YRL.E UNIVERSITY LlBRPRY Q39002005769196B YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Bought with the income of the EDWARD WELLS SOUTHWORTH FUND Fold out JOURNAL O F EIGHT DAYS JOURNEY FROM Portsmouth to Kingston upon Thames; through Southampton, Wiltshire, &V. WITH MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS, Moral and Religious-, IN SIXTY-FOUR LETTERS: Addreffed to two LADIES of the PARTIE. To which is added AN ESSAY ON TEA, Confidered as pernicious to Health, obftru&inglNDUSTRY, and impoverifhing the Nation : alfo an Account of its Growth, and great Consumption in thefe Kingdoms, With Several POLITICAL REFLECTIONS; AN B THOUGHTS on PUBLIC LOVE: In Thirty-two LETTERS to two LADIES. In TWO VOLUMES. By Mr. H**##*. — ¦ ¦ - ¦ i i i -rv The Second Edition correEled and enlarged. VOL. II. LONDON: Printed for H. Wood fall in Pater-nojler-rcw, and C, HENDERSON under the Royal Extfange. mdcc j,yii, His v.2 »A N ESSAY O N TEA, CONSIDERED As Pernicious to Health, obftru&ing Industry, and impoveri{hing the Nation ; , alfo an Account of its Growth, and great Consumption in th.efe Kingdoms, with several POLITICAL REFLECTIONS; A N D THOUGHTS on PUBLIC LOVE. In Thirty-Two Letters to two Ladies. CONTENTS. PART I. Of the growth of Tea. Manner of Chinefe drinking Tea. Introduction of Tea into England. Tea the caufe of many diftem- pers, &c. Letter. Page. J. To Mrs. O ******> Of the growth ofTea. — — i II. To the fame. Manner of the Chinefe drinking Tea. — — *7 III. To the fame. Introduction of Tea into England. _ — 20 IV. To the fame. Tea one caufe of fcurvy, •weak mrves, &c. — 24 V.To CONTENTS; Letter. PAGfi' V. To the fame. The pernicious effects of Tea. — — — — 35 VL To the fame. Opinions ofphyficians on the ufe of Tea. —*- 42 Part it. Lives {hortened by various caufes, with reflec tions on a militia. Calculation of mortality* Tea and Gin the bane of the common people of England. The mifcondudt of nurfes; The importance of the foundling hofpital. The prevalency of example. The force of fafhton. Fafliion changeable; VII. To Mrs. D##&. Life fljortened by 'various caufes. — 5° Thoughts on a militia. — 54 VIIL To the fame. Calculation of mortality. $g IX. To the fame. Tea caufes the diminuti on of our numbers. — — 71 X. To the fame. Gin the bane of the com mon people. — — ¦ — Jg XI. To the fame. Adulterated bread, and celibacy, diminifh our numbers. <-— ge XII. CONTENTS. Letter. Page. XII. To the fame. Bad nurftng, and tea, the caufi of our diminution in numbers. 1 04 XIII. To the fame. Advantages of the found ling hofpital. — ¦ — 127 XIV. To the fame. Further thoughts on Tea and Gin as hurtful to fociety. — 143 PART III. Calculation of expence in Tea. Tea with re- fpetSt to the export of gold and filver. Ex- cufes the Eajl-India company. Advantages and difadvantages of Tea. A general view of Tea. Balance of trade with France. XV- To the fame. Calculation of the ex- pence in Tea. — — 149 XVI. To the fame. Tea, with refpecl to the export of gold and Jilver. — 155 XVII. To the fame. .Excufesthe Eafl-India company. — — *7° XVIII. To the fame. Advantages and difad vantages of Tea. — — 183 XIX, To the fame. A general view of Tea. 197 XX, CONTENTS. Letter. Page. XX. To the fame. Balance of trade with France. • — 2I<* PART IV. Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. Taxes in lieu of Tea. Great expence, and a lofing trade, equally deftructive. Induftry, and moderation in expence, indifpenfably necef- fary. XXI. To Mrs. O #####¦ #. Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. — 221 XXII. To the fame. Taxes in lieu of Tea. 236 XXIII. Great expence, and a lofing trade, equally deflruSlive. — — 2 A 5 XXIV. Induftry, and moderation in expence, indifpenfably neceffary. — . 2KC PART V. Force of fafhion with regard to Tea. The tyranny of cuftom. Fafhion changeable. XXV. To Mrs. D#**. The force of fafhi on with regard to Tea. 270 XXVI. CONTENTS. Letter. Page. XXVI. To the fame. The tyranny of Cufiom. 279 XXVII. To the fame. Fafloion changeable. 286 PART VI. The duty of good fubje&s with regard to the public debt. Parfimony the beft remedy againfl augmenting the public debt. Ad ditional taxes for the current fervice. Means of railing an additional tax for the current fervice. Conclufion and recapitulation. XXVIII. To Mrs. 0#****#. The duty of good fubj eels with regard to the public debt. • 289 XXIX. To the fame. Parfimony the beft reme dy againfl augmenting the public debt. — ¦ 298 XXX. To the fame. Additional taxes for the current fervice effential to our well being. - 318 XXXI. To the fame. Means of raifing an ad ditional tax for the current fer- vice. • — — 330 XXXII. To the fame. Conclufion and recapi tulation. — — ¦¦ 348 f I J PART I. Of the growth of Tea, manner c/'Ghinese drinking Tea ; introduction of Tea into England ; Tea the caufe of many dijlem- pers, &c. LETTER I. To Mrs. 0**««*. Madam, Nwmhr, 1755. YO U are arrived at home, but I hope not near the end of your journey : you muft fet out again, and it will give me great plea- fure to hear that you take the right road, not the beaten track of life, tho' you- fhould find in it the beft company. I have yet fomething to communicate, to which I defire you will lend a ferious attention. It is of great importance to the lives and for- Vol. II. B tunes a G R O W T H of T K A. tunes of your fellow fubjecls, and confequenfly to the welfare of your country. I do not mean to make you a merchant or a politician in fpitc of your teeth ; but it would be a very ill com pliment, to a lady, to fuppofe fhe has no lov& for her country, or does not enjoy fuch a fhare of good fenfe as generally attends this generous affection. The prefent occafion awakens a thought which has often diflurbed my dreams. If it is- but a dream, I think it my happinefs, that th& fubjedr. of it is the love of. my country. It is in deed a concern of a very interefting nature $ and there is more reafon to expect redrefs from the ladies of this land, than from the mofl learned divine, or the abfeft ftatefman* The matter is this, I have long confidered tea, not only as a prejudicial article of com- anerce j but alfo of a moft pernicious tendency^ with regard to domeftic induftry and labour > and very injurious to health. I am not bias'd by any private motives or partial confiderav tions ; and tho' many have had much better ©pportunities of underftandbg the fubjedt than myfelf, GROWTH of TEA. | tnyfelf, yet no perfon, that I know of, has en tered fairly into the merits of it in the different lights it appears to me- To treat the fubjed: methodically, let ue begin with the growth of tea. You who have drank it fo often, mull have frequently heard this fubjedt difcuffed very learnedly, and per haps without one fingle word of truth. For my own part I have heard variety of ac counts, and it is but very lately I have received any tolerable fatisfadion. I think, madam, you may be afTured that the places of the growth of bohea and green tea are different. Bohea tea, which the Chinefe call Boui, ovTcha bou, i. e. tea bohea, grows in Fo- kien, and other provinces, moflly in the la titude of 24, to 28. The fhrub which pro* duces this leaf, thrives mofl: on rifing ground,, in which they make furrows to carry off the water. The diftindion of the tafr.es of tpa, arifes, in fome meafure, from the feafons, and alfo from the foil in which it grows, juft as we find hay or hops of different years and different places of growth, vary extremely. B 2 Bohea 4 GROWTH of TEA. Bohea tea is gathered at different times, viz. the jirft in April, the leaf being yet young andj green : this is what the Chinefe call Sou- choon, of which no great quantity, of the true fort, is obtainable, tho' the grocer may give you the fecond fort of tea under this denomina tion. Souchoon is the mod grateful to the tafte, and of the finefl flavor : if any tea is wholfome, this is the moft fo, and in China it is in the higheft efleem. The fecond fort, which the Chinefe call con gou, is gathered in June ; but here alfo they make many divifions or affortments, all ellen- tially different in quality, according to the foil, and the feafons in which it is gathered. The third, or common fort, goes under the general denomination of tcha bou, or bout. This is what is fold fo extremely cheap at feveral European markets, of which I fhall have occa- fion to fay more hereafter. But in this are alfb many different qualities or degrees of goodnefs, or badnefs, which you pleafe. If the firft (hoots of tea were picked leaf by leaf, as was formerly done in China, and not mixed, G. R O W T H of T E A. c mixed, as is now pradifed, we fhould find a greater difference in the flavor of fuch tea, compared even with what we yet call fine tea, than there is between the delicacy and tafte of young peafe, and thofe which are full grown, The general name which the Chinefe give to green tea, is fonglo. It grows in a little higher latitude, chiefly in the province ,of Kiang-nan, and generally in a lower ground than the bohea; the fame care is neceffary to drain off the water. The fhrub and leaf of green tea are fo much like thofe of bohea, that it requires the fkill of a botanifr. to diftinguifh them. Hyfon, or hyfoon, fo called by the chinefe, as well as by us, probably from the place of its growth, is either a different fhrub from the green tea, or the leaves are picked in their bud more early : it is alfo diffinguifhed by be ing higher dried, and as it is rendered more crifp, it keeps longefl : however, this yields at prefent to fine green tea, which in your opinion excells in color and flavor. The fineft fort of the green tea, which the chinefe call byng, and we denominate imperial^ B 3 its 6 GROWTH«/TEA. its leaf is confiderably larger than hyfon. Byng is dear in China, and very little of it is brought into Europe. The inferior fort of green is gathered in Au- guft, of which there are various qualities, ac cording to the foils and different times of gather ing, as already mentioned of bohea. The manner of curing thefe leaves, is by putting them into a veffel like a flew-pan, about a foot deep, and four or five feet diameter, which we call torches, probably an englijh name for thefe veflels, well known alfo in India, under the fame denomination. Shak ing the leaves over the fire, not only dries, but curls them up in the manner you fee them : it is remarkable, that if by any accident tea be comes moift, fo as to make a fecond drying ne- ceflary, it cannot be fo well packed, but it may be dillinguifhed from other chefls or tubs. Tea picked in wet weather can hardly be ever well cured. Green tea is not cured exadly after the fame manner as bohea, for in order to preferve its color, after being partly cured by fire, it is completely G R O W T H of T E A. f Completely finifhed in the fun, which at cer tain times, is intenfely hot in China. You will pleafe to obferve, that befides tuta- nague, a metal well known, in fome refpeds refembling tin, and which abounds in China, they have a white copper, refembling filver, which is very dear. The torches juft men tioned are however of common copper, which is yet of a fiaperior quality to ours. Thefe vef- fels are made very thin and light, as our dutch tea-kettles : the Hollanders, of whom we learnt this manner of working copper, were taught it in China or Japan, Some entertain a notion, that the Chinefe ufe art to heighten the color of green tea ; and that a degree of verdegreafe is employed for this purpofe. I cannot fay I believe it, yet we muft not be furprized if this fhould be ever proved, when we confider that modern European cook ery has introduced " a little poifon, which," we fay, ** does not kill •" not only in mod high fauces, but even in common pickles which are of the fineft color. I have often thought I tafted copper in green tea : and, I am fare B 4 I have 8 jG R O W T H ef T E A. I have felt a diforder in my bowels, as if I had received a noxious aliment. The former might be the effed of imagination ; but wherever there is copper, We may be well affured there is alfo fome degree of verdegreafe ; for we fee it even in the alloy of gold, when it is lain-by, after being moift. Whether there is more or lefs harm in thefe torches, than in the common copper veffels we life for boiling our food, I will not undertake to determine j we hold it pernicious to boil wa ter in copper not tinn'd ; and, in fpite of cu fiom, many having been alarmed with very bad effeds, prefer veffels of caft-iron to tinn'd copper. This ufe of the torch, accounts for the vulgar opinion, that all tea is dried in the fun on copper-plates ; from whence it has been conclud ed, even by many conftant tea drinkers, that it derives a corrofive quality. The Chinefe drink very little common green tea themfelves, and may therefore take the more liberty with Europeans. They know that the firft concern of the Englijh is what \sfafkionable. Tho' GROWTH*/ TEA. 9 Tho' I lay no great ftrefs on this point, with regard to my argument, I fee no reafon why, in a free country, people of fafhion may not de- ftroy themfelves in -a, flow manner with tea as- the common people take a more expeditious way to poifon themfelves both with tea and gin. Adieu. I am yours, &c. P. S. The information I now give you, is from the beft living witnefs, who had never read Du Halde's hiftory of China, more than myfelf : but finee writing my letter, I have perufed what this writer fays about tea. He is confidered by far the moft to be depended on, and is, I apprehend, a faithful author : you will therefore the more eafily difcover the weight of the authority from whence I had my information, previous to my reading this ao* count. " Among fhrubs," fays he, " that of tea ought to be placed in the firft rank : the name of tea is derived to us from the corrupt pronunciation of two cities in the province of Fo-kien •, in the reft of the empire it is called tcba. They to GROWTH ef TEA. They diftinguifh it into four different forts. The firft has the name of Song-b tcha ; it grows upon a mountain of Kiang-nan, in the lat. of 29 deg. 58. min. 30. fee. which is covered over with thefe fhrubs. It is planted much in the fame manner as vines : its growth is prevented* otherwife it would run up to feven of eight feet in height. In the fpace of four or five years it muft be planted anew, or elfe the leaf will be come thick, hard, and rough. The flower is white, and in the fhape of a rofe, compofed of five leaves. In the autumn, when the flower is gone, there appears a berry in the fhape of a nut, a little moift, and of no bad tafte. What I have faid of the height of thefe fhrubs, muft be underftood of thofe which grow in the afbrefaid province, for in other places they fufJer them to grow to their natural height, which often reaches to ten or twelve feet : for this reafon, while the branches are young and tender, they caufe them to bend downward, that they may gather the leaves with greater eafe. The G R O W T H of T E A. n The fong-lo tcha, or green tea, above-men tioned, after being preferved feveral years, is an excellent remedy againft many diftempers. Another kind of tea [you y tcha) grows in the province ol Fo-kien, and takes its name from a famous mountain therein. This mountain, according to an obfervation made tpon the fpot, ties in 27 deg. 47 min. 38 fee. of north latitude. It is the moft famous in all the pro vince : there are in it a great number of tem ples, houfes, and hermitages of the Bonzes, which attrad a great concourfe of people. With a defign to make this mountain pafs for the abode of fuperior beings, they have con veyed barks, chariots, and other things, into the clefts of the fteepeft rocks, all along the fide of a rivulet that divides it in two : initp*. much, that thefe fantaftical ornaments are' looked upon by the vulgar, as a real prodigy ; for they fuppofe, that it muft be a power mor« than human, that has fixed them in thefe inac- cefiable places. The foil of this mountain, that produces this plant, is light, whitifh, and fandy. The only difference 12 G R O W T H of T E A. difference between the leaf of bohea tea and green, is, that the latter are more long and fliarp- pointed : the decodion of the latter is green, and experience difcovers it to be much more apt to create a cholicy diforder *. On the contrary, the leaves of the bohea are fhorter, and more round, of a color a little blackifh, and yield a yellow tindure \ The tafte of bohea is very fmooth, and the decoc tion inoffenfive to the weakeft ftomach : for this reafon, this bohea tea is the moft fought after, and ufed by the whole empire. How ever, it muft be obferved, that of this kind there are three forts. The firft is the tender leaf of the fhrub when newly planted : this is feldom expofed to fale, but ferves to make prefents of, and to fend to the emperor. It is a kind of imperial tea, and is valued at about twojhillings a pound {englifh .money). The fecond confifts of leaves fuller grown, and this is counted a very good fort. The * The tranflator calls St a raking. * £fe feems ^CK tp fpeak of the prime fort of bohea. G R O W T H of T E A. 13 The remaining leaves are fuffered to come to their full bignefs, which makes the third kind, and is exceeding cheap. They make ftill another fort of the flower itfelf, but thofe who would have it, muft be- fpeak it before hand, and purchafe it at an ex- ceffive price : notwithftanding which, it makes a very infipid tea, and is never ufed at the em perors court. There are feveraL other teas, which are very little different from the two principal kinds, but what is owing to the nature of the foil in which they are planted : and there are feveral plants to which they give the name of tea, which are nothing like it. However, there is a third principal fort, ol which we can give but an imperfed account, becaufe ftrangers are not permitted to enter the place where it grows. It is called Pou eul tcha, from the village Pou eul in the province of Tun nan. Thofe who have been at the foot of the mountain, inform us, that this fhrub is tall and bufhy, planted without regularity, and grows without cultivation. The leaves are more long, and 14 GROWTH«/TEA. and thick, than thofe of the two former kinds i they roll them up into a kind of balls, and fell them at a good price. The tafte is fmooth, but not very agreeable ; when it is made ufe of in the ordinary manner, it yields a reddifh tinc ture. The chinefe phyficians account it very falutary, and a certain remedy for the cholic and fluxes, and alfo very good to procure an appetite." Thus far, father Du Halde; upon which I muft take leave to obferve, Firft, that Europeans, finding it difficult to pronounce the t, c, h, a, probably called it tea ; tho' what the jefuit Contancin, who refided many years at the court of Pekin, and helped Du Halde'm compofing his hiftory, fays, implys its being called at that place by fome name more nearly refembling t, e, a. Secondly, What he fays of a kind of imperial tea fent as prefents to the emperor, I fuppofe is meant of the fouehoon, and not the byng, which la ft ive call imperial. His account agrees with my information, that the prime fort of bohea is the moft valuable, and GROWTH(/TEA. rg and that it is difficult to obtain any quantity. Indeed the whole account has fo great corref- pondence with that which I have given you I am fo much the more confident in the truth of it j and if we allow it to have any merit as to the growth, we may alfo afcribe fome to his account of its virtues. Thirdly, I beg however you will obferve, that he tells you the opinion of the Chinefe, and does not mention a fingle word of any ex periments he, or his friends in China, had made on themfelves or others. He fays the fongb is good for many diftempers, but he does not mention one. Fourthly, You may alfo take notice of his intimation, that tea fhould be kept for feverai. years, which is feldom done in, Europe, our con- fumption being fo great, as not to allow time for it. The Chinefe value it for its age, as we efteem October beer. Fifthly, He makes no remarks on the effeds which may be naturally expedad from tea in different climates, which is a very efTentiai 3 point i6 G R O W T H of T E A. point to be confidered : nor in fpeaking of this leaf, does he mention a word of the manner in which the Chinefe drink it. Sixthly, As to the red tea, which cures cho- lics and fluxes, he does not tell you that he found it fo, but that the Chinefe phyficians ac count it falutary, &c. nor do I learn what this red tea is ; if any is brought into Europe, it is but a fmall quantity ; and if it is really medici nal, why do we not bring home a large fupply? Seventhly, What he fays of the feveral plants to which the name of tea is given, " which are nothing like it," confirms me in the opinion, that we impofe upon ourfelves grofsly, with, re gard to the different kinds and qualities of tea, as well as the manner of ufing it. Thus, partly ignorant of the injury it does, and partly confenting to be injured, we become iheflaves of cuftom, and rather than forbear this child ifh gratification, like a baby race of men, we play with our perdition! Pray be more careful of your own life. Adieu. I am very fincerely yours, &c. LETTER Manner of the Chinise drinking Tea. 17 L E T T E R II. To the fame. Madam, TV /TAnkind have given themfelves up fo ¦*¦-*¦ much to their fenfes, that reajon feems to be confidered rather as afervant, than a ma- fler. Even this cuftom of fipping warm li quors affords a gratification, which becomes fo habitual, as hardly to be refifted. It has pre vailed over a great part of the world j fome of the moft effeminate people on the face of the whole earth, whofe example we, as a wife, aSiive, and warlike nation, would leaft defire to imitate, are the greateft fippers ; I mean the Chinefe, among whom the firft ranks of the people, tho' they exercife themfelves with the bow and arrow, have adopted it as a kind of principle, that it is below their dignity to per form any labor, or ufeful office of life : and yet, with regard to this cuftom of fipping tea, we feem to ad more wantonly and abfurdly than even the Chinefe. Vol. II. C Ir 1 8 Manner of the Chinese drinking TeaI It muft be obferved, that the greateft part of the common people in China drink water. It is with them, as with moft other nations, par ticularly in the Eaft, pure water is their com mon beverage ; but when this happens to be unwholfome, the people infufe a coarfe kind of bohea tea. The water of the river of Canton is very muddy and requires filtering, and the quality of the water of the fprings in this city are in general not efteemed. Their method is to prepare a large veflel of the infufion of bohea tea every morning, to which they occa- fionally add warm water, and Without fugar, or any other mixture, the fervants, and the family in general, draw it off for common ufej the water being only juft colored with the tea. It is well known that the boiling of water will alter the qualities of it, and the infufion of tea, in the opinion of the Chinefe, renders it more potable. When the higher ranks of the people ufe tea, either as a common drink, or an entertain ment, they infufe a fmall quantity in every cup, Manner of the Chinese drinking Tea. 19 cup, contenting themfelves with the flavor and tafte of the fubtler parts, without drawing it down with water, as we generally pradife. They drink very little or no gn.cn tea, alledging, that it rather difturbs than promotes digeftion, particularly new green tea, which, they fay, occafionsyk^r*. It muft be obfer- ved,' that tea, being good of its kind, and kept from the air inclofed in lead, will keep fif teen or twenty years, or longer. As to green tea, formerly it was for the moft part confumed by the Tartars in and about China, alfo in feveral parts of 'India : till with in thefe thirty or forty years, a much lefs quan tity of this kind was cultivated in China ; but -fince there has been fo prodigious a demand for Europe, hardly any quantity of tea, in general, which the Chinefe can fupply, is fufficient. It is true fome of 'the European markets have been oc~ cafionally glutted for a fhort time ; but not- withftanding China exceeds us fo greatly in num ber of inhabitants, it is queftioned if the Chinefe confume fo much tea as we and the Hollanders, C 2 The 20 Manner of the Chinese drinking Tea. The Chinefe alfo differ from us in this,. that ihey frequently ufe acids with their tea in- ftead of fweets. Indeed I wonder fo few of the female world deviate from the path which their mothers have trod before them, efpe- cially when their health is in a declining con dition. I know a -lady or two, who make ufe of their own understandings, without regard to fafhion or cuftom, and find themfelves much the better for ufing acids. The Chinefe I am told never drink their tea fweet; but they fometimes hold a bit of fu gar- candy in their mouth whilft they are drinking it ; but this is a cuftom I can by no means re commend, as it hurts the teeth. Farewell. I am yours, &c. LETTER III. To the fame. Madam, E F O R E we proceed to enquire into the pernicious effeds of tea in this ifland, as I have given you fome lights into its growth, and the manner of ufing it in China, in oppo- fition Introduction of Tea into England. 21 fition to our abfurd cuftom, perhaps you will be glad to know when this intoxicating liquor firft came in fafhion in this country. I do not mean, that it makes people drunk, but it cer tainly has turned our brains, and fo far it is in toxicating. Lord Arlington and lord OJfory, were the perfons who brought it from Holland 'in 1666; their ladies then became paflionately enamored with it as a new thing : their example re commended it to the fine women of thofe days, and yours muft put it out of counte nance. The price it then fold for, was no lefs than fixty fhillings the pound. It is eafy to believe, that a pound of fine bohea tea, which coft the Dutch at Batavia, four or five fhil lings, would foon find its way into Europe by other channels, if it could be fold for three pounds ; this was the price fo late as about the year 1707, tho' we were not then fo univerfally luxurious, nor fo vigilant in purfuit of filly gra tifications as we are now. Tea drinking was not in general vogue at that time ; and if this C 3 pleafure 22 Inlredutlion of Tea into England^ pleafure had always remained facred to ladies of quality, it had been happier for us. The ufe of tea defcended to the Piebaan or der, among us, about the beginning of this cen tury ; but it was not before the year 17 15, that we began to buy large quantities of green tea of the Chinefe, having been till then con tented with bohea. In 1720, the confumption was fo much aug mented, that the Freneh, who had hitherto brought home only raw-filk, porcelain, and filken manufadures from China, began to im port considerable quantities of tea into France \ and by eftablifhing the trade' of running it into this ifland, have found their profit in our folly ever fince. From 17 17 to 1726, we imported annually about 700,000 pounds. The quantities run in upon us, however, muft have been prodigi ous, for it was calculated in 1728, that 5,000,000 pounds were imported into Europe, of lntroduBion of Tea into England. 23 of which we were much the greateft con- fumers. Our own importation increafed, infomuch that from 1732 to 1742, I find 1,200,000 pounds annually imported into London ; for fome time paft the quantity has been 3,000,000 : this year (1755) I ,hear near four millions of pounds have paid duties, and if a war takes place, it may amount to five millions. Where will this evil flop ? As the demand for tea in China increafed, fo was this fafhionable drug adulterated, and continues to be mixed with leaves of other fhrubs. I have often obferved, that what has paffed with the vulgar, even the modifh vulgar, under the name of tea, neither in tafte, fmell, nor fize of leaf, feemed to have any tea in it. And as to fine teas, fince there has been fo vaft a demand for Europe, the Chinefe hardly ever pick the leaves with any delicacy, except for the confumption of their own fovereign and his grandees, and confequently it is extremely difficult to meet with very choice tea. I am told, C 4 that 2 + Introduction of Tea into Enoland. that even to this day there is tea in Holland fold for three pounds the pound weight, and fome ftill higher. Farewell. I am yours, &c. LETTER IV. To the fame. Madam, T F it had been my fortune-to enjoy a greater fhare of wit, and a lefs portion of courage, I (iiould hardly have encountered fo formidable, an enemy, with fuch great alliances, being fo little fupported as I am. To fay the ftrength of my antagonift is founded in fancy and opinion, is ac knowledging it is very ftrong : and if I were really infpired with the fpirit of zCurtius, would my leaping into the gulph fave my country ? Among the few plaufible reafons I have heard in defence of tea, it is maintained with a ferious air, by fome perfons who have made China voyages, that tea cures and prevents the. fcurvy ; and I have alfo heard this obfervation ridiculed by others of at lead as much experi ence. Here Tea one Caufe of Scurvy, weak Nerves, &c. 25 Here it muft be obferved, that provisions are good and cheap in China, and the feamen gene rally leave Canton in vigorous health. I will not difpute however that fipping a warm liquid, may fome times be of fervice to feamen whilft they eat fait provifions ; but I rather appre hend thefe owe their health to reft, to failing with a trade-wind ; to rice and other kinds of farenaceous foods, and not to tea. If tea would really prevent the fcurvy in pre ference to all herbs of our own growth, it might be a very wife meafure to fend a quan tity of it on board all his majeftys fhips, efpe- eially in time of war. We have thoufands, I might fay millions, of tea-drinkers, who are of lefs confequence to the ftate, and lefs expofed to this complaint than our feamen : but who ever thought of this expedient for the fervice of the navy ? On the contrary, vinegar is beft calculated to temper the quality of fait beef, and to prevent the ordinary effeds of the falt- water air. If to this we add foops, dried fi/h, vegetables, and more farenaceous aliments than are i6 Tea one Caufe of Scurvy, weak Nerves, &c. are in ufe, would they not anfwer better than tea ? The nations which never tajled the infufion of tea, are they more troubled with this ma lady, either by land or fea, than we are ? If we, being iflanders, are in general fubjed to this dif temper, let us eat lefs aul.nai food ; we fhall furely find better effeds from v?jrr fables, breadj milk, and cold water, their, being good of their kind, than from tea. Befides, we often find that acids will prevent the fcurvy ; and fugar, which is the concomitant of tea, is apt to produce it: this diftemper is frequent among Weft Indians, who are fond of fweet- meats; boys in grocers fhops ; and what is more remarkable, men who break fugar for the grocers, are obferved to be more than com monly afflided with the fcurvy. It is alledged by fome ingenious gentlemen, that as warm liquids promote perfpiration, which, is more particularly neceffary in bodies fubjed to the fcurvy, the infufion of tea ought therefore to be recommended. This is as Tea one Caufe of Scurvy, r it. I remem- 42 The pernicious Effecls of Tea. I remember that it was the great fubjed of polite converfation fome years ago, which was the beft, green tea, or bohea. Each had a very powerful party, and victory feemed to declare on neither fide. The truth is, the Chinefe could not fupply us with a fufficient quantity of tolerable bohea tea ; or, with as little reafbn as other fafhions are taken up, it became fafhionable to drink green. If we follow the example of the Chinefe, we fhall certainly prefer bohea tea, which feems to be the leaft pernicious. Farewell. I am yours, &c* LETTER VI. To the fame. Madam, T AM not infenfible it may be urged, that many of the common people mChina drink tea, and yet are robust. I think it is very eafy to com prehend the great difference there is between one climate and another ; and the different effeds of the temperament of the air on human bo dies : what may conduce to health in one re gion may deftroy it in another. But we muft remem- Opinions «/ Doctors, 43 remember, that the Chinefe drink tea in a very different manner from us ; their common people only drink it to corred bad water as already explained; probably not fuch bad tea as our common people drink ; certainly not ftrong, nor hot, nor loaded With fugar, neither do they fw allow it out of feafon in meer wantonnefs; they drink it only when thirft provokes. As to the virtues which are afcribed to tea, when it is urged that neither the gout or (lone are known in China ; I believe it will be found equally certain, that in other parts of AJia, where tea is not known, the people are hardly ever afflided with fuch distempers, which may be owing in a great meafure to the simplicity of their diet, and the nature of their climate. In the mean while I am afraid that if we trace thefe distempers amongft us, as near as poffible to their origin, we fhall find that the relaxation created by the perpetual fipping of a hot liquid without exercife, is frequently the occafion of the fione, if it has no hand in breeding the gout. With 44 Opinions ^Doctors. With regard to the opinion of the learned Dr. Cheyne, he treats the fubjed in a fuperficial manner* He fays, the ufe of tea is indifferent unlefs taken in excefs, yet he adds, " that feme ci perfons of weak tender nerves fall into lownefs " and trembling upon ufing this liquor with any " freedom, from the too great quantity, or the " irritation on the tender and delicate fibres of the " ftomach," adding that " fuch ought as care- " fully to avoid and abftain from it as from " drams and drops." Thus far an author, who is an advocate for tea : but with all due refped to his fame, it appears to me a kind of contra- didion, to impute lownefs and trembling to this liquor ; and yet in another place he will not al low that vapours, low-fpiritednefs, and nervous diforders, ought to be in any degree imputed to it. After the fame manner, as to the effeds of hot water ufed externally, this dodor fays, " the Bath guides, who dabble in water al- " moft as hot as tea is ever drank, a great part " of the day, and for one half of the year at ,c leaft, are no ways injured by it," and yet he allows that it raifes thirft. Still we muft appeal to Opinions {/Doctors. 45 to the common fenfe and experience of mankind, for this is of much greater confequence to their prefervation, than any particular crude notion, or fond fyftem, which is adopted by a fingle man, however diftinguifhed for his learning ; and to that common fenfe and experienced appeal. I am told, that a phyfician not many years fince wrote a treatife in favor of bohea tea, and recommended the ufe of its infufion, mixed with milk and fugar, as a cure, not of the fcurvy only, but alfo of confumptions. This notion is no longer adopted by us : I never faw the book, but granting that he thought what he wrote at that time ; and that his book was not calculat ed for any pecuniary ends, as books often are, we muft not regard opinions, but argue from facts and experience. And with regard to the pre- fent argument, we are to consider the pernici ous effeds of tea in general ; and of fuch tea in particular as is drank by the bulk of tea-drink ers, as well by thofe who it is prefumed are in jured by the too conftant ufe of the beft tea. We are alfo to examine if this advocate for tea, informed the world of the difference be tween ifi Opinions of Poct or s. tween a pound of bohea tea bought at Amfier- dam, or, as it has lately been purchafed at Emb- den for fifteen-pence, and another fold in Lon don for upwards of twenty fhillings 1 Between fuch prime forts and inferior teas, there is as great difference, as between raw cabbage, and a tine-apple ; or the befi meat the butchers fhop affords, and carrion. Thofe dodors, who when the effeds of tea were lefs known, turn'd advocates for it, main tained, that it is a gentle reftringent, and ftreng- thens the tone of the inteftines, but they recom mend neither milk nor fugar, nor yet to drink it after a full meal, fo that in reality this is to confider it only medicinally. Dr. Pauli, one of the phyficians of the king of Denmark, wrote a treatife on this fubjed. He condemns it entirely as pernicious in thefe northern climes, and par ticularly in the manner Europeans ufe it. A- mongft other objedions he fays, that tea is de- Hccative, or in plain englifh, that it is of a very drying quality, and therefore ought by no means to be ufed ^fter the fortieth year of life. This phyfician alfo thinks, that as every coun try Opinions «/ Doctors, 47 try has its peculiar produd, tea may do no harm to a Chinefe, and yet be very hurtful to an European. But let us compare the moft appa rent disinterested voice of our own phyficians, who I believe are in general fuperior to any in the world, with experience, and we fhall be inclined to fide with thofe who declare, that in the manner we ufe this drug, it is indubitably pernicious : not a few of them very ferioufly confefs, that they are more obliged to tea for the gains arifing from their pradice, than to all other debaucheries : indeed, if we exclude the very vicious part of mankind, I apprehend this is literally true. Phyficians, like other people, generally fpeak in favour of things they are fond of; fome of them are fond of tea, and therefore hold their tongues, or in a ludicrous strain commend it: but even thofe I fay who exprefs themfelves with the moft indifference, ingenuoufly confefs, that tea, as we take it, is really injurious to health. If they were to fay otherwife, I am afraid I fhould not believe them, nor need you unlefs you pleafe : I have no notion of be- Iievine 48 Opinions if Doctor s. believing any thing in cmtradiiJion to the tefti- mony of my fenfes : nor do I know of any re ligion, but that of Rome, which requires fuch belief. Were the college of phyficians to^ on tea, I apprehend they would do more real benefit to this country, than the Conclave ever did to the caufe of true religion at Rome. To be fe rious, I think tea is become an objed of legif- lative enquiry, whenever the nation fhall be free from the alarms of war, if not during ac tual war. Few are qualified to judge for them felves in oppofition to a rooted prejudice : but thofe who can judge candidly, let them confult their own feeling ; let them mark their own experience, and if this will fupport the opinion I now advance, they may as well take my word as the doctor's. It is enough if upon the whole you find it hurtful to your health : and if my opinion ftands good till phyficians are entirely agreed about the good or bad qualities of tea; and alfo concerning the diftindion of true or falfe, choice and common tea ; and the nature of fuch constitutions as may ufe it without much danger, and Opinions ^/Doctors; 49 and fuch to whom it is abfolutely poifonous, you may depend the patient will be dead before the confutation breaks up, and I fhall be enti tled to a diploma. If thefe fons of Efculapius, whom luxury has rendered in fome meafure ufeful, if not abfolute* ly neceffary to us, were lefs methodical, more rational, and more attentive in their pradice, they would teach us how to preferve our lives ; or if we fhould ever be fo virtuous, as to engage* the particular favor of heaven, and thefe learn* ed gentlemen becpme better than the reft of mankind, and think more of the advantage of others, than of their own : if this, I fay, fhould ever happen, I am convinced that we fhould immediately hear of the banifhment of tea j it would inftantly be excluded the parlor, as many difhes which modern cookery has introduced, would be the ball, Plain diet, moderate meals, gentle exercife, regular reft, regular paffions, and fold water, all which are now but little regard ed in common pradice, would then moft engage their care for the eafe, the happinefs, the prefer- rpation of mankind. Adieu^ I am yours, &c, Vol. II. E PART 50 Life Jhortned by various Caufes. PART II. Lives Jhortened by various Caufes, -with Reflec tions on a Militia. Calculation of Mortality. Tea and Gin the bane of the common People of England. The Mijcondutt of Nurses. The Impor tance of the Foundling-Hospital. The Prevalency of Example. The Force of Fashion. Fashion changeable. LETTER VII. To Mrs. D***. Madam, YO U muft not entertain a fingle thought that I mean to amufe my readers with romantic fpeculations, and to jeft merely to fupport paper-mills and printing- houfes. On the contrary, I beg you will lend a^ patient ear, and carefully examine whether my doa- trine be true or falfe. It is granted, that the working poor are the grand fource of the riches of all nations ; but we are not univerfally agreed in opinion as to Life fhortned by various Caufes. 