must be blind indeed, if we cannot do the same. There is, 
 amidst these events, such a multitude of affairs, that carry 
 us directly to the fountain, that the difficulty lies in making 
 the selection. Holding, however, that by adhering to that 
 system which the Almighty protects with special care, we 
 have a cue thereto, I begin with noticing, that the cause of 
 God, that cause, for which we are to contend in a fair, regu- 
 lar, steady way, to the utmost, is not necessarily the same, 
 with that which includes the rights of nations and of individu- 
 als, though it may readily include these. It is in principle 
 opposed to oppression and circumvention ; it allies itself with 
 equitable, and generous, and charitable procedure ; but it 
 does not necessarily lead these on to success as to every mun- 
 dane object. The reason of this we all know : it is the great 
 leading design of all its exercises and operations, to separate 
 the good from the bad, and to mark in strong characters the 
 distinctivequalities and tendencies of their respective conduct; 
 but their results are frequently reserved for future retribution 
 or manifestation. That there were many pure and fervent pa- 
 triots in France, in the early stages of the revolution is not 
 to be denied; and that there were many such in Spain, during 
 the late conflicts, is evinced by proofs that are irresistible It 
 is evident, however, that this patriotism was connected with 
 a, multitude of deleterious principles, some of them of the 
 most rank and pestilential kind. It is no less evident, that 
 the blessing of Heaven went not with their procedure ; and 
 although we have no absolute right to expect or calculate.
 
 1191 
 
 upon this blessing, in any case or in any circumstan- 
 ces, we can discern causes and reasons which are declared, 
 from infallible authority, to influence the Divine procedure, in 
 regard to such matters, sufficient to render the want of this 
 blessing no difficulty in the present case. First, those 
 parties were not prepared for the liberty which they 
 grasped at. They sought it presumptuously, and by means 
 that would have blasted any advantage whatever. Ra- 
 tional liberty was professedly their object, but they plac- 
 ed no confidence in the superintendence of Heaven ; they 
 proceeded to seize upon it by any means that offered, al- 
 though these were the most violent and the most criminal. 
 Advantages, when attained, were seldom ever applied scrupu- 
 lously to their professed object ; and they were in the end per- 
 verted in a mass to the purposes of the wildest licentiousness, 
 and of the most unprincipled aggrandizement. Secondly. 
 Their cause itself was not that of Heaven : religious im- 
 provement was scarcely implied in their scheme ; moral obli- 
 gation and a grateful sense of the blessings which resulted 
 therefrom, and of the advantages which they enjoyed for 
 participating in and diffusing those blessings, were almost 
 unknown amongst them. Their whole objects were mun- 
 dane ; their improvements, innovations and interferences had 
 no ends before them but sublunary good. The advance- 
 ment, possessions, security and happiness, of which they 
 were in quest, were limited and restricted to mere worldly 
 affairs. So far from profiting by the rays of celestial truth 
 that beamed around them, they sedulously excluded them- 
 selves from their influence, and pleased themselves with 
 sparks of their own kindling. Most certainly, the despite 
 done to the leading doctrines of Christianity was not uni-- 
 versal, nor the contemjit generally expressed for moral and 
 religious obligation, always passed over with applause. But 
 it is enough for us to know, that the sacred banners of the 
 cross were effectually abandoned, and its institutions, as 
 stumbling blocks, swept out of the way. The punishment.
 
 119^ 
 
 accordingly, that is annexed to such sacrilege, they in effect 
 imprecated on their own head. Was this the cause that 
 Heaven was to designate with tokens ot favor, to be peculiarly 
 its own ? The fact is, these parties had not only no confi- 
 dence in, but no desire for the pure train of blessings that 
 would have flowed from this cause : the odour of its celes- 
 tial origin was offensive to their taste ; nay, the ordinary 
 advantages that emanated from its possession, were deem- 
 ed unworthy of their notice, until they had despoiled it of 
 that genial fragrance, whereby its heavenly character was 
 raaiiifested. 
 
 Let usf carry those views onward to another inst-ance; 
 The attempt made to renovate the government of Poland, 
 about thirty years since, was grand, and every way merito- 
 rious, and the conduct of those who frustrated it was flagi- 
 tious in the extreme. The failure of this attempt may per- 
 haps be resoluble, on the principles afore illustrated. But 
 whether they be thus resoluble or not, we have sufficient 
 proof of the agency of the Most High, in the long series of. 
 spoliations to which the nations who partitioned' Poland^, 
 and of humiliation to which those sovereigns who triumphedi 
 over its dynasty, have since been subjected, which, from, 
 their novelty in the history of the world, and their peculiar 
 appetency to the circumstances of the case, cannot be thought 
 of without suggesting the idea of the demerit which preced- 
 ed it. Leaving this matter, however, let us direct our at- 
 tention to tlie history of the sovereign, for whose dynasty the 
 throne of Poland was destinated. The elector of Saxony, 
 the adopted heir of the Polish Crown, but the real heir andi 
 high representative of that potentate, who first spread his 
 protecting arm over the protestant faith, abjured the reli- 
 gion for which his ancestoi's had contended so honorably, 
 and into which he was himself initiated, transferring, at the 
 same time, his august dynasty, and all that he could carry 
 along mik him, into the lines of a. most impurc church.
 
 1193 
 
 Now let us remark what has followed. The adopted heii" 
 of Poland miglit well have insisted on securing for those of 
 his own faith, immunities sufficient to make his exaltation 
 to the throne, the means of diffusing its influence tlirough- 
 out the whole of his extensive domains. He might have 
 expressed himself decidedly on the necessity of maintaining 
 the religion of his ancestors ; declaring at the same time, and 
 exhibiting by his conduct, that he was in earnest, in his de- 
 claration, that every legitimate right, recognized by the 
 state, and committed to his trust, be it catholic or protestant, 
 would be fully respected under his government. He would 
 no doubt have run some risk of loaing the proffered succes- 
 sion, but he would have averted the danger to which he 
 was exposed. As it was, he soon had the mortilicatiou of 
 seeing the crown, for which he had sold himself, evanish 
 from his sight. All his mundane concerns have at lengtli 
 been involved in the same calamity. He has been tossed 
 about the field of common contestation, as if he had been 
 destitute alike of the faculty of judging for himself, and of 
 the power of discharging faithfully any trust. The humili- 
 ating plight, to which, in the end, he has been reduced, 
 bears him up no higher than just to exhibit his former cha- 
 racter, and the history of his downfal. This humiliation is 
 executed by his compeers, in despite of their principe of 
 recognising all the old dynasties ; and this without any eye to 
 this demerit, but on account of his recent political conduct ; 
 while the fact is, that Bavaria, Wirtemberg, Baden, and the 
 long list of sovereigns, who owe their existence to their ab- 
 ject servility to any power that could lead their force against 
 the common cause, are, on this very ground, mucli more 
 culpable. Nay the King of Saxony had real cause of com- 
 plaint against the Allies, while those others had none. Who 
 does not here see the eye and the arm of him, who main- 
 tains inflexibly his own most sacred cause, vindicatiug its 
 honor ? An analogous instance might be adduced from Swe- 
 den, where a king of an ancient and much respected iin^, 
 
 7 M
 
 1194 
 
 zealous for the common good of kings, but regardless of the 
 interests of his protestant subjects, was hurled from his 
 throne, to make way for a personage, who, by means that 
 are not to be defended on any principle recognized by the 
 sovereigns, mounted the vacated throne, embraced the true 
 faith, and faithfully and magnanimously executes the various 
 complicated duties which its possession implies. This throne 
 he holds in right of services, which secure this advantage in- 
 violably for his dynasty. What a lesson do these things give 
 to protestant princes ! 
 
 Let us press these statements, and the inferences which 
 flow from them, close home upon the subject before us. It 
 is not yet thirty years, since the great potentates of Europe, 
 perceiving the essential advantages of general improvement, 
 and of giving to their subjects a substantial interest in the 
 public weal, held out to them, with a warm and sincere 
 heart, the proffer of rational liberty. They mistook, how- 
 ever, sublunary advantage for genial and paramount attain- 
 ments, and the}"^ conformed their procedure, in one shape or 
 another, to this general misapprehension. They were, ac 
 cordingly, one and a"! of them, ensnared amidst the fallacy 
 of the designs that they prosecuted. They trusted on their 
 own wisdom and strength ; they trusted not in Heaven ; and 
 their own wisdom and strength failed them in their greatest 
 need. In the progress of events, Europe was resolved into 
 a vast military body. Napoleon Bonaparte, a soldier of 
 fortune, by marrying the disgraced concubine of a leading 
 demagogue, got his foot into the stirrup, whence he mount- 
 ed to supremacy over this vast mass of military power and 
 means This fortune he bestrode, until he had debased 
 every principle on which the revolution had been defended, 
 and levelled every object to the power of the state. At 
 length, this man of might, become presumptuous and outra- 
 geous, met his destruction, where he had hoped to have 
 consummated his wickedness -, and he left in the hands of the
 
 1195 
 
 Bovereigns Iheir former power, wonderfully augmented, and 
 relieved from many heavy clogs, and most weighty encum- 
 Lrances, that had formerly stood in its way. Seeing the Al- 
 mighty has wrought out all this deliverance, through a di- 
 versity of instruments, of various casts of character, are the 
 sovereigns to suppose, that all this is done for their sakes, 
 to enable lliem to begin a new career of profligacy, with re- 
 newed and accelerated strength and boldness ? They, as in- 
 dependent rulers of independent states, have at length come 
 to respect and protect each other's claims, in so far as they 
 are recognised to be legitimate. Thus far is well ; but are 
 they to guarantee to each other a plenitude of scope, witliin 
 which tyranny, corruption and licentiousness, are anew to 
 be exercised at random ? This seems to be the prevailing 
 sentiment. But, either there is a Divine Providence who has 
 wrought all this for the nations, or there is not. Who will be 
 bold enough to adopt and abide by the negative of these 
 propositions ? Concluding, then, that the government of 
 nations, their heads and representatives, are mainly answera- 
 ble for their constituents, (who in the aggregate constitute an 
 entity, whose duration, fate, and circumstances are measured 
 upon this earth,) on what sacred ground do they stand ! 
 Shall the allied powers, in such circumstances, busy them- 
 selves in vain attempts to introduce the old regime ? They 
 had better think well of the business, before they venture 
 far in the attempt. Their case is now more critical tlian 
 ever; they have had full experience and example of tlie con- 
 sequence of rash procedure, and they have undergone duran- 
 ces, that ought to fix these consequences, and all the lessons 
 connected with them, for ever in their minds. If they now 
 fail in chusing the right way, or in putting forth their whole 
 strength and means, in following out their own, and their 
 people's greatest good ; if they refuse to pay that defe- 
 rence to religious truth, which is its due ; or abate any of 
 their lawful concern for its interests; then, most assuredly, 
 they may look forward to futurity with dismay, and, wliilo 
 
 7 iM 2
 
 1196 
 
 they are solacing themselves with their good fortune, re- 
 collect the precarious tenure by which it is held. 
 
 Russia acted magnanimously, and in perfect consistence 
 with her high character, when she gave the hand of brother- 
 hood to Prussia, and Sweden, crest-fallen as these then 
 were. Why did she not follow out this line of conduct, 
 and after placing Poland and Saxony under Prussia, and 
 restoring Finland to Sweden, betake herself to her ancient 
 capital, wherein, in a more genial clime, and amidst renew- 
 ed advantages, she might have set agoing the whole ame- 
 liorating establishments of Europe ? But was Russia to a- 
 bandon all the advantages that result from the possession of 
 Petersburgh, and her influence in the west ? That does not 
 follow ; Petersburgh, as a great commercial station, and 
 naval depot, and as an appropriate centre of surrounding 
 improvement, might uphold all the advantages of which it is 
 susceptible, without the court; and like Casan, Archangel, As- 
 tracan, and other ports on the Euxine, Caspian, Baltic, and 
 North seas, bear its full share of the exterior intercourse 
 of this immense empire. At present, Russia converges her 
 whole strength to the west, and is occupied with wild and 
 empty projects of conquest and aggrandizement, the bequest 
 of the imperious Catherine. Under these, no doubt, her 
 little German friends may seem to serve as advanced posts 
 in her march to the Western Ocean. It becomes her, how- 
 ever, to recollect, that before she could reach this object, 
 convulsions from within, and from beyond, on which her 
 power could scarcely be borne with any hopes of success, 
 would soring up and dilapidate all those superinduced advan^ 
 ges, which she labored to build up. Whereas, under the 
 plan now proposed, Russia would soon be covered with 
 flocks and herds ; her immense plains would soon be clothed 
 with plenty, sufficient to sustain, over all her territory, a 
 powerful, iwte'tigent and happy population. She would, in 
 the east, soon reap advantages great and altogether peculiar,
 
 1197 
 
 such as would bear up a high order of improvement, every 
 way correspondent to her circumstances, replenish her with 
 commercial riches, and other powerful and valuable advanta- 
 ges ; and thereby enable and dispose her to disclose, develope 
 and mature her immense resources, in renovating and con- 
 centrating reproductive establishments and institutions, pos- 
 sessed of power and efficacy, coincident alike with the cir- 
 cumstances and character of her population, and with her best 
 and highest interests as a first-rate political power. 
 