5 1 to all the various caufes of the diminution of ' their number, nor what the decreafe really a- mounts to. Every one of the leaft difcern- ment thinks it a matter of the utmoft moment ; and I fear there is too great reafon to be alarm ed. We have had no bloody wars during this reign, tho' fome blood has been fpilt ; no plagues or famines have raged amongft us : as yet we have fuffered no irreparable violence on li berty, nor do we invade the prerogative of the crown ; we live under a fovereign who loves his people, and is beloved by them. But if we go fo far back as the queen's war, we may reckon it coft this nation eighty or a hundred thoufand men : the laft war, fixty or feventy thoufand, for the moft part in the prime of life. Such loffes are not to be re cruited in fo fhort time as is generally ima» gined. No body can doubt that within thefe thirty years paft our manufadures have been greatly increafed ; wafte lands have been cultivated ; and a number of good houfes have been built E 2 in 52 Life Jhortned by various Caufes. in almoft every part of the kingdom : and tho* we have lived a great deal too faft, in propor tion to our increafe in wealth, yet in general, commerce has been improved. Thefe are undeniable indications of the flourifhing ftate of fici II and indufiry ; but the intemperance and debaucheries which have attended our improve ments during this century, have made great havock amongst Us, and counteracted the advan tages juft mentioned. The augmentation of the poors-rate fo high as a million and a half, at which it is comput ed, at the very time that agriculture and manu fadures are improving, leads fome to imagine that our numbers are increafing; but I ap prehend the reverfe is fo true, I am almoft brought over to the opinion that a general na turalization of foreign proteftants is proper for us ; at leaft that there are many fuch proteftants who ought to be kindly received, and even invited by fome peculiar motives ; for if we take fo little care of our own lives, we muft be affifted Life Jhortned by various Caufes. 53 affifted by other nations, or we fhall bring our- felves to a very fpeedy end. But whilft we wifh for more inhabitants, it is a clear point that our people in fome parts of thefe kingdoms can with difficulty find a com fortable fupport. Befides the lazinejs or vi- cioufnefs of the poor, there is a fecret caufe for this, which few of the rich ever think of: it is their extravagance : they confume more than their jhare confidered as rich : they live too much on the firetch, and confequently are not able to do a thoufand good offices, which humanity and good policy, as well as their rank in life, derriand at their hands. By this means the poor are many times left in want, and often times reduced to the abjed ftate of being bur- denfome to the public, which ought by all means to be avoided. To illuftrate'this opi nion, if not to prove it, look into the ftate of the poor in arbitrary countries, where in pro portion as great lords figure as petty fovereigns, their vaffals ever appear as mifcrable flaves. Whether this will become the cafe of our coun- E 3 try, 54 thoughts bn a Militia, try, either through want of inhabitants to de fend it, or by the corruption and extravagance which prevail amongft us, is a fubjed which ought, in our prefent circumftances, to call forth our utmoft attention. The greater our numbers are, 'tis probable the greater our riches will be ; and if we are not blind to our own intereft, the more fecure will be our liberty alfo. If there are no more than feven and a half millions of people in Eng land, one and a half in Scotland, and two in Ireland ; we may then calculate near fix mil lions of males. The call for war will take at least one hundred and twenty thoufand of them in a year or two, which is the fiftieth man ; agriculture and manufadory muft confequently be obftruded, unlefs we employ foreigners to fight our battles. But here we ought to con fider very ferioufly, that when battles muft be fought, or liberty or property guarded, at home, in our mother country, all will be at ftake : the temporary gain of the hufbandman or ma- nufadurer can, in fuch cafe, be no equivalent for the Thoughts on a Militia. 55 the lofs we may fuffer by theit inability to bear arms. I believe there never was yet a country under the cope of heaven, which long preferv- ed its riches and liberty, when another great neighboring ftate was ready to feize on both, un lefs the plowman and the weaver were fometimes obliged to convert their phw-jhares and jhuttles into fwords and mufkets. I wifh it were not fo : but if it is, the lefs we put to the iffue of chance or even of the bravery and fidelity of strangers,, the more fecure we fhall be. Nor is it difficult to forefee the confequences were we to truft our- felves in the hands of a foreign army, the beft which might be expeded is, that we fhould forget the ufe of arms, and confequently how to defend our freedom. If we mean to be a free people, we muft be in a capacity to defend ourfelves : we muft have arms, and know how to ufe them too ; is it not a vain thing to think of long enjoying liberty on other terms ? If we try the experi ment too far, we may be irrecoverably loft. As to the difficulties of forming a militia, E 4 let 56 Thoughts eii a Militia. let them be ever fo great we are fure df one thing, that if a man is taught hoW to ufe a mufket, and knows When and in what man ner he will be called upon in time of danger, e 0,000 men under fuch circumstances, are better than 60,000 meer rabble. All partiality and party prejudice afide, as this nation is eircumftanced, can we fuppofe fo numerous a regular army as is neceffary to our fecurity in time of war, and at all times to prevent a furprize, can be fupported by us ? And if we could fupport it, will it not be aU tended with great inconvenience? Will there not be diftrefs, if not danger from this qUaftef alfo ? I have long thought that the ftate of this nation will not admit of fuch refinements, as modern politicians feem to adopt. Ofallab- furd precautions, that of fo fpeedy a redudion of our naval strength, at the clofe of the laft waf , was the greateft. Prudence in the manage ment of finances, is an important objed, but if only the abolition of corruption can fave us, fuch favings were in the wrong place. Our Thoughts on a Militia. 5? Such condud with regard to the means of fupporting war may prove our ruin. It feems to me that we have been long in danger of being undone, for fear of being undone: and that a militia, under fome kind of eftablifh- ment, muft be our laft refort in the utmoft extremity. Men muft be taught how to ad the part of foldiers, or they will make a bad figure, when there fhall be no choice in what other charader to appear. The time may be near, when we can be only victors or conquered flaves. Whilft I am upon this fubjed I cannot help obferving, it would be a melancholy considera tion if a free and opulent people, v/hofefreedom, and whofe commerce have been obtained, and long fupported by a martial temper, as well as by the fpirit of indufiry, fhould become carelefs, and averfe to arms ; as if by the mere reputation of riches, we could guard tbefe valuable objeds from danger : and yet this feems to be the cafe of the city of London, in being negligent with regard to their ftanding militia, at the approach of 5? Thoughts on a Militia. of danger, and during adual war. If fuch a war requires great fkill and circumfpedion to keep it at a diftance, fhall we not prepare for it as if it would reach our doors ? In fuch a city as this, men in the prime of life, whether magi- fir ates or private citizens,, merchants or tradefi. men, fhould pride themfelves in the knowledge and ability of defending their own wives and children ; and whatever they undertake, to do it as if they were in earnefi. Were the officers of this militia to fhew a proper fpirit, we fhould find the men more ready for fervice, and lefs exorbitant in their demands for their daily labor in the mock field of battle. If a proper choice of men was made ; if the numbers were kept complete ; if they were e^ercifed every fourteen or twenty days in time of war ; they would be truly ufeful. It fhews a lazy luxurious fpirit for men of fentiment, to permit that a man who was a porter yefierday fhould be, a captain to-day ; will he truft fuch a captain in a day of danger ? It has been the curfe of this nation for fome time paft, to be in earnefi about nothing but the 3 {ncreafe Thoughts on a Militia. 59 increafe of wealth ; and what may feem a pa radox, in order to its increafe we have fquan- dered it away. ; that is, at the very time we paid fo great an attention to pecuniary affairs, the gratification of ourfelves in luxury, and the regular ftudy of the arts of corruption, for the fepport of that luxury, have quite abforbed every generous and exalted thought. Thus it happens, that many fear there will be more danger in trufting ourfelves with arms, leaft our vices fhould induce us to make a bad ufe of them, than from any foreign enemy : tho' we might, by this means, learn difcipline in morals^ as Well as in arms. God grant that we may take proper meafures for the defence of virtue and of liberty ! Farewel. LETTER VIIL To the fame. Madam, UNLESS the moft judicious and moft politic fteps are taken, to cherifh and fupport fhe poor in a virtuous independance, it will be in vain for this nation to pretend to li berty, 60 Calculation of Morlatityi berty, or to promife ourfelves that we fhall, for any length of time, make a great figure in commerce. But this is not all, the poor muft oe infiructed in the duties of religion, and fo well trained to the practice of facial virtues, as not only to help fupport each other, but not to destroy themfelves. In arbitrary countries the people are often reftrained by compulfive means, from the ufe of fuch things as are deem'd pernicious, and tranfgrefiors of laws are fure to be punifhed. Where there is great ex tent of dominion, different climates, and diffe rent cuftoms, thefe alfo may be a greater means of preferving the inhabitants in one part, tho' mortality fhould rage amongft them in another. But we do not feem to keep pace in the country, with the extraordinary mortality in London. Many ingenious men have lately employed their pens, to try if they could difcover what is the true meafure of mortality in this nation, and particularly in this great city. As yet none of Calculation of Mortality. 61 of them have fucceeded to that degree of exad- nefs which they feem to aim at, partly occa sioned by the fluduating ftate of the inhabi tants ; the numbers of young and old who are fent into the country; and the number of young and middle aged who come from every part of the three kingdoms, to fill up thofe offices which trade and luxury render neceffary. It feems to be generally agreed, that London lofes, by a greater number of deaths than bu rials, four or five thoufand people every year. If fome of our buildings and streets were lefs confined, and a police were eftablifhed by which greater cleanlinefs might be preferved, I apprehend no place in this ifland, or perhaps in any other quarter of the world, would be more healthy than London. If the fulphur with which the air is impregnated, is not proper for infants, yet it is very evident that the mortality among the children of the poor is not fo much owing to the quality of the elements, as to the difordered paffions, and loofe, 6 2 Calculation of Mortality. loofe, and diflblute lives of parents, with the im proper aliment they give their children. Mankind are ever apt to complain, but furely this age will never be reproached with being too folicitous for the good of ' poflerity. If our num bers in general really decreafe, we muft impute it to libertinifm, to abfurd cuftoms, to the nature of our amufements, or to the kinds of nutri ment we take ; and alfo to the laborious im* provements of arts and fciences, and the •wafte- fulnefs of a luxurious life. All thefe are in their nature produdive of effeds, the reverfe of that fimplicity and honeft rural labor, in which the opulence of all nations was originally founded. Luxury, of fome kinds, among the higher orders of the people, improves life into a kind of art, and embellifhes it with a delicacy of manners. But fuch are not its effed among the common people : the very effence of their ex- ceffes, confifts in gluttony and debauchery, and with the lofs of their fimplicity, -the edge of their Calculation of Mortality. 63 their affedions is blunted, and humanity itfelf is often forgotten. You will fee prefently how fiercely vice and ignorance have wounded maternal affection, at tacking the plebean orders in almoft every quar ter, but particularly in thefe. great cities, carry ing the dreadful banners of mortality, and bear ing down whole fquadrons. Nor do I think thefe remarks applicable to London only ; nor ought they to be confined to the common people. In the dawnings of reafon, nature has appointed the father in every rank and degree, to be the lord, the mafter, the fovereign arbi ter of the welfare of his children. That himfelf fhould have given a loofe to appetite, when un- fhackled from the restraints of youth and filial duty, is not fo wonderful as lamentable : but when he judges for others, who are under the law of obedience, and for whofe happinefs na ture pleads fo strongly in his breaft : when he revolves in his mind his own obfervation and experience, hoW apt the human frame is to be difordered, when reafon is not liftened to, with regard 64 Calculation of Mortality. regard to the quantities and qualities of food, it is amazing, whilft he is careful what he gives to a parrot or a lap dog, he fhould be fo little atten tive to the food of his own children. Inftead of checking that propenfity to appetite, which moft of us fhew very early in life, it is common to hear parents importuning their children to eat of variety ; nay oftentimes to tempt them to be guilty of repletion. Nature has provided the beft fauce: the gratification of the appetite when hunger provokes is the trueft delight ; but luxury has introduced an artificial appetite, which muft needs make great havock amongft mankind, Perhaps the caufe is founded chiefly in our own falf -love and reludance to die, that the generality of mankind are fo little acquainted with the real ftate of mortality, in regard to the numbers that drop either in early or advanced life. The battle is not always to the ftrong^ nor the race to the fwift, but we generally find, that healthy, virtuous and fenfible parents, jf they hgive a numerous race, preferve the greateft Calculation of Mortality. 65 greateft part of their children : fome have the good fortune not to lofe one child in ten, and as this is the moft pleafing consideration, we feldom enquire any farther. To examine a point of this kind with great accuracy, is not within the compafs of my knowledge, had I leifure for fuch purpofes. I have read Dr. Brackenridges thoughts on the fubjed, as contained in the philofophical tranfadions, where he forms a table of proba ble mortalities drawn from the Breflau, toge ther with the London bills of mortality. Bref lau is an inland town, containing about 30,000 inhabitants only, and confequently more eafy to form a judgment from it than from London alone. Of 1 000 born, he calculates thus 323 are dead in 1 year. 450 - - - in 2 years. 495 in 3 527 in 4 553 in 5 566 - - - in 6 575 in 7 Vol. II. F 582 €6 Calculation of Mortality. 582 588 - - - 594 598 - - - 602 606 610 614 - - - 617 - - - 621 625 628 632 - - - Of the fame 1000, from 20 to 30 years of age, the number encreafes to 675 in 30 years, of the ages 31 to 40 729 - — in 40 years, of — - 41 to 50 792 in 50 years. n 8 years. n 9 n 10 n 11 n 12 n 13 in 14 ni5n 16 n 17 n 18 n 19 n 20 Thus you fee by this calculation, that near 800 in 1000, or four in five of mankind are dead in 50 years, which number divided equal ly, fuppofes every one born to have lived no more than twelve years. If this calculation be true, Calculation of Mortality. 67 true, it muft be obferved that it takes in the befi as well as the worft parts of mankinds Every calculation of this kind muft be fub jed to error, not only from the difficulty arifing from the difcOvery of the real ftate of things, but that different periods are more or lefs fatal to mankind, as peace or war, virtue or vice, and other more fecret caufes predomi nate. The dodor may be as near the mark as calculators hitherto have generally been, upon a general view of mankind, taking in all the various circumstances and relations with refped to each other : but if we caft an eye on thofe who never feel the pangs of maternal tendernefs, or parental love, particularly in thefe great cities j on thofe whofe indigence or iniquity lead them to be indifferent whether their offspring are reared or not : and if we judge from what has happened here, for fome time paft, we fhall con clude that every child, born under fuch circum- ftances, is doomed to inevitable mortality, with in a year or two. We fee fuch parents are ready to abandon them, to the chance of their be ing found yet alive in the ftreets ; and many a F 2 poor 6% Calculation of Mortality. poor infant has been murdered by the hand of violence : but certain it is, many fiich perfons are ready to give their children to any one who will take them ; and fuppofe it to be the good fortune of the child to fall into the hands of the moft judicious and moft tender protector, it can hardly be nourifhed at her own brealt, if a fe male, or fed under his own eye,' if a man fnatches the infant from the jaws of death. Such infant then muft be delivered into the hands of a stranger, who, unlefs great care is ta ken, may not be a great many removes in cha- rader and difpofition from her who brought it into, the world, and bequeathed it to the world at large : nor can the allowance for fup- porting the infant befuppofedequalto that which is generally given by parents. In every cafe much depends on the virtue, and I will be bold to fay, on the good fenfe of the man, or woman, who has the care of the child. We may ima gine oarfelves to be very wife, and much im proved in every art ; and that the cultivation of the mind, through the travel of fo many ages, has eftabliffied the art of preferving life, on the fecur- 2 eft Calculation of Mortality. 69 cftbafis; but are we not fallen back again, and need the prop of every virtuous heart, judicious head,and industrious hand? It is not the harmony of words, nor the beft tuned period which ought tobiafs the mind to any particular opinion, where fact can be produced. Let us try however if we can preferve a greater proportion of the chil dren born and bred, under the circumstances juft defcribed, than the following real obfervation. After 14 years of 13 born 4 were alive. 13 '3 4 12 44 14 I - - - - 30 " - - 13 0 - - - - 44 - - - 16 9 - - - - 18 - - - 6 8 - - - - 24 - - - 14 7 - - - - 40 - - - 11 6 - - - - 40 - - - 17 5 - - - - 70 - - -38 4 - - - - 16 - - - 8 3 - - - - 16 - - - 8 2 - - - - 12 - - - 8 I - - 8 - 388, F 3 - 5 [168 lam 7o Calculation of Mortality. I am as unwilling as you can be, to think this is a ftandard for our expedations : a country fo abundant as this, a climate fo temperate, and inhabitants fo wife, as we pretend to be, ought to blufh with confufion of face, if we do not exert our fkill and humanity, tp preferve a greater proportion than the above arnounts to. It is an art of great ufe, in which every wo man as well as man, who pretends to charity or underftanding, if their fortunes allow of leifure, ought to interest themfelves deeply. In whatever light this account may appear to you, who may not have extended your remarks fo far, had we preferved 168 out of 388, even fo jar in life as thefe, what a formi dable body of laborers, manufacturers, failors, and faldiers, might this laft half century have produced in thefe great cities ! Of this you will judge better from the fequel of my remarks. It ought to be laid down as a maxim, that no animalis fo capable of repair as man ; every one ©f the least obfervation muft have found, that in the firft ftages of diforders, temperance and a change of diet, with a little more than common repofe Cacu 'at/on of Mortality. Jt repofe or a change of exercife ; or even the ufe of fo fimple a remedy as water, will frequently restore us to perfed health. Such is the force of reafon ! Nor ought we to make ufe of our reafon merely for our own prefervation, who may be of little worth compared to the whole, but for thofe noble ends for which reafon was chiefly given us, the prefervation of our fellow- creatures. But if we confider the helplefs ftate of infancy, it calls aloud for all the afliftance which can be found, either in the reafon, paf fions, or affedions of mankind. Farewel. LETTER IX. To the fame. Madam, MA N Y are the fecret and many the ap parent caufes of the diftrefs of nations as well as private families; and the more mi nutely we examine the history of mankind, the more striking proofs we fhall difcover ofthe ef ficacy of virtue to promote happinefs. With regard to excefs in fenfual gratifica tions, there are many of the polite parts of F 4 Europe, 72 Tea caufes the diminution of our Numbers. Europe, where the higher ranks of the people are worfe than amongft us, and more frequently destroy their conftitutions : but I believe the common people of no country are become fo exceedingly intemperate and debauched as ours, efpecially in London. It is not probable we fhall ever return to the fimplicity of the firft ages ; our plan is of a different kind ; nor do I apprehend the human body is the fame as it was in the antediluvian World ; we can hardly fuppofe it is capable of lasting fo long : but as life is defirable above all things, one would imagine it fhould be no very hard tafk, to check and difcountenance all fuch fafhions, and habits, as tend to fhorten its true period. I fuppofe Adam and Eve drank pure element with all its vivifying qualities ; and if they did really ufe the infufion of any delicious herbs with which the garden of Ed:n abounded, I dare fay tea was not fe- leded for this purpofe ; for after all that can be faid of this leaf, the inferior kinds of it are ex tremely naufaous even to perfons who drink tea, if they are ufed to the better forts only; and the beft Tea caufes the diminution of our Numbers. 73 beft without fugar is very bitter and unpleafant, and with it the tafte of the fugar prevails fo much over the tafte of the tea, as almoft to de- ftroy it. I fear tea will prove bitter to us in the end, in more fenfes than one, if we go on at the fame rate we have done for fome years paft. I have mentioned the vivifying qualities of water; this is not a familiar term, but it leads me to obferve, that altho' we are ex tremely attentive to the qualities of the waters we drink medicinally, yet in common ufe, how ever choice they may be, tea-drinkers muft pre pare it for the infufion of the deluding drug in queftion, by boiling it. It is alfo generally kept boiling for a considerable time, which not only deprives it of all its virtues, but renders it equally infipid to the tafte ; and I fuppofe it fre quently derives noxious particles from the cop per veffel which is ufed for this purpofe, as late experience proves in various instances. And can any reafonable perfon doubt that this flatulent liquor fhortens the lives of great numbers of people ? Were we to reckon that only 74 Tea caufes the diminution of our Numbers. only one in a thoufand dies annually of this flow poifon, put of two millions of tea-drinkers, the ftate would fuffer the heavy lofs of two thou fand fubjeds. If to the common vices and evils of life, we add fupernumerary debauche ries, as the effeds of one vice muft undoubtedly add ftrength to the effeds of another, the cal culation grows to an amazing height. Is not this fipping fafhion become a vice ? Granting that it is not vicious in its own nature, if the example reaches to the poor, and it is vicious in them, it becomes vicious in the rich alfo, who perfift in the ufe of it, becaufe it is not necef- fary, nor any mark of a neceffary or ufeful dif- ti net ion. I am fenfible that this rule, with regard to the effeds of example, will not hold in all things ; but I think it holds in the prefent cafe. I fhall fay more hereafter concerning the iniquity of nurfes, and what a great morta lity is occafioned by their want of care. In the mean while I muft obferve, that one caufe of the diminution of our numbers arifes from the nurfe, who throws away upon tea and fugar her flender allowance, which fhould purchafe Tea caufes the diminution of our Numbers. 75 purchafe the beft meat, milk and bread. This is a fad not fo generally known as it ought to be, nor is it credited by thofe who would not have it be true, but yet it is a fact. And what kind of tea do you imagine thefe people drink? A great part of it is run in upon us from the - united provinces, from Embden, Gottenburg, Co penhagen, Dunkirk, Bologne, and other ports, cofting about fifteen pence a pound; indeed they feldom fell their ordinary teas for above twenty pence. Tea which fhould by no means be expofed to the air, being brought from China in the packing of porcelain to ferve the purpofes of faw dufi, or fold in the ftreets out of wh^el-barrows, you muft imagine will make a mcit delicious liquor ! You are to fuppofe the run tea I al lude to is fold amongft us, particularly on the fea-coaft, from between two and three fhillings a pound ; not but the fmugglers bring confider- able quantities of a higher quality. Coarfe tea will tinge the water deep, and give a bitter tafte; and fuch is the infatuation of common tea- drinkers, they defire but little more. Indeed j 6 Tea caufes the diminution of our Numbers. Indeed with what tea can they be fupplied ? If you acquiefce in their ufing tea, and provide them with good tea, you increafethe expence ; and inftead of perfuading them to lay out three pence for a pound of beef to make good broth, you will entice them to pay ten fhillings for a pound of tea, which creates hunger, or deftroys digestion. You have alfo heard, that your maids fome times dry your tea leaves and fell them : the in dustrious nymph who is bent on gain may get a fhilling a pound for fuch tea. Thefe leaves are dyed in a folution of Japan earth, as is pradifed in the united provinces ; and fome fay in China alfo, but it certainly converts green tea into bohea ; or makes that pafs for tea, which is fome thing elfe : it alfo gives an af- tringency in the mouth, with a fweet tafte, and a brown colour to that which had neither co lour or tafte before : and moreover, it adds twenty- five per cent to the weight. This fantaftic beverage either weakens the power of digeftion, or by its astringent qualities occafions a dry cholic, and what remedy for the cholic fo good Tea caufes the diminution of our Numbers. 77 good as gin ? Or what fo cheap and eafily pro cured ? Whether pains and diforders arife from this or any other kind of tea, I am grofsly abu- fed in my information, or it is frequently the occafion of dram drinking. But to go up higher than common dram drinkers, I cannot help thinking, that whether it arife from the temper and habit of our bodies as we derive them from our parents, or from our own follies and excefies, fince tea has been in fafhion, even filicide has been more familiar amongft us than in times paft. Men of falfe no tions, wrongfully judged lunatic, who like the giants of old fight against heaven, and will not fubmit to die in the way which the God of na ture appoints, may think I jeft. But I really believe filicide would not be fo frequent, nor held in fo little deteftation, if a better diet than tea were in fafhion. Such men are either low fpirited,and dare not look the world in the face; or their fpirits become low and difordered, by the ufe of certain meats and drinks, as well as by what is commonly denominated vice. If we drink hot liquors when we fhould drink cold, 7$ Te a caufes the diminution of our Numbers. cold, or fwallow much tea to temper the heat of wine j and again much wine to qualify the flatulency of tea, fo long as body ads on foul the confequences muft be hurtful. This feems to be certain, were we temperate we fhould not fall out with the world, nor, let it go as it may, fhould we proceed to fuch fatal extremities 1 You may fmile, if you pleafe, at this conceit, as you may when I fay that intemperance is a fpecies of filicide ; but nurfes who ignorantly or vicioufly murder themfelves by bad habits of life, can be fuppofed to give very little quar ter to the poor infant : and if the rich look on, and fee the poor deftroyed, and thus nipped in the very bud, you may be affured they will foon become poor themfelves. There is a ftrong connedion between gin and tea, with refped to the dangerous advan tages derived from them to the ftate, as well as to many individuals, which I fhall more fully j demonstrate in my next : in the mean while it ought to be remembered, that as war and fa mine do not make fuch devaftation as intemper ance in general, fo in peculiar inftances, in par- i ticular Gin the bane of the common People. 79 ticular countries, an abfurd cuftom or fafhion may prevail, of which very few obferve all its operations ; and yet it may fhorten the lives of millions, and at length reduce a ftate to an ab ject condition. Were mankind temperate, 'tis more than probable they would live ten or twelve years longer than they do ; and the whole face of the habitable part of the globe might, according to the moft apparent deftgn of providence, be well peopled, efpecially in coun tries where the ravages of war feldom or never reach. But if we go on at this rate, what will become of pofterity ! Farewel. LETTER X. To the fame. Madam, T F we look back and confider the ftate of mankind in former ages, one may judge how the imaginations of men have labored to make difcoveries, fome of which feem as if they were purpofely calculated to fhorten life. The beft things in all ages have been perverted : but what a curfe was he who about 650 years fince 8o Gin the bane of the common People. fince made the difcovery of fpirituous liquors f We are indebted for it to the Arabians, and the progrefs of the limbec has been of great fervice in the ftudyof phyfic. I honor the fa culty, When they ad honeftly, but I moft fteadfaftly believe, that all the knowledge gained by distilling, has not done a hundredth part fo much good, as fpirituous liquors has done mifchief to mankind. It is not Europe alone which has fuffered, the new world is more than half unpeopled by it : and tho' Mahomet guard ed his followers againft wine, yet Perfians, I am fure, if not Turks, are very fond of fpirituous li quor, and will drink it freely when they can get it, except the few who fhew fome regard to their religion. To come nearer home, whilft I am correding this copy, the ingenious and public fpirited citizen, the reverend Dr. Hales is fo obliging, as to put into my hands a little book intitled, friendly- admonition to the drinkers of gin, pub- lifhed in 1751. This good man has, with great fpirit and knowledge of his fubjed, ani madverted on gin in many different fhapes, for many ©in the bane of 'the common People. 81 many years. Among other paffages he fays, £{ The infedion is fpread fo far and wide, that ic if it continues its deftrudive conquefts, in " the fame manner, and to the fame degree, 11 that we have unhappily lived to fee it ad- " vance, within thefe twenty or thirty years, it ec muft needs, in a few generations, infed the " whole kingdom with its baleful influence. " For it makes it's way into the world as a "friend to mankind, and infinuates itfelf un- ' (c der the difguife of grateful favours : and, " under the notion of helping digeftion, com- ,c forting the fpirit s, and'chearing the heart, " it produces the dired contrary effeds. And " though thefe deceitful Hydras are found, by '* daily experience, to destroy multitudes, yet " are they received and entertained with fo ge- *c neral applaufe, that they boldly lift ilp their ,s inveriomed heads in every ftreet, to fuch a " degree, as looks as if it were the bufinefs of *J a confiderable part of mankind to defiroj the *< reft". In another place, the Dodor obferves i - « Nay, fo bewitching is this infatuation, that G " thougn 82 Gin the bane of the common People. " though they cannot, moft of them, but be " fenfible, that they are manifeftly fhortening " their days, and juft plunging themfelves in- t( to their graves ; yet will they not refrain. *' This an eminent Phyftcian was fa fenfible of, "from his own unhappy experience, that he u faid, when men had got a habit of it, they tl would go on, though they faw Hell-fire burn- " ing before them. Hence we fee what little " hope there is of reclaiming, by any argu- " ments of reafon and religion, thefe miferable " wretches, who are infatuated and inflaved. " In fuch unhappy cafes, when prudence and " fenfe of duty bear no force ; the authority *' of government, and the power and juft ex- " ecution of falutary laws, muft impofe ne- tc ceffary restraints, and put the poifon out of " reach, by making it too dear to be pur- " chafed". Thus far Dr. Hales. Notwithftanding the changes which this liquor has gone through, we ftillfind a great number of the common people die very early, their progeny being born in gin, as well as fin : and what can we exped from their Gin the bane of the common People. 83 their education, but temporal and eternal mi- fery ? Upon enquiry I find the number of gin- drinking filicides, who ufed to die in the ftreets, is greatly diminifhed ; but the ufe of Gin is much more extended : it is a little lowered in qua lity, but it is every where to be bought. The common people do not difpatch themfelves fo precipitately, but then greater numbers die by flower gradations. If no remedy is found for this evil, we muft repent, e'er long, in pover ty and depopulation ! Nor ought we to be fur- prized, if all the calamities incident to human mature, fhould overtake us : we fee the moft terrible havock, created by this poifonous be verage, and yet ftill perfift in preferving if* for the fake of a precarious revenue. May not Gin, fome time or other, be the caufe of a dearth in this land ? Indeed it has been urged, in times paft, that the more corn is ufed in distilleries, the more agriculture is encouraged. Granting this, if fpirituous li quors are pernicious, what the distillery enables us to build up with one hand, we beat down G 2 with*. 84 G in the bane of the common People. with the other, and a great deal more along with it. Whilft things ftand upon the prefeni falfe foundation of funding, with a ruinous circu lation of expence, it may be ufeful to the com munity that corn fhould never be very cheap; but if we exported what is confumed in the di- ftillery, at almoft any price, we fhould gain more real national wealth, by fuch exporta tion, than we can profit by the produce of dif- tilleries in any fhape. But religion and hu manity call on us to corred fo enormous an abufe : when we confider the mifchief s occa sioned by this liquid poifon, there is great rea fon to wifh all the distilleries were burnt to the ground, beyond all human art ever to be again erefted. We have been lately told, that at one distillery only, 3504 bufhels of wheat, barleyV and malt, have been brewed up in one week, which is computed to be a fufficient quantity of grain, to feed forty thoufand people ; confer quently, if there are ten fuch distilleries only, they confume, or rather defiroy, as much grain as is fufficient to fupport more than half the inhabitants of thefe yaft cities. I do not believe this Gin the bane of the common People. 85 this is the exad calculation, for I apprehend it falls fhort of the reality. The quantity of grain confumed is fuch, that no distiller will chufe to confefs what it is, though there is' fomething criminal in concealing a truth of fuch vaft importance to the community. The author obferves, " That thefe manu- li facturers may juftly be faid to fiarve the u poor in order to poifon them, by inflaming u their blood and fpirits; destroying their " conftitutions, and making them mad "; concluding, that three fourths of the fires, robberies, and murders, in England, are owing to the drinking fpirituous liquors. This feems to be no very romantic conclufion, for many fads countenance this opinion. If for the ufes of certain manufadurys, di - ftilled fpirits are necejfary, it may be made fo naufeous as not to be potable : but furely we may live without the ftill. Take gin from the common people, and give them ale, they will foon forget there was ever fuch a defiructive ¦draught. If one gallon can destroy a dozen men, what havock may 4>435s339 gallons occafion ? G 3 and 86 Gin the bane of the common People. and this quantity wasdiftilled in one year, for which was paid 334,470/. 16 s. 8d. duty. It is obferved, that as the genius of our na tion carries us to extremes, whatever we un dertake, we do with fpirit, be the caufe good or bad; at least it ufed to be fo. Indeed a certain celebrated, though not pious author, fays of men in high office, in this country, that fo far from the virtues, they have not even the vices of great men ; but, among the lower claffes, thofe iniquities which would have been other- wife committed with caution, are, by the force of fpirituous liquors, often perpetrated with a diabolical courage, with a contempt of every confederation, divine or human. This liquor is peculiarly calculated to difiurb the brain, and drive men into a defperate wild- nefs, which knows no restraint. I be lieve it will be found, that fince Gin has been fo familiar among us, the temper of the com mon people is much altered ; from being di ligent, many are become idle ; from being humane, they are become cruel, at leaft within the Gin bills of mortality. Nor Gin the bane of the common People. By Nor is it Only the quantity of grain thus confumed ; it muft be obferved, it is for the moft part of the choiceft wheat. Sweetnefs be ing the great principle of fermentation, if the corn is not fweet, that is, not in a per fed ftate, it will not anfwer the purpofe of the diftiller. Upon the whole, I am in hopes we fhall live to fee fpirituous liquors, one day, become the great objed of legiflative in quiry, not to raife a revenue, but to dis countenance the ufe of it, in order to draw a greater revenue from the labor and con fumption of thofe who will have no ex istence in this world, if we continue this war againft nature. Since gin and tea have been in fo great ufe, the children born in work- houfes are totally deferted by their mothers : and the leaving them to the care of women, who are verfed only in the faience of burying chil dren, can be produdive of no other ef fect Thofe who are enemies to gin, and yet fecretly lean to the caufe of tea, urge that the greateft tea-drinkers, are leaft addided to G 4 fpi- 88 Gin the bane of the common People. fpirituous liquors ; or, in other words, to gin. To fix this point very clearly and determinate- ly, may be a difficult tafk, but if any who drink tea, drink gin alfo; or being addided in the greater degree to gin, drink tea, there is rea fbn to believe, from the quantity and quality of the tea they drink, aslikewife from that of the gin, thefe liquors mutually aflift each other, in carrying on this dreadful war againft the poor er claffes of our fellow-fubjeds. I remember to have heard a patriot citizen declaim on the great quantity of tea which was run in upon us, notwithftanding the duties were then lowered, and the Eafi-India com pany had augmented their importation of this commodity, to the quantity of three millions of pounds. The late Mr. Pelham, that wor thy gentleman, whofe memory is grateful to many in this nation, anfwered in thefe words ; " Tea then is become another gin ! " mean ing, as I underftood, that the vcfl confump tion, and injurious effects of tea, feemed to threaten the lives of the common people equal ly with gin, And indeed, his opinion and ore- Gin the bane of the common People. 89 predidion feem to be verified in their full ex tent. What an army has gin and tea. destroyed 1 Figure to yourfelf the progrefs of this destruc tion, from the father's, or mother's drinking liquid fire, to the birth and death of the child ; and how often the fpirits of both parents and children, have been forced to quit their bo dies, when thefe are fet in a blaze with gin ; or the fprings of life lofe their powers, by perpetually fipping hot water, and the ener vating qualities of tea. We complain that la bor is very dear, and confequently the in creafe of commerce is checked. It is true, that in fome places, double the price is paid for labor as was paid twenty years ago ^ but this arifes partly from the local change of trade, from one place to another ; it depends alfo on fcarcity of provifions, and that upon the want of inhabitants in places where greater numbers ufed to be. In every light we confider this fubjed," we are deeply interested to preferve the lives of our fellow-fubjeds, and confequently to re- 90 Gin the bane of the common People. remove from them fuch things as are hurtful. In order to do this, we muft ufe the gentle arts of perfwafion, and point out the dreadful effeds of intemperance, as Well as employ the coercive power of the laws. Nor is it with tea and gin only ; how many thoufands are annually poifoned in this nation by wine ! many by ufing it in excefs ; many by not declining the ufe of it intirely ; and many by ufing fuch as is falfe, adulterated, made to imitate wine, and extremely bad of its kind. So many, are cut off before their time, the ftate will foon feel the want of them in the moft fenfible manner. If it can be made appear, that by the prevalency of ridiculous and abfurd cuftoms, one in a thoufand is annually cut off, ten years before the time appointed by nature, if we have nine millions in the three kingdoms, it amounts to nine thoufand ; and, in twenty years, the king would lofe at leaft two hundred thoufand fubjeds, who might be faved : and how will the number fwell in twice the time ! If this is the cafe with regard to[any one had habit, how eafily may Gin the bane of the common People, 91 may we reconcile ourfelves to the belief, that our numbers are really diminijhed. And if the caufe of the decreafe fubfifts in full force, what are we to exped for the time to come ? I am afraid one part of the nation will not lengthen their lives by their virtues, in propor tion as others fhorten them by their vices. Whilft my fhafts are chiefly direded, at the cuftom of drinking tea, the addition of other vicious habits becomes the more alarming : and what do you think of faventy thoufand public houfes in England I Well might the Spaniard fay, England is a country where half the people are employed to fill liquor for the other half. To one man who is preferved by fuch a multitude of drinking-houfes, we may fafely calculate that three axe brought to their graves long before the time appointed by nature ; and that during their continuance in life, the pub lic fuffers as much by their being rendered lefs able to provide the real necejfaries and comforts of life, as the ftate is benefitted by the taxes drawn from excefftve drinking. I am fenfible, however, that beer and ale are 92 Gin the bane of the common People. are the liquors proper for us ; for whilft thefe pay a confiderable tax, and are very inftrumenaf to the fupport of the ftate, if they are not taken in very great excefs, they not only do not foifon our fellow-fubjeds, but the people are really nourifhed by them. Were I a public minister, perhaps things might appear to me in a different light; but whilft common fenfe and experience are the parents of all kinds of knowledge, and whilft we fee the dreadful effeds of gin, it may be afked, if any circulation of money can be an equivalent for the havock it makes amongft us ? If no gin was drank, the revenue would be made up in beer and ale: the people would work more, and receive more real nutriment, and in that confifts the true circu lation. On the contrary, it muft give but me lancholy prefages of ruin to a ftate, which depends on a difiruttive article of confumption for a confiderable part of the public revenue. It was long fince foretold by the wifeft and befi men amongft us, and the fincereft friends to their fovereign, to liberty, and mankind, what Gin the bane of the ^common People. g% What a baneful influence fpirituous liquors would fpread over the face of this land ; and that inftead of promoting the welfare of the ftate by raifing taxes, in the courfe of a few ages, there would hardly be any people left to tax. Do we not bid fair to verify this pre- didion, in a great degree ? Does not experi ence fupport the belief of it in the strongest manner ? Can a wife ftate raife a tax upon an article, which, the more of it is confumed, the more the morals of the common people are injured, and their lives destroyed ; and the weaker their conftitutions grow, the more fpeedy and dreadful the effeds? Spiritu ous liquors have alreday reigned fo long, that fifty years more will not recover the ftrength and heauty of the breed, was not a drop of gin to be drank. I remember to have feen fome curious cal culations of the duration of life, and the number of years, employed in hard labor, which men of certain laborious employments, fall fhort of their fore-fathers. We have already the cleareft and the ftrongefi evidence of our want 94 Gin the bane of the common People* want of numbers ; and it is apparent without any exaggeration, that gin is one of the chief caufes of it. Though fome part of this de vastation muft be owing to excessive debau chery among the common people, particularly in thefe cities, gin has the greateft fhare in the maffacre of our poor fellow- citizens, and par ticularly in their infant-ftate. Will it not be a reproach to policy, as well as humanity, if we go on at this mortal rate ? Other nations tax fpirituous liquor, and draw a revenue from it, which is fo much the worfe for themi but theirs is not fo ftrong ; and though it in jures the health of their men, it is not fo gene rally drank j and their women and children ne ver drink it. Let us hope that Halcyon days are coming on, when our taxes will be equal ly calculated for the good of the fiate, and the happinefs of individuals ! Farewel. I am yours, &c. LET- Adulterated Bread, and Celibacy,©*:. 95 LETTER XL To the fame. Madam, I HAVE often heard it complained of, that the health of our fellow-fubieds is injured by the adulteration of the b:~~ d we eat, particularly in thefe great cities. In order to make it look the whiter, it is faid bakers mix allom with the flour, as well as fell that for the flour of wheat which is oftentimes mixed with other kinds of inferior and improper meal. I hope this is not fo generally true as fome ima gine, but if it is true in any degree, it is a matter of wonder that we fee no meal-man nor baker punifhed ! Thofe who are ho- neft in their traffic, fuffer in reputation in com mon with thofe who have not the fear of God before their eyes. When no inquiry is made into fuch abufes, it muft appear, either that a government is un hinged, or that we connive at fuch tricks with a view 90 Adulterated Bread, and Celibacy; a view to gratify a fantaftic appetite ; or as if we were afraid our lives would be too long, It feems as if we were in a fair way of becom ing a nation of robbers and murderers : what with the pillage of the ftate in public affairs : pillage in private concerns ; and frauds even in our provifions, if it does not meet a timely check, anarchy muft enfue. Thofe who are guilty of fuch fecret and dark pradices, with regard to bread, may be confidered in Hobbes's fiate of nature. Whether I ftab a man, that I may run away with his daughter ; or put a little poifon in the loaf I fell him; to get a halfpenny the more for it, I make war with him, and inftead of dying for his fervice, destroy him for the fake of my own gratification. If this is not the cafe with bakers in ge neral, it is no rare thing, more than for con tractors to fupply bad provifions. Suppofing it is but an ounce of allom in a bufhel of flour, which is the computed quantity, and by ba kers called the doctor, fuch a medicine muft be extremely detrimental to many conftitutions. There (liminifh our numbers. g*p There is ariother caufe more obvious, why all the fupplies we draw from Scotland and Ire land, do not prevent a decreafe of the number of inhabitants in England. Whilft many go to faek their fortunes in America, and obtain lands td cultivate : others ad as if they could hot fupport a family in their mother- country. How many men continue batchelors from fafhion, pride, vanity, and other vicious mo tives, as well as from prudence ! Except a- mong menial fervants, and common foldiers, to* wards both which we are faulty, the laboring poor marry much more, in proportion to their jiumbers, than the midling ranks of the people; the laft feem difinclined to truft to providence, and their own industry. Whatever the caufe may be, it is a national evil, and a great re proach to men who pretend to virtue, fince they are apparently deficient in this kind of love for their country, considering it only as an aux iliary motive to marriage-. The fault muft not be imputed to men alone, for women alfo are often bred up to an expenfive manner of life, H and 98 Adulterated Bread, and Celibacy, and extinguifh their afif colons, rather than not fupport their vanity. I have heard a fhrewd, but, I think, fo» phiftical proverb, with relation to this fubjed, " That good men marry early, wife men never ". The firfi part is obvious to every common ap- prehenfion, and needs no illustration ; the laft feems to teach a dangerous leffon to thofe who want a reafon for not doing their duty. If, by this proverb it is meant that men, who by the accidents or particular fituation of their lives, having paffed beyond the proper period for this engagement, will ad un- wifely if they enter into it out of feafon ; this depends on fuch numerous circumftances, it is almoft impofiible to lay down any rule. If we confider, in the firft place, the laws of nature, the good order of a civilized ftate, and the promotion of happinefs in fociety, the pro verbial faying might ftand thus: Good men marry early, fools never. St. Paul warned his followers who were un der a ftate of perfeeution, not to enter into en gagements ineonfiftent with the arduous ftruggles- diminifh our numbers. og struggles they were to go through, in defence Of their faith'; yet ftill he told thofe who in clined to matrimony, they did well. We do not find that he Was himfelf married, and the reafon feems to be plain : his conftitution was infirm ; his genius led him into the bufy world : he delighted in books, and above all, enjoyed fo enlarged a mind, that he could not make any thing the prime objed of his: thoughts, efpecially after his converfion, lefs than the good of his country, and the fervice of mankind. It does not appear that his paf fions Were languid, but he found fufficient ex ercife for all the powers of his foul, in that im portant office he had undertaken. And what think you of that great mafter of reafon, the celebrated Mr. Locke ? It is more: probable that he confulted his inclination ra ther than his reafon, in not marrying ; and yet, if I am not misinformed, a woman was a greater miftrefs of his fecrets, than the moft diftinguifhed of his own fex. If the greateft of mankind refine beyond nature,, and common fenfe, inftead of being wifer than the ordinary, H 2 race ioo Adulterated Bread, and Celibacy, race of men, they become more foolifij. But fuppofing thefe illustrious perfons aded with the utmoft propriety, it does not appear that the prefent age abounds in St. Paul's, or in Locke's ; and though fools often marry, and wife men fometimes let it alone, yet if this matter were fairly examined into, I fancy it would generally be found, that the foolifh, fo far as this inftance goes, ad wifely, and the wife foolifhly. That the former are fo far the beft citizens is beyond all dispute; and it is high time the libertine, or too refined reafoner, fhould change his fyftem, and leave the vicious part of mankind only to boaft of their capricious freedom. As to the happinefs or mifery of wedloc, that muft ftill depend on the virtue and un derftanding of individuals. And he or fhe who difcharges all the other duties of foci ety, in a manner becoming the dignity of human nature, adding to it the duties of this relation, will furely be more acceptable in the fight of God, as they ought to be in the eyes of men, than thofe who, either from vicious motives, or diminifh our numbers. io^r or falfe reafonings, negled fo effential a duty to their country. This thought leads me to the remembrance of a noble kind of political benevolence prac- tifed by the French, whom I honor in many inftances, in their political capacity. At the marriage of the dauphin of France, a confider able fum of money was given to be divided as dowries among a certain number of poor girls. If the noble lords and gentlemen of England, who make a buftle about the increafe of birds and beafis, with a view to their diverfions, would think more of the increafe of men, for the good of their common parent, as it feems to be very much in their power to do works of this nature, it would be very highly to their praifie. The moft tranfient obfervation muft teach us, that fuch a condud, whilft it afforded the higheft proof of their patriotifm, would add greatly to the happinefs of the moft vir tuous part of their fellow-fubjeds in humble Ufe. If our clergy alfo were more vigilant In pro moting the happinefs of thofe under their care, H 3 they 102 Adulterated Bre a d; and Ce l i b a c y, they would render themfelves more refpected^ than they generally are ; and the more they mixed found policy with true religion, the more thefe motives would mutually ad on each other, and patriotifm and piety would become fynonimous terms. If there are yet any difficulties in the mar riage act, or if experience proves that it flops the courfe of marriage in any degree, it ought to be rendered more familiar and intelligible. If the parents of numerous families in low life were diftinguifhed by fome peculiar ad vantage, it might be a wife inftitution. But, if we would fupport our fplendor and opulence ; if we mean to keep poverty and oppreffion at a great diftance ; if we would ad the part of men ; and teach our dependants to live more according to the laws of God, and nature, inftead of rejecting domeftics, and me nial /ervants, becaufe they are married, I think we ought to prefer them on that very account. Such a ftep would greatly facilitate .the end propofed, in a political view, whilft it promoted a fenfe of religion among the lower diminifh our numbers. 103 lower claffes of the people, who feem to have very little of it at prefent ; the inconve niences we might fuffer in one light, would be abundantly made up to us in another. And whether our numbers are really decreafed or not, whatever tends to increafe them, con fident with the laws and good order of focie- ty, ought to be encouraged. We ought not to lay reftraints merely to gratify our pride or convenience. Too many restrain themfelves from the confideration of the difficulty of fup- porting their offspring : indeed, that difficulty will ceafe among the common people in and about London, if we fupport the foundling hof- pital. If fuch propofals were duly confidered, great advantages might be derived from them, to a nation fo diftreffed as we are, in conse quence of falfe maxims, ridiculous cuftoms, prodigality and expence. Farewel. H 4 LET- 104 B°d Nursing, apd Tea, the caufe of LETTER XII. To the fame. Madam, TO be convinced that I am in earnefi, and have ftrong reafons for what I urge, I beg that you, and every woman who does not Wear in her bfeaft afiint inftead of a heart, will make enquiry into the ftate of nurfes and children in thefe great cities. I could tell you a tale which would draw tears from your eyes, though they were unufed to weeping. It is a common fault of mankind, that whenever they make any objed the fubjecr of their thoughts and enquiries, they are apt to confider it with too much, or too little at tention. No man was more inclined than my- felf to believe, that complaining of vicious pradices is one of the foibles of the time, or the our diminution in numbers. J05 the effed of more than common piety, in, thofe who complained, but, not that this is more wicked or immoral than former ages; indeed I marked it out in the hifiory of my time, as the age of corruption, idlenefs, and puerility. But with regard to the point in queftion, I can with-hold my affent no longer; I feel the force of conviction; the repeated and indubitable tdftimonies of the havock a- mongft the poor, in their infant fiate, are extremely fhocking to humanity, and call a- loud for redrefs. There are fame parifhes in thefe cities, in which all the children in their workhoufes, un der the care, or no care of parifh-nurfes, for many years paft, have died. In others, in a courfe of years, out of three thoufand, only forty lived to be put out apprentice. Out of one hundred and faventy four brought into a certain parifh in two years, how many, up on a modeft computation, might live to the age of two months ? one would have thought three-fourths of them; but, in fad, only eleven were alive ; and thefe, to all appear ance, 106 Bad Nursing, andTzA, the caufe of ance, had a wretched being protraded for a few days more, being configned over to the ¦ inevitable mortality which attends the exceffive ufe of tea and gin. Among fome whole claffes of the common people in London and Wefi- minfter, the cafe has not been much better. From what caufes can fuch ftrange effeds pro ceed, in a country where the climate is tem perate ; where the air is pure ; where the earth is plentiful ; where the people, they fay, are civilized; and, what is more, reputed hu mane. It muft be acknowledged, that in London, fhame to the police of this nation ! are ma ny old ftreets where the houfes are in ru ins; where indolence and poverty keep the people in rags and dirt ; where gin and tea are drank ; and where the children, born in fuch places, have but a poor chance for their lives, was there no other caufe of mortality than the bad air they breathe. Is it not ftrange that the life of a man fhould be fo little thought of! What little confideration has been fhewn to fupport the race of the working poor ! Why wr diminution in numbers, jot, Why have not thofe who were charged with the care of parifhes, fent the children into the country, where the air is good, and where they might be free from confinement ? If we examine this matter to the bottom, we fhall find fuch a neglect of care in the infpedion of thefe affairs, among men of fortune, education and fentiment, as can be atoned for only by their double diligence for the future. We have alfo fuffered human nature to be fo much difgraced, that infants have been hired out from work-houfas to extort charity : happy when their lives are preferved for fo deteftable a purpofe. And what cognizance has been taken of fuch infants as are expofed in the ftreets, to the complicated miferies of hun ger, nakednefs, and inclemency of weather? Under fuch circumftances, can we wonder that a recruit of fo many thoufands fhould become neceffary in thefe cities ? or ought we to be furprized if thofe fources fhould fail, from whence fuch recruits are drawn ? Whether it regards beggars in the ftreets, or fparifh nurfes, the cafe feems to be deplorable. If zg8 BadNvRsiNG,andTEA,thecaufaof If we judge from experience, the beggar's child, when it is really hers, bids fairest to be preferved from the tragic fcene of Herod's cruelty prac- tifed in work-houfes : it would be a harfh word to call it murder ; but it was become the fource of inevitable mortality to put infants under the care of parifh nurfes in thefe cities. The cafe may not have been equally lamentable in all parifhes ; fome parifli-officers may have enjoyed a little more common fenfe, and a fmall fhare of hu manity in the management of their poor ; hut, if a true and impartial account of what has happened, for thirty years paft, was laid be fore the public, it is hard to fay whether it would create greater indignation, farrow, or wonder, at the vaft crowds which have been hurried to an early grave ! I am. perfwaded, that a heap of dead children has been, for a long time, a more pleafing, and a more familiar objed to the generality of com mon parifh-nurfes, than a nurfery of living ones ; as if they had contraded an habitual fen- fibility of the death of infants, as a common foldier of his companions, after a dozen bloody wr diminution in numbers. 109 bloody campaigns. One never hears indeed of a killing faldier. His bufinefs is to conqueri not to kill, if he can keep alive; but I have heard of the term killing nurfe, as truly applicable to her, out of whofe hands no infant has ever efcaped alive. It is notorious, that befides the other vices which reign amongft the poor, thefe nurfes often drink drams ; but, were it only a dram occafionally, the poor infant, if it is not flatbed for want of wholfome food, is poifoned with the noxious effeds of fuch aliment. Was this the pradice in the days of our grandmothers ? Did women with children at their breafis, fwal- low liquid fire to extinguifh that promethean heat, which no liquid fire can ever restore a- gain ? Thrice happy were it for mankind, if it was made a capital offence, in every clime, to diftil any fpirituous liquor. Good wine would anfwer all the purpofes, even in medicine ; and difiilled fpirits have done more mifchief to mankind, than the plague or famine. Amongft us, tea has assisted to fupport the re putation of gin, and both together bid very fair no IWNursing, andTzA, the caufe of fair to Unpeople this ifland. Gin is efteeni- ed by many tea-drinkers, more neceffary to fupport their fpirits, than bread or water to nourifh life. The fipping of any liquid is apt to create a flatulency, but the fip ping of the infufion of bad tea, or fomething worfe than bad tea, always made firong, and generally loaded with fugar, if it does not create a faorbutic habit, or wafte time, it gives the cholic, hypochondria, weak eyes, and Weaker limbs. Thefe distempers were hot fa miliar before tea came in fafhion, even amongft fine ladies^ but hardly ever known amongft the poor. Nor is this all, parifh-nurfes who drink tea,' which furely is not neceffary, unavoidably con- fume a great part of their weekly allowance, td the dired prejudice of herfelf or the child. One halfpenny a time for tea; and the fame for fugar; if tea is drank twice a day, confumes fourteen out of thirty pence ; and how are the neceffaries of life to be fupplied ? And if fuch nurfes receive their allowance for any time after the child is dead, as frequently happens* it becomes their gain and profit, that the child our diminution in numbers*. ill fhould die. Heaven knows how many poor in* fants have been difpatched into the other world j I hope they meet a kinder reception there ! It is to be hoped the times are mending, and that we fhall alter our rule of condud, if not for God's fake, nor yet for our country's, for the fake of novelty, and a change of 'fafhion. I have lately read fome political memoirs concerning the mortality of the infant poor at Paris, which the author imputes to the impro per diet of mercenary nurfes, their careleffnefst and libertinifm at the very time they give fuck. If be has reafon to complain of the women in France, it is as plain that we have reafon to la ment the fame evil in England. The increafe of wealth feems to lead mankind the farther from the paths of nature ; and rich countries contrad vices which poor ones are ftrangers to. This author expeds no fpeedy reformation, and therefore recommends the feeding of in fants with the milk of animals, which he fays is the conftant cuftom in the North,, and the caufe why men in fuch countries are fo much more robuft than theirs. We may poffibly fee,e'er 1 12 Bad Nursing, andTEA, the caufe of e'er long, whether it be fo or not, with regard to ourfelves; but he certainly miftook the matter, in faying that infants with us, are gene rally nourifhed with fhe milk of animals. It is true, that we are much better fupplied with cow's milk in London, than the inha bitants of Paris, yet of late years it feems to have anfwered very little purpofe, for gin and tea have been prefered to milk ; or fo mixed with milk as to deftroy its falutary nu- trimental qualitiesi Wet-nurfing will ever ftand on the founda tion of nature's appointment, yet we find by fad experience, that if it is not property admi- niftered, there is no magic power in it, to fave the lives of infants. Unlefs women ad more agreeable to nature, the infant will expire at the breafij as well as by dry-nurfing. The life of an infant born to labor, political ly confidered; may happen to be of more value than the life of a duke; and the laws of hu manity permit of no diftindions in what is effential to the prefervation of life. But the infant who is born in poverty, if he is abandoned by our diminution in numbers. i i j by his own mother, can hardly have any choice ©f nurfes, and is frequently left to be fed by hand ; a cuftom not unknown to paft ages. Thofe who imagine, that the moft fagacious dry nurfe, can be equal to her who feeds the child at her breaft, if the laft is careful, adopt a very romantic notion : but wh'en fuch cannot be found, if We mean to fave the lives of the poor, we muft look out for fhe fiber, humane, indufirious, and experienced womanj as a dry- nuife. If we confider what an indifference to their offspring cufiom has introduced amongft the rich; and what infamous negleds amongft the poor : if we refled that mercenary views are often fubftituted in place of the order of na ture, and levity and debauchery frequently turn the courfe of human affedions, there is great reafon to engage the ablefi heads, and the war me ,2 hearts, to improve the methods of dry- riurfing. When wet-nurfes are not to be found in fuch numbers as are neceffary, the fortunate, the fkilful, and the experienced matron, fhould I teach H4 BadNvRsiNG, and Tea, the caufe of teach the poorwhatkind of food or phyficismoft proper for children, fuppofing it to be within their capacity of providing, and the beft manner of preparing it. How often, and in what pro portions it fhould be given, the moft acute will never be able to determine exadly ; yet the reafon of one may lead her very near the mark, whilst we fee another's carry her very far from it. It is not enough to fay the child muft take its fortune, and will do as well as the children who are born in the places where it is fent : the poor woman who has fed her own children at her breaft, may feed the stranger In the fame way ; but, if poverty tempts her to take charge of two children, or to breed them up by hand, and fhe is ignorant of the proper method of doing it, the confequence muft be fatal. There are many right ways, and more •wrong ones ; but, to reafon from fact, one would imagine that many nurfes are as igno rant of their own profeffton, as they are of Eu clid's elements. It is not the child of the peafant only ; I believe the heir of a dukedom fometimes pe- rifhes bur diminution in numbers. 1 1 j| rifhes for want of proper enquiry into the cir- cumfiances of a nurfe. The foolifh and wife; the fickly and healthy; the delicate and robust; are as diftind claffes amongft the poor, as a- mong the rich, and her whom nature has pro vided with milk for her own child, may pof- fibly have none, or none that is good; for a ftranger. 1 believe the child is fometimes loft by the milk of a ftrange woman being hetero geneous to the conftitution of the infant. It is alfo obferved, that the new milk of all animals is purgative, with which nature intends to cleanfe the body of their young. The cafe is the fame in the human fpecies ; but if the new born infant fucks milk of fix, or twelve, or eighteen months old, is it agreeable to nature ? May it not frequently occafion the death of a child ? If we refled maturely on the maladies with which fome infants are bornj the flaws in their conftitution, joined to the improper manner of living, among nurfes who give fuck : if we confider the general good of the whole in one great view, and how the departure of I 2 one 116 Bad Nursing, andTiA, the caufe of one from the paths of nature may diftrefs mdtiy, 'till fuch time as the rich, as well as the poor, live more according to nature, good policy as well as humanity, call on us to attend to the improvement of dry-nurfing ; that when ne- ceffity obliges to have recourfe to it, we may be watchful not "to lofe afingle life, which can be faved. We are upon an interefting fubjed. Is it not obvious to common fenfe and experience, that children at the breaft, in the firft ftages of their_ diforders, ought to be fed occafionally, with broth, and animal food, properly pre pared, to corred the crudities which milk cre ates, efpecially after the nurfe has fed impro perly ? but this does not feem to be fufficiently attended to. So, in dry-nurfing, the occafional fuccor of the breaft, to infants who begin t© droop, may alfo exceed the virtues of all the drugs which nature has provided for the pre fervation of the human fpecies; but neither does one fee this much pradifed. Here indeed arifes a difficulty. If a child moans for the breaft after once fucking, muft it there fore our diminution in numbers. ny fore die for fear it fhould die ? But I will leave this to the difcuffion of the learned. May not the child be deceived by art, and again re conciled to the former method of feeding, with lefs danger than it would be expofed to, were no fuch a fii fiance given ? In whatever light we consider thefe weighty matters, nothing is more agreeable to the na ture of mankind, than to honor and refpect thofe, who are honored by our fuperiors. Can the la dies of this land give a more judicious proof of their patriotifm, than to encourage nurfes to take care of fuch infants as are thrown up on the public ? Can they appear in a nobler point of view, than to exercife their humanity in a manner fo proper, andfo beneficial? Their expression of that tendernefs, which fo greatly dignifies human nature, muft have a wonderful effed in fiav'mg the lives of infants ; and fhe who faves a life, is more intitled to praife, than her whofe beauty gives every tongue a fubjed. I once knew a lady, in the pride of her charms, which indeed attraded the eyes of all I 3 be- 1 1 8 Bad Nursing, and Tea, the caufe of beholders ; who, in an extravagant fit of peni tence, or piety, thinking it of no confequence to make a conquefi of her admirers, refolved to overcome the world, for fhe devoted herfelf to attend as a fervant in a Lazare houfe. This was a fevere tafk indeed ! but to vifit the chil dren of the poor, and afiift them, with their advice and infpebtion, to ladies of eafy for tunes, who are advantageoufly fituated for fuch purpofes, ought rather to be thought a pious amufement, than a penitential labor. Am I do not pretend to lay down rules, but to throw qut my broken thoughts concern ing the various reafons which have created fo great a mortality among the children of the working poor, in hopes it may fet others on thinking more to the purpofe. It is an eftablifhed rule with fome able phy ficians, that an infant feldom cries but from pain, and not near fo often from the pain of hunger, when that happens, as is generally imagined. I fuppofe it is with infants as with grown perfons, that over-feeding is painful : and the feeding children when they are really fick, our diminution in numbers. 119 fick, muft frequently increafe their diforders ; Is this properly attended to ? Do nurfes think of more than affording a temporary relief ? The cuftom of torturing children by [wad- ling, preffing their fculls, frequently pricking their bodies with pins, and pining their caps to their fculls, is abominable. I do not mean that this is done purpofely, but one hears of it almoft in every family every day. From the nature of their drefs it muft happen often, and I believe is more frequently the occafion of their lamentations, than is imagined. Con finement for want of air, and fuch kind of habits in which nature has no fhare, render us as barbarous in our manners, as almoft any na tion on the face of the globe. Many know bet ter, but it is plain that thoufands die through the ignorance, as well as the inadvertency of the nurfe. The keeping children clean, and fweet, the carrying them into the open air in fine wea ther, gentle fridion, and playing with them, contributes more to their health, than is gene rally attended to. Nurfes fhould alfo take I 4 gentle 120 Bad Nursing, and Tea, the caufe of gentle exercife every day, to which I am afraid they are not always attentive. The ftrength, health, and cleanlinefs of nurfes, are alfo effential articles, in fecuring the life of a child. With regard to diet, more care fhould be ifaken. In fome families nurfes are pam pered and indulged, but it is very eafy to con ceive, that every kind of nutriment which does not eafily affimulate with the blood, but fti- rnulates, inflames, and diforders the whole ani mal oeconomy, as it muft have hurtful effeds on the woman, it will, in proportion to the tender frame of the infant at her breaft, be more fatal to the child, You muft not be furprized that I expatiate thus. The faving a life is next to faving a foul. Would it not be a very proper topic for the clergy, to remind nurfes of the importance of the tafk they have undertaken, and the duties they owe to God, and their neighbor, with re gard to the tender infant,, whom nature has brought into the world, in fo helplefs a ftate, a9 our diminution in numbers. \z\ as if it was intended to remind them of the unchangeable obligations of humanity \ Nature would indeed do this, and a great; deal more, if we attended to her precepts j but, as every vicious habit is a deviation from the laws of nature, the repetion of it leads us fo much the farther from the, true path, till at length we quite lofe fight of her. Hence it a- rifes, that fome nurfes, whom nature has bound with fo many ties, and jnvqked by the moft perfwafive calls, have violently broken their hold; and, fhutting their ears to the voice of the charmer, have become almoft as cruel to their own fpecies, with regard to an habitu al indifference to the prefervation of their lives, as one brute animal to another of a different; fpecies. As we are now pleading the caufe of huma nity, the caufe of injured innocence, fo peculi arly acceptable in the fight of God, will it be too great prefumption to remind women of con dition, as well as mercenary nurfes , to be ob- fervant of their duty ? Nature has taught them to be careful of their offspring, above ail other con- 122 Bad Nursing, andTEA, the caufiof considerations ; but cuftom, and a fondnefs for trifling amufements, have given them a different leffon. How many infants become the victims of a blind confidence in fir angers I It is a roe- lancholly consideration, that mothers fo eafily part with their children, when the irrational creation often die in defence of their young ! Politically confidered, whether the common nurfe deftroys herfelf, or a child, with gin, or debauchery of any kind ; or the fine lady by drinking too much tea ; fitting up too late ; or harassing her mind, or her body, to gratify any filly paffion, the king lofes a fubjed, and the ftate is injured. Such obfervations as thefe muft be familiar to thinking women, efpecially if they take into their consideration, a little more than juft what regards the concerns of private life. Experi ence is the beft guide ; but the misfortune is, that we live in a thoughtlefs age ; thoughtlefs with refped to the momentous concerns of eternity ; and thoughtlefs with refped to the welfare ofpofterity in this world. We fee the la mentable effeds of this turn of mind in the condud our diminution in numbers. 