 If Russia had given this example of genuine force of cha- 
 racter, she might have assumed a high tone in the affairs of 
 the European congress. Her interest, as well as that of 
 Britain, is to preserve security and tranquillity throughout 
 Christendom. She, thus seconded, might therefore have 
 said to the petty sovereignties of Germany and of Italy. 
 *' The time for all warfare, but such as the common interests 
 of nations render necessacy, is now for ever gone. We re- 
 cognize no white slave trade, no business of human butchery, 
 whereby men are disposed of as so many cattle, to serve the 
 purposes of ambition, and fill the coffers of needy princes. 
 The great dyn.i-^ties of Christendom, have too long burdened 
 themselves with foreign connexions, who, bred up under high 
 notions of their own importance, and possessed of slender 
 means for displaying it, do, by dint of their affinity with 
 the sovereign, unfold profligate and nefarious habits, where- 
 by the head and the members of the state are set in oppo- 
 sition to the community, and the amalgamation of the sove- 
 reign with his people, prevented by a discreinentive alloy. 
 This necessity, in their former dependent condition, is now 
 at an end. We mean not, however, to deprive you of 
 your laws, or of your separate and le^ritimate existence, 
 as political entities. All ihat we propose doing is, to aggre- 
 gate you under two great states, and to render it needful for 
 you to settle in great deliberative bodies, those disputes which 
 you now adjust amidst political intrigues, and by force of
 
 1198 
 
 arms. We place over each of you, a great independent 
 prince ; who, as your common father, is charged with watch- 
 ing over your whole general interests ; and who, residing in 
 the midst of you, and having no interest, care, or duty, but 
 what is common to all his subjects, must, as your head, be 
 invested with all the power that is necessary for enabling 
 him to execute his trust with fidelity. To assist him in this, 
 both states shall have a general congress, composed of two 
 bodies, one of representatives, chosen by the people at large, 
 as collected in convenient cantonments, the other of a se- 
 nate, composed of yourselves as their chiefs. By the majo- 
 rity of voices in these assemblies, and with the concurrence 
 of your prince, all general laws are to be ordained and en- 
 forced. You need no army and no treasures, but such as 
 are under the command of the princes' responsible ministers; 
 who, of course, with the consent and advice of the congress, 
 will draw these forth according as occasion requires. You 
 yourselves, though chiefs, and all your mimicipal functiona- 
 ries, though independent in their character, or of your own 
 special nonunation, Kiust be amenable to the common law 
 of the realm. A? chiefs, you are thereby deprived of a use- 
 less and burdensome sovereignty : but in return for this, you 
 have seats in the senate, and in the great councils of a great 
 empire, where your voice and influence reach, in a fair, re- 
 gular and i-ecognized form, to matters of the greatest and 
 highest import, amidst which your affairs, and your whole 
 chain of connexions, may increase and advance in all that is 
 estimable, in pei tect peace and security. It must be a leading 
 point with you, to diffuse religious, moral, and intellectual 
 blessings throughout the whole range of your community ; 
 and as the blessings thus diffused will, in the natural course 
 of things, come to be concentrated and perpetuated, your 
 condition must correspandently advance." Every one un- 
 derstands the character of this improvement in the affairs 
 of Christendom. These states are associated under a form, 
 as nearly correspondent to that of the United States of
 
 1199 
 
 America, and placed urtder a government, as nearly re- 
 sembling that of Britain, as their circumstances can at pre. 
 sent admit of. Subsequent improvements, to be introduced 
 as circumstances favored, might, if it was judged expedient, 
 render this correspondence and resemblance nearer. But 
 whether this took place or not, the great object of legislation 
 would, amidst such arrangements, be effectually answered. 
 If Russia, thus seconded, had thus deported herself, she 
 would have raised a monument of fame to her national 
 prowess and magnanimity, unparalleled in the history of the 
 world, saving only in that of Great Britain for the last twenty 
 years. Russia, however, whether from necessity or choice, 
 has pursued a very opposite line of conduct. She has added so 
 much to her territory, and has perm.eated the best part of Eu- 
 rope so thoroughly, by connexions and dependents of one kind 
 and another, that, considering the character and organization 
 of her system, it may be apprehended, that she has become 
 just such another colossus of military power, as we dreaded, 
 in revolutionary France. She commands Turkey and the 
 east, most absolutely ; and her resources are such, that if she 
 were fully aroused into a warlike attitude, we would be at a 
 loss to find out a state, which she did not directly or indi- 
 rectly influence. How much to be wished is it, that the 
 present Emperor, so much famed for his magnanimity, would 
 establish Poland, and the whole of his western domains, in- 
 to an independent constitutional monarchy, under one of his 
 brothers. 
 
 But I would by no means lay greater weight on these mat- 
 ters than they can fairly and easily bear ; nor regard any par- 
 ticular arrangement of territory, as essential to the progress 
 of improvement. We may still hope, that amidst such a 
 variety of interests, movements the most opposite from those 
 that are calculated upon, may take place. Perhaps, peculiar 
 compensating blessings may arise from what is now done. 
 It is certain that we would, as things stand, endanger much
 
 1200 
 
 by attempting to discompose the settlement that has befin 
 effectuated ; and it cannot be too strongly impressed on our 
 minds, that in so far as we are pledged to it, it is indispensa- 
 bly necessary for us to hold it as concluded. I remark on 
 this head, however, that it is impossible for princes to mort- 
 gage the means or the power of the nation which they go- 
 vern, for purposes that are not clearly resoluble into general 
 good. To mortgage these, for instance, in defence of the 
 present Spanish system, would be as criminal as to mortgage 
 them in defence of that of Algiers, or the ancient man of the 
 mountains. To some it may appear that this remark might 
 be spared, as no liguments are more fragile than those that 
 subsist betwixt sovereigns, and no consideration so unim- 
 portant as not occasionally to dissever them. Although, 
 however, I am satisfied, that the merest tide of interest will 
 sometimes carry off their good will from its safest harbour ; 
 yet, as we see that there are among princes and states- 
 men, conscientious and honest men, who would hold them- 
 selves bound, in all circumstances, to any obligation under 
 which they may be brought, whether their brethren did so 
 or not ; and as these might be ensnared by entanglements, 
 which could have no other end but to dispart their interest 
 from those of their subjects, and thus render them effectually 
 the dupes of all who could thus fffect their councils, it is pro- 
 per, that the natural limits of princely power should be dis- 
 tinctly understood, and recognised as a matter on all hands set 
 at rest. Nothing is of more importance than national honor, 
 and that pledge for it which the sovereign gives ; . and per- 
 haps, the reason why its dictates are so often disregarded is, 
 its being extended to points where it cannot be effectually 
 supported. It is a vain, and it is a vile thing for a prince to 
 pledge himself and his subjects to immoral procedure. It is 
 woise to act up to those obligations, in defiance of its obvious 
 consf>qutV!ces ; bat it is worst of all to persevere in such 
 coiidvsct. whe-e heaven <itid earth seem to conspire to render 
 it necessary foi him to be true to those interests which he
 
 1201 
 
 represents. For these interests he is bound to sacrifice, 
 where the occasion requires it, every thing that is personal, 
 or peculiar to his own interests. 
 