123 condud of public affairs for many years paft, as well as in the private economy of men's for tunes ; nor is it lefs obvious in the decay of health, beauty, ftrength, and lofs of fubjeds. The want of knowledge, virtue, and mater nal tendernefs amongft the poor, renders new regulations neceffary, otherwife millions of in fants muft fall vidims, to the careleffnefs and intemperance of thofe who bring them into the world. In the way we are going, I fay millions will, in the courfe of years, fall vidims to ig norance and vice. Unlefs fome wholefome dif- cipline and order takes place, by which in fants may be taken under proper care, they cannot have a fair chance for their lives, or at beft will never be ftout and healthy; confe quently juftice will not be done to the commu nity to whom thofe lives are of fuch vaft im portance. Though this is our general complaint, we are not all afteep. A phyfician fome time fince wrote a treatife on nurfing, and, as a proof of the good fenfe, and ufeful hints, contained in this little book, it went through many edi tions. 124 iWNuRsiNG, and Tea, the caufe of tions. One remark in it ftruck me in a parti cular manner : it relates to the opinion of thofe who think it an invafion of the prerogative of women, for men to intermeddle in directing the nurfing of infants ; but the abfurdity feems to confift in treating this bufinefs, as the Romans did the mysteries of the BonaDea, facred rites to which only women were admitted. We are told, that a very wicked fellow, one Cataline, dreffed in womens clothes, intruded himfelf, and prophaned thefe mysteries ; but onrwick- ednefs feems to confift in a carelefs difregard of one of the plaineft duties of policy and huma nity. If women were entirely equal to the talk, it wquld be more happy for us : but if they are carelefs ; if fhey are ignorant of what they ought to do, to preferve the lives of children, they muft be reminded of their duty. No body doubts but the knowledge acquired by experience is beft ; and parents have generally more tendernefs for their own offspring, than for that of other people ; but where there is plainly a fault fomewhere, it feems to be his bufinefs who has leifure, and is influenced bv motives of mtr diminution in numbers. 125 of humanity, to endevor to trace out the caud les of fuch calamitys, and to do his utmoft to remove them. With all due fubmiffion to the faculty, and with reverence to parents, I claim the privj*- lege of feeling fome tendernefs for children, and fome regard to pofterity ; therefore, to fum up my evidence in this weighty caufe, I ob ferve what crowds there are of women, who never attempt to fuckle their own children : what numbers who, I believe, cannot give fuckj without danger to their health ; with whole fquadrons of mercenary nurfes, of whom too many are diflblute or infirm, and rendered but ill qualified for nurfing : add to thefe the incapacity of many women to nourifh above one child at her breaft. Thus, if mortality alone can cre ate more nurfes than there are children, in this general view it feems to follow, that infants muft often fiuffer, and even die, by the defed of quantity or quality of the food which nature has appointed for them. If women between the ages of twenty and thirty can eafily fupport two children at the breaft, it fuppofes them firm in con- 126 Bad Nursing, andTE a, &c. conftitution, and living according to nature j the firft I am afraid is not the cafe with the majority of women, even of the ages above- mentioned, and the laft is hardly to be found any where. By living according to nature, I would not be understood in a rigid fenfe ; but to live fo as to preferve perfed health, and not to hurt the child by any intemperance. To confider ftridly what is right, is but half the bufinefs : we muft examine what is redu cible to general ufe. If we depart too far from the great law of nature, as it is clearly pointed out, it will be very difficult to eftablifh any artificial rules to help us in the fearch of it again by another road : but, as necefftty is the mother of invention, we may be allowed to enquire freely, and try every experiment which reafon will warrant. Farewel. LET- Advantage of the Foundling-Hofpital. 1 27 LETTER XIII. To the fame. Madam, WE may amufe ourfelves with finding fault with the world, and carry our complaints fb far as to become very faulty ourfelves. But if it is more eafy to flatter, than to reprove mankind, into a love of virtue ; and if the acquifition of virtue is the great objed in view, our chaftifements muft be tempered with tendernefs. As foon as we difcover the difeafe, we fhould hold out the remedy. Happy might it be for us, if the remedy were fo eafy to dif cover as the difeafe ; but, as nothing is foreign to the human heart, in which humanity is concerned, we muft exert the powers which God has given us ; and, as I told you in my laft, try fuch experiments as promife faireft, in hopes to find the cure at laft. Nor ought our ?l8 Advantage of the Foundling-Hofpitak our fpirits to be depreffed with foreboding fears : all things are in the hands of God, and we fee, as time travels on, what ftrange vicif- fitudes, different periods -produce. To day we are wife; to- morrow foolifh; and the next day wife again. If we confider the three kingdoms in One Icolleded view, I am perfwaded our numbers Will be found, not only diminifhed within this Century, but the fiature and beauty of the fpe cies is moft apparently injured. If thefe evils are obvious, we muft feek the remedy. It is now ahoht fifteen years fince the adive, intelligent, and benignant fpirit which, thanks to heaven, prevailed amongft many good and great perfohs, ereded a Foundling Hofpital: But as the building, fmall artd limitted' as it is, for fo noble and extenfive a defigri, could not bd ereded without a large fum, and as that depended on private beneficence, no provision was made, during more than ten years, fof above one thoufand four hundred infants, and the partial reception of a few, could anfwer no great purpdfe. At length it is become truly Advantage of the Foundling-Hofpital. ng truly a foundling-hofpital. The legiflators have taken it under their protedion * ; and, to all human appearance, it is the moft effedual method, not only to preferve the lives of thofe whofe parents are in ficknefs, or in poverty, vi cious, or devoid of the impulfes of humanity -y but it goes a great way farther, and may at length become a means of relieving us from a load, next to Egyptian bondage, under which no other nation groans. An exorbitant poor's rate, in a country abounding with hofpitals of every kind, and fkilful in the means of giving employment to almoft every perfon, from four to fourfcore, is abominable ! Diftrefs often renders men defperate ; but if the indigent parent finds relief, by his child being fupported by the public, it may * What was faid in the firft edition of this book, concerning the foundling-hofpital, was previous to the refolution of parlia ment, by which the governors and guardians were ordered to open their doors to all infants under a certain age, from June to December 1756. and for fupport of them 1 0,000/. was then granted. K animate 130 Advantage of the Foundling-Hofpital. animate him, at leaft, to take care of himfelf and his wife ; the child being provided for, the diflrefs will be fo far alleviated. I am fenfi ble the argument may be turned againft the hof- pital, but this fenfe of it is moft agreeable to common experience. The child whofe life is favcd, is hardly to be valued by any pecuniary calculation : but if he is taught to live faberly and religioufly, and to get his bread by the fweat of his brows, in the final iffue, the pre- fent expence muft revert to the public, with ample interest. Happy is that nation, the virtue and induf- try of whofe people render fuch eftablifhments unneceffary : but we muft confider things as they are : the evil was grown enormous, and the least dangerous experiment is to fupport all the children under a certain age, of parents who cannot, or being wicked will not, fupport their own offspring. This is ftriking at the root of a great part of our national diflrefs, arifing from the great mortality among the poor in London. Such mortality is but a natural confequence of ignorance and idlenefs, lewdnefs and immora lity i Advantage of the Foundling-Hofpital. 13 1 lity ; and thefe are the genuine effeds of a bad education : but fobriety, and virtuous habits, Will promote the welfare of a fiate, as well as the happinefs of individuals. The number of our working poor is decreafed, and their strength decayed, but it may be hoped, by the good condud of this hofpital we fhall, in .the courfe of time, recover again, by introducing a more virtuous race of working poor, fo that the next generation may not be in the fame ne- ceffity of depending on fuch an hofpital. As their virtue increafes, fo will their affedion for their children ; and thus it may be expeded, in time the difeafe will cure itfelf; This hofpital, if well managed, will be come a very profitable objed to the public. The boys being bred up hardy and adive, when fent early to fea, will become the completeft ma riners. Hufbandry and manufactory will thrive by means of thefe children, who might other- wife have had no exiftence.— — The girls be ing accuftomed to regularity, the ufe of their needle, and the drudgery of domeftic life, will fill up fome of the moft ufeful offices in fami- K 2 lies. 132 Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. lies. If every thing that is bad is kept from them, ana every thing that is good and proper to their condition, is fet before their eyes, fpite of the perverfenefs which reigns amongft us, We may hope to fee thefe children, fome of the moft ufeful, and therefore the moft valuable fubjeds. But there is nothing great or noble, to be done without labor and attention, candor and unanimity. We muft all be afliftant in carry ing on this great work. Let the legiflature be ever fo indulgent, and the governors and guardians ever fo generous in beftowing a greater portion of their time and folicitude, than can well be expeded, even from thofe whofe circumftances are fortunate and happy; yet the greateft objed of all, I mean the preferva tion of the lives of thefe infants, muft depend, in a great meafure on the infpectors of their nurfes. Thofe whofe humanity, generofity, and patriotifm, incline them to take the charge of infpeding fuch a number of nurfes as they think proper, and as is convenient with regard to their neighborhood, will per form Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. 133. form a very important duty. This tafk, as I obferved in my laft letter, feems more peculi arly to belong to the rich and happy, of both fexes, but particularly of yours. Nor muft they judge too fcrupukmfly what is meant by riches and happinefs : it ought to be confidered as one of the nobleft kinds of charity, in the way which nature, and nature's God has pointed out. It is a tafk worthy the moft exalted fpirit, and by no means incon- fiftent with the trueft delicacy. Whilft war is making havock among the fpecies, the female patriot, whofe natural good affedions, and fenfe of duty, render her watch ful of the prefervation of her own children, will extend her care to preferve the lives of the poor, in their infant-ftate. Thofe who have no children have ftill the stronger motives to dif- charge this duty, a duty which politically, as well as religioufiy confidered, has fo many charms to grace and adorn humanity. It is true, the remedy of thefe evils doth not depend entirely on the encouragement of nur- faries, fchools, or hofpitals ; the rich in private K 3 life 134 Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpitat. life muft be more generally watchful of the poor; the fortunate of the unfortunate; and the virtuous of thofe who, having yet retain ed a fenfe of fhame, would gladly avoid throwing themfelves on the public. The want of attention in this instance, I fear, has been the fecret caufe that many a parent has become abandoned, hardly ever to return to a fenfe of humanity ; and falling off from parental affedion, have become thoughtlefs and indifferent by what means their children were preferved, or perifhed. Every motive muft be employed, and every expedient tried. Let them be affifted with good advice, occafional charities, and above all, with the means of getting their bread by their labor, the tafk, though arduous, will be found practicable. Endevor to find them conftant employment, and they will have no time to wafte over their cups of tea, nor any inclination to poifon themfelves with gin : keep them out of idlenefs, and half the bufinefs is done. As to eftablifhing hofpitals in the feveral counties throughout the kingdom : for fhepre- fient I believe it will be moft prudent and neceffary Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. 135 neceffary to eftablifh colonies of the London hofpital, in cheap and convenient counties, and by this means fupply fuch counties, from the moft contiguous nurferies, with children of five years of age, the time propofed to take them from their nurfes, in return for the men and women which London annually draws from the feveral provinces of the kingdom. It is natural to exped that thefe children will be come virtuous hufbandmen, mechanics, manu facturers, and fervants. It is in London only we have heard of infants being murthered: in London they fuffer moft from confined air, and narrow ftreets. London is the grand ren dezvous of people of every denomination ; the feat of empire and felicity; the infernal cavern of gin, which is the chief devourer of the Bri- tifh blood, and confequently London is the chief abode of indigence and mifery. An illegal amour in a country town, or vil lage, is generally attended with a voluntary, or compulfive marriage, and the parties are indu ced to take care of their offspring, at leaft in the infant-ftate, whatever accidents may after- K 4 wards 1 3 6 Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. wards, reduce them to the wicked choice, or virtuous necefiity of throwing them on the pa- rijh. • The circumftances of London are fuch, that it is amazing, fo wife and intelligent a nation fhould have fo long negleded the eftablifhment pf a foundling-hofpital, efpecially when we confider thofe weighty reafons, derived from what we faw, with our own eyes, for fo long a courfe of years. Happy for us had it been otherwife, but now we may thank heaven, that the foundling-hofpital is an objed of the public care. The foundling-hofpital at Paris receives a- bove four thoufand infants annually. I believe London contains three eighths as many more people as Paris, though the births and burials there are near 18,000 annually; but if among the lower claffes we are yet more vicious and a- bandoned than the French ; it follows, that though in general we are not fo poor, our ne cefiity of an extenfive foundling-hofpital is greater than theirs. ' But time, as well as care, is neceffary to bring, Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. 1 3 7 bring an undertaking of fuch importance to maturity. I have already had occafion to ob ferve to you, that the life of man is eftimated at only eight years ahd a half * : I fhould have faid, that not half of mankind live' feventeen years. In London feven in ten are computed £0 die under two years of age : !but if infants are not dangeroufly difeafed from their birth, concerning the frequency of which dodofs differ in opinion, not above three in ten might die within this period, efpecially if to the difference of air, we add the undebauched af- fedions of the country nurfe, and her living in the country, more according to nature than is pradifed among the' common people in thefe great cities. Our foundling-hofpital muft be fupported by the zeal and care of proper infpectors, and I hope it will become fafhion- able for ladies, as well as gentlemen, to think it more deferving of praife, from their drooping country, ' to fiave a life; than to fhine in a fplendid garment. I hope we fhall be able to rear to the age of thirty at leaft, one with * Vol. I. Letter XXXIX. 1 3 8 Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. with another, one thoufand out of four, per haps a greater proportion, and that the public will have more years of fervice from them, than any computation of the expence can amount to. By what I have faid concerning the obferva- tions of calculators, I may add, that of four thoufand born, only fix hundred and forty are computed to be alive at the end of thirty fix years. Much depends on virtue and common. fenfe ! Would to God thefe were more common amongft us, that we might give living proof that nature never intended fo noble a part of her productions fhould laft fo little a while, but ra ther that the life of every human creature is not limited to lefs than 80 or 100 years. To con fider things as they are, even upon the eftimate of conduding to manhood fix hundred and forty, out of four thoufand deferted children, what a vaft acquifition of strength it will be to fhe fiate, compared with the mortality of one hundred and fixty three, out of one hundred and feventy four, within the age of two months : or that great workhoufa devafiation, in Advantage of the Foundling-Hofpital. 139 in v/hich hardly ten in one thoufand have lived to the age of fifteen 1 As a fupplement to what I mentioned about feeding infants with milk from the breaft, or with animal food, I muft add, that as mixtures of foods often lay the foun dations of diflfolution among adults, it muft needs do the fame with tender infants, and frequently occafion immediate death. And though necefftty may fometimes plead for artificial nutriment when children fuck, or for breaft milk when fed by hand, yet if we could confine them to one kind of nutriment, and carefully chufe the proper fpecies of fuch kind, efpecially in the firft weeks of life, numbers would be preferved who now fall vidims. The necessity arifing from our departing from nature, joined to inattention to the quantities and qua lities of food, given to infants, muft de- ftroy them by thoufands. The quality of womens milk alfo, under par ticular circumftances, deftroys as certainly as arfenic, therefore care fhould be taken, by ex perienced 140 Advantage of the Foundling- Hofpital. perienced matrons, to tafte and examine the milk of ftrange nurfes. And as to pap, a monofyllable of great im port, but not enough regarded ; upon examina tion I find as great difference in the materials, the mixing, the time of boiling, and manner of feeding children, as there can be in any nu triment prepared by the various kinds of cook ery, which luxury has introduced among grown perfons. There is not a falfer, or more - vulgar notion, than that every nurfe underfiands making of pap: if we confider upon what tender firings the life of an infant depends, may not millions perifh for want of method in this infiance, though few ftatefmen, philofo- phers, or divines, ever lofe a fingle thought about it. I am informed of an intelligent good woman, who has brought up thirty, out of thirty fix children, by hand, who lived to man hood. And you hear of others who buried one hundred and fixty three, out of one hundred and feventy four, within the age of two months. Do you imagine the nurfes were equally flail ed in making pap ? Were they equally fkilled in Advantage of the Foundling. Hofpital. 14! \n the great fcience of faving lives ? There is now a very able gentleman of the faculty, who is thinking of the art of nurfing ; and another, of the extraordinary caufes of mortality : we may foon fee what new lights they will throw on their fubjeds. We may exped assist ance from them, and if they do not fhew too much reverence for the apothecary's fhop, have great reafon to thank them for their la bors. It is a clear point to me, that certain rules ought to be prefcribed, and, as far as they can be obferved, with regard to the qualities of different kinds of bread, bifcuit, milk or water, fuch rules fhould be efiablifhed, efpecially for the government of nurfes to whom foundlings are intrufted, that nothing be wanting to pre ferve their lives. Farewel, LET- £42 Further thoughts on Tea and Gin LETTER XlVr To the fiamsi ' Madam, THOUGH tea and gin have fpread their baneful influence over this ifland, and his majefty's other dominions, yet you may be well affured, that the governors of the foundling-hofpital will exert their utmoft fkill and vigilance, to prevent the children under theit care from being poifoned, or enervated by one or the other. This, however, is not the cafe of workhoufes : it is well known, to the fhame of thofe who are charged with the care of them, that gin has been too often per mitted to enter their gates; and the debauched appetites of the people who inhabit thefe houfes, has been urged as a reafon for it. Defperate difeafes require defperate reme dies : if laws are rigidly executed againft mur- as hurtful to fociety. 143 murderers in the highway, thofe who provide a draught of gin, which we fee is murderous, ought not to be countenanced. I am now in formed, that in certain hofpitals, where the number of the fick ufed to be about 5600 in 14 years, From 1704, to 171 8, they increafed to 8189. From 1718, to 1734, ftill augmented to 12710. And from J734> to 1749, multiplied to 38147. What a dreadful fpectre does this exhibit ! Nor muft we wonder when fatisfadory evi dence was given before the great council of the nation, that near eight millions of gallons of diftilled fpirits, at the standard it is commonly reduced to for drinking, was actually confumed annually in drams ! The fhocking difference in the numbers of the fick, and we may prefume of the dead alfo, was fuppofed to keep pace with gin : and the moft ingenious and unpre judiced phyficians afcribed it to this caufe. What is to be done under thefe melancholly circumftances ? Shall we ftill countenance the difiillery, for the fake of the revenue ; out of ten- I44 Further thoughts on Te a and Gin, ^tendernefs to the few who will fuffer by its being abolifhed ; for fear of the madnefs of the people } or that foreigners will run it in upon us ? There can be no evil fo great as that we nOw fuffer, except the making the fame con fumption, and paying for it to foreigners in money, which I hope never will be the cafe. As to the revenue, it certainly may be re placed by taxes upon the neceffaries of life, even upon the bread we eat, or in other words, upon the land, which is the great fource of fupply to the public, and to individuals. Nor can I perfwade myfelf, but that the people may be weaned from the habit of poifoning them felves. The difficulty of fmugling a bulky li quid, joined to the feverity which ought to be exercifed towards fmuglers, whofe illegal com merce is of fo infernala nature, muft, in time, produce the effed desired i Spirituous liquors being abolifhed, inftead of having the moft undifciplined and abandoned poor, we might foon boaft a race of men, temperate, religious, and induftrious, even to a proverb. We fhould foon fee the ponderous burthen of the poors-rate decreafe, m hurtful to fociety. \\t £ likes? We may fuppofe fhe likes what fhe drinks, or her infatuation is great indeed ! The truth Advantages and difadvantages of Tea, igy tr,uth is, cufiom makes the law, and folly en forces obedience to it. All refinements are dangerous : Common fenfe, and every common rule and principle of trade teach us, that the confumption of an article which is unneceffary, injurious to health, hurtful to profitable industry, expenfive to individuals, advantagious to our rivals in trade, and producing nothing to ourfelves, but the change of property from the fubjed to the ftate, and back again, wafting the riches of both, muft be injurious to fubjed and ftate j therefore I apprehend tea is very injurious to us. Adieu. I am yours, &e. LETTER XIX. To the fame. Madam, IF we compare our condud with that of other nations, we fhall fee that no people upon the face of the whole earth, are guilty of O 3i fo 19B A general view of Tea. fo great an abfurdity in commerce. We fhall be fenfible that the wifeft nation may become foolifh ; the moft valiant, effeminate ; and merchants, from being " the honorable of the u earth," may, in compliance with bad cuf toms, become the instruments of great mif chief to their country. We who have the moft extenfive notions of commerce, and have moft enlarged the fyftem of it, ought to fee this truth in the cleareft light. The French axe contented to be ferved with tea in China, after us, and feldona bring home fuch good tea ; but then they pay but little for it ; and of this little, a lefs portion of fil ver is employed. But they fell at home to a greater amount in tea, than they export to China, for this commodity, either in filver, or merchandize, therefore, inftead of lofing, they are gainers by the China trade. The Dutch purchafe the greateft part of the tea they bring home, with their fpices, pepper, and fome European goods : the Chinefe alfo bring great quantities of tea to Batavia, where they take thefe commodities And though the United A general view of Tea." 199 United Provinces confume as much, or more, of this article, in proportion to their number of inhabitants, than we do ; for the reafon above mentioned, they are in better circumftances than even the French, with regard to their felling at home, to a much greater amount than they export to China for the purchafe of it.The Danes, Swedes, and Pruffians, carry out filver as well as merchandize, but they al fo buy the inferior tea : they are contented with fmall profits, but they fell at home a much greater value than they confume, and confequently thefe nations are fupplied with tea, gain on their cargoes, fupport their compa nies, and breed up feamen at other people's coft, and particularly at the coft of the Englifh. Sweden is not lavifh of her gold and filver ; a fumptuary law in that country forbids the ufe of thefe metals in clothes, and confequent ly fhe chufes even to check the increafe of fome of her manufadures, rather than drain off the little treafure fhe is miftrefs of. O 4 We 2oo A general view of Tea. We cannot arraign our rulers for our con dud in refped to tea ; they do not encourage ¦ drinking it, much lefs the fmuggling of it ; nor does the Eaft-India company ufe any arts to countenance this cuftom. It is the effed of our own folly ; it is the prevalency of ex ample, for which you and many other fine ladies are anfwerable to the public. And how will you anfwer it ? — For heaven's fake re frain from this enormous abufe : rule your- felves, and your own families : exert the power which God and the laws have given you : be the friends of your country ; and re- ftore u,s to fafety, wealth, and honor. It is generally apprehended, that India and China are fuch gainers on their trade with Eu rope, that they draw away, by fenfible degrees, all the gold and filver which are not confumed, or retained in utenfils, in this quarter of the globe. Be this as it may, the nation which confumes moft of Indian or Chinefe produce, or manufadures, contributes moft to the general balance in favor of thefe countries ; and the lefs intrinfically valuable, and the more coftly the : A general view of Tea. 201 the article confumed is, the greater dupe is the nation which confumes it ; and confe- quently, we who confume fo much tea, are the greateft dupes of all the nations in Europe. Had we virtue or wit, enough to abftain, from tea for a fhort time, were it only to try the experiment, we fhould find that very little would be brought into Europe; and inftead of an ounce of filver for five or fix pounds of tea, the Chinefe would be glad to accept of five fhillings value in our woollen cloth, in ex change for half a hundred weight of this com modity. With regard to the conduct and fafhion of the reft of mankind, in refped to tea ; or the ufe of infufions which anfwer the fame pur pofe ; as far as my knowledge goes, I will in- . . form you. The French drink coffee in abundance, which they purchafe in Turky in exchange for cloth : of late years they drink tea, among the better fort of people, and it feems to in creafe ; but the whole is not a fifth part of what 202 A general view of Tea. what they have annually brought home for fome years paft. The United Provinces confume more than a third part of what they bring home, viz. near a million of pounds weight. During the Ofiend China trade, the Flanderkins confumed a confiderable quantity of tea ; but the pre fent poverty of the inhabitants of that coun try, diverts them from this expenfive cuftom. The Germans drink tea, but nothing to be compared with us, coffee being more in ufe, and they pay for it chiefly with linen manu fadures, and other native produds. Did you ever hear that the filver mines of Hanover, or thofe of Saxony, were exhaufted for the fake of tea? The Hamburgbers are great fugar-bakers, and many of them rich and luxurious ; they confume tea in confiderable quantities, for a city which contains only 118,000 inhabi tants. On the contrary, we find where fugar is dear and fcarce, there tea will be drank very fparingly. The A general view of Tea. 203 The Ruffians are chiefly fupplied with tea by their carravans from Pekin in exchange for their furs : formerly it was of a very choice quality, but not fo at prefent. What little is brought to them by fea, they buy of the Danes, and pay for it in hemp, iron, and fuch like. The Poles, I believe, drink ftill lefs tea than the Ruffians. I am told, in Italy tea is very little ufed. The Spaniards drink coffee and chocolate, the cocoa coming from their own dominions in America. The Portuguefe alfo have both coffee and cocoa, from their own territories in Maran- hao, and ufe very little tea. They import fome from Macao, their fettlement in the rii- ver of Canton, but it is confumed chiefly by the Englifh, and other foreigners in Lifbon ; and though gold is well known to be their na tural produce, yet they are far from fquan- dering it away, on fuch articles as tea ; on the contrary, they, as well as the Swedes, have a fumptuary 2Q4 A general view of Tea^ fumptuary law prohibiting the ufe of it in ap parel. If we go into Afia, or amongft the Mahom- tnedans of Europe, we fhall find the Turks fip ping their coffee; but it is produced within their own dominions. The Perfians drink coffee in fmall quanti ties, which they alfo receive from Moca, and pay for it in their manufadures. They drink no tea, but they have their fherbets, fweet waters, acids, infufions of cinnamon, and fuch like, which they ufe as an entertainment, not as we do tea, at ftated hours, and all kinds of people without diftindion. They pay the Dutch for the cinnamon partly in the filver which they receive for their raw filk fold to the Turks, or acquired by their commerce with fhelndians; but I believe much the greateft fhare is exchanged for their drugs and manufadures. The Indians drink tea, but not fo generally as we do, and they pay the Chinefe for it in pepper, tin, fandell wood, and fuch like. I never heard that, the Africans are debauch* ed with tea. In A general view of TeA. 205 In the new world, I dare fay to one pound 6f tea which all the other nations confume, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, the Britifh fubjeds confume twenty, and a great part of it is conveyed thither by that prohibited fla gitious commerce of going diredly from foreign ports with foreign commodities to his majesty's North American dominions. Thus you fee how we lay the burthen of en riching China, from whofe friend fhip or alli ance we can exped no kind of fuccour in time Of danger, upon our own fhoulders, and make ourfelves the dupes of our own folly ! With regard to our immenfe confumption of tea in general, we have been lately told, that France alone, has run on the coafts of Kent v and Suffix, 400 tons, making 896,000 pounds weight : but this is fo much exaggerated, one Would imagine it was thrown out with no ho- neft pUrpofe. What the real quantity has been, I do not pretend to afcertain ; but from the beft intelligence I can procure, and from what I fee of the immenfe confumption, I make no doubt, that from France, the United Pro- 206 A general view of Tea. Provinces, Denmark, Sweden, and Pruffia, brought in by fmuggling veffels, and veffels which finuggle, there has not been a lefs quan tity run in upon us from the Orkneys to the land's-end, than two millions of pounds annu ally ; and upon this I have made my calculati on ; tho' in time of war I imagine it muft be a great deal lefs, and therefore more than three millions muft be imported by ourfelves. War is a great interruption to fmugglers: ' the chief fcene of their operations is now re moved to Devon/hire and Cornwall, thefe counties being moft convenient for that neft — the Jfie of Man. You have heard, I fuppofe, that the revenue of that ifland is computed at yoool. adually paid Co the proprietor, con- fifting partly of 5 per cent, on the value of piece-goods, which are moftly Indian, and one penny on a pound of tea. Foreign fhips of confiderable burthen carry the goods thither, whence they are exported in fmuggling cut ters, of which there are near one hundred and fifty, belonging chiefly to the French. One may fee forty of thefe, at a time, in the har bor A general view of Tea. 207 bor of Douglas, in the evening, and by next morning they are loaded and gone to the coaft of England. They chufe dark nights for thefe dark purpofes, and carry on an immenfe traffic. When will fuch proceedings be punifhed with feverity, and the rod of human juftice intimidate, where the fear of divine vengeance cannot ! As to the Tea which is exported from Lon don, and fmuggled in upon us for the fake of the draw-back, I never heard it efteemed a great objed ; Fine teas will not bear being thus expofed; and coarfe is bought cheapeft in France, and other European markets. With regard to Ireland, I have heard it -roundly afferted, that no lefs a quantity than 1 ,300,000 pounds are expended in that ifland ; but confidering that Dublin, Cork, and King- fale, and particularly the firft, make the chief confumption, I cannot conceive there is above 6 or 700,000 pounds weight imported into that kingdom ; of which about one-fixth part only, being of the beft fort of tea, is fent from L ondon. If zoS A general view ofTiA. If to Great-Britain and Ireland, we add his Majefty's American dominions, I apprehend that all the European nations who trade to China, have of late years loaded us with near as much as we bring from thence, viz. three millions of pounds weight, and if fo we are at one-fixth part greater expence on account of lea than I have calculated upon. This is not incredible, if we confider how much tea is drank, and by how many channels it comes in, through the courfe of the whole year. Think what a glorious way we are in, if we go on at the fame rate ! Nor are we lefs diftinguifhed among the na tions of the earth for the extravagant ufe of fpirituous liquors, on which I have given you my thoughts in different parts of thefe pages. Thecomparifon, in general, aftonifhes the more, becaufe we apprehend no nation is more en- lighten'd with regafd to moral or political good and evil. • The wOrft part of mankind who improve their reafon leaft; who indulge their appetites moft j and not being pleafed with their own fober A general view of Tea-. 209 fiber reflexions, are much given to liquors which intoxicate. No divine or human laws restrains the drunkard; the joy he feels in his fpirits being exhilirated, or himfelf put on a level with the brute creation, is not to be re- fifted. We find the Turks have their opium j the Tartars their cuma or fermented mares milk, even the Hottentots make themfelves drunk. The fouthern nations of Europe have wine, and the northern alas have corn fpirits I whilft the Americans destroy themfelves with rum, little lefs pernicious than corn fpirits, But we have our beer which may be confider'd as a fermented liquor, but it is proper to our climate, and the conftitution of the people, very nourifhing^ and if they pleafe to drink it ftrong, intoxicating. It will not make them mad , nor defperate, and they may have the pleafure of being as fiupid and irrational as their fouls can wifh. So that taking mankind in their own way, a fkilful politician, in this coun try who would turn the current of this deftruc- tive habit of drinking diftill'd fpirituous liquor, P need 2 io Ballance of trade with France. need only to make it criminal to fell any. Farewel. I am yours, &c. LETTER XX. To the fame. Madam, SINCE we are engaged upon fo interefting a fubjed, it feems neceffary to make fome enquiries with regard to our commerce with France ; for the more the ballance is prefumed to be againft us, the more deftrudive is the ar ticle of tea which they run in upon us. I beg leave to afk thofe who entertain the fond opi nion, that the ballance of our trade with France is in our favor, or very little againft us, a few fimple queftions, viz. i ft. Whether fuppofing value for value equal, either in our legal or illegal commerce with France, if fuch commodities as lead, tin, and raw wool are not of real ufe, and eflentially beneficial and necefiary to the French ? 2d. Balance of trade with France. 2 1 1 2d. What is the intrinsic value of tea, bran- ay, and cambrics, with regard to our confump tion ? 3d. If we had the virtue to refrain from ta king fuch commodities of the French, whether they would not be obliged to pay us in gold and filver for the three articles juft mentioned, fuppofing they would obtain great quantities of our wool alfo by the beft means they could ? 4th. If large fums of our money in gold are not tranfported to France ? If they can trace out if fuch money returns in the fame quantities ? 5th. Tho' it is faid the French melt down a great part of our coin, whether there are not more guineas in France, than lous d'ors in England ? 6th. As many who are, and many who are not fine ladies, have knowingly and willingly worn French cambrics, notwithftanding they are forbidden by law ; I demand, if you can not diftinguifh French cambrics and lawns from others, as they are fo nearly like our own ma nufadures, if it would not be much to your honor, and the advantage of your country, to P 2 decline 2" 1 2 Ballance of trade with Fr ance. decline the ufe of all manufadures which i& femble thofe of French Flanders? If what I was told in Cambray, two years fince, be yet trUe, the confumption of cam brics in England is as great as ever; and irt I740 to 1743, we imported annually 67,416 pieces, worth about 2 /. each. I am fenfible, that unlefs individuals will endevor to diftin guifh, or totally refrain from the ufe of thefe manufadures, nothing cart prevent their being run in upon us. But if we could eftablifh a fafhion to decline entirely fhe ufe of them, our looms would be employed in making linen, and we fhould fave vaft fums, which we pay to foreigners, for both linens and cambrics. But here I take the liberty to remark, that we muft not amufe ourfelves with fond expedati- ons that the Germans will take great quantities of woollen manufadures of us, unlefs we take a confiderable quantity of linens of them. 7th. If French cambrics, and lawns, with lace, and occafionally rich fluffs, trinkets, and all other manufadures, amounts to 200,000/. as generally computed at the loweft eftimation, is Ballance of trade with France. 213 is not this fum near equal to the amount of all the manufadured goods which France takes of us, one year with another, India goods not excepted, granting that thefe laft have fome times amounted to great fums ? If the negative of this laft queftion could be proved, the general propofition might ftill be fupported. I have ever confidered it as a mif- fortune to this nation, that no clear and well- attefted account of our commerce with France is made out, fo great a part of it confifts in ar ticles which are contraband. In the legal way of trade, France takes of us muflins and other India goods, coals, tobacco, and horfes, together with the lead, and tin juft mentioned : and the five laft are conftant arti cles, which they can hardly do without. We take of the French in a legal way, only wine and indigo ; for the laft of which, as we are at length attentive to the produce of Caroli na, we fhall fave 100,000/. that we have an nually paid to France. With regard to illegal articles of commerce, the French take confiderable quantities of our P 3 ufeful 2 1 4 Ballance of trade with France. ufeful and rich manufadures of filk, printed callicoes, and Birmingham ware, but not near to fuch amount as fome reprefent ; against all thefe their laws are extremely fevere. If the advantage in manufactures, or in legal commerce, are really on our fide, it will not compenfatefor tea, it cannot be an equivalent for brandy; nor will it counterbalance the injuries we fuffer by the raw and comb'd wool they fteal from us. Here I muft inform you that the fmugglers who are concerned in this commerce, rob this nation to the quantity, according to fome accounts, of fix to eight hundred packs annually, the value of which, if we confider France as our rival in woollen manufadures, is very great. It is hard to fay, if the wool we fell to France, or the tea we buy of her, is moft pernicious to us. What indignation muft it raife in the breaft of thofe who have any feiafe of the love of their country, when they confi der what advantages we Wantonly give to France in one fhape or other ! We ought to blufh at our want of fkill in not finding more effectual means to prevent it; or rather at our want of probity Ballance of trade with France. 21 £ probity in carrying on fuch ruinous trades, up on a prefumption that we fhall never feel any bad confequences from fuch a condud, or re- gardlefs what fuch confequences may be. Thus we enable France to extend her com merce; to breed up feamen ; to build fhips of war ; to fupport the credit of her India compa ny, and perhaps to involve us foon in a very dangerous and expenfive war. Thus we put a two-edged fword into her hand; and improvi dence has not more mercy Tor us, than we have for ourfelves, I am perfuaded fhe will give us a blow, which we fhall repent in fackcloth and afhes. I know the French have large re- fources independent of us; but the greater thefe are, the more dangerous is our illicit commerce with them, efpecially as they make 40,000 /. go as far in land forces, as we do 100,000 /. Let them enjoy the advantages which nature has given them ; but they could not benefit fo much by their cambrics if we did not wear them j nor could they carry on a trade to China above a fhip or two, if we did not buy the tea they bring home. 'Tis not P 4 long 216 Ballance of trade with France.^ long fince the French had but two China fhips; and 'tis time we fhould endevor to reduce them to two again. We have been lately told that the French will fend no fhips this year to Canton : but who will believe it is that they are not able to fell their tea to us ; or that it coft too dear in China, ai they pretend? I rather apprehend, thzt h) dace means to colled all her marifue force with a view to fupport toe war suainft thefe kingdoms with the utmoft vigor. If we confider that the French Qhinq trade contributes little or no thing to the royal revenues ; and that the tea fhe exports pays hardly any thing, whilft ours pays at least three hundred and fifty thoufand pounds to the government, will not France always un der-fell us, in a degree not to be resisted by fmugglers ? May not this be confidered as a fa vourable opportunity, if we had a mind to try a bold and generous ftroke in politics, and fol low the example of the French. Were we to fend no fhips to China, but convert them into fhips qf war, to proted the trade to India \ Certain Ballance of trade with France." 217 Certain it is, we muft keep a good look out, or they will get to windward of us, and en gage us with more advantages on their fide than we can poffibly gain by tea. The bene fits which France derives from fuch meafures^ as we purfue, will protract the war, and ren der it infupportably expenfive to us ; whilft the iffue of it will be the more precarious. But were we to follow her example, at the fame time that we curbed the exceffive ufe of tea at home ; we might curb her infolence alfo. And though the price of this commodity fhould, by this means, be run up in favor of the Eaft- India company, I can fee no injury in this, but great good to the community. If our fhips of war now on the feas, with fome ad ditional floops, well ftationed, can prevent fmuggling from prance, Sweden, Denmark, Pruffta, and Holland, we might do our bufi nefs completely ; but thefe propofitions require more virtue than I fear we are masters of at prefent, and fo far you may fet it down as merely Jpeculative, and that we muft wait for better times. l As 2 1 8 Ballance of trade with France'. As to our trade with' France legal and contra band, I am perfuaded the whole ballance is at leaft 200,000 /. I muft repeat to you, that an eminent banker in Paris affured me, that it was not lefs than 300,000 /. which the Englifio fpend annually in France, in time of peace ; I fuppofe he fhould haVe added Italy alfo : but granting it to be half fo much, or that the whole ballance is not above 2 or 300,000 /. r this is fuch a fum in favor of France, if fhe had not greater mifchiefs in agitation, fhe might be glad to evade war with us for fome years to come, on this very account : and if we, like Sampfon, fuffer our lock to be cut off, we muft be vanquifhed in the iffue. Our iniquities, in flying in the face of our laws by fmuggling, is become our punifhment in a double capacity ; firft, as it fd far impoverishes and difqualifies us for war : and next, as it makes fo dreadful a calamity as war neceffary, in order to check the power of France, and repair the injuries we have fuffer- ed in fo dangerous. and hurtful a commerce. Now, Ballance of trade with Fr an c e . 219 Nov/, Madam, as I am upon the fubjed, I beg leave to add tw'o remarks, which I think of great moment : the firft is, that thofe who buy fmuggled goods, knowing them to be fuch, are, with regard to the injury they do their country, fmugglers. The fecond, that I have been acquainted with many perfons of condition, of both fexes, whofe honor I had not the leaft reafon to call in question, in other refpeds, who have been arrant fmugglers. As patriots they wifhed the laws might take their courfe ; and, as far as humanity admits, they would look on with pleafure, to fee fome kinds of fmugglers hanged ; and yet thefe very people, without the leaft remorfe, would rob the pub lic, when the occafion offered, of duties on things for their private ufe, as if they might do it with a good confcience, under the condi tion of lofing the objed, if furprized in the fad : not confidering it, in the least, as a vio lation of laws, or fcandalous in its own nature. With refped to fmugglers who live by the trade, what are fuch perfons more or lefs, than what pickpockets, who rob occafionally, are to 220 Ballance of trade with France. to thieves who plunder houfes. The compari- fon is grofs ; but, upon my word, I can think of none fo well adapted : the one is a kind of petty larceny, the other, felony. If you fhould be ever tempted to trefpafs in this kind of rob bery, and to injure your country by fo bad an example, remember what I now tell you. At d\eu. I am yours, &c. PART Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. 221 PART IV. Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea* Taxes in lieu of Tea. Great expence, and a lofing trade, equally deftruttive. Induftry, and moderation in expence indifpenfably necef fary. LETTER XXL To Mrs. 0 ***** *. Madam, BY this time I apprehend you begin to think, that tea is not an indifferent thing, and that poflibly it may do us fome mifchief I am 222 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. I am very fenfible of the great difficulty of changing a cuftom, than which none of the fame nature was ever more univerfal, or fup ported with a blinder, or more fuperftitious reverence. If I durft tell you all my thoughts, I would abolifh the custom of fipping ; I Would have no liquids ufed hotter than they could be drank, in fmall quantities, without the leaft pain ; and they fhould always be drank, except when they were eaten as foop mixed with bread, or other confiftency. But it is not for this fipping fafhion only, we are alfo ridiculed by other nations, for eating butter conftantly every morning of our lives, alledg- ing, that we injure our digeftions by this means, as well as by fipping tea. Butter, which is faid to be filver in the morning, and lead at night, I believe is beft at breakfafi, but by no means a proper nutriment for people of weak digefiions : it is apt to turn rancid, and create crudities. I have great reafon to believe that many con ftitutions, fome that are, and fome that are not extremely delicate, fuffer very much by our butter breakfafis : fuch repafts may be not on- Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. 2.2 3 ly agreeable, but falutary taken as a change of diet, but not proper for a conftant aliment. Many who complain of indigeftions, and want of appetite at dinner, were they to leave off butter, and ufe almoft any infufion, rather than tea ; by leaving nature to do her own bufinefs, would promote their health better than the fkill of the acuteft phyfician can effed it, whilft they ufe fuch an improper diet. To confider mankind as they are, it feems more probable that we fhall corred the; abufe I complain of, by gentle degrees, than by any vigorous effort. Suppofe we ftill retain our por celain cups, and our fipping : I will leave you this indulgence, but it does not therefore follow, that we muft continue the ufe of tea. If you make it a condition of your reforming this a- bufe, I will ftudy botany, or turn gardener, and if I do not difcover herbs in our own country, more healthy in quality, more delicious to an undebauched tafie, than the choiceft tea, let me fuffer as an impofior ; brand my name to all posterity, as an enemy to my country ! Let me ferioufly recommend to you 224 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. you to exert yourfelf, and make experiments, on the virtues and flavors of our own herbs, the various ufes of milk, and in how many fhapes barley and oats" axe prepared as excel lent food. With regard to the manner of preparing herbs for the ufe of the whole year, you muft gather them in their moft perfed ftate; ob ferving fome of the rules which the Chinefe pradife with their tea : they fhould be cut when the flowers are budding, and immediate ly after the morning dew is dried away : if herbs have any great degree of moisture in them not proper to their nature, they will not dry kindly j and if the fun ads upon them intenfely, their fubtler virtues will be loft. As to drying of herbs, authors differ about the method ; fome are for the fun, others for the fioade. But I think, if they are parched they will lofe their fiavor, and crumble into dufi; they are not tough like hay, and will not bear an intenfe heat. We are told that tea is cured by fire ; but this leaf is greatly inferior in virtue and fubtil qualities to many of our own herbs. Some Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. 22$ Some of the learned pretend, that if betony is gathered when juft going to flower, it has the tafte of tea, and all the good qualities of it, without the bad Ones ; moreover, that it cures inveterate head-achs. You have often heard of the great virtues of ground- ivy : the infufion of it is agreeable, efpecially if you add to it a drop or two of le mon juice. They fay, that the habitual ufe of this herb, will cure the moft obftinate con fumption : it certainly is a good pedoral, and when green is fragrant : if mixed with a few flowers of lavender, it makes a moft agree able liquor for fummer's ufe. And if gather ed at a proper time, has an agreeable tafte to many, but wholefome to all, even when dry. Balm, and lemon balm, alone, or with fage, is much recommended ; with a few flowers of lavender it has alfo a delicious fla vor and tafte, though it is moft agreeable whilft it is green. I know fome who drink lavender infufed^' and commend it highly, provided it be not? made too ftrong. It may be agreeable and Q^ whole-r 226 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. wholefome, and anfwer better to fome confti tutions than the ufe of wine. The infufion of the frefh tops of thyme, particularly the wild thyme, is reputed good in afthmas, diforders of the lungs, and nervous complaints: I apprehend it might, with fome advantageous mixture, be rendered agreeable to the palate, which depends very much on habit. Mint, of which there are feveral kinds, and of which ftomachic diftillations are made, one would imagine might be alfo improved into an agreeable infufion, though not with out the affiftance of fome mixture. The flowery tops of rofemary axe very choice : a very fmall quantity gives a flavor ; it is as dear as fine tea, but it goes three times as far : the infufion of it is agreeable, and it is faid to cure head-achs and nervous diforders. From this Hungary water is difiilled. But thefe tops mixed with lavender, is one of the moft pleafing infufions imaginable. The Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Te a. ZZ'J The infufion of common rofemary warms and cheers the fpirits ; it is reckoned the prin cipal aromatic of this climate. Penny-royal and lavender make a pleafant infufion, and, I apprehend, is wholefome. Horehound is not agreeable to the tafte, but it is recommended by many, as a moft admi rable infufion for low-fpiritednefs, and all the diforders attending it. The flower of trefoil is alfo in efteem with fome people. It is grateful ; and, if we may judge from its effeds on animals, it is very nourifhing and wholefome. If forrel can be dried, and communicate its acid by infufion, I imagine it might be ufed very advantageoufiy for health, and with no lefs delight to the palate. The fragrant angelica is as delicious in tafte, as fonorous in name : it is efteemed a counter- poifon : one would imagine a mixture of it, properly prepared, was it only in the ordinary manner of being candied, might adminifter to the compofition of a moft agreeable infu- Q^2 fion, W®IWm WWSw- 'apple. YMMfthe peach-tree make 228 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Te A. fion, as .'in'$SBft8! ^^ysiSs^ilie odors of tea as-a„jte&&": s I atfrM an infufion of an admirable flavor, and that it is wholefome. Upon the fame principle the leaves of feme kind of apple-trees might be tried, and I make no doubt that we fhould ex cel China in many other leaves of trees, or fhrubs, if they were properly cultivated, and their virtues made known. As to fiage there are feveral forts, viz. the -red (age,* the -Wood fage, and fiage of virtue. You know it has been, if it is not ftill, in high -reputation even in China. Sage was held in ¦fucli. esteem anlong the antients, that they ¦have'^miW^S^. :fatifr!!!*%|fe, which /fignifies, tc Why fhould a man die, "W'hilfiJoe has fiage in 11 his garden?", It is reckoned admirable as a cordial, and to fweeten and cleanfe the blood : it is good in nervous cafes, and is given in fe vers with a view to promote perforation. With the addition of a little lemon juice, it is alfo very grateful and cooling. Some chufe to take it dry, alledging, that the furfaceof the leaves Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea, 229 leaves of green fage abound with animalcule, which are very visible through a microfcope, and fo they are in many things of our com mon food ; but we may be affured, in this cafe," fMfi the hot Water'dqftroys theim . . Sage, in general, i|;recornmended ; fome think that fage of virtue" is* inferior to another kind of -l&gey^cal led •balfamic fage,' which is faid to be moft fovereign in many cafes, and grateful to the palate. A fprig of this laft, nourifhed with virgin earth, (without dung, which fhould never be ufed for fine herbs) will foon produce abundance. Whether it was this, or fage of virtue, or any other kind, which the antients held in fuch high efteem, I am not acquainted. But this is clear, that fage in general, balm, ground-ivy, rofamary- fiowers, and many others, may be rendered grateful, and are to be preferred to tea on every account. In fhort, every one might fearch for that which is moft pleafingto themfelves, ob- fer ving, at "the ' fame l^iBfethat whilft they confult the palate, tor'dd;7T&^rlfrm" to their health; but on the contrary ufe that which QL3 « 230 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea'. is proper for their refpedive complaints, or different conftitutions, a circumstance which It is impossible ever can be obferved by fhege- neral ufe of tea. Various are the herbs, of which the fkilful botanifi can beft inform you, taken as pecto rals, or to warm, or cool the body, fimple or compounded : it is indubitable that we have many which make very wholefome liquors, fuch as the phyfician is not able to difpute their .good qualities ; and amidft fuch variety of in- fufions, we might be allowed to drink fome for pleafure, as far as nature allows of fuch pleafure, and for health alfo. This would de- ftroy all temptation to adhere to tea withTuch an abfiurd, and vicious confiancy, as I fear will ruin us in the iffue. And fince fugar is a produd of our own., and none of our own herbs, more than tea, I apprehend will be very palatable without it, I do not exped that any infufion of fuch herbs will be ufed without it. This I fay, not only becaufe it is my opinion, but that I do not mean to attempt any thing which ought to be deem ed Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. 23 1 ed romantic, from the difficulty of carrying the defifm into execution. I think it neceffary to obferve to you, that the infufion of green herbs is moft flatulent, as the fame herbs, when dry, have moft falts, and confequently require the lefs fugar. You are alfo to take particular notice, that as the fineft flavor of tea is that which is drawn off firft, and very foon after the water is poured on it j in our ov/n herbs it holds yet more, as they are higher and more fragrant. Would you therefore do juftice to the fuperior flavor and tafte, as well as rare medicinal quali ties of fuch herbs, you muft not only make the infufion of them weak, but pour it off fooner, and not let it ftand. I have already given you my thoughts on the dangerous effeds of an uninterrupted habit of fipping warm liquids, and of taking more li quids than nature requires. I fuppofe the com- parifon wUl hold, in fome degree, between a human body and the firings of a fiddle ; the cat-gut, when wet, lofes its vibration. Let the injury which is done by warm liquids be Q^4 what 232 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Te aI what it may, we are fure that the aromatic qua lities of our own herbs, in fome degree cor red the debilitating powers of fuch liquids, and confequently render the infufions in queftion much lefs dangerous than tea. To encourage your refearches with regard to our own herbs, let it be remembered, that the fkilful grocer mixes various kinds of tea, and makes his fortune by pleafing your palates 3 why fhould not you make experiments, and mix fome of our own herbs, for the good of your country, unpatented and without reward ? If you try, beyond all doubt, you will make fome very ufeful difcoyeries : and I moft fe rioufly and earneftly entreat that you will enter into the merits of this important cafe. I was once let into a fecret, which I have now the liberty of divulging, that by the help of fome of the fineft cowflips, fuch a flavor was given to tea, as enraptured the fenfes of all the fineft ladies in town. We know that a liquor called cowflip wine is made of this flower, which is agreeable in tafte, and a ftrong foporific : a fmall quantity of cowflip flowers, Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. 233 flowers, with fome well-chofen herbs of our own growth, might, I apprehend, make a de licious liquor. A certain fpecies of tea, which was brought from Pekin, by the Ruffian carra- va'ns, of which hardly any is to be procured now, was in the higheft esteem ; but I never could difcover any excellence it pofleffed above other tea, except that of the cowflip flavor. But our grocers have alfo other methods : there are fome kinds of ejfences which give a very high flavor to every thing it comes near, and therefore fome grocers have fucceeded fo much better than others : might not the fame effences be ufed with our herbs ? For the reafons affigned in my letter on the growth of tea, you may eafily conclude how very much fome kinds of tea excel others. Though I am no friend to a luxurious fuper- fluity, yet in hopes to abolifh the ufe of tea, would it not be proper to prefent glaffes of fu gar' 'd 'water, or milk and water, and fuch like re- frefhments, which can be procured without going fo far as China: for my own part, I like to fip thefe rather than tea : and I find my fpeech 234 Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea." fpeech is as voluble, and my ideas flow as brifk, by the force of a cold liquor, as by a hot one : if you differ with me in opinion, and infift that it muft be hot, efpecially in the win ter feafon, you are to difcover the infufions you like beft ; fome of thofe I have mentioned may; at leaft, make a part of your lift of agreeable be verages. But let us ever remember the danger there is of oppressing nature: let us not add the load of repletion he it in tea, or any other liquor, to the infirmities of our bodies, and give nature a double tafk, which muft become into lerable at laft. When I hear people talk of their good in clination to leave off tea, if they knew what to fubftitute in its place, I am amazed they fhould be fo incurious with regard to the number of fragrant and medicinal herbs with which this land of induftry and learning abounds. But they fay, " We have often begun upon herbs, ft and finding them lefs agreeable have returned " to tea ". If you find one of our own herbs not pleafing, ufe another, or mix and compound them : do them the honor they deferve ; and if Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea. 235 if tea is moft agreeable, you may at laft re- folve to gratify a capricious tafte, at the expence of your health, and at the rifk of the welfare of your country. Let me repeat my requeft moft ferioufly, as you regard yourfelf, as you regard your country, that you will exert your fkill and in dustry, to make the difcovery of fome whole fome and agreeable beverage, be it cold, or hot, or warm, to fupply the place of tea ; and that you will recommend it, in the ftrongeft terms. If you have any curiofity to know what infu fion I occafionally ufe myfelf, it is ground-ivy with a mixture of ftick-liquorice, which is a- greeable to me, and I apprehend wholefome, though I grant the liquorice is neceffary only to particular conftitutions. You will fee prefently what further weighty and important reafons I have to be xeaWy feri ous in this affair. How many private perfons are intereftedto fupport tea, is not the queftion; if it can be proved to be injurious, I hope they will not attempt it at the hazard of ruining their own conftitutions, and injuring their coun try. Farewel. I am yours, &c. LET- 236 Taxes in lieu of Tea. .*¦ '. . &:¦ -e#t •¦ T e: & .- another Taxes in lieu of Tea. 337 another muft be fubftituted in its room.- I told you in my laft, and I will repeat, that Was the ufe of "tea abolifhed, we fhould cer tainly be enabled to pay. a much larger fum to the revenue, fha^||ji^\#uty fin, .tea amounts to. But : a; fioliti&ifl. ; af jthmetician will fay, " this is calculating'' at random, ¦ unfefa we firft fuggefit the weMns if ~ raifing a fum equal to the duty in queftion" "- The want of fumptuary laws, renders it ne ceffary to eftablifh parfimonious fafhions, other- wife we muft be undone. We muft decline war, be parfimonious, or fall under the load : what we feel hitherto is nothing to what it may be. Under a fond notion of there being no end to our riches, we fhall fuddenly become poor. Excefs will as cer tainly bring on mifchievous effeds to a com munity as it does to private men. What then is to be done ? Trade, in a dired view, is al ready,,, taxed to the height ;•¦ but, if we may judge3^^^.e^5a^s^*|u^ry;,wiU yet bear many hm^e%WM^^^f greets "itfelf, ox finks under its own weight. "By luxury I mean a vicious 238 Taxes in lieu of Tea. vicious excefs, particularly fuch as prevents in dividuals from doing their duty to the public ; in other words fuch excefs as ever has, and ever will occafion the diffolution of empires -y and therefore ought to be fuppreffed by all poflible means. My prefent {peculation more immediately concerns the fubftituting a tax in lieu of that on tea, in which I fhall only propofe what rifes firft in my thoughts, without any of that elaborate fludy which fuch fpeculations require. 1 ft. As one of the purpofes of this enquiry, is to keep more of our gold and filver at home, as well as to abolifh a pernicious and expenfive article of confumption ; fuppofe we were to ufe lefs iron, for which we pay fo much rea dy money to Sweden. This might be done by encouraging the plantations of proper kinds of wood, to ferve as gates, rails, or grates round the parks, gardens, or fronts of great mens houfes ; or of fuch other places where iron is ufed for elegance or ornament, not be ing abfolutely neceffary. A proper kind of wood, kept well painted, would look near as well, Taxes in lieu of Tea. 239 Well, though it might not laft fo long. If, in the courfe of time, it fhould coft more to the individual, yet as being of our own growth, in a national light it would be a great faving to Vis. The planting of wood in general would likewife enable us to work more iron- oar of our own, and we fhould receive great advan tages in this light alfo. Indeed the growth of many Kinds of wood for various purpofes is of the laft importance to us. 2d. In lieu of the duty on tea, every man or woman wearing gold or filver lace, embroi dery, or other gold or filver manufactory, (lords and gentlemen belonging to the king's houfe- .hold, and to the army and navy excepted) might pay a tax ; obferving that people of quality, and men of great fortunes, ought to pay lefs than others, becaufe rich cloathing is more in charader, and fuppofed lefs burthen fome to them than to people of inferior rank. But here liberty fteps in : fhall we take the advantage of it, when we incline to be fool ifh as well as wife ? I believe we muft leave this matter juft as we find it, and tax all per fons 240 Taxes in lieu of TeA. fons equally, who are not obliged by any mili tary or other regulation, to wear gold or filver. 3d. All women wearing any kind of jewels fet in gold or filver, fhould pay fo much for the hands, and fo mnch for the head ; and, if you pleafe, we will include the rings worn by men, though the fum raifed by the latter will be a very trifling affair. 4th. Suppofe that after twelve months no tice, a tax were levied on every one who wears a perriwig. Nature has provided cover ings for the head ; and as this is no effential part of a man, nor effential to his drefs fuch a tax could not fall into difgrace, as many others might. I would propofe, that he who only wears bob wigs, fhould pay much lefs than him who wears wigs under other denominati ons, or his own hair dreffed with bags, rib bands, tails, wings, &c. &c and that the wigs be underftood to be made of human hair, for the poor might be free to wear wigs made of wool, and horfa-hair, provided they, were made in the form prefcribed, to diftinguifh them. This tax would fall properly on luxury, and raife Taxes in lieu of Tea', 24 1 fought eafily raife more than the duty on tea amounts to. It would alfo fet a number of per- riwig-makers at liberty, to fight, or weave, or plow for the good of their country. I do not mean to excufe your fex, but I am not enough converfant with your drefs, to know what kind of ornaments are moft in ufe, and which are leaft neceffary. There are fome or*- naments of the head or neck, for which I fuppofe you would chearfully fubmit to pay half a million, rather than be reftrained from the ufe of them. ' 5th. But suppofing we leave you to do as much mifchief, With your drefs, as you cati, Without being taxed for it, you would in that Cafe, moft heartily concur in paying twenty or thirty fhillings anuually for the liberty of play ing at cards ; and I fee no Impropriety in this, more than in paying fo much for wheels to to drive about to cdrd ptayings. No body would be fo wicked as to touch a card with out paying for it 1 If it reftrained the lower claffes of the people entirely from this kind of R play* 242 Taxes in lieu of Tea. play, it could not be deemed an immoral tax : how many of their precious hours might be employed, ufefully and not unpleafantly without cards ! If young perfons, whofe parents might not chufe to pay the tax for them, were alfo reftrained, the young lady or gentleman might possibly be taught fomething of as great ufe and entertainment, and not lefs effential to their welfare in the future progrefs of their lives. I fancy every body would play much the fame as they do, and that moft of them would really pay. 6th. Coaches might be double taxed, to the benefit of the public : and every perfon driv ing above a pair of horfes in any coach, cha riot, chaife, or fuch like vehicle, (waggons and carts excepted) or keeping above three faddle horfes, fhould pay a confiderable tax for every fuch horfe. And if it were colled- ed at the veftry of the parifh where they live, no fraud could pafs undifcovered. 7th. Every perfon keeping one man fer- vant, or two women- fervants, not being farm ers or mechanics, who gain their bread by manual Taxes in lieu of Tea. 243 manual labor, might pay a tax for every fuch fervant, increasing the rate on each : fuppofe for the firft fervant twenty fhillings, for the fe cond forty, for the third three pounds : thus advancing till it fhould raife a great fum, and become very burthenfome to thofe who employ, or rather keep in idlenefs, a number of hands, which might be of great ufe in war, agricul ture, or manufadory. This feems to be the moft confiftent plan, to fupply fuch a deficiency* And if war fhould render a greater number of men neceffary to our fup port, than can be found by the ordinary means of raifing them, what method fo effedual as this to eafe individuals, and relieve the ftate When it is in diflrefs ? Whatever taxes the wifdom of the legifia* ture might impofe to anfwer the falutary pur pofe intended by this fpeculation, let us think ferioufiy "of abolifiiing the ufe of tea : the evil is become enormous, and you will get immor tal honor if you fubdue it. You fee I declaim as if I thought the bufi nefs in queftion might be accomplifhed : I do R 2 really , 244 Taxes in lieu of Tea\ really think fo : it may require fome patience, but I believe we fhall grow wifer in time and reform this abufe. The greateft fame has of ten arofe from a fpark, and this which my zeal has already blown into a gentle fire, may in time confume all the tea in the kingdom ; or prevent its being longer imported. I would glad ly compound, that nobody fhould fuffer for what is on hand, Or ort the way home. Tho' I purfue my argument with a zealous exertion of my faculties, I fhould be forry to fee any one fuffer. But 'tis better a million fhould fuf fer, than eight millions feek their own ruin by fuch an abfurd cuftom, and fo pernicious a commerce. If you mean to begin the reformation, reform yourfelf : 'Tis thus the moft herculean labors are fubdued with eafe : and if you do not reap all the advantages which a thorough and im mediate reformation might produce, you will have the conftant approbation of your own mind on earth, and your reward in heaven : you will do yourfelf the fame honor, and re ceive Great expence, and a lofing, &c. 245 ceive the fame applaufe. The foldier who dis charges his duty, and maintains his poft, with valor and intrepidity, though his comrades ad the part of cowards, is the more efteemed. And though we fhould ftand fingle and unfup- ported, the reward of virtue will not be the lefs. Farewel. I am yours, &c. LETTER XXIII. To the fame. ' Madam, FROM the difficulty of raifing money even by taxing luxury, at a time when luxury threatens the very downfal of the ftate, we are , naturally led to the, confideration how to fave money, that we may fave fhe fiate. Since tea has prevailed fo univerfally, which is now about twenty years, it is computed there has been an increafe of the confumption of fugar near one fourth part. In the calculation mentioned in my former letter, I make only R 3 about 246 Great expence, and a lofing about a third part of the whole importation of fugar, as it now ftands, confumed on the ac count of tea. Now fuppofing the fame induf- try had prevailed in our fugar colonies, and inftead of this vaft confumption at home, we had fold it abroad, though at no higher price than the French fell theirs, what riches might have been accumulated by this article alone I Our induftry now only ferves the purpofes of luxury, and to add a fmall number to our fea men to bring the fugar home, to be near all confumed by ourfelves. We fhall form a clearer idea of our difad- vantage, if we compare our expenfivenefs in this article with the frugality of our competitors the French. If they grow great by fuch fru gality, can we augment our wealth and national ftrength by expending the whole ourfelves ? The cafe of nations compared with nations is, in fome inftances, fimilar with that of private men : how does one, who is moderate in ex- pence, outstrip another v/ho is extravagant! And in this inftance the French axe frugal. The trade, equally deftructive. 247 The increafe of the price of fugar with us, has rendered it an objed of parliamentary en quiry, and methods have been propofed for remedying the evil. But what remedy can be difcovered for extravagance but parfimony ? Befides, every thing. will bear a price in pro portion to the demand for it. I am forry to tell you, that the extent of lands belonging to the French, for the cultivation of their fu gar, and the fertility of thofe lands, are fo much beyond ours, that French fugars are oftentimes fifty to fixty per cent, cheaper than ours; but this ftill teaches us frugality, if we mean to cope with France. If it is really true, that we have no more proper land for fugar canes in our iflands, than we really ufe ; to remedy this evil we fhould try if fome parts of the continent of America will not produce fugar. Nor muft we think it fufficient that we pay for our fugar in our own produce ; that produce fhould fur- nifh us with fugar indeed ; but we fhould have alfo fomething befides fugar for it, if we mean to fupport our greatnefs. R 4 Without 248 Great expence, and a hfing Without entering deeper into this argument, we all know that in moft cafes the encreafe of wealth depends on induftry and frugality ; the great point is to fell our goods to our neighbours, instead of confuming them ourfelves. By this we have been enriched, and by this we muft fupport our ftrength, unlefs we change the fyf tem, and are contented with the produce of our own lands only. And how fhall we be able to cope with France, if they convert their tea, as well as their fugar, which are fuch great ob jed s, into fhips of war, and by induftry and toil qualify themfelves for war, whilft we e- nervate our bodies by confuming fuch vaft quantities of thefe commodities, and fip out our own vitals in a double capacity ? We ad, in this inftance, as if there could be no neceflity of fixing bounds to our confump- tions ; as if 'our funds, to fupport our expen- ces, were inexhaufiible, though experience feems to prove that we cannot go on long at the fame rate. We even fhorten-the period of life by overstraining indufiry to fupport luxury ; at the fame time that luxury wounds our vitals, and trade, equally defiructive. 