 I am not without some hopes, that the petty sovereignties 
 botli of Germany and of Italy will, of their own accord, from 
 motives of common interest, associate themselves, in somesuch 
 way as that which has been recommended. It must be care- 
 fully attended to, however, that although such associations 
 must be productive of public good, to aggrandize the great 
 powers at present established, by such means, would have a 
 tendency directly the reverse. Already the Rubicon has been 
 passed, and it is seen what military force, under a powerful 
 chief, can effectuate. Like the states of Ancient Greece, 
 those of Christendom have admitted the greatest military 
 power upon earth into their councils, and it has not been found 
 that they can withstand his influence. It is not upon the 
 generous heroes of our own day that we have to calculate. 
 We must act upon system, for system will assuredly form 
 circumstances correspondent to itself. These considerations 
 give us one reason why the foregoing allotment of territory 
 is deserving of notice ; the interests of general improvement 
 give us the other, Avhich is scarcely less cogent. Both these 
 reasons, joined to the resolution expressed by the house of 
 Braganza of establishing itself in the Brazils, must dispose 
 us to wish it carried farther, and to give Portugal to Spairt 
 in exchange for Paraguay, to the house of Braganza. The 
 circumstances of the times favor it, and the commixture of 
 councils, and bearing of general interests, thus produced, 
 would, more than any principle that can be introduced into 
 these nations, lead on to a s} stem of national representation. 
 Through national representation, accuracy and precision of 
 procedure would be obtained, and through all these, b/ 
 graduated measures, radical and national improvement. 
 This hint, however, is thrown out chiefly on account of the 
 necessities in which these powers are now involved ; because 
 it is certain, that these necessities have arisen out of those nar- 
 
 7 N
 
 1202 
 
 row views of national advantage which they mutually che- 
 rish, and that there is no nation upon earth that possesses 
 greater advantages for general improvement, than these 
 would possess under this arrangement. 
 
 Having made these remarks, I revert to the principle 
 which has been maihlj elucidated in this note, and conclude 
 with remarking, that the thrones now possessed by the po- 
 tentates of Europe have been procured for them by the fi- 
 delity of their subjects, and under the direct or implied 
 condition of being occupied for their good, their highest 
 good, and their permanent good ; and that the bargain thus 
 concluded has been ratified and sealed amidst rivers of their 
 blood. The people may hold in their hands no instrument, 
 demonstrative of their claim, no pledge in security for the 
 faithful discharge of their duty, while the sovereigns have 
 now full power to make their people fulfil their part. But 
 let it be recollected, that nothing can relieve them from the 
 load of responsibility under which they now labor, but pro- 
 viding for their people, an equitable civil constitution, to 
 which they, and also their heirs and all their successors, 
 whomsoever these may turn out to be, shall be ever after 
 bound. Without this they do nothing ; their personal vir- 
 tues are all so many lures, deluding the people to their des- 
 truction ; and their largesses, but preludes to general prodi- 
 gality and excess. There may be no eye nor arm of man 
 to enforce this paramount obligation ; but assuredly Chris- 
 tendom remains under influences that will demark the pro-, 
 cedure of nations, and of all who represent national proce- 
 dure, in a manner sufficiently indicative of their over-rul- 
 ing force. We may not be able to tell how, or by what 
 means. Heaven may accomplish his object, but most assured- 
 ly, his procedure will consist with giving largely of his 
 best blessings to those who acquit themselves faithfully of 
 their duty, and with plentifully pouring on the head of those 
 who, after so many warnings, denounciations and examples, 
 can still make light of the most sacred obligations, the whole 
 consequences of their demerit.
 
 1203 
 
 Let us now, however, turn to our own particular duty. 
 Whatever other nations or governments may do, oul* duty 
 is laid upon us in terms too plain and too cogrent to arlmit 
 of contravention. The time was, when the faithful disciples 
 gf our most holy faith, like tlie followers of the tabernacle in 
 the wilderness, moved about frpm place to place, exposed to 
 all the inclemencies of the elements. Humble and despised, 
 they were the alternate objects of indignant contempt to the 
 mother of corruption, and to her feudatory kings. Ai length, 
 Britain became their secure asylum and rallying point. In 
 vain did the terrific xVrmada rage amidst the ho.vling deep. 
 HE blew with his winds and it was dispersed. Our sacred 
 dynasty* with the whole assembled chiefs of the nation, were 
 snatched from horrible destruction, by a providential inter- 
 ference scarcely less wonderful. When this dynasty, however, 
 had so far degenerated, as to lose its adumbrating influences, 
 to merge amidst surrounding profanity, and to amalgamate 
 with the profligate feudatories of Rome, a deliverer was pro- 
 vided, and a scion of its ancient stock established in its 
 stead. This removal, by a wonderful coincidence of events, 
 took place when the powerful aid of Britain was necessary 
 to arrest the march of unbounded ambition, and to save Eu- 
 rope from the deep darkness of universal despotism. Bri- 
 tain, thus preserved and blessed, advanced in all that was 
 excellent, she excited the envy of her powerful enemies, 
 who, dropping their mutual animosity, leagued together in 
 greater and greater masses, in the hopes of bearing her 
 down by their enormous weight. These attempts, however, 
 successively ended in establishing on higher grounds, the 
 superior power and sj)lendor of the British system, and in 
 illustrating the maGjnai)imity and progressive greatness of the 
 British nation. The n^'xt design of Fraiiee was to triverse 
 and c.rcumscrihe our colonial prowess in Amciica ; but slie 
 was oI)liged, not only to desist from the attempt, but to a- 
 bandon the whole territory that had given rise to the en- 
 croachment. Rising thus triuiii[)han'^ from the ht.»nn, our 
 ungrateful colonies forsook those standards under which tneir 
 
 7 N 2
 
 1204 
 
 prosperity had arisen ; tliey aspired to independence, and 
 rmiged themselves in the same ranks with those foes, from 
 whose hostiHty they had but just escaped. These foes, still 
 anxious to triumph over the genius of free British Protes- 
 tantism, greedily availed themselves of this new opportunity 
 of bearing their force against our most essential concerns ; 
 but here, too, they were foiled in their object. Britain was 
 chastened by the loss of her colonies, and she learned to re- 
 spect those rights of British subjects, which she had attempt- 
 ed to violate. She was taught, that freedom of intercourse, 
 and an equitable representation of government, were boons 
 that she could not with impunity refuse ; that these British 
 colonies, the result of her former misapprehensions of right- 
 ful power, owed her no obedience, unless she duly maintained 
 her paternal situation ; and that they were well warranted, 
 by force of arms, to defend the rights of freemen, for the 
 sake of which they had originally expatriated themselves. 
 This lesson, bestowed by Heaven on the British sovereign, he 
 received with all that humility and submission that was its 
 ^ue. He was left in possession of the colony he had con- 
 quered from France, and he has earned more honor by his 
 faithful and affectionate regard to the independence of his 
 ■former subjects, than he could possibly have gained by their 
 •complete subjugation. Here, we have the character and 
 the objects of our duty exemplified before us ; let us not 
 refuse their grateful impressions. The sovereigns of Europe 
 Tcnow little of these things. Perhaps, when they befriended 
 America, they had in their eye the conduct and example of 
 our first Protestant Queen, If they had, they most assu- 
 redly mistook the case altogether. Before their circumstan- 
 ces could have been like her's, they behoved to have been 
 ranged under the same influences with those for whom they 
 contended. But to be placed under such influences was the 
 last thing that they wished for. Soon, however, the character 
 and the consequences of interjecting their coarse and sinister 
 projects, in such a sacred cause, was disclosed to them ; and 
 «»iidst tlie disasters and humiliations of a whole age, the
 
 1205 
 
 instruction which they stood in need of, has been rung in 
 their ears, with such accents, that nothing but the extremii" '■ 
 ty of human obduracy can resist its force. <(" 
 