249 and we affiduoufly feek our own death, natu rally, and politically. As a modern phrafe ex- preffes it, we live in hot water ; though we know if the veins are too full, they will be in danger of bursting. It is univerfally allowed, that the truest joys arife from temperance ; health, and fareni- ty of mind, are the conftant companions of moderation : but pain and perturbation ever wait on excefs. Providence provides for all mankind; but if we confume much more than our fhare of the good things which the earth produces, we nauft, in the courfe of time, be in want,, either as a confequence of creating defires fo much beyond the demands of nature, or from the earth itfelf being fubjed to accidents : the elements are fometimes at war with mankind, whilft real wars make great devaftations ; therefore to laft long, either as individuals, or as a ftate, we muft be mode rate. If I was inclined to prophecy, I fhould fay, " If we do not become more moderate in " our confumptions of many ufeful, as well as f ufalefs articles, we fhall find ourfelves grow «c poor. » 250 Great expence, and a lofing " poor, and the caufe of the decline of our " wealth will be very difficult to account for " any other way, than that we have devoured " it". We may delude ourfelves into the be lief, that private vices axe public benefits; but this quibbling fallacy, whilft it foothes the cor ruption of mankind, tends fo much to destroy the diftindions between virtue and vice, it confutes itfelf. If this dodrine were true, it would follow that, in order to render the com munity moft happy and flourifhing, it is ne ceffary that every individual fhould be vicious ; or it will follow that he is the worfi member who has moft virtue. Every man is fuppofed to wifh that he could do good to his country, but he who attempts to do it by vicious means, will find himfelf greatly mistaken in the iffue. If, for inftance, we confider the confumption of tea partially, and without regard to its pernicious confequen ces, it muft be confeffed that the ftate is bene fited ; it breeds a number of feamen, and fur- nifhes about a twentieth part of the national re venue : trade, equally defiructive: 251 venue : but yet upon the whole it appears to be extremely injurious. Were you to refled on the advantages which arife from abftinence ; were you to contemplate the charms of temperance and felf-denial ; you would think that woman very amiable, who faved the fuperfluous expence of tea, was it only with a view to relieve the diftreffes of one poor family : what praifes then are due to her Whofe deftgn is to promote the welfare of her country, and whofe condud is calculated to prevent the miferies of a million of families ! There is hardly any thing fo difficult to de fine as luxury, and yet in many inftanoes we can hardly mifiake it. It appears in feveral fhapes, often doing great injury, when we fuf- ped no harm ; and fometimes the appearance of luxury, is not luxury, but an expence which is not inconfiftent with the virtue of individuals, and is really beneficial to the community. We are therefore very fubjed to err in our judgment of this matter. By luxury, in a moral fenfe, I mean exceffes which hurt the mind or body; particularly exceffes in eating and drinking, which 252 Great expence, and a lofing which are always unneceffary, and in many ca fes extremely hurtful to the confiitution, mo rally as well as politically confidered. In' this fenfe of the word, drinking tea is luxury, in clining to the worst fide, for it hurts health, and fhorten s life; it is not fo immoral as fome exceffes are; but, politically confidered, not equalled by any one debauchery we are guilty of, unlefs we except the ufe of gin. But whilft individuals are attentive to their private concerns, be they hurtful to the commu nity or not, fhe fkilful fiatefman will endevor to difcover when we go too faft, ox too flow ; he will obferve what trades are advantageous, and v/hich are prejudicial., and cherifh or difcounte- nance them accordingly. A profitable trade will ever produce the. contrary effeds of a lo fing branch of commerce. The firft increafes riches, and invites foreigners, who covet tore- fide in countries where riches abound, and to fend their fortunes where they can be improv ed. Thus riches create riches, and they gene rally augment the number of inhabitants. In fuch countries induftry will flourifh, and artswill trade, equally deftructive, 253 will be improved. But a lofing trade impo- verifhes ; it lowers the reputation of a1 nation ; it drives people into other countries, confe quently diminifhes their numbers. And if fuch a lofing trade confifts in articles pernicious to health, the number will be alfo decreafed by lives being fhortened. However obvious it may be, that a branch of trade is pernicious, it may be extremely difficult to fupprefs it any other way than by the force of example ; for if we proceed to a degree of rigor, which is not confiftent with the liberty of a free people, the remedy will be come worfe than the difeafe. This truth is ve rified in one light, in the affair of the cambrics, againft which nothing can prevail, but the fafhion of wearing other manufadures. Time and chance happens to all men ; but as it is . fometimes difficult, if not impoffible, to trace out the latent caufes of the adverfity of individuals ; fo with regard to a community, its welfare may be undermined in a fecret manner. All the caufes may never be difco- vered ; but where thefe are apparent, a people muft 254 Great expence, and a lofing muft be abandoned indeed, if they will not ap ply themfelves to the removal of them. It is the fame in the national account, as in private life; there muft be great revenues to fupport a great expence : againft every hurtful trade there muft be a beneficial one. If upon the force of a profitable trade, we fpend as if we purfued none that is unprofitable, or which drains off our gains, and yet in fact we purfue a lofing traffic, as a nation, we muft be undone in the iffue. The circumftances of a whole community do not, in all inftances, admit of a comparifon with thofe of a private family 5 but who can difpute that the fame falfe max ims which impoverifh one family, may, in the courfe of time, impoverifh a million of fami lies ? According to the vulgar proverb, " what is llfaved, is gained" : this alfo is not always true in private life, and lefs in national concerns ; but it is true in fome inftances : and I take the faving which I propofe in the article of tea, to be one of thofe inftances. I have calculated our expence in tea to amount to near three mil lions i trade, equally defir active. 255 lions : if it is really but two, and if we gain ed, that is fiaved one million only every year, by leaving off the ufe of tea, in twenty or thir ty years, without reckoning intereft upon inte reft, it would amount to a fum of fuch impor tance as might be fufficient to turn the courfe of the moft expenfive and dangerous war. A- dieu. I am yours, &c. LETTER XXIV. To the fame. Madam, HATEVER notions may he fondly entertained, we muft always keep this in view, that it is the induftry and labor of the poor which fupport a ftate. But if we would really fupport it in power and fplendor our corn, our manufadures, and the produce of our mines, muft be fold in large portions to foreigners ; without this the miner, hufband- man, manufadurer, and mechanic, will not find fufficient employment ; nor will the ftate enjoy 256 Induftry and moderation in enjoy the fame degree of ftrength and power; as are now derived from that labor and indu ftry. But the produce of thefe muft not be given away, nor muft it be exchanged for dirt, or what is the fame, for tea. By the force of induftry, and our native produds, we might be a happy people ; but we could not be great, with regard to that part of life which depends on fuch produce of other countries as contribute fo large a fhare to the elegances and refinements which we fo much admire. But tea is confumed, and yet it does not nourijh ; it does not add to the fhow of the table ; nor yet administer in any one refped even to grandeur. Virtuous and ufeful induftry is the true foun tain of riches : whatever obftruds this muft be pernicious. If by any purfuit of gain we do no gbod we injure the community : but if by fuch purfuits we injure our own health, and yet bring nothing to the common flock, which is ferviceable to Ufe, the public will in the iffue, in expence indifipenfibly neceffary. 257 in this light alfo, be injured, and will feel the" bad effects. If it is by ufeful articles of commerce, either exports or imports, fuch as promote induftry, provide neceffaries, or bring in gold or filver, that a nation becomes opulent; by fuch imports as tea, which obftrud induftry, and is all for home confumption, a ftate muft be impoverifhed. People who are wife confider farther, that a great part of the riches of this nation de pends on virtue and mutual confidence. This alfo fhould teach us to proportion our expences to our income, and to the nature of fuch income. A merchant who gains a thoufand pounds year ly, ought not therefore to fpend a thoufand pounds : knowing that he is fubjed to acci dents, loffes, and the diminution of his capi tal, he will calculate accordingly, and fpend fo much lefs. But alas, though our income is become precarious in one great inftance, do we fpend the lefs on that account ? All who have money in the funds are merchants, and are fubjed to fuch contingences as affed the political intereft as well as the real com- S merce 258 Indufiry and moderation in merce of the nation, but we feem to think ve ry little about the matter, in this light. We are a trading people in more fenfes than one. Whilft fo vaft a property confifts in a national debt, the ftate muft be confidered as the bank or fountain, whence a great part of our trade is fupplied ; and therefore we ought to be watchful of all opportunities of promo ting the interefi of the ftate. How greatly we might aflift it by abridging our fiuperfiuous ex- pences; and how neceffary fuch affiance is, efpecially if it fhould be our fortune to be again involved in a war, no lover of his country, no virtuous perfon of common fenfe, can hefitate a moment to pronounce. He therefore who fhows an example of a frugal appearance in drefs, table and equi page, makes the greateft eclat : and unlefs he enjoys a paternal inheritance of great value, he is the meanefi, and the moft dangerous member of community, who figures with the moft fplendor This may be a hard leffon for a woman to underftand, and in thefe felfijh times, for a man alfo ; but fo it is. The difference is, expence indijpenfibly neceffary. 259 is, one is a vain creature, a votary to a tinfel coat, of his own foolifh fancy ; the other may have a god-like mind, and think of preferving millions, himfelf contented with the few things nature demands. Temperance and moderation always bid fair- eft to make heroes or heroines, and would be at this time, In a more particular manner, the props of fhe fiate, as they ought to be the ob- jeds of applaufe in private life. We find in the moft dangerous times of the Roman fiate, men called from the obficurity of their little farm, have faved their country from perdition. How much more eafy it is to bring down our defires to moderate enjoyments, than to acquire the means of fuch gratifications as our paffions and appetites crave ! And how glorious it will be when wefinifh life, to think that we have en- devored to difcharge the great bufinefs of it. We need not be afraid of finking into indo lence, nor of becoming fimple in our manners, like Arcadian fhepherds. I queftion if there is any ftate or kingdom in the world, in dan ger of its fplendor being abridged by parfimo- S 2 ny 260 Induftry and moderation in ny or fimplicity of life. For our parts we" feem to vie with each other, who fhall be moft expenfive ; or, in a vulgar phrafe, who faall be the greateft fool, and part with his money faonefi. We live fo much on the ftretch in point of expence, that it is plain the richest are fupported from hand to mouth. I have heard it very ferioufly maintained, that the folly and extravagance of particular perfons, can do no injury to the community, becaufe, fay they, whatever is loft by one, an other gains. This dodrine is admirably cal culated to lull us into a falfe facurity, and the more dangerous as I think it is not true except in a few inftances ; and feems to be juft as fallacious as that of private vices being pub lic benefits. If wealth paffes from the hands' of a vicious man into that of a virtuous one, inftead of being injured, the ftate may be be nefited ; but for the very fame reafon, it would have profpered lefs, had fuch riches remained in vicious hands : whence it follows, that the happinefs of the ftate depends on the virtue and wifdom, not the vice and folly of indivi duals. He who fquanders his fortune,, eeafes in expence indifpenfably neceffary. 261 in that instance to be a virtuous man; but when extravagance becomes epidemical, and infeds a whole community ; when many fol low the example of fhejpendthrift, who ruins himfelf, many will be ruined ; ruined beyond the proportion which others are benefited ; and confequently the interest of the ftate will be hurt. If the vintner, by felling wine, ac quires fuch a fortune as to gain a title, and the lord, by drinking it, becomes fo poor as to have no coach for his coronet, 'tis ten to one, but this mutation of property occafions a di minution of virtue, as well as riches and di- ftindion, and leaves the ftate in a worfe condi tion than it was. It is impoffible I think to feparate the virtues and vices of private men, from the benefit or inju ry of the ftate which is compofed of fuch men. Many caufes may interfere to prevent the total ruin of it : all vices are not equally pernicious ; fome may do very little or no harm, beyond the individual ; or the confequences of the injury may be very remote : providence has fo ordain ed, that there is hardly a cafe fo defperate, but S 3 there 262 Induftry and moderation in there are remedies for it ; but I fee no remedy for great vice in fome, except it be great virtue irt others. There is a certain degree of private expence, according to the abilities of individuals, and ac cording to times and circumftances, which pro motes the intereft of a community upon prin ciples of worldly grandeur ; beyond this degree it muft languifh and decay. This general prin ciple is obvious ; but the true meafure of fuch expence every one ought to feek in his own fortune, taking in the demands of the ftate. He that ruins himfelf by extravagance is a bad fubjed ; tho' not fo bad as he who hoarding up wealth, ties up the hands of induftry, and en- devors to keep every one incapable of enjoying the good things of life. There is alfo a certain degree of magnifi cence and grandeur infeparable from all great ftates ; but we exceed the due meafure, not fo much in the external part of fuch magnificence^ as in the expence of it. In every rank of life we feem to try who fhall diftrefs the other moft, by expence indifpenfibly neceffary. 263 by demanding for every thing more than 'tis worth. It feems to be one of the defeds of the leaft imperfed form of government which has been hitherto devifed, I mean our own, that the different ranks of people are too much con founded : the lower claffes, as I have already had occafion to obferve, prefs fo hard on the heels of the higher, if fome remedy is not fpeedily found, the lord will be in danger of becoming the valet of his gentleman. The noble who, through idlenefs, trusts his money, if not his fecrets, with his fervants, and con- fents to their raifing contributions on his friends, muft often fee his footman with more money in his purfe than himfelf; and I fuppofe 'tis the cafe fometimes, though not fo often, with your handmaids. If it is true that fumptuary laws, are not reconcileable with the nature of our govern ment, let us at leaft endevor to eifahMfh fafhions to anfwer the fame end, and abolifh thofe cuf toms which experience proves to be grievous and burthenfome. S 4 The 264 Induftry and moderation in The notions, we entertain of liberty, joined to the vanity which ufually attends on riches, feem now to lead all forts of people into errors with regard to expence ; and when they are once engaged, pride forbids them to retrench and alter their method of life. Thus when wealth, eafe, and fecurity, intoxicate with defires which have no better fupport than fancy and opinion, in proportion as thefe evils increafe, the good order and oeconomy of private life muft unavoidably decline, and with it the fiate alfo. The fantaftic notions which luxury has in troduced, give deeper wounds to the happi nefs which nature points out to us, than all the other evils to which we are fubjed. A- mong the higher orders of the people we muft exped they will create to themfelves wants which have no foundation in nature; but when the poor of any country give into wild fancies, and like children cry for the moon, or what is almoft as abfurd, think nothing fo good for them as tea, can the confequences fail of being ruinous ? At what period of time, or in what country was it ever known, that the poor expence indifpenfibly neceffary. 26$ poor were fo generally ambitious of emulating the rich, as to confume the produd of fo re mote a country as China is from us ? The bar rier is thus beaten down ; the diftindion is abolifhed ; and if the common people, with the nation in general, forget what they owe to themfelves, they will hardly remember the ob ligations they are under to the public, Vici ous exceffes thus creating a vicious felf-love, by abufing our advantages in every rank of life, and perverting the kindnefs of providence, info many infiances, we fhall become our own de- ftroyers, if we fhould not fall a prey to a fo reign enemy. The period feems to be drawing near, in which we muft give fome check to our career : let us do it in time, and with a good grace. To all appearance we muft engage in a very expen five war, or fee our power abridged, and with it the means of acquiring riches : and if the channels by which our wealth is fupplied are ftopt, or cut off, we muft fall into poverty. We feem to have carried our riches and im provements to their utmoft height : but fo far from 266 Indufiry and moderation in from probity of mind keeping pace with them, it is but too plain that it declines, or goes re trograde; and if the fupport of nations de pends on virtue, and oeconomy in eXpence, are we not taking great strides to our ruin in % double capacity ? , Thus it may be our lot to fall as the great-* eft empires of the world have done ! From the very nature of things, wealth will promote luxury, and luxury corruption, and when this reaches to a certain height, difiolution will fol low corruption in the political, as it does in the natural body. One would be almoft tempted to think, though it may feem a paradox, that; our happinefs, if not our grandeur, muft ulti mately depend on our humiliation, as it pro bably will prove the befi, if not the only, means to introduce more virtue amongft us. It is very apparent that we have already carried things ta fuch excefs, that there is no better counter- poife in the political fcale, than that the only people on earth, from whom we apprehend any danger, are become as vicious and expen five as ourfelves — except that they are too. wife expence indifpenfibly neceffary. 267 wife to confume the tea and fugar which their induftry provides, but convert them into money. We have been hitherto enabled to fupport great fleets, and upon emergencies great ar mies alfo : we have checked the encroachments of France whofe extent of dominion, and num ber of inhabitants, are fo much greater than ours. But how have we been able to do this ? not by the force of valor only, but of money. You have often heard it faid, that it is money which fights againft money. We may implore the goodnefs of heaven to prevent the necessi ty of our being involved In war ; but if that is unavoidable, we muft pray for common fenfe, and common virtue, to carry it on at a lefs ex- pence than we did the laft : and if at the fame time we live at a lefs charge, and decline the ufe of fuch dangerous and expenfive articles as tea, we may prevent its calamitous confe quences. Without straining my argument in the leaft, fo far as it relates to tea, it is cer tain, that in proportion as this drug deprives us of our riches, it muft render the iffue of a war hazardous. To 268 Induftry and moderation in To bring my general argument to my particular purpofe, I am ready to grant, what a few alledge, that fome of the entertain ments of our forefathers, in the afternoon, were more chargeable than tea; but thefe were not general as tea now is, and con fequently not near fo expenfive, confidering the whole people in one view. Befides the fweatmeats and cyder, or cakes and ale, with fuch like aliments as they confumed in thofe days, were of our own produce, and did not drain us of gold or filver ; thefe were alfo good food and nutriment. We are alfo more ex penfive in drefs, equipage, and furniture, and in all the elegances and parade of life, than we were at that time : and this not with a few perfons of great fortunes only, but among ma ny who furprize the world whence their fup port comes. Consider alfo, that we were not then in fuch public-debt- diftrefi, and confe quently under no necessity of retrenching. To carry my argument yet farther, let me afk you, are we poorer, or richer, than we were formerly ? If poorer, we ought to abridge our ¦expence indifpehfibly neceffary. 269 our expences, and not live fo much above the pradice of paft times : if richer, how comes it we treat the public fo /// as to fuffer it to re main fo deep in debt ? Let us not talk of the great fums fpent, according to the cuftoms of paft times ; let us not argue from thence that we may indulge ourfelves in tea; but ferioufly endevor to ad in fuch a manner, as may bid fairest to reftore all the national fafety and ho nor our ancestors maintained' and enjoyed in the beft of times, and the full extent of that fubftantial happinefs which we are now capa ble of, were we virtuous. You have lately feen a confiderable fpeci- men of that diffufive wealth, together with the noble and delightful fcenes which diftin guifh this ifland. It is not merely the greatnefs of a fingle lord, or half a dozen nobles : what riches, what comfort, what elegance, what delight, are fpread over the face of this coun try ! Happy mortals, if we knew our own fe licity in its true extent, and took the right me thods to preferve it! Farewel. I am yours, &c. PART 270 The force of fafhion with regard to Tea. 1 PART V. Force of fafhion with regard to tea. The tyran ny of cufiom. Fafhion changeable. LETTER XXV. To Mrs. D***. Madam, THOUGH mankind are fo much de voted to the gratification of their fenfes, there are fome pleafures not merely intelledu - al, in which the underftanding alfo has no fmall fhare, and body and foul feem to ad recipro cally on each other, for their mutual advan tage. The force of fafhion with regard to Tea. 271 tage. Of this fort I confider chearful meals in good company, as recommended by the great Lord Bacon, as one of the moft ufeful rules for the prolongation of life. But he no where fpeaks official pleafures depending on a cup of warm liquid to fumigate the brain, and moisten the glands of the throat. If there are rare properties in tea, to brighten the intelleds, and enliven converfation, it ought to be con fined to thofe choice fpirits who foar above common mortals. A cup or two as a bitter, could do no great injury to the body natural, or political : if the choice tea of China was drank only in fmall quantities, not hot, nor ftrong, and confined to the higher orders of the people, it could not do any great mifchief. But we fhould not deceive ourfelves by imagin ing, as fome do, that becaufe it may relieve nature, under a debauch, that it is to be taken when no debauch has been committed. This feems to be as great an abfurdity, as imputing that to a bad digefiion, and a difirdered confti tution, which is really owing to an improper diet. And this laft, I apprehend, is one of the 272 The force offaftjion with regard toTEAl the moft common, and moft dangerous mif- takes which mankind fall into. They call that a weak conftitution, which is not ftrong enough for them to play with in every manner which a filly fancy can fuggeft to them. It is the curfe of this nation, that the laborer and mechanic wilt ape the lord; and therefore I can difcover no way of abolifhing the ufe of tea, unlefs it be done by the irrefiftible force of example. It is an epidemical difeafe ; if- any feeds of it remain it will engender an univer- fal infedion. To what a height of folly muft a nation be arrived, when the common people are not fatisfied with wholefome food at home, but muft go to the remoteft regions to pleafe a vicious palate! There is a certain lane near Richmond, where beggars are often feen, in the fummer feafon, drinking their tea. You may fee laborers who are mending the roads drinking their tea ; it is even drank in cinder-carts ; and what is not lefs abfurd, fold out in cups to Hay makers. He who fhould be able to drive three Frenchmen before him, or fhe who might be a breeder The force of fafhion with regard toTE A. 273 breeder of fuch a race of men, are to be feen fipping their tea ! " Was it the breed of fuch as thefe, " That quell' d the proud Hyfperides?" Were they the fans of tea-fippers, who won. the fields of Creffy and Agincour't, ox dyed the Danube's streams with Gallic blood? What will be the end of fuch effeminate cuftoms ex tended to thofe perfons, who muft get their bread by the labors of the field! From the pride of imitating her betters, and the habit of drinking this deluding infufion, nurfes in general, in this part of the ifland, contrad a paffion for this bitter draught, which bears down all the duties of humanity before it! Nor are thefe alone distempered with this ca nine appetite for tea ; you know it to be almoft literally true; in many inftances: every mif- trefs of a family knows it to be true, of their fervants in general, efpecially the females, who demand yoUr fubmifjion to this execrable cuftom, and you fubmit, as if the evil was irremedi- T able. 274 The force of fafhion with regard to Tea. able. Nay, your fervants fervants, down to the very beggars, will not be fatisfied unlefs they confume the produce of the remote coun try of China. Tney confider it as their mag na charta, and will die by the fword or fa mine, rather than not follow the example of their miftreffes. What would you fay, if they mould take it in their heads not to work with out a daily allowance of French wine ? This would not be thought a more extravagant de mand now, than tea was efteemed forty years ago. Confider the tendency of thefe pernicious and abfurd cuftoms ! Look into all the cellars in London, you will find men or women fipping their tea, in the morning or afternoon, and very often both morning and afternoon : thofe will have tea who have not bread. I once took a ramble for two months, attended only by a fervant : I ftrolled far into feveral parts of England, and when I was tired of riding, I walked, and with as much decency as I could, often vifited little huts, to fee how the* people lived. I ftill found the fame game was playing ; and mifery itfelf The force of fafhion with regard to Tea. 27$ itfelf had no power to banifh tea, which had frequently introduced that mifery. I have been told, that in fome places where the people are fo poor, that no one family poffeffes all the neceffary apparatus for tea, they carry them to each others houfes, to the diftance of a mile or two, and club materials for this fantaftic a- mufement. What a wild infatuation is this 1 it took its rife from example ; by example it is fupported j and example only can abolifh the ufe of it. The fuppreffion of this dangerous cuftom de pends entirely on the example of ladies of rank in this country. Tea will certainly be acknow ledged a bad thing, as foon as you leave off drinking it. No lady's woman, or gentlewo man's chamber-maid, will drink a liquor which her miftrefs no longer ufes. Some indeed have refolution enough, in their own houfes, to confine the ufe of tea to their own table ; but their number is fo extremely fmall, amidft a numerous acquaintance, I know only of Mrs. T* *****, whofe name ought to be written out in letters of gold, T2 Be 276 The force of fafhion with regard to Te A . Be affined, it is in your power to destroy this many-headed monfter, which devours fo great a part of the beft fruits of this land; and that the welfare of your country depends great ly on your virtue. If you do not improve thefe hints, it is not my fault : but if you treat them with the refped they deferve, I will em ploy all my intereft to have a fiatue ereded to your memory, not of gold or filver, for I fancy we fhall want thefe metals for other purpofes, but of brafs or marble, which will laft as long. It fhall be infcribed : M.DCC.LV. To the remembrance of fhe fair guardian fpirits of BRITAIN, Whofe influence and example abolifhed the ufe of a Chinefe drug called TEA; the infufion of which had been for many yeats drank in thefe realms and dominions, injuring The force of fafhion with regard to Tea. 277 injuring the health, obftruding the induftry, wafting the fortunes, and exporting the riches, of his majefly's liege fubjeds : &c. &c. You may now laugh if you pleafe ; I will laugh with you, provided you will alfo, in its turn, think ferioufiy upon the fubjed. If you pretend to any love for your country, you muft think ferioufly. Wifidom and virtue have been, in all ages of the world, the props of empires ; folly and vice the vifible caufes of their decline, their ruin. As the caufes which produce the moft interefting events, are often times lefs difcernable by us, and lefs important than the cafe in queftion, I really think great mifchiefs will attend fuch an undiftinguifhing univerfalufe of tea. Let us lament thofe evils we cannot cure : it is in vain to quarrel with mankind for their fins, much more for their follies. What cam we do better than pr act ifa what we preach, and T 3 leave 278 The force of fafhion with regard to Tea', leave the reft to heaven ? Moderation in moft cafes is beft; it bids faireft to conciliate the different tempers and opinions of mankind. If you are angry with thofe who differ with you in fentiment, they will be angry with you, with the fame reafon : and from the moment prejudice takes poffefslon of the mind, we injure the caufe of truth, if we do not totally defert it. If your patriotifin blazes forth, if you forfake the gentlenefs of the dove, and mount on the wings, of the eagle, you may foar above your own height, and lofe yourfelf, without being able to ihow others the true way. We ought how ever to hoard up infiruction ; and whilft we attempt to teach others, we may happily difco^ ver our own faults. Farewel. LET- The tyranny of cuftom. 279 LETTER XXVI. To the fame. Madam, THOUGH I charge the account of tea with many evils, it would look like pre judice to impute to it all the mifchiefs which a raging paffion for amufements and vifits, have introduced into the polite Britifh world : the truth is, you are frequently hurried from your tea in purfuit of other amufements. You have abufed the ufe of this drug in a double capa city ; firft, by suffering it to become fo vulgar an entertainment ; and next, by playing at cards, instead of difcourfing over your cups, abo- lifhing the primitive eftablifhment, and the only good of tea-drinking. I wifh the old manner of fipping-entertainments was reftored, provided fome other liquor were introduced in place of tea. In the mean while give me leave me to obferve, that whilft fo great a por- T 4 tion 280 The tyranny of cufiom* tion of time is appropriated to reft, cards, the diverfions of the theatre, the table, a.nd fame- times to the care of domeftic affairs, none of my acquaintance, that I know of, except two or three old gentlewomen, ever retire to their clofets, as our grandmothers often did. If, after breathing out my zeal againft tea, you flirl perfift in this abfurd and dangerous euftom, methinks I fhould be glad, like an able politician, to try what advantage I can turn it to, that thofe whofe paffion for it is in vincible, may become the more devout. Though you fair patriots fhould not form a body, I hate the word party, ftrong enough to fupprefs • the ufe of tea, you may devote fome part of the afternoon, fuppofe only half an hour, to reading the feriptures. This was once thought a matter of fame confequence; and it might. be wifhed, indeed, that thofe ladies who have, and thofe who have not read the bible fince they were children, or thofe who never read it at all, would tax their time, and read one chapter before tea, in the afternoon, with the fame attention as they pray before tea in the morning. The tyranny of cufiom. 282 morning. Upon my word I am ferious; \ mean exadly what I fay : it is a miferablq thing not to be methodifis in any fenfe, but that of regularly living in a perpetual diffipation j for this feems to be a wilder enthufiafin, with regard to prefent pleafures, than theirs with refped to future joys ; and of the two, one would chufe to be mad, in thinking we felt the fenfible operations of the fpirit of God, than in being fure that we feel a fpirit — by no means confiftent with a religious life, was it only for the hurry and noife attending it. If we obferve no method with regard to time, or a very bad one, I am afraid we fhall give a very fad ac count of it. If fame is not a lyar, the moft fenfible part of your fex are heartily fick of following the laborious, idlenefs of modern voting, though very few have virtue enough to corred them felves. Can there be a greater impertinence, than for a woman of fenfa and breeding, to fpend whole evenings in rumbling over a vile pavement, to knock at doors where fhe does not defire to be admitted, nor cares if fhe ne ver 282 The tyranny of cuftom. ver fees the inhabitant ? Pride is faid to be the guardian of your fex; I wonder you are not more under its influence. What a meannefs is it to "attempt making a vifit, which you are fenfible will not be welcome ! The abfurdity is carried fo far, that you agree to fupport the farce of vifiting without meeting ; and one lady fhall be another's vifitor, who hardly knows her face. Is it impoftible to fupport a decent regard to acquaintance, without enlarging the fcene of your vifits beyond the compafs of hu man induftry, was vifiting the fiole employment of your lives ? We all know, however, that there are cer tain appointed times, when you are fure of find ing your friends at home : then it is that doors are thrown open to fuch a crowd, we may well call them an undiftinguifhed, I muft not pre fume to fay an undifiinguifhing multitude. What is this but a well-cloathed mob, where each is entitled to a place at a card-table ? What a proftitution is this of the dignity of a rational being ! To preferve our tionor, and thus to fquander The tyranny of cuftom. 283 fquander our time, if it is not an abfolute con tradiction, is being but half virtuous. I am no enemy to facial pleafures : what grieves me, is to fee the reality of the thing prostituted to the name of it. Social pleafures are defiroyed, unlefs you call thofe meetings by that name, where there is much buftle, and exchange of crowns or guineas, like a ban ker's fhop, with hardly a possibility of dif- courfing. Nay, you corrupt the common air ; by confining a great number of people in a fmall compafs, you make war with nature, as if you meant, under a notion of enjoying plea fure in the higheft tafte, not only to give a mortal wound to pleafure, but even to life itfelf. It is not that cards in themfelves are lefs instru ments of amufement than a ball, or a horfa- race3 but the manner of playing ; the continu al application to cards; the omission of the many duties they occafion ; thefe are the ob- jeds of my complaint, and I wifh I was fingu- lar in my opinion. Thus the fpirits of moil genteel females, and I muft confefs, of many fine gentlemen alfo, are 284 The tyranny of cuftom*. are in one continued ftate of diffipation. Like a foldier, whofe thoughts of death are ba- nifhed, by his ading in a crowd, yours are put into a ftate totally unfit for the dif- charge of the important duties of life by the fame means. If this is not the cafe with all, fo many enter the lift, as may well draw tears from the eyes of the thoughtful few. Hence it arifes, that your very ex- iftence is rendered irkfome : you are but half alive in the abfence of a great com pany : you look forward, and meafure how long you are morally fure of living, by the days you are engaged to meet par ties. Indeed you are fo far happy, that you are fure of attending a rout, or other entertainment, under fuch a pretty deno mination, from the day you leave off lead ing-firings, till the bell gives notice that your foul is departed. Is this painting too ftrong? I have no pen to defcribe half the abfurdities of modern vifiting, or the evils which attend it, Pardon The tyranriy of cufiom. 285 Pardon me, Madam, I do not mean that you are worfe than your neighbors : you are more fenfible of the evil than many ladies of my acquaintance ; but I am fure there is no woman of virtue and common fenfe, who brings this bufinefs home, but muft fee that I have not greatly miftaken the cafe : and indeed, how is it poffible that fhe can get wifdOm who abhorreth books ; who glorieth in diffipation ; who driveth about to filk and china fhops ; who is occupied in routs, and whofe talk is of drefs and mafquerades ? Do I Write as if I had nothing to hope or fear from any of you ? It would be an arrogant contempt of your prerogative ; an abfohate re bellion againft your empire in the world. But if I hold up a mirror to fhew you your follies, it is in hopes you will difcover and cherifh your virtues. When you are fenfible of the advantages you enjoy from nature ; from the laws of your country ; and the happinefs of our conftitution, you will fee that a judicious education might enable you to enlarge the fcene of your pleafures, and, by adding many which 286 Fafhion changeable. which are rational, carry them to the height of all earthly felicity. Nor is it to this world I would confine your expedations : I wifh to fee you fired with the glorious ambition of obtaining the feats of faints and angels ! But, upon my word, it does not appear to me, that the ladies of this country, are, at prefent, taking the right method to arrive at either. I need not fay more ; your own hearts will tell you the reft. Farewel. LETTER XXVII. To the fame. Madam, I A M very far from difpairing, that many who are now alive, will fee the empire of tea diffolved, and the dominion of routs over turned. My hopes are founded not more in the changeable temper of my country-women,' than in my opinion of their good fenfe, of which the women of no nation have a greater fhare: Fajh'ion changeable. 287 mare : the firft often leads you to take up bad cuftoms, and the laft lets you right again. We are, in general, a wayward people; im- ¦ patient of having our humor checked, and too felf-indulgent to abftain from pleafing gratifi cations, be they ever fo hurtful : but in fuch cafes as this, a few good female politicians, whether they ad from whim or principle, can perform wonders. In the mean while I am told, you fee I for get nothing that is for your fervice, that a cer tain monfirous part of your drefs, which had long prevailed in fpite of the plaineft didates of common fenfe, is lofing ground, if not going out of fafhion. But whilft you do yourfelves honor in bidding fair to abandon one rank ab- ] furdity, you adopt another, not fo inconve nient and dangerous to health, but extremely expenfive and ridiculous ; and fo much the worfe, as it is copied from France. " Out of the fulnefs of the heart the mouth fpeaketh ! '- The greater the neceffities of the public, the more prodigality in private life ! Is it not true, Madam, that hardly a chamber-maid now thinks E$& Fafhion changeable.. thinks her condition fupportable, unlefs fhe cuts more filk to pieces to adorn her gownj than would be fufficient to make one ? And for what is all this ? methinks you all appear like women of fhreds ; inftead of ornaments, your garments look as if they were in rags. Is this extravagance moft melancholy to think of, or moft ridiculous to behold ? It is a fam- ple of the times : begin however with difcour- aging the ufe of tea, and we may live in hopes you will foon corred yourfelves, and ad in all refpeds like rational creatures. I verily be lieve you muft do it 'ere long from necessity; but it will be more for your honor if it is done from choice, and with a view to fave your country from ruin ! If you ad with confiftency you will of courfe ftrive to corred the enormous abufes, and the pu erile fafhions I have mentioned : you will com panionate the great as well as the little vulgar j you will teach them to mend their ways, and help to reform an idle world. Adieu, I am yours, &c. PART Duty of good fubjebts, &c. 289 PART VI. "be duty of good fubjebts with regard to the pub lic debt. Parfimony the befi remedy againft augmenting the public debt. Additional taxes for the current fervice. Means of raifing an additional tax for the current fervice. Con clufion and recapitulation. LETTER XXVIII. To Mrs, O ***** * MadaMj YO U will eafily petceive that this treatife upon tea is really a differtation on pub lic love. Perhaps I detain you from the purfuit of more lively pleafures, and I beg U your 290 Duty of good fubjebts your pardon ; but I cannot lay afide my pen without fome refledions on our prefent fitua tion, with regard to the public debt, to which I beg your ferious attention : the confideration of it is more clofely conneded with my fubjed than you are aware of, and you as well as many thoufands befides, are deeply interested in it : indeed this in a great meafure checks the ftrength and power of this nation, in which we have all no trivial intereft ! Men of melancholy or difcontented minds, think our profped is gloomy ; and fo do fome who are neither melancholy nor difcontented : 'but if we exert our natural ftrength, if we em ploy the means which Providence has put into our hands, the clouds are difpelled, the pro fped brightens, and we look forward with joy ful expedations to remoteft posterity. We muft remember, at the fame time, that virtue is the bafis of happinefs to nations as well as to private men ; and altho' this is one of the great truths which many of us will neither hear, nor fee, we muft correct ourfelves, we muft mend our ways, or to all human appear ance with regard to the public debt. 291 ance we fhall be undone in good earnefi ! our poverty, as a ftate, already flares us in the face, and grows importunate for relief. Whether the oppulence and reputation of this nation would have rifen fo high, had no debt been contraded, is a queftion more diffi cult to anfwer than many imagine. But whe ther we fhould be in a better condition than we are now, was there no debt in the cafe, anfwers itfelf. It is not difputed that we have Increafed in commerce, and improved in many other national advantages, fince the firft con- frading this debt ; but other nations are improv ed alfo. I apprehend alfo that we have increafed in corruption and wickedness, and have made fo bad a ufe of our advantages, that thefe may foon become the very caufe of our undoing. There is fome merit in public concerns, as well as in the private affairs of life, in feeking for reafons to make a virtue of necefftty, and to difcover motives to render that eafy which is unavoidable. If by means of the debt, we could maintain a mutual dependance, fufficient to counterpoife a vicious felfifhnefs ; and like- U 2 wife 292 Duty of good fubjebts wife promote the comfort and eafe of fuch in dividuals, whofe fituation will hardly admit of any better manner of being fupported, than by receiving intereft of their money from the public, a moderate fianding debt might do us no greater harm than a moderate fianding ar my. If the former is lefs eafy to pay off, than the latter to difband, it does not follow that either one or the other will ruin us. But whilst we have fo many drains for our gold and filver, and indeed for every other fpecies of wealth, the fum annually due to foreigners, for the interefi of the money we have borrow ed of them, is a formidable objed to us. Yet formidable as it is, even this has fome advan tages alfo ; fuch connexions create a depen- dance ; they help to faften the bonds of union, and to fupport the being of ftates, if not the welfare of nations, upon the folid foundation of mutual interests. It would be abfurd to entertain a thought of paying off any part of our debt, during a war j butweought,if noffih\e,toendevorto prevent the increafe of it. This may appear as a romantic enter- with regard to the public debt. 293 enlerprize, 'till we confider that the only way to preferve ourfelves, even for the prefent, is to guard againft future evils. I do not think that peftilence or earthquakes are abfolutely neceffary to awaken us ; nor has war ever been recommended to improve the good fenfe or morals of a people ; but if diflrefs alone can render us virtuous, it may be inftrumental to the Opening our eyes, with regard to our po litical intereft, if it goes no farther. Notwithftanding what fome politicians af- fert ; if there is a God who direds the affairs of mankind; if he abhors falfhood, it cannot be true policy to proceed, as we have done for many a long year, on principles which are not founded in truth. What confolation is it, that the errors and mifconduds of nations, in their national capacity, are punifhable by tem poral evils ? The diftindion of public and pri vate, in this cafe, is fo nice, that one hardly fees the difference : and are not temporal evils, the evils we moft dread ? But if we become fo weak as to plead a political necessity for do ing that which may involve individuals in di- U 3 ftrefs; 294 Duty of good fubjebts ftrefs ; thofe who are induced by vain notions of policy, to ad in plain oppofition to mora lity, and are instrumental to fuch diflrefs, we may conclude their punifhment will not be merely temporal. There is vengeance in heaven for fuch offences. The plea of cuftom will never destroy the difference of good and evil. Some think they have made wonderful dif- coveries, and tell us that minifters of ftate cal culate much on the vices, but very little on the virtues of a people. A wife minifter will certainly not calculate upon virtues which do not exift : but we fee that truth ftill maintains its empire in the world : and there are times, efpecially in great extremities, when it darfc fuch beams of light, that even wicked men are compelled to confefs its power, and adore the God from whom it flows. We muft grant that mankind are governed more by their paffions than by their reafon ; and it follows, from that very caufe, that a fkilful minifter will obferve which are the paffions moft prevalent in the minds of a people, with regard to the publick debt. 295 people, either in the ordinary courfe of their lives, or as they are affeded under particular circumftances. The love of money, whe ther it regards the raging thirft of avarice, or the feverifh habit of luxury, is apt to grow into a paffion. In neither of thefe cafes, will a free people, in the gaiety or zeal of the heart, be induced to give any confiderable part of their riches, never to receive either princi pal or interefi. So long as they think the firft can be fecured to them, and their children ; and that the laft will remain as a conftant re venue for their own lives, it muft be expeded that they will be tenacious. But becaufe they are free, if once their eyes are opened, and they fee themfelves in danger, the ruling paffi on will prevail, and they will fhew a greater love for their liberty, than for their money. The prefent objed of pleafure, or pain, in deed generally ftrikes moft forcibly. Hope, as it refpeds joys in reversion, is a very ftrong, as well as a very pleafing paffion : buty^w, the fear of fuffering the deprivation either of for tune, liberty, or life, will make a deeper im- U 4 preffion. 296 Duty of good fubjebts preffion. Is it then abfurd to exped that thefe paffions, co-operating with reafon, and fupported by the legal claims of the people, will produce the effed defired ? Could we once fee minifters ftand up boldly, and ftem the torrent of corruption, the people are not fo abandoned as to make choice of the means of their own undoing. We muft compromife this matter, for if we do not alter our plan, we fhall be a bankrupt nation at laft. Let us be fenfible, that it is dangerous for the ftate to raife more money by borrowing, unlefs the new debt is to terminate at a certain time. Let us learn what our true fituation is, with refped to the debt. Let us fee clear ly, that if the debt is increafed, the debtor muft become more and more unqualified to pay. To thefe con fi derations let us add well- grounded apprehensions of the dangers and contingences of war ; that there is an enemy near our very doors, who, if he is not repell ed, will bring all into confufion, and. annul the debt ; and if we do not humble him, that he will 'with regard to the public debt. 297 will humble us. In this fituation, is it not rea- fonable to exped, that fuch confequences will be drawn from fuch premifes, as will' con clude in the moft happy, and moft effectual fupport of our country, upon boneft prin ciples ? Could we once be prevailed on to ufe our reafon, and exert our virtue, and not ad a childifh, felfifh part. Could we be induced to confider what calamites mankind are fub jed to, and how to ad under them, we fhould entertain the warmeft expedations of our own fuccefs, if the trial was made at a proper feafon. — If we had no profped of de riving any temporal advantages by decreasing our debt, nor of preventing temporal evils by preventing the increafe of it, I am afraid a fenfe of moral obligation only, would not an fwer the purpofe : and yet thofe muft he fiupid as dirt, who do not difcover that there is a duty to the public incumbent on them, the negled of which muft be attended with pri vate and national evils, and confequently that fome regard is due to our fellow-fubjeds, who 298 Parfimony the beft remedy who are the public, fo far as they are the credi tors in queftion. Farewel. I am yours, &c. LETTER XXIX. To the fame. Madam, YOU muft he fenfible, that notwithftand- ing the great riches of this nation, the debt we labor under is a ponderous burden. Though the principal has been a. little redu ced fince the late war, by means of the reduc tion of intereft, yet the laft ftill devours near one third part of our revenues ; and though we fhould condud ourfelves with great fkill and circumfpedion, fuch a charge muft circum- fcribe our meafures, with regard to war ; and if we ftill indulge a narrow felfiflmefs, it may blaft our blooming glories, and rob us of the means of obtaining a fecure and honorable peace. It egainfi augmenting the public debt. 299 It has been a general received notion amongft political arithmeticians, that we may increafe our national debt to one hundred millions ; but they acknowledge that it muft then ceafe by the debtor becoming bankrupt. It is plain, to the meaneft obferver, that the more the deb? is increafed, the greater the difficulty will be in paying off the leaft part of it. And I be lieve there is no confiderate man who does not forefee, as clearly as any thjng of this nature can be foreseen, that the debt muft fink at laflj| if we go on mortgaging our poffeffions. If the objed mortgaged were to fall into the hands of the mortgagee, as in reafon it ought to do, the mortgager would then exert himfelf to pay off the debt : but the man of land efiate fool- ifhly and iniquitoufly flatters himfelf, that he is under no greater obligation than he who has no land efiate, or indeed than he who has no efiate at all; that is, that he is under no obliga tion. This is contrary to the nature of the compact, it being prefumed that the public, for whofe fupport the money was paid, being conftituted of individuals, thofe individuals having 300 Parfimony the befi remedy having borrowed this money do, upon the principles of common juftice, ftand bound to the lender. Nor is the nature of the thing al tered in the leaft, becaufe many are debtors for their proportion, who are alfo creditors. If my fhare of the public debt comes to 500 /. if I have 5000 /. in the public funds, I am re ally a creditor of the public for no more than 4500 /. If this bufinefs were thus confidered, we might fee thofe whofe fortunes ar© in money, as well as thofe who poflefs land, more for ward to aflift the fiate, and more anxious to prevent the encreafe of the debt. If we do not ftop at feventy five, or eighty millions, where fhall we ftop ? If we go on to ninety, or a hundred millions, there will be the fame reafon, in cafe of war, to run ftill deeper in debt. Though the objed is already of fuch vaft importance, I hope it is not yet in the utmoft danger ; nor the plea of necefftty fuch as will fuperfede a fenfe of moral obli gation, with regard to the right of indivi duals. But if the people and minifiers throw off all fenfe of duty to God and' their country ; or if againfi augmenting the public debt. 301 if ever the debt reaches to ninety, or a hundred millions, at a time of war, the nation will fink under the burden, and even boneft meafures, will not prevent the neceffity of throwing it off. It is a lefs evil that fif ty thoufand fubjeds fhould be reduced to beg gary, than nine millions of people receive the law from an enemy, and with the fubverfion of their conftitution, give up their liberty and re ligion. If we refolve, in due time, we may eafily avoid both thefe calamities. It Is no trivial concern, and I fhall think it a happy prefage of the favor of heaven to this nation, if we enter early into the ferious confideration of it. We are not fure we fhall be able to run deeper in debt, to provide for the exigences of the ftate. There is too much reafon to be lieve that men, in private life, are generally overtaken in their fins, though they intend to repent ; fo we may eafily commit a fatal error in calculation, if we indulge ourfelves in the crime of procrafiinating the confideration of the public welfare. It is hard to fay what fums 302 Parfimony the befi remedy fums we fhall be able to borrow ; but the que ftion is, if it will not be greatly for the advan tage of the proprietors of the public funds, to anticipate the general intentions of the legifla- ture, for the fafety of the nation ; and even to importune their reprefantatives, for the liberty of paying their quota's annually, for the current fervice, or at leaft in aid of it, ex- elufive of the prefent taxes ? Is it poffible the people in general can be ignorant that it is their interefi to fubmit to heavy taxes, rather than leave the nation un provided with great fleets, "and great armies ? Every man of a landed eftate muft fee, that if we are beaten, and driven out of our trade, his land will become of fo much lefs value. Where commerce does not florifh, there land will be worth but little to the owner. Nor can the proprietors of the funds, in particu lar, he infenfible of the danger of plunging their debtor fo deep, that it may be impoffible to emerge. Is it not more eligible to give fif teen or twenty millions extraordinary, if the ftate againft augmenting the public debt. 303 ftate fhould, in the courfe of four or five years, require fo much, if by this means we can fe- cure eighty millions, than lend fifteen or twenty at the great hazard of lofing ninety or an hun dred millions ? Befides, the Value of the eighty will be more than equal to the hundred; for by preventing the increafe of the debt, we prevent the Increafe of taxes for payment of the intereft on fuch debt, whilft every thing we confume will be cheap, in proportion as the taxes in general are light. When propofitions of an important nature are treated in a trifling manner, it muft give pain to every thinking man : it feems to prove that we are determined to exert our ingenuity to deceive, and to undo ourfelves. I am afhamed to hear fome men, of reputed underftanding, talk wantonly, and contradid themfelves. They tell us, " the fum of eighty millions, at tc three per cent, intereft, is really no greater " a debt than forty millions at fix per cent." ; and yet they confefs that the debt is too large, and that part of it ought to be paid off as foon as poffible. They fay further, " if the ftate " fhould 9 04 Pdlfimony the befi remecty " fhould be ever necefiitated to make ufe of " the intereft of this money, the principal will ,f probably ceafe to be of any value". Sure ly then the greater the principal is, the great er muft be the fufferings of thofe who lofe it : or the more interefi there is to pay, the more precarious fuch intereft will become. When we paid fix per cent, per annum for money, It was often faid, "if we come to owe fixty " millions we fhall be undone "; indeed the intereft, at that rate, would have eaten no the nation, and yet we feem now to be in a very bad fituation. I will endevor to keep within the compafs of what I comprehend : I have no inclination to enter into a detail of all the evils that may befal us on account of this debt, nor of thofe which have befallen us already on this account. It is the cuftom of mankind to have but little reverence for what they clearly understand. Our debt is involved in myftery to thofe who will not give themfelves the trouble to think about it : and the reafon of this is, that a right comprehenfion of the cafe may open their eyes againft againft augmenting the public debt. 3 o| againft their will; it may oblige them to re duce their expences; and therefore they will not be undeceived '. Abftraded from all party -influence, private opinion, or favorite paffion, let us confider it calmly; and we fhall foort difcover very great danger if we increafe our debt ; we ought therefore to ufe extraordinary, though not ille gal methods to raife money : and let us do it whilft our circumftances will admit of think ing coolly and deliberately. Men are apt to fee things in different lights, at different times s let us not truft ourfelves in what manner we mail think or act under a preffing necessity, " Lead us not into temptation," ought to be our prayer in political, as well as religious con cerns. The caufes which have prevented our pay* ing off any confiderable fums in time of peace* feem to make ftrongly, if it can be prevented, againft increafing the debt in time of war. Amongft various motives which have occafion - ed an indifference to what amount this debt Is carried, fome have reafoned themfelves into a X belief} 306 Parfimony the beft remedy belief, that they fhould be undone, if they were under a necessity of receiving their money; and imagine, the deeper the public is in debt, the better fecurity they fhall have of its remain ing their debtor : and in one fenfe they are certainly in the right. It has been alfo thought a myftery, if eighty millions Were paid off, how the proprie tors of the money could difpofe of it. People reafon as if the whole would be paid into the hands of individuals in gold and filver. As there is now no borrower without a lender, nor feller without a buyer, they apprehend that feven- ty or eighty millions of money Would become a dead ftock on hand. They do not confider that there would not be a fingle fhilling more money in the nation than there is, though the fums depofited in the bank might circulate. Eighty millions is about one tenth part of the computed value of our national ftock; and though for the very reafon that great conveni ence accrues to many, by having their money in the public funds, many might fuffer inconve niences, for a time, by its being paid into theiV hands 3 againft augmenting the public debt. 307 hands ; yet it is obvious, that as private men, be their fortunes ever fo large, where induf try, fkill; and commerce are encouraged, em ploy their money ; a greater number of people, under the fame circumftances, may keep their Whole ftock in motion alfo, though with fome change of Objeds. If the debt was paid off, money would be at a cheaper intereft to individuals ; thofe who now pay five, might obtain it for three per cent, confequently more money would be thrown into trade, notwithftanding it is ima gined there is already too much. Debts would be paid off by lords and gentlemen, which are now tranfmitted down as an incumbrance on their posterity. Houfes would be built, which have now no exiftence, not even in imagination. Arts and mechanics, of every kind, would be encouraged more. New kinds of induftry, and new employment would arife. Our lands Would be more improved and cultivated. All confumptions would be cheaper, becaufe the taxes which now raife two and a half millions for the payment of interefi, would be annihi- X z lated. 308 Parfimony the befi remedy lated. Who can doubt that we fhould, upon the whole, be a much happier, and indeed a much freer people ! But as this event is at a great distance, we may purfue our plan for preventing the increafe of the debt, without lofing a moment's time about what part fhall be paid off, or when. I am fuppofing a war, and that it will call for large fupplies ; and I take for granted, of the two evils, the leaft is to prevent the augmen tation of the debt, by raifing money for the annual current fervice within the year : or by fome method of raifing money on lives, which may not affed the old flocks. It is now a long time that we have continu ed to raife contributions on the ftate, by the large fums we have received in intereft, and our expences have been proportioned to our income : but we do not find that private vices are public benefits ; for by this expenfive way of life, fuch advantages have not reverted to the ftate, as to increafe its power, or even to enable it to fupport itfelf on the fame plan, On the contrary, the public is poor, therefore we againft augmenting the public debt. 309 we muft abridge our expence s, and pay contri butions to the ftate, inftead of receiving them. If the ftate is not relieved, it muft be undone: and individuals will no longer be able to fup port their affluence and fplendor. Both muft fall from that pinnacle of earthly felicity to which it has pleafed heaven to exalt us. Whether you efteem my advice or not, you muft acknowledge, that neceffity is the mother of invention : it teaches us to call forth our vir tues, and to exercife our paffions in the noblefi manner: it inftruds the politician to agree with the divine, in the practice as well as in the theory of virtue : in a word, it points out to us how to recover the vigop of our conftitu tion, and to regain our reputation as a wife and virtuous people. Let us liften to the voice of reafon ; and if we do bleed, grant, 0 gracious heaven, our blood may not he fpilt in vain ! What could a meffenger from heaven, with all the energy of feraphic zeal, do more than addrefs himfelf to our reafon ? Shall we not be induced to ad fairly and honefily towards each other ? Ought X 3 not 3 1 o Parfimony the beft remedy not all parties to unite for their mutual defence, to fupport the ftate in the moft effedual man: ner, without augmenting the debt ? Thofe who have property in the public funds, ought to think of preferving themfelves ; and thofe who have no property there, muft ad from the com mon love of ' jufiice, of 'their friends, and of their country. In the prefent method of borrowing pf money 'd men, we feem to ad as an unfkil- ful phyfician towards his patient, who, requiring a vein to be opened, to let out a proper quan tity of blood in order to his cure, only pricks him with needles; and though as much blood if- fues as prevents his immediate death, yet there is no profped of recovery from a malignant feT ver, or any chance of removing the morbid humor which preys upon him. But methinks I hear a funding politician, with a folemn voice pronounce, " Sir, you tc write like an honefi man ; but you do not un- " derfiand the ftate of your own country ; your C( remedy is worfe than the difeafe : it will put " things out of their courfe : let us get out of " the quarrel, or not get into it, or we muft " borrow : againft augmenting the public debt. 3 1 1 " borrow : loans, and the finking fund, will " anfwer all the purpofes of the ftate : we " fhall, in good time, pay off as much of the u debt as is neceffary, without the trial of fuch Reafon and common fenfe tell us, that it is impious to complain of provi dence, that we have not five difhes of meat on our table; but it js a miferable thing not to have 314 Parfimony the befi remedy have any food to eat. Such has been the cafe of thofe who are prodigal in private life : fuch may be the fate of many who are not prodigal, if they negled the means of their own prefer vation. If a tenth part of this ifland was tributary to the French, what numbers would hazard their lives to repel them ? And fhall we not make the fmall facrifice of retrenching our expences, with a view to preferve a tenth part of the pro perty of our fellow-fubjeds ? Will this genera tion leave their annals ftained with fo foul a blot as to negled it ? Can we anfwer it before God? Is not every individual, who fees and compre hends a propofition, to he good, good for his coun try, good to individuals, good upon the whole, an- fwerable to God, as well as his country, if he with-holds his affent to it ? Shall we run the rifle of reducing fo great a number of our fel low-fubjeds to a worfe condition than they might think themfelves in, under the moft ar bitrary government ? We have feen in a late inftance, how much the fpirit of benevolence aduates men, where motives againft augmenting the public debt. 315 motives of common intereft are joined with thofe of humanity. Of all the various diftreffes created by the tremendous earthquake at Lif- bon, we do not hear of one fingle merchant or trader, native or foreigner, who has taken the advantage of the laws to enter into any.profe- cutions to 'cue deftrudion of his neighbor. We fee that the good fenfe and humanity of thefe trading people, and their juft apprehenfions of common advantages, arifing from a general fup port of a particular community, restrain them from any meafures deftrudive of their fellow-ci tizens. I hope this nation will never depart frorn, fuch principles, nor adopt a doctrine, as fome private perfons have done in their writings and difcourfe^ as if national policy ought to predo minate, and that moral obligation is out of the queftion ; taking it for granted; in this cafe, that the community in general would derive great advantages from the fufferings of indivi duals. Whether they are ferious in this argu ment, or not, we ought to guard againft the evils which may really happen. As 3 1 6 Parfimony the befi remedy As a free people, we maintain the rights and properties of every member of the com munity. The time was when we engaged in a bloody war, for the fake of a few individu als, founded, perhaps, upon a well-told tale, which by touching our native generofity, roufed us to arms, though we were fure it would coft us milliofis of money, and a great effufion of blood. And fhall we now ad fo inconfiftently with our charader, as to negled the means of fupporting fo many thoufands of our fellow- fubjeds, and God only knows, with them we may well include ourfelves, that is, the wfook community. Do we maintain, that it is better for us to run the greater hazard of thoufands being in volved in ruin, with all the dreadful confe quences that may attend fuch an event, than run the fmaller rifk of the evils which will probably attend the feveral attempts to, change the old fyftem of running in debt ? If the peo ple are determined it fhall fucceed, it will fue- ceed. It muft be granted, if fuch attempts fhould not prevail, the ftate wi\\ faffer, that is, the dgaikft augmenting the public debt. 3 1^ the people will fuffer, by expofing their own weaknefs, or their irrefolution in not doing that which is fo expedient to be done. But what can fuch fufferings amount to ? They will fhew the danger of the final iffue of running in debt in the stronger light ? If it is urged, that without making the trial, we can fairly and clearly difcover it to be impracticable : or if before we begin, the i flues of a war fhould be fuch, as to render the grand point fo important^ as to afford no room even for the moft falutary experiments of this kind : in fuch cafe we muft provide for the immediate call, and leave the reft to providence, referring the trial of men's virtue and pecuniary abilities to a calmer hour, when the din of arms ceafes to disturb our repofe. But I apprehend, when ne- ceflity comes like an armed man, then is the proper time to try. Whatever the event may be, you are hot to imagine I am afraid, for my own perfon : whether the fhip finks or not, J am but a paf- fenger, but methinks it would be glorious to have the prophet's fate, if like him I could ward 3 1 8 Additional taxes for the Current fervice ward off the danger from others. Security is man's greateft enemy : frequent events of my life have taught me to think fo * and I cannot fupprefs my concern for the welfare of my country ! Fdrewel. I am yours, &c. LETTER XXX. To the fame. Madam, ME N whofe minds are formed to a relifri of the great concerns of life, fuch as regard the welfare of their fellow-creatures, or the happinefs of their fellow-fubjeBs, will ever attend to the political fiate of their country : but to make fuch fpeculatidns conducive to the end propofed, we muft bring them home, and adapt them to particular times and circumftan ces ; and fuppofing they happen to be of no ufe to the public, it cannot be faid the time is loft to the individual, with regard to his attempt to do good to fociety. If men of the greateftprobity ¦effential to our well being. 3 1 9 probity and experience are often divided in their opinions, thofe who have not fuch oppor tunities of knowledge, may be eafily acquit ted, if, in their honeft refearches, they mif- take the true intereft of their fellow-fubjeds. Politicians, like other men, often take prin ciples for granted, which are not true, and confequently the whole fabric of reafoning which is built on them falls to the ground : and feriblers of every denomination are as apt to grow enamoured of their thoughts, and blind to the defeds of them ; but ftill the na tive integrity of the mind ever leads us to de fire, if not to pradice, what we think is good. Knaves, as well as men of probity, in private, as well as in public life, intrude their thoughts upon us, but we are more indebted for our freedom, to the liberty of the prefi, than almoft to any other circumftance. It is true, mercenary writers, or enemies to truth, often abufa this liberty, but it is not the lefs valuable to honeft men who fupport it. Nor are we to condemn haftily : every day's experience proves; that things which once ap peared 320 Additional taxes for the Current fervice peared romantic and impradicable, are really carried into execution. Opportunity makes the philofopher, the politician, the faldier, and the good fubjebt, as well as the knave; nor do we know our own ftrength till we are put to the trial. It is a great point gained to know what is right to be done : but I am fenfible it is not enough to be in the right, unlefs we are fo in time ; nor to plan good projeds unlefs abilities are found to execute them. Whilft men are governed fo much by fancy and opini on, and make themfelves the flaves of their favorite paffionS; it is impoffible to reafon them into acting right ; yet ftill the power of perfuafion is great, and a judicious mixture of it, joined to motives of intereft; I mean inte reft derived from confiderations of publick good* fometimes operate in a wonderful manner. Our prefent fituation requires great fkill and vigilance, with able heads, and active hands. Our misfortunes, as thofe of ages paft have often done, arife in fome degree from national pride: in the height of our enjoyments, we do not difcover danger 'till it is at our very doors, effential to our well being. 3 ^ l doors, or we treat it as a ministerial bugbear. And as with regard to moral duties, we for get the uncertainty of life, fo in a political view of things, we do not confider that liber ty, wealth, and power, are precarious things, and fubjed to many and great changes and re volutions. Nations as well as individuals being vain,' and flatterers of themfelves;, feldom form a true idea of their own. numbers and riches, or in other. words of their ftrength. The French pretend they have eighteen millions of people; 'tis well if they have twelve, and they have a vaft extent of dominion, and an arbitrary government, which muft be fupported by a military force, or by means of numerous armies. Our government not being arbitrary, and our frontier the wa ter, though We have a great extent of it, does not require fo many men in arms. We have often reckoned nine millions of fouls in Eng land only ; but we generally deceive ourfelves in fuch calculations: I fuppofe however we may fafely compute the number of people in all Great Britain to be eight, or at leaft feven millions Y and 322 Additional taxes for the current fervice and half. The annual expence at which they live of late years, can hardly be reckoned lefs than- fix pounds, which amounts to forty five millions. Let us compute that the additional fum which may be neceffary to carry on a war, will be at leaft four millions, which is near an eleventh part of our fuppofed income. Let this fum be raifed on heads, or houfes, or part of it on fuch kinds of luxury as I mentioned in my twenty-fecond letter; or by any other means which the wifdom of the legiflature may dired ; in any cafe, to be able to pay fuch an additional fum, the poor muft increafe their labor j and the rich muft decreafe their ex- pences. If the rich and poor go hand in hand, and aflift each other, neither of them will be impoverished by what the foldier or the failor, who are fighting for the good of the whole may confume, if under proper direc tion. We complain of heavy taxes, but many might fare fumptuoufly on a quarter part of what they fpend \ And what do we fuffer com pared with the mifery and opprefiion which prevail effential to our well being. 323 prevail under defpotic governments in moft parts of the world ! Allowing for the incapaci- ty of one part of the ifland to pay its due pro portion, and alfo for the indigence of many of our laboring people, let us fuppofe that all perfons who do not depend on manual labor, may accommodate themfelves in time of war, to a ninth or an eighth part lefs expence than they now make. And what would be the confe quence of this ? Whilft we declined our expen five pleafures, and fent cooks to the army to prepare common food for the foldier ; and fu- pernumerary footmen as recruits : whilft the horfes we could well fpare, were fent to eafe the laborious march, and the mufician to ele vate the jovial mariner : in whatever manner our luxury or pomp were abridged, we fhould neverthelefs enjoy many pleafures, and even enlarge the fcene of our rational delights. Thofe who were ufed to fpend their time in fquan- dering money, might be a little mortified ; but what could we fuffer in general, by thefe tri fling inconveniences, compared with the calami ties of an unfuccefsfiul war ; the effeds of a pre- Y 2 carious 324 Additional taxes for the current fervid carious peace ; the annihilation of the property in the public debt ; or, laftly, the extindion of the glory of this nation, its liberty ? We are not yet reduced to any fatal extre mity ; but every thing that is dear to us, may 'ere long be at flake : and fhall we not apply ourfelves to confider maturely what is beft to be done ? If we do not extend our concern to pofierity, it will be impoffible to exift long : it feems to be as true in political as in religious concerns, that the prefent, abftraded from the future, cannot render us happy. " Let us eat " and drink, for to-morrow we die," is a max im which can afford but flender confolation to individuals, much lefs to a nation. Amidft a profufion of all the neceffaries, and even the luxuries of life, fhall we reafon ourfelves into a belief, that we cannot abridge our expences ; and chufe to hazard all for ever, rather than foxegofome of the -pleafures of luxury for a fhort time ? It feems to me, that whilft the money is chiefly fpent among ourfelves, We have refour- ces whence we can annually draw four ox five millions effential to our well being. 