 We must not, however, conclude, that they will not resist 
 the force of these instructions. Marking their former and 
 their present conduct, we must at all events admit, that, a* 
 yet, we have not such sufficient reason to conclude, that the 
 discipline accorded to them, has had all those salutary effects 
 that are necessary to induce us (to the dereliction of our own 
 sacred line of duty,) to amalgamate our concerns with theirs. 
 We see not these potentates, like the Babylonish monarch, 
 bowing before that power whom they had offended, and 
 emulous to give proofs of their devotedness to his interests 
 in this world. We see them not, like wise, good and pious 
 men, leading their subjects into the paths of excellence, and 
 cherishing and fostering those precious germs of improve- 
 ment, that have been miraculously preserved to their hands; 
 shielding those sacred trusts that have anew been devolved 
 on them, from their own and their 6uccessor"'s violence, by- 
 constitutional laws ; and advancing to the foreground of all 
 their pursuits, the sacred cause of Heaven. Although, 
 therefore, we may, and we must stretch forth the hand of 
 brotherly aid, when circumstances render it necessary, let us 
 not so far identify their concerns with ours, as to tie up our 
 hands in the discharge of those paramount duties which are 
 obviously laid upon us ; nor consent to be fettered in the 
 exercise of our most precious and hallowed privileges — that 
 of spreading the powerful influences of our banners, over 
 the cause that is devolved on our special care, and befriend- 
 ing its unfortunate abettors, when they rest upon our aid. 
 We know where our strength lies; and if, amidst the dal- 
 liance of unsanctified inilulgencc, we consent to give it up, 
 we must and shall most assuredly endure the bitter conse- 
 quences, be forced to subnnt, not only to all the humiliating 
 scornful drudgery that our foes may inflict, but to see our 
 most sacred privileges, the peculiar blessings of our most 
 holy faith, blasted amidst the convulsions of the storm.
 
 1206 
 
 ^hese considerations disclose to us the vast importance of 
 national duty, and of that line of it, which it has been the 
 business of this treatise to unfold; they lead us also to no- 
 tice a department of this duty which has not heretofore come 
 in our way. I refer to the case of the Irish papists, whose 
 ill-defined claims arc perpetually rung in our ears. I am 
 not to defend the test act, which, as now constituted, imposes 
 violence only on tender consciences, deprives the state of 
 much useful talent, and perverts a most sacred rite, to pro- 
 fane purposes; but neither can 1 plead for the abrogation of 
 all distinctive rules in regard to this point. We are, neces- 
 sarily and strictly, a vast protestant association, and a di- 
 rect,^ unequivocal and credible declaration of belief and ad- 
 herence, on the pail of all our great public functionaries, is 
 thereto indispensibly necessary. Taking this ground, I 
 would maintain it, for behoof and advantage, not only of 
 British protestants, but of Irish papists, whose interest, in 
 the existence and maintenance of our free protestant consti* 
 tution, is as clear and essential as that of English episco- 
 palians. Under our government, the papists, in the aggre- 
 gate, enjoy greater liberty of conscience, more valuable 
 means of improvement, and more perfect security in the 
 possession of those, than ever they permitted protestants to 
 enjoy, when they had the ascendancy, than they themselves 
 do enjoy in any other country upon earth, and than they 
 would enjoy, if they had the boon, after which they seem 
 ^o earnestly to long. In order to clear up this matter, it is 
 not necessary to refer to the annals of St. Hildebert, or of 
 Thomas-a-Becket ; the position is sufficiently established, 
 by referring to what is passing at this moment under our 
 eye. In Belgium, almost in defiance of an immense protes- 
 tant army, and in the face of their sovereign's declarations, 
 the papists are contending for those exclusive privileges, 
 which they usurped during the darkest ages. In Spain, they 
 9xe acting up to the full import of these claims. In France, 
 in despite of the supreme authority, the papists are pursu- 
 ing the same course. The truth is, the Popisli superstition
 
 1207 
 
 is inconsistent with free or tolerant principles ; and it is only 
 when its power is effectually restrained, that these princi- 
 ples can have place. 
 
 But it is said, the Irish papists will be content with 
 much less than this, they only claim access to those places 
 of power and tru^^t, which the wisdom of the sovereign may 
 find to be their due. I answer, it was some such language 
 as this, that the Parisian rabble held, when the good-natured 
 King Louis allowed their leaders to beguile his sceptre out 
 of his hands. Yet these leaders were not the worst men he 
 had to do with, for they were soon displaced by those who 
 upraised them, in order to make way for others of a still 
 more outrageous cast, who anew made farther encroach- 
 ments, and were then driven out of the way by more furious 
 competitors. The Popish system is constituted on these 
 very principles, and it is so replete with tremendous instru- 
 ments, that those, who are involved witliin its vortex, are sel- 
 dom able to recover themselves. Belief, in the supremacy 
 and infallibility of the mother church, su])ersedes every ot'ier 
 consideration ; and olxrdience to her dictates is parajnount to 
 every moral attainment. Nor is this all. Her encroach- 
 ments are incessant as well as boundless ; insidious and in- 
 tricate, as well as audacious and unrelenting. After you 
 have satiated the demands of one order of claimants, vou 
 must lay your account with meeting those of another be- 
 hind them, over whom those claimants have as little influ- 
 ence as yourself; and these too, when gratified, will but nir:ke 
 way for others, and others, continually increasing in number, 
 and rising in their demands. No pledge, no ctmcession will 
 bind them as a body to your interests, for they are in mind 
 and in body essentially the property of their priests, and the 
 bold, which their system has over this possession, reaches 
 to the most powerful principles of human nature. Neither 
 can these priests, however we may harmonize them to 
 our system, or motlify their temperament, be made the ob- 
 jects of your confidence, while any tiling that they can claim
 
 1208 
 
 remains undelivered. They are themselves but the advanced 
 guard of their own body, who, in close succession, are ready 
 at all times to follow up every advantage. 
 
 These considerations are to us of the very last moment. 
 All the privileges and advantages that we enjoy, have been 
 wrung out of the hands of papists. Nay, our rights to our 
 properties and possessions would soon become matters of 
 dispute, if this party were ever to regain its power. Every 
 one who has any opportunity of knowing the sentiments of 
 their priests, must be satisfied, liow earnestly they long 
 after those ancient patrimonial domains, in which they at 
 one, time rioted to excess. Give to the jiapists the privilege 
 of access to places of power and trust, and you will soon 
 find, that the sovereign will not dare to refuse them a decid- 
 ed preference to these places. By and by, the individuals, 
 thus favored, will be found to be immured in difficulties that 
 will render it impossible even for them to act, otherwise, than 
 in subserviency to the Popish cause. We are but too well 
 acquainted with the lukewarmness of protestants, to believe 
 that these encroachments would be vigorously opposed. 
 When, therefore, you have admitted papists into the leading 
 offices in the army and navy, into the bench and the cabi- 
 net, you must be prepared to meet them on the throne it- 
 self, (for it is not to be expected, that an isolated protestant 
 monarch could long maintain his high seat,) and to see not 
 only your whole civil and ecclesiastical constitution subverted, 
 but the rights and possessions of individuals, that come in 
 their way, set at nought. What would follow under a re- 
 stored Popish establishment we know not ; but, if we can 
 suppose, (and it is no harsh supposition, where the most im- 
 mense prizes are only to be won by fraud) another Gregory 
 or Alexander to be in the Papal chair, we may calculate on 
 seeing them set out in earnest in the pursuit of the true Popish 
 line of succession ; and, if they cannot, by dint of the prowess 
 of some relic, find this out in a personage, fitted for their 
 own purposes, have them agitating those who may happen to
 