325 millions more than the ordinary taxes : the great point is how to come at them. When a people are accuftomed to pay, in a manner which for the moft part is imperceptible ; and already think they have gone as far as they can go in this way, will they ftill accommodate themfelves to the payment of further and more confiderable fums, in a more dired method ? Will they fubmit to fuch augmentation in fuch a manner ? If the augmentation is necef fary, in what other manner can it be paid ? I am now fuppofing, and I really believe what I tell you, that with oeconomy we are able to carry on a vigorous war : that without interfer ing with our old taxes, by an extraordinary en couragement of induftry, we may keep up fuch a brifk. circulation in every part of thefe king doms, that the money which the people pay in fuch additional tax, may fpeedily revert to them, in proportion as they make a claim to it for the produce of their labor. Nothing can be more demonftrable, than that the hufaandman and manufacturer muft feed and clothe the foldier and the failor. Pay Y 3 them 326 Additional taxes for the current fervice them for it, and they will do it chearfully, and in the iffue as chearfully contribute their extra ordinary labor towards the extraordinary charge of fupporting war. What may not be done by the force of induftry, where there is a fruitful foil to cultivate, and materials to ma- nufadure ? Does not the moft tranfient thought of war include the idea of extraordinary labor as well as uncommon hazard? The peafant may grumble, and fo may the lord, but has not the foldier the moft difficult part to ad ? Whatever taxes are required they muft be paid : and if fuch inducements to labor are offered, as will keep people above beggary, is there any thing in this light to fear from war ? If war is not attended with fuch violence and oppreffion on the fubjed, as prevents his in duftry, or cuts him off from the means of reaping the fruits of it, he will work ; and as foon as he receives the price of his labor, he will pay his tax, and be ready to receive the fame money again. New hufbandmen, and new manufadurers, will fpring up from ne cessity. In urgent cafes which create a great call effential to our well being. . 3 27 call for men, in fome countries we even fee women perform the drudgery of the field. Pray God this may be our cafe, rather than fubmit to an inglorious peace ! It is far better to cook your own meat, as I have known fome great ladies do occafionally, to divert themfelves, and fend your cook-maid to till your lands, than let matter, miftrefs, and fervant, receive the Jaw from any power on earth. Would you imagine that four millions of labouring people, men, women and children, at only a halfpenny a day for their additional labor, working three hundred days in a year, it amounts to two millions and a half? Perhaps we have not fo great a number of people ca pable of labor ; but many thoufands of them can earn a penny, nay fix-pence or a fhilling a day extraordinary, if they pleafe, and if we find them work. The great complaint of ma ny mafters is, that labor is fo dear, a man may earn in three days what will fupport him the whole week ; the confequence of which is, that the remainder of his time is fpent in idlenefs or debauchery. I queftion if this be Y 4 fo 328 Additional taxes for the current fervice fo true as fome reprefent it ; but it is certain that examples of virtue among the rich are be come very neceffary, to encourage industry amongft the poor. Necefifity will work won ders ! If from great poverty great riches arife, by the mere force of induftry ; furely poverty may be prevented by the fame means. What do we ftand in need of from other countries to carry on war ? Mafts from Poland, and oak plank from Dantzic ; fome additional quantities of iron from Rufifia and Sweden; hemp and fome flax from Ruffia, and falt- petre from India. Except thefe few, we have all the neceffaries for war within ourfelves. We can even make fak-petre upon an emer gency ; and we have lately revived the art of preparing buff-leather, which by negligence we had loft for fome ages. And here I muft inform you, that we are obliged for this dif- covery, as we fhall probably be for many others, to the late eftablifhed fociety for the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce. If effential to our well being. 3 29, If therefore we want fo little from abroad; and can gain fo much by additional labor afi home, what have we to fear ? But indeed this is not the only objed : I have already urged, in my twenty- fourth letter on tea, tho neceffity of retrenching our expenees, not only if we really mean to carry on a war, but if we mean to be a free and independent people. And what do you imagine the faving of three-pence a day, which is only £ 4:11:3a year, for half a million of people, will amount to ? 'Tis no lefs than £2,281,250. You fee here how eafily the fum of £4,781,250 might be faved and gained towards carrying on war, provided this fum be colleded at an eafy ex- pence ; and if we allow for what our former revenues may fuffer, by any diminution of con fumption, we may ftill call it above four mil lions. In. order to carry fuch a plan into execution, care muft be taken, where money is fcarce, to introduce it in greater quantities ; and in ftead of procrafiinating payments, to anticipate them. Money may thus circulate from private 330 Additional taxes for the current fervice vate hands to the public, and be returned to private hands again, every year. Some pretend we have yet a large currency in every county : I believe they are miftaken ; and if they are, it is as eafy to be accounted for, as that we do not drink the tea of China without paying for it, in filver or gold, to the Chinefe, the French, the Dutch, Swedes, Danes, and Pruf- fians. The general rule of eftimating the prices of things, is by the quantity of money in a nati on ; and as moft things are dear with us, com pared to fome other nations, therefore one might conclude that we have a great abun dance of money. But I am afraid this is as little the real cafe, as that our numbers of in habitants are increafed with our increafe of commerce. A great circulation of paper- cur rency, may make it appear as if we were rich in gold and filver, without being really fo. But granting we have gold and filver enough for the prefent circulation, it does not follow that there will be enough in all places of the king dom, if taxes are augmented for the fupport of effential to our well being. 331 of a war. If paper is not fo well received in remote counties, great part of the payments for what they fupply, mould be made in gold and filver coin, and as little of it drawn from thence as poffible. Whether it were money, or paper-currency, fo paid, it would foon re vert to the public purfe ; but if the gold and filver coin already on the fpot, or which "may be afterwards paid, were drawn in large pro portions out of fuch a county, there would be danger of ftagnation. Without money the laborer will never work chearfully : there is a magic power in gold and filver : the brifk cir culation of it is a great fpur to induftry, and therefore great care fhould be taken to make quick payments for what the inhabitants of fuch counties fupply ; but to procraftinate payments in the manner pradifed of late years in this nation, can end in nothing but fhame, diflrefs and ruin, in public as well as private concerns. Farewel. I am yours, &c. LET- I 332 Means of raifing an additional tax- la E T T E R XXXI. To the. fame. Madam, F you was to tell your coachman to drive on before he had put to his horfes, might not one fuppofe you had lofi your wits. Let us firft think of one means, at leaft, to pro vide for the current fervice, in the moft effec tual manner, and without diftrefling our fel low-fubjeds, before we calculate on the ad vantages of raifing the fupplies for fuch fervice in a dired view. Plate is confidered by many as. an, article of luxury, if it be fo, it is juft as ufeful to. the ftate, as the fending filver out to purchafe tea is hurtful ; therefore I wonder that any duty on the making it was ever confented to by the legiflature. But if at any time it fhould be neceffary to know the riches of the king dom, for the current fervice. 333 &orn, in plate, and to raife a tax upon it for that purpofe, we may confider, that a half penny per ounce on twelve millions value, which I fuppofe to be near the real a- mount, at five fhillings per ounce, would raife the fum of one hundred thoufand pounds. If it is adopted as a maxim, that what ever fupplies become neceffary, the peo ple feel the burthen lefs by taxing articles of confumption, that they may pay in fuch a manner as is imperceptible, plate had better be confidered as fipecie, not taxed, but kept in- tirely as a body of referve for emergencies. But when fuch emergencies happen, I fee no more harm in converting the richefi plate into fhill ings, than in altering the form of a fine gar den, which my grandfather delighted in, and flattered himfelf that no future age could pof- fibly exceed it in tafte. So far from destroy ing the fpirit of trade and induftry, though it may check this particular branch for a time, thefe changes will fet the artificer to work with frefh vigor, when the neceffity, for which it was taxed, ceafes. And why may not the in genious 334 Means of raifing an additional tax genious manufadurer of glafs ox porcelain take his turn in furnifhing utenfils for the elegance and parade of the moft fplendid table ? We may even garnifh glafs or ebony, or porcelain with filver, without employing great quantities of it. There cannot be a more ridiculous fu- perftition, than the preferving a piece of filver in the fhape it was left us by our forefathers, merely on that account ; nor a greater abfurdi- ty, in a commercial country, than to hoard up a dead article, unlefs it be as a referve in time of need. If the good people of this ifland would open their eyes to their true intereft, fo far from being repugnant to the converting their plate into coin, if war fhould render additional taxes neceffary, and create a call for a greater circu lation of money, than the prefent currency of the kingdom can bear, they ought to rejoice that they have fuch a refource. Were only half our plate to be coined, and if fuch half amounts to no more than five or fix millions, I am perfuaded it would put the people in a very good capacity of paying three or four mil lions for the current fervice. 335: lions annually, for two or three years fuccef- fively, without any burthen ; and the moiety taken in time, may anfwer a better purpofe than a greater portion of it, when we are pref- fed hard. By taking only half the quantity, pieces of plate of the moft coftly workmanfhip may be preferved to the laft, and thus we may make provifion even for thofe who have a fondnefs for toys, 'till being weaned by de grees, we may at length refolve to look to the main chance, and not regard any minute confideration. If it pleafes heaven to chaftife us with the calamities of war for more than three or four years, which I truft it will not, we muft ex tend our calculation ; but when you confider ferioufly what the dangers of war are, let it be ever fo well conduded, you will agree with me in opinion that nothing will afford a strong er proof of a puerile fondnefs of baubles, com pared with the importance of the objeds in queftion ; nor will any thing give a clearer de- monftration that we are infatuated, than being repug- 33"6 Means of raifing an additional tax repugnant to coin our plate, fhould a vigorous profecution of war require it. Silver has the pre-eminence of glafs only from its intrinfic value ; and the time I appre hend is near, when it may be neceffary to fhow it has a value fuperior to glafs or porce lain. We may change the form of many a maffy heap and yet not starve the filverfmith : but fuppofing he did fuffer for a time, it will be made up to him afterwards ; and fhall we negled the means of preventing the whole na tion being involved in diftrefs, for the fake of a few filverfmiths ? We may temporize, and ufe expedients which feem more gentle, and more agreeable to the humor of the people ; but I queftion much if we fhall really find any remedy fo little bur thenfome, or fo efficacious. The coining plate may appear to individuals as no real acquifition of wealth to them j yet with regard to the fupport of a war, on which the welfare of thofe individuals depends,, it is to all intents and purpofes as much a frefh fupply, as if the emperor for the current fervice. 337 f mperor of China was to return us fo many millions in filver as we have, for fome years paft, fent into his country for the purchafe of the leaves of his fhrubs. If you afk me " what impressions will be received by the fovereigns of other kingdoms, whofe opinion of our wealth may be the mea- s fure of their friendfhip ? " I muft obferve; ' that the richer we appear, the higher will be the demands made on us for whatever affift- ance they give, and the more will they think of dividing the fpoils of our country ; and therefore inftead of appearing richer, it is fome times the policy of ftates not to appear fo rich as they are: well- caft iron, or tempered fteel, will beft anfwer our purpofe for the prefent. Coining our plate will certainly be one means to open our eyes, and of leading us gently into a lefs extravagant method of living. What could fuch coinage prove more than this, that we had converted a vaft quantity of filver into utenfils, and now thought it conve nient to reconvert it into fhillings ? This has been done here in former reigns ; it faved this Z land 338 Means of raifing an additional tax land no longer fince than King Willi am' 1 reign ; and it has been pradifed in all the kingdoms of the world, upon particular occa- fions. I am now arguing as if fuch a flep will be really neceffary ; and I am perfuaded that this will be the moft eafy and familiar method to invigorate all our warlike meafures, at the fame time that its tendency will prevent a defirubtive augmentation of the public debt. It will be yet more happy, if we can find money by any means which fhall demonftrate the people's having a true fenfe of their condition ; and among thefe, tho' I do not like lotteries, yet there may be futh as will produce fome good to the com munity, though not without a mixture of evil. There is another circumstance of the fame tendency ; but this requires great private benefi cence, as well as national policy. Upon the principles I am now arguing, noblemen, gen tlemen, and perfons of great property, ought to take their meafures that the inhabitants of their refpedive counties, according to the fi tuation and produce of them, may fupply due proportions of what the navy and army re quire ; for the current fervice. 339 quire ; not in the light of jobbs, to load the ftate, which has long been an infamous prac tice, but really to enable the people to pay their taxes, and relieve the ftate. Such vigor ous fteps in time of war, Would, in a great meafure anfwer all the good purpofes of arbi trary power, without the curfas which gene rally attend it. Does this require a romantic height of virtue ? a few men of fenfe and fpirit, in their counties, might put things in fuch a method. Virtue and fenfe it does require, more perhaps than has been fafhibnable for fome time paft ; but if the occafion calls for fuch virtue, fhall we diftruft ourfelves ? Shall we give up the very attempt ? Shall we reafon ourfelves into a belief that we are ten times more foolifh and vicious than we really are ? — Let us not grow impatient: thofe who are ready to ferve their country, muft not be de ficient in one of the moft effential proofs of public-love. We are apt to complain of our fel low-fubjeds, when we want refolution, confiancy, and perfeverance ourfelves : when we meet a repulfe, we forget that it is an effen- Z 2 tial 340 Means of raifing an additional tart tial property of true courage to rally our forces. But, Madam, if you refolve to do fome thing that fhall immortalize your name; if, in confequence of any national meafure, fuch as I am now fuppofing, the laborious farmer, or induftrious manufadurer of your town or village, fhould be in any diftrefs, lend them money : you will be repaid with ample inter eft ; for if they are really laborious and induf trious, they will fet more hands to work, to enable themfelves, and thofe they employ, by the force of additional induftry, to pay their additional tax; and when this extraordinary demand ceafes, if they do it not before, they will as certainly repay you. In the mean while you are doing one of the nobleft ads of beneficence, and confulting for the fecu rity of your property, even for generations to come. Do not deceive yourfelf; you muft fall or fiorifh with the ftate. 'Tis criminal to think of building trophies to vanity on the ruins of other mens fortunes ; nor in the iffue will you be able to do it. The money we borrow for the current fervice. 341 borrow we muft pay : and you may eafily per ceive that there is much greater danger of your being undone, for want of power and energy in the fiate, than from any real incapacity of in dividuals to fupport it. Thofe who have common fenfe muft fee this : thofe who are honeft will not hefitate to ad on juft principles : and thofe who have any love for their children; will ad the part of ten der parents, and take proper meafures to fecure their poffefiions to them upon a folid founda tion. And which do you imagine is the moft practicable means, to obtain this end? To in creafe the riches of the nation by inducing the laborer and mechanic to work a little more, and the rich to fpend a little lefs ; or to go on in the fame vile track of mortgaging your lands to foreigners ? You are fenfible we owe al ready great fums abroad as well as at home ; and if the public is engaged, you are engaged. Let us ad honefily ; this is the fair ftate of the cafe. Do you exped to remain in fecurity and affluence, unlefs you make provifion for that fecurity and affluence ? You muft pay Z 3 thofe 342 Means of raifing an additional tax thofe Who fight for you ; and not leave thofe who have lent their money to the public, ex pofed to want 2nd mifery. Our fecurity is in the valor of failors and foldiers, and in the means of fupporting them to repel our ene mies. Would to God that fome experiment were fairly tried, that we might ^ if we have virtue and fkill enough to quicken induftry for the purpofes I am now recommending; to check the growth of luxury; to reap the ge nuine fruits of fuch induftry, and, at the fame time, promote the caufe of liberty and religion ; none of which are, or I believe ever will be, effeded by our prefent method of running in debt. On the contrary, a loaded and diftrefled ftate affords the stronger temptation to plunder the public ; as great expences in private life are generally attended with great corruption. We barter the reverfion of heaven itfelf to gratify our vices ; and, like a prodigal heir, fell alfo the reverfion of our paternal inheritance : to pleafe ourfelves, for the prefent moment, we run for the current fervice. 343 run the hazard of intailing flavery and penury on our defcendants for ever. This you will fay is the dark fide of the fcene, and I grant it : but does it not exhibit a darker profped, to fuppofe a people have no vir tue nor common fenfe? Is not this a great in dignity to fome ; and will it not confirm others in folly and vice ? Mankind have a native greatnefs of foul, which may be wrought upon if proper means are employed. If the rich are taxed, in proportion to their riches, the poor will not deny their fhare of labor, but con- pur in every reafonable meafure. Obedience to the legiflative power, is the foundation of government ; and who is fo fiu pid as not to know that the happinefs of every individual depends on the protedion he re ceives, and the means he affords for the main tenance of that protedion ? If you tell me this is being too abfirabted for the apprehenfions of the vulgar, I afk your pardon, I think an eafy method may be ufed, not only to make them comprehend it, but to fubmit to it alfo : at the fame time I am fenfible we muft foothe the fa- Z 4 vorite 344 Means of raifing an additional tax vorite paffions, and prevailing inclinations, of a people. Even defpotic princes are often obli ged to have recourfe to the gentle arts of per fuafion. A difinterefted adminiftration, fuch as can give proof of their integrity, and mean to preferve the public, not dissipate the public treafure to favor corruption, and enrich a venal tribe at all events : fuch an adminiftra tion will convince every unprejudiced perfon, and confequently engage the confidence of the people, that the additional burthen vvhich may be impofed, is only for the fupport of a necef fary war, and with a view to relieve the peo ple, when peace fhall be restored ? The great point is to engage their confidence, that they mean what they fay, and will be true to their word. And if the people are a little impoverifaed by war, to whom, and of what would they complain ? If we judge from what we fee, wars are as unavoidable as earthquakes. A ha bit of 'virtuous induftry' will foon restore riches in time of peace : but no human wifdom, in one ftate only, can prevent wars. The im- prove- for the current fervice. 345 provements of nations, and the wifdom as well as folly of administrations, will draw on refent- ments, or excite the avarice of ambitious neighbors. Men of reflexion fopn balance in their thoughts, which of the two is the greater evil, though they do not always exert themfelves to ad up to what they believe to be right in it felf. If war muft be fupported, fomething fhould be done foon to prevent the augmenta tion of the debt, ox foon ox late, it certainly will fall under its own weight. Many of us now alive have feen a great national debt wiped out with a fpunge, in an arbitrary country ; and many thoufands ruined by a South-faa dream in a free fiate. We cannot determine what evils will attend our going farther in a road, which, to all human appearance, will ter minate in defiruction, with regard to the debt in queftion. If we unite to protect every mem ber of the community, we become invincible. Virtue, courage, and liberty, are infeparable companions; and fo are vice, cowardice, and fiavery. But if we purfue meafures destruc tive 346 Means of raifing an additional tax tive of the public debt, we difunite ; we violate common juftice ; and without any real augmentation of our riches, we rob the innocent, plunder the guiltlefs, and intail beggary on thoufands. The beft affurance that we fhall conquer our enemies abroad, is to fupport ourfelves at home . Who that loves his country, will not exert himfelf for fo generous a purpofe ? Who that wifhes well to the governing part of the nation, will not be mortified to fee minifters involved in difficulties and diftreffes, for want of mo ney ? And if it fhould ever happen that mini fters become honeft, and mean nothing but the public good ; if the people cry out for fuch mi nifters, and they are fent to them as it were from heaven, how ftrange a part fhall we ad, if we oppofa them ; by grafping at prefent lucre we invite our own perdition ! As to the encreafe of our circulation by coining plate, who does not fee the ad vantages of quick payments, and a brifk circulation, oppofed to the calamitous ef feds of tardy payments? There is a neighboring for the current fervice. 347 boring potentate, whofe revenues are not large, and yet he fupports a vaft army, almost by the mere force of punctuality, and a quick circula tion. This prince is an instance what great things can be done by the force of oeconomy 1 How fmall a degree of P ruffian frugality would reftore this nation! O liberty ! can we pretend to offer incenfe at thy fhrine, and thus violate the fanctity of thy altars ! What a relief it would be to us in time of war, to be fure of fupplies by means which render the profped of peace delightful ! But if we ftill continue to run in debt, peace, muft indeed, in fpite of all her charms, look fad and gloomy. With regard to our revenues, it is reafonable to believe that a naval war may be rendered fupportable to us, even if we fhould think it neceffary to give fome affiftance to our allies, which probably muft be the cafe. Every thing is impoffible to thofe who think it fo : and, hu manly fpeaking, nothing is impoffible, when vir tue, courage, fkill, and induftry, are employed to accomplifh it. This is the way to achieve the greateft actions. — Thofe who are much abler to judge 3 4 8 Conclufion and recapitulation. judge of this matter than myfelf, may look ferious, or laugh, but the truth does not feem to be unfathomable to common apprehenfions. Whether thofe who write, or thofe who ha rangue, fucceed in their honeft labors, I hope heaven will aflift us in doing that which is befi, Farewel. I am yours, &c. LETTER XXXII. To the fame. Madam, THE Spaniards have a proverbial fay ing, that " there is but a quarter fo " much nobility and riches in the world as men tc talk of". Quality, or high blood, did once include the ideas of virtue, and of high fen- timents of the dignity of human nature. How far it will hold at prefent, in this or any other country, I cannot precifely determine ; for it feems as if the fame little paffions, and mean in- Conclufion and recapitulation. 349 inclinations, prevail with the great, as among the little vulgar. I would not have you imagine I am writing in defpair, that my own fax is loft to all fenfe of virtue, and therefore I pour out my heart to a woman. But, in good truth, men are now- a-days too biify, or too idle, too much engaged in purfuits of gain, or in purfuits of pleafure, to think much about their country, or even of their God! and therefore it is probable thefe refledions may make near as many female, as male profelytes. Be this as it may, you tempted me to write my journal-letters, and my own genius prompted me to add a treatife on tea*. If various avocations had not di vided my thoughts and time, perhaps both one and the other might have been lefs imperfect : I find myfelf fuperior to any defire with relation to charader as an author, though I can- * The thoughts on tea, &c. Were committed to writing with a defign to be printed, after it was refolved, the journal-letters might be trufted to the world, to judge of as they pleafed. not 350 Conclufion and recapitulation. not curb my inclination to do good to my country and fellow-fubjeds. You will perceive my fyftem of religion is not of the defponding fort, tho' the political view of our dear country feems" to me very bad, and may foon be worfe. You will hear many fay, " nothing but fome very great ca- " lamity will open the eyes of this nation, and k' render us pious and politic"! I apprehend indeed this cannot be done, unlefs we rouze from our luxury, and exert oUr good-fenfe, and bravery, in the ufe of our natural and ac quired advantages. We muft exert our vir tue, that virtue which is infeparable from the true love of liberty; or, I think, we muft bid a long farewel to all our glory! The licentiouf- nefs which waits on peace, creates real diftrefs t but the evils of war are more pungent, and loaded with accumulated calamities; and if diflrefs alone can awaken our minds to a fenfe of duty* war may be of fervice to us, though it muft be confidered as a defperate remedy, for a defperate difeafe, If a Conclufion and recapitulation* 351 If a fondnefs for what is called pleafure ; if the gratifications of our paffions, ftill continue to allure us from our duty, or deter us from even attempting to fupport the ftate upon any other principles than thofe of vile corruption, I folemnly believe fome great evil will befal us : I think it cannot poffibly be avoided ! Are we afraid to amend what we all fee to be wrong, though all of us do not difcover it in the fame degree ? Is not this inviting our ruin, for fear it fhould come unafked ? Fame is but the breath of talkers ; thofe who hope for immortality in a being fuperior to this, can with no propriety be much con cerned, whether they are mentioned after death or not : and we are fure fuch men will be anxious for nothing, fo much as to dis charge their duty to God and their country. But heaven has ordained that the applaufe of our felloW-creatures fhould be fome part of the food of virtue in this tranfitory ftate : and fince the love of a good name is deeply implant ed in the human heart, we muft conclude that 352 Conclufion and recapitulation". that heaven has ordained it for fome wife end. The love of liberty and our country, whilst any fenfe of them remain, will render us a- miable in the fight of each other ; and the want of fuch love, efpecially when we feel the fad effeds of it, will breed horror and contempt of each other. He who wears in his breaft the heart of a man, loves his fellow- creatures. But tho' he dares face death, he is ftill a coward, if he gives up the caufe of liberty and his country ? Can a man be entitled to the name of 'honor, and yet abandon the caufe which his office, or his confidence, calls on him to defend ? Can an honefi man bear the thought of being followed to his grave with im precations, or to be mentioned after death with infamy ? Can any man pretend to be a chriftian, and hope for heaven, if he facrifices his coun try to any private view ? Who can think of thefe things, and not endevor to difcountenance immorality and corruption, by all poffible means ! If we perfift in that which is injurious to pofierity, knowing it to be fo, will not after ages confider all of us as an abandoned race Conclufion and recapitulation. 353 race of men, who, in purfuit of our vices^ plunged our country into ruin ? We are apt to think ourfelves in favorable circumftances, and that no great danger is near. We fondly imagine ourselves, not only fuperior to moft other nations, but alfo to ourfelves, compared with paft times : but experience does not countenance this opinion, and we muft not compare the prefent times with the paft, without taking in the prefent fiate and condi tion of other countries. If the knowledge, and improvements, the power, ftrength, and vi gilance of other ftates, are much greater than they were, and much greater than we generally apprehend, we have the great er occafion for vigilance, fkill, and virtue. If we judge from the effeds of war, and the more dreadful devaftations of immorality, it is reafonable to exped, if other nations are more brave, or more virtuous than we are, they will be fo much the more our mafiers: in other words, as they rife, we fhaWfall. We look back with reverence, and admire the glory of the antient Romans ; but notwith- A a ftanding * 54 Conclufion and recapitulation. fianding all their policy and their valor, the" greateft objed of admiration is, that they lasted fo long. Their grandeur at length introduced fuch boundlefs luxury, and jhameful corruption, heaven could hardly have granted them a longer date. Their delufive fondnefs of military a- chievements ; their impatient defire to extend their conquefts, and impofe their laws on man kind ; their very fuccefs in war, as well as their misfortunes in it, had a tendency to their ruin. What gives me hopes that heaven has mercy in ftore for. us, is, that amidft our numerous vices and follies, we do not affed conqueft, nor have any inclination to difturb the repofe of mankind, And indeed, who can believe it is pleafing to a God of infinite mercy, to behold his creatures defiroying each other ? Happy it has been ever thought for us, that the Britijb empire is furrounded by the fea- We may boaft of this advantage ; but whether it arifes from the temper of the inhabitants of this ifland ; or its great fertility to tempt inva ders ; no country has fuffered greater, or more frequent convulsions* Notwithftanding we are yee Conclufion and recapitulation. 355 yet young in history, upon our prefent eftab lifhment, we have made vaft improvements, and bravely emerged from darknefs and delufion ; but how eafily may we plunge again into mifery and diftrefs 1 Let us look up to heaven with the moft zea lous gratitude for all our advantages ; and a- bove all confider, what faith, or moral law, can fecure the temporal happinefs of a nation, on fo fteady a bafis, as the tenets of chriftianity, being pure as we hold them ? Our religion is founded on a rock, againft which not all the powers of hell can ever prevail : if we obey its precepts, we ought to hope that the arm of om nipotence will be ftretched out in our defence ! This is not a pious rhapfody : the decrees of hea ven are infcrutable ! but when has the Almighty permitted ruin to overtake a virtuous nation ? Great empires have funk into oblivion : but when did this happen before the morals of the people were corrupted to an incorrigible de gree? We have ftill much to hope, though a great deal to fear. If the defence .of liberty, for A a 2 which 356 Conclufion and recapitulation. which we have fo often bled, join'd to the cbf* ruption under which we now groan, have ex- haufted vaft fums, and plunged the ftate into difficulties with regard to the public debt, the virtue of individuals may ftill remedy this evih It is not the debt which bears moft heavily on us : it is not this which fhakes the foundati ons of our fafety and happinefs : our generofity bf mind, our probity, our public love, our piety; thefe are effential to our prefervati on, but they are fullied, their lufire is obficured; their dignity is lofi. Luxury and corruption, are the caufes of thefe evils, but I do not think they are incurable difeafes : God for bid! Commerce, which we fo eagerly purfue, and have been fo much aggrandized by, is moft confeffedly one of the chief caufes of the power and fplendor of ftates ; but We fee it is the fpring of luxury, and in the final iffue has of ten occafioned their ruin. We learn from the history of mankind what the fate of the greateft kingdoms has been ; and how eafily men betray themfelves, by the means of thofe very Conclufion and recapitulation. 357 very advantages which ought in reafon to in- fpire their hearts with gratitude and obedience, to him from whom thofe advantages are deriv ed. Still we find that honor, juftice and truth ; in a word, that folid and fubftantial virtue is the only true bafis on which govern ment is built. Overturn thefe and all the wit of man cannot devife a rule by which a free ftate can fubfift. And even arbitrary power is the more terrible, in proportion as thefe are forgotten or difregarded. Without neglecting our wealth, common fenfe and felf-prefervation call on us to think ferioufly of other means offiupport. It has long been the curfe of this nation, that individuals have thought very much of riches and expence, and very little of every thing befide. It is not gold or filver, foldier s or horfes, fhips or merchan dize, houfes or gardens, only ; we want greater numbers of fubjeds fit for labor; we want more knowledge of the art of war ; and above all the pradice of private and public .oeconomy in expence ; with the wholefome difcipline which virtue demands. A a, 3 Thofe 358 Conclufion and recapitulation. Thofe who imagine we are in danger from; our riches, feem to argue from mistaken prin ciples. Is not a great part of our riches di vided amongft other nations ? Shall we enter tain fo fond a notion as that the laft period of our duration is at hand, becaufe we have ac quired wealth. Would to God we had more riches ! To fum up my thoughts, there are feven great objeds which occur to me of great mo ment to us, as candidates either for temporal or eternal happinefs. Some of them are in a fair way to become the objeds of legifiative en quiry ; all of them may be fo before we live much longer. The firft is, to encourage marriage, among midling fort of people and the poor ; which is very pradicable. The fecond is, to difcourage the ufe of that man- bane gin. This ought to be done at all events ! The third, to aflift fhe foundling-hofpital in the moft effectual manner ; — and to appoint fome officer to fuperintend the care of children in Conclufion and recapitulation. 359 in workhoufes, that fuch methods may be ufed as are neceffary to prevent the mortality of men in their infant-fiate, particularly in this metropolis. The fourth, to abandon the life of tea, for the many reafons already urged ; and, if it is ne ceffary, to prevent a worfe evil, to introduce other infufions of our own herbs in place of it. The fifth, is to pay our feamen regularly, and to provide them regularly with fuch cloth ing, fuch food, and fuch air alfo (a), as ex perience teaches to be moft proper and indif penfably neceffary, that if poffible not one of thefe valuable men may perifh by noxious air; avoidable ficknefs, or inclemency of weather. Thefe five points feem neceffary, to fupport our fafety, wealth and honor ; to fubdue our enemies ; and to fave the fouls of our fellow- fubjeds. If we prefer our luxury to fuch (a) That great benefactor to mankind} the reverend Dr. Ste phen Hales, has at length obtained the acceptance of his tientila. ton in all our fhips, which he tells me will fave multitudes Of Jives. . A a 4 weighty 360 Conclufion and recapitulation. weighty confider at ions, and think only of what we can, not of what we ought to enjoy : if we fuffer thefe evils to pafs unremedied, rather than abridge our expences : if we have not courage to corred our miftakes, and redify our offences againft nature, and common fenfe, what can we exped but ruin ? The fixth article which engages my thoughts, is to coin our plate in part, or in the whole j or folicit almoft any kind of tax, rather than run deeper in debt ; or rather than fubmit to inglorious terms of peace. The feventh, which includes all we can wifh qr defire, is u to fear God, and keep his com mandments." If we obferve this rule, we fhall not be guilty of any violation of the rights of pofierity ; nor incur the punifhment of ingrati tude to our brave ancefiors. This will infpire us with the trueft and the nobleft fentiments of both worlds. By this, and indeed by this filone, we fhall live in honor and felicity, and leave the world with the applaufe of men and angels ! Such Conclufion and recapitulation. 361 Such propofitions to thofe who had rather their country fhould perifh, than their own vanity and luxury be abridged, will appear as empty fpeculation, but it is not the lefs cer tain, that true patriotifin is founded in a juft fenfe of the rights of human nature, with a rational and a tender regard for others, though they fhould fuffer