 1209 
 
 fill the British throne, in such a manner, that the monarch 
 would find it most expedient to compound with them for the 
 most outrageous of their demands. That these are no over- 
 charged representations, the history of bygone ages suffici- 
 ently attests. At present, our rulers are amused with their 
 professed deference to the supreme power. Let these reflect 
 however, that if, by the instrumentahty of popery, they 
 could relieve themselves from popular restraint, it would, 
 only be to wreath around their own necks, the more galling 
 yoke of ecclesiastical tyranny. The national system of Bri- 
 tain, is that which of all others excites the deepest animosity ; 
 because it has laid open the fallacies which other systems 
 slirouded. Although, therefore, for the sake of subverting 
 it, they may whet the cupidity of our rulers to the utmost, 
 this is only to bereave them as well as their subjects, of 
 advantages the most precious and momentous. 
 
 These considerations are all of the deepest importance; and 
 unhappily circumstances but too plainly disclose to us, that 
 they have other support besides t;liiit of hypothesis. Alrea- 
 dy has our government been allured under disgraceful bonds 
 to the Roman Pontiff, by virtually recognising his authority, 
 when interposed in its favour, against his suffragans and ad- 
 rents subjected to the British crown. Whether the Pontifrs 
 complacency proceeds from gratitude, or from a design to 
 keep us under thraldom to his courtesy, may not be very 
 easily determined ; but it is certain, that we are thereby 
 placed in a dilemma that is deplorable in the extreme, and 
 such as we ought most timously to prevent. 
 
 In proceeding to this duty, it becomes us to set to work 
 with pure hands. We must recollect, that the Irish papists, 
 though thus injuiious and debased, are professedly our 
 Christian brethren and fellow subjects, and that it is neces- 
 sary, for us also, to certiorate ourselves that there is nolhing 
 to blame on our part. Although it may be w ise and nuce^- 
 i 7 o
 
 1210 
 
 Mivy fc^r their good, as well as our own, to exclude papists 
 from leading offices in tlie army and navy, on the bench and 
 at the bar, at the court and in the cabinet: because the 
 powers inseparable from these stations are immense, and in 
 effect irresistible ; because this power and influence may be 
 so abused and perverted, so as to produce great and irreme- 
 diable mischief; and because experience has demonstrated it 
 to us, that papists, though thus exalted, would still remain 
 under a bondage to their party, that might readily lead to the 
 most serious kinds of abuse and perversity. But is there any 
 good reason why papists should be excluded from both houses 
 of parliament ? I confess I know of none, and can think of 
 none that deserves to be stated. If I could suppose it possi- 
 ble, that the declamations or intrigues of Popish senators 
 could be dangerous or prejudicial in such circumstances, 
 I would proceed to argue the point ; but as I am thorough- 
 ly convinced that it would have an effect conipletely the re- 
 Terse, I must confess that I am disposed to contend stren- 
 iiously for their admission into parliament, on the same 
 footing with their fellow subjects. There, we may hear their 
 claims stated in all their dimensions, and have them discus- 
 sed and argued on their own grounds; and the consequence 
 x:an only be this, that we must meet them fully on ours. 
 Thereby, the papists will be taught to appeal to the reason 
 and expediency of the case, and we may certainly do the 
 same. In the meantime, their constituents may he gratified 
 to the utmost, by the force and freedom with which the 
 whole views and wishes of their party may be urged ; and 
 these senators, by displaying their prowess and dexterity in 
 managing their case, may earn not only confidence, but po- 
 pularity, with the whole popish interest. Our protestant 
 legislators, too, will come to know and appretiate, with suffi- 
 cient seriousness, the nature and character of the advantages 
 that they enjoy. The result we may fairly anticipate. The 
 meritorious struggles of our ancestors, in the cause of civil 
 and religious liberty, will come to be duly estimated ; truth
 
 1211 
 
 jMid sound policy will maintain their ground; and, in great 
 points of controversy, appeals will be made to our feelings, 
 not through the medium of violence and coertion, but 
 through that of principles recognized by the whole parties 
 concerned. 
 
 jj -But our duty does not terminate, when we shall have re- 
 stored to the papists their native privileges. If our reform- 
 ed religion is as much prized by us in ti'uth, as it is in profes- 
 sion, we will examine how far we have followed out its ob- 
 ject. We have given to Ireland a most stupendous church 
 establishment, so great indeed, that it is said the people 
 groan incessantly under its load. What do our churchmen ef- 
 fectuate in return for this plentiful provision ? The answer 
 is but too completely prepared to our hands. How does this 
 happen ? is it from the nature of the case, or from any de- 
 fect of duty on their part ? Here the answer is equally 
 plain. These churchmen desert their sacred standards by 
 whole regiments ; and they do this before offering to strike 
 one blow for that Master, to whom they profess to be de- 
 voted : whose service is so honorable, and whose provision 
 for their supply is so ample and so secure. What excuse do 
 they offer for such conduct .'' The Irish are such bigotted 
 papists that they wont come to their churches. Now such an 
 excuse cannot be received with much complacency, when 
 it is known, that their Master, our blessed Lord and Saviour, 
 ■whose footsteps they are bound to follow, went about, every 
 where, preaching his gospel in the face of every danger, and 
 amidst sufl'crings of all kinds, and frequently placed his pure 
 and sacred presence amidst the vilest of men, declaring, as 
 his reason for so doing, that liis business in this world waa 
 with such — to call them to repentance. Let protcstant minis- 
 ters shew equal fidelity, in the discharge of their sacred trust 
 to ignorant Irish papists ; let them solicit these to accept of 
 their services in any shape, at any place, in any circumstan- 
 ces, that suit their occasions. Let them prolll-r these with 
 
 7 8
 
 1212 
 
 meek and humble officiousness, and, like the chief of the A- 
 postles, be instant in season and out of season ; and persevere 
 in such conduct, assiduously and pertinaciously, amidst re- 
 buffs, contempt, despite, and every danger; and in their 
 zeal for their great work, let them forgive such indignities, 
 and forget such hardships. Let them try all this, and at the 
 same time be steady in their devotional offices, and earnest 
 in benevolent services ; and then patiently await the result. 
 I will not be bold enough to say, that the Irish, suiTounded 
 by these and by innumerable blessings and advantages, the 
 rich and invaluable behest of the system that is thus pro- 
 mulgated, will forthwith bow their necks to the purifying 
 and animating influences of the reformed faith ; but I will 
 venture to aver, that their animosity against it will be abat- 
 ed, and that myriads of them will be effectually reclaimed, 
 whom no other discipline v/ould affect. As things are, it is at 
 once wicked and absurd to charge on the papists, so severe- 
 ly, their contempt of the protestant religion. The example 
 and the influence of those whose business it is to promulgate 
 the truth, accompanied with seasonable and earnest expos- 
 tulations and admonitions are, what they have never yet ob- 
 tained ; and, until these shall have been obtained, much of the 
 fault must lie with those whose business it is to provide these 
 for them. As well may we expect to reap wheat where none 
 has been sown ; to obtain a plentiful harvest where there has 
 been a barren spring, as to look for the fruits of pure and 
 imdefiled religion in such an uncultivated wilderness as the 
 church of Ireland at present is. 
 
 The inference from all this is plain and obvious. We have 
 neglected and disparaged our most sacred duties, and the 
 consequence of oiu* having done so has overtaken us. We 
 are trumpeting through the world our triumphs over igno- 
 rance and heathenism in foreign lands ; but we are marring 
 this same most sacred work, within our own territory. We 
 ai?e levying contributions, for the service of Christianity in
 
 1213 
 
 every country on the globe ; while at home, a most immense 
 pile of means, expressly conbtituted and destined for our 
 own use, and set aside for this very purpose, have, under 
 our eye, become corrupted from the want of due exercise, 
 at the time we are suffering all the wretchedness that can re- 
 sult from the defect of such supply. But how are we to get 
 redress from these offending churchmen ? I ask again, what 
 do you do in parallel cases ? If an) department of the re- 
 venue goes into disorder, do you not set the commissioners, 
 whose business it is to superintend this department, agoing, 
 throughout the whole region where the evil lies, and make 
 these, by an investigation of particulars, by operating forth- 
 with the requisite redress, and by a castigation, and where 
 necessary, expulsion, of delinquents, clear the movements 
 that were obstructed, and you fix your officers to their post,, 
 in such a way, as to secure yourself most efi'ectually against 
 future alarm ? Oar brave warriors, if but a minute from their 
 post, or if they misapprehend their duty but a single iota, 
 must purge themselves fully in the eye of the public. Now 
 apply these rules to the case of churchmen, who are, in like 
 manner, public functionaries and fellow servants ; whose 
 office is most honorable, whose duty is most imperious, whose 
 reward is most ample, and whose negligence or disparage- 
 ment of trust, since it produces disorders the most fatal, must 
 subject them to the most severe penalties, and see into 
 wiiat procedure they would lead. Do these things not discover 
 the indispeusible necessity of enforcing church discipUne, not 
 so much on the wandering shtep, as on the drow>y pastors ? 
 Do they not disclose to us the duty of appointing to church 
 livings, only pious, discreet, intelligent and zealous protes- 
 tants ; that of compelling every individual amongst them to 
 reside constantly on his charge, and, in all circumstances, to 
 be completely on the alert at his post ; the bisho[)s and 
 their suite, in scrutinizing with severity the doctrine and 
 conduct of the clergy within their bounds ; and the pastors 
 and teacliers, in enforcing the truth, by precej)t and exam-
 
 1214 
 
 pie the most cogent. This, no doubt, to these pubhc funcr 
 tionaries, will appear to be a very different thing from 
 stalking along the broad way to preferment, disclosing, with 
 the graces of their oratory, the piety and beneficence of their 
 patrons ; but it is the only method by which they can dis- 
 charge their duty, and benefit the country that pays for and 
 rewards theit services ; and it is that same narrow and rug- 
 ged path, which th^eir Master trode before them, and com- 
 manded them to follow after him. Neither the laws of the 
 land, those of their establishment, nor those of the bible, 
 exeem churchmen from responsibility as public functionaries. 
 If we choose to let these laws drop asleep, and our clergy to 
 doze over their most important duty, whilst all classes of 
 men, from the king on the throne, to the meanest of his sub- 
 jects, though seriously and faithfully discharging their own 
 line of public duty, are kept in perpetual agitation from the 
 mishaps of churchmen — let us not say that we are braving 
 it for our country, our laws, our sovereign ; we are only 
 labouring for the repose of slothful churchmen, who, having 
 deserted their most honorable post, have left it, to you, and 
 the whole mass of your concernments, to fill up the gap, and 
 to meet the consequences. 
 
 As a valuable mean and assistance in urging forward the 
 great work of reformation above referred to, the aid of Bap- 
 tists, Moravians, Methodists, and other respectable well-dis- 
 posed protestant associations, ought to be sought after, and 
 suitable encouragement provided for supporting them under 
 their labours, more particularly, in those counties where 
 there is most need of aid ; these always paying due deference 
 to the labors of faithfal established pastors. The last men- 
 tioned of these associations appears to be peculiarly adapted 
 to such services ; but it seems there is some standing agree- 
 ment betwixt the heads of their party, and those of the es- 
 tablished church, which precludes them from exercising 
 themselves in Ireland as they ought ; an agreement, which.
 
 1215 
 
 6s it is altogeffler unchristian, must, for the good of all par- 
 ties, be mutually undone. In the meantime, all the othei: 
 plans now in progress towards the same object ought to be 
 reinforced, and improved in coincidence with existing cir- 
 cumstances. In the view of furthering the general design, 
 I have only to suggest the expediency of diffusing public 
 intelligence, civil, ecclesiastical and political. This is one of 
 best means for giving the Irish population, a sense of inte- 
 rest in our common concerns. The strong redoubt to which 
 papists at all times h«\e recourse, whenever they are hard 
 pushed at an argument, being the antiquity and established 
 grandeur of the papal establishment, the printing and dis- 
 tributing of excerpts from church history, whereby the 
 usurpations of the Roman see, and the mal verse practices 
 and dereliction of the Christian principles of its adherents, 
 are disclosed, together with judicious and authentic extracts 
 from the narrations of missionaries, cannot but be particu- 
 larly useful. As the labors, pains, and time, spent in such 
 services, will most assuredly not go unrewarded, let us nei- 
 ther be sparing in our contributions of these, nor alarmed 
 at any obstructions that may come in our way. Already, 
 we have reaped largely of some of the best fruits of such en- 
 terprise. The field is large and sufficiently interesting. 
 Let us recollect, that we ought to stop short of nothing less 
 than complete success ; that this, with the help of Heaven, 
 we may fairly aspire to ; that having established the ascen- 
 dancy of our system, we secure to ourselves the affections 
 of a warm-hearted, intrepid race of fellow subjects ; and that 
 prosecuting this object as we ought, our highest wishes can 
 never outgo our ultimate reward. 
 
 I 
 
 The peculiar circumstances, and real importance of this 
 
 department of our public affairs, have occasioned those de- 
 tailed animadversions. Thence we learn, that we may not 
 only relieve ourselves from a tremendous mass of deleterious 
 principles, but resolve these, as high agents, in the service of
 
 1216 
 
 improvement ; that we may do this by means and instru- 
 ments already provided and prepared to our hands ; and that 
 we may .thereby replenish our system, where replenishment 
 is most necessary. Doubtless, by following out analogous 
 principles, similar advantages may be obtained in other de- 
 partments of our civil affairs; but the illustration of these 
 it is impossible to take up at this time. 
 
 Besides the foregoing annotation, to which the necessitj 
 of reference was anticipated, in the progress of the work, 
 the following, suggested by a reconsideration of the leading 
 articles of the general design, are evidently called for. 
 
 Pages 6QQ, Sfc. and Note in 774, ^c. 
 
 Here, the first financial scheme is unfolded, and traced 
 through a variety of ramifications. Taking, however, into 
 consideration, the advantages that must result from the full 
 operation of the whole project, it may now be stated that, 
 though, while groping for financial relief and security, amidst 
 the most profound difficulties, it might be needful that each 
 bank or financial establishment, should be bound, not 
 only to mortgage two full sets of property, one for the 
 security of the irapledgments circulated, and another for 
 their security, while replaced in these banks, as their ulti- 
 mate resolution ; but also to institute a process, whereby it 
 could at all times be completely ascertained, that these 
 banks absorbed no more of the public property than they 
 covered. Yet now, amidst such a plenitude of financial re- 
 sources as we now hold to be obtained, it must be admitted, 
 that it would be sufficient, to enforce the obligation of mort- 
 gaging the double set of property, (that is thrice tlie amount 
 of value in land to that of the impledgments that were to be 
 validaLed,) without enforcing the exhibition of their iransac-
 
 1217 
 
 tions, as first proposed ; and to leave it to the rc^^ular and 
 ordinary course of their business, to check and circumscribe 
 their transactions. 
 
 Page 596, and subsequent context. 
 
 The great design of many regulations, proposed in the 
 course of this treatise, is to give to those who are posses- 
 sed of capital, confidence to adventure into the foremost rank 
 of commercial enterprise ; and to give them this advantage, 
 by bringing as much as possible under their eye the whole 
 extent of the risk which they encounter. That this object 
 is to be promoted by limiting the power of bills of exchange, 
 and transmissable vouchers of debt, is self-evident. It is 
 proposed in the context to which reference is made, to have 
 the law and rule in regard to indorsation to be, that this 
 implies a pledge as to the tenor and import of the note thus 
 docqueted, but no pledge as to its ultimate resolution, unless 
 responsibility is expressly assumed. In order to obviate 
 certain difficulties, it was proposed to recognize the compe- 
 tency of indorsers, to give a separate obligation, binding 
 themselves to the validity of the bill ; and to give to the in- 
 strument, inferring this obligation, the whole virtues of 
 the original note of hand, provided this note of hand was 
 redelivered, within a month after maturity, to such indor- 
 sers, and the obligation alone rested on. On reconsidering 
 the case, there appears to be so many avenues, through which 
 underhand advantages could be given, in following out this 
 corollary, that I would propose to drop the recognizal alto- 
 gether, and to rest simply, solely, and in all cases, upon the 
 bill, or instrument of exchange, and to hold none bound for 
 its ultimate resolution, but those whose declaration to tlwt 
 effect, duly dated and signeted, it bore. 
 
 7 r
 
 1218 
 
 Page 882, and sjibsequent context. 
 
 Here, and in various other parts of the treatise, it is 
 meant so to digest the general scheme, that its impressions,'^ 
 on the interests and feelings of individuals and on society at 
 large, may, in all circumstances, be obviously and decidedly 
 favorable to pure and souhd morality. Sensible of the pa- 
 ramount influence of fascinating display, and of the insupe- 
 rable potency of established and consuetudinary habits, its 
 principles are accordingly recognised as extending to every 
 department of social life, and throughout the whole concern- 
 ments of each individual of every rank. It is proper, how- 
 ever, to notice that in moral agency, laws, regulations and 
 ordinations are of little avail, unless they can be made to 
 reach the heart. As a mean for effectuating this object, and 
 trusting to the aid and blessing of Almighty God, let us far- 
 ther proceed to extend, multiply and improve those institu- 
 tions and associations for wise and benevolent purposes, where- 
 by the best principles and purest feelings of the human soul 
 are to be unfolded and exercised, and whereunto the bril- 
 liant vivacity of youth, the manly emulation of maturer age, 
 and the sage experience of advanced years, may be aggre- 
 gated, and their general ardor elicited with becoming spirit, 
 and with decided advantage. As this subject does not rea- 
 dily admit of brief discussion, and is unfolded at full length 
 in another work, as expressed in a note on page 893, refe- 
 rence to that work is accordingly made. 
 
 It is necessary, however, to subjoin the two following re^ 
 marks. First, that in pursuing this object, family feelings 
 must be cherished and extended, towards all those who come 
 within their range ; and what is called family pride, be made 
 to circumscribe the whole concernments of the younger, as 
 isell as the elder branches of ^ familv, of the female as well
 
 1219 
 
 as the male lines of descent. Secondly, that these feelings 
 must be exalted and liberalized, so as to embrace the inte- 
 rests of its objects, though residing in the most remote cor- 
 ners of the earth, and so as to enter into those attainments, 
 which regard points of character, that have little or no con- 
 nexion with contingent and mundane concerns. It is one 
 of the highest and chiefest designs of this treatise to effectu- 
 ate these objects, and to give to our system a spring and 
 energy, correspondent to that whiclj prevailed in the days of 
 chivalry ; the impetus thus procured being always under 
 the guidance of its highest principles. 
 
 Page 1116, and subsequent context. 
 
 At the time when this treatise was passed through the press, 
 and for long time before, three per cents, had been below 60. 
 Taking into account, however, our present circumstances, it 
 is evident, that under the scheme proposed, these must now 
 be taken at a much higher rate, in order to coincide with 
 the object in view, and correspond with the rising state of 
 the country. Assuming this as the basis of our procedure 
 in this business, and holding it as altogether uncontroverti- 
 ble, that possessed of such advantages, it is indispensibly 
 necessary for Government to keep steadily in eye, not only 
 the whole range of those affairs, that existing circumstances 
 press upon its notice, but that vast sphere of essential and 
 universal advantage, in which these affairs move, and to 
 conduct itself accordingly, on liberal as well as equitable 
 principles, I would farther propose, that, into the plan here 
 sketched out, be introduced the principles of that scheme 
 which was adopted during the reign of his late Majesty, for 
 reducing the rate of public interest. This, in the case be- 
 fore us, would amount to this. First, that Government do, 
 as a previous step, crgite a species of funds, into which 
 
 7 P 2
 
 1220 
 
 all other kinds of funds may be resolved, with some decided 
 pecuniary advantage, taking the average price of stock for a 
 twelvemonth preceding ; and that it thereupon transfer to this 
 species of stock, and to it alone, the option of being resolu- 
 ble into authoritative impledgements as proposed in our 
 scheme. I would also, in the case above refen ed to, restrict 
 the holders of stock to a certain day, for effecting this reso- 
 lution ; which resolution, if not then accomplished, should 
 never afterwards be accompanied with the proffered advan- 
 tages. But I would leave the option for ever open, upon 
 easy conditions, and thereby fix invariably the standard of 
 interest ; which, from the immensity of the resources from 
 which the medium could, in such circumstances, be thence- 
 forward drawn, would fix, with equal precision, the value 
 of all reproductive subjects whatever, and render this value 
 determinate, not upon the plenty or scarcity of money, but 
 •n the intrinsic qualities of their produce. 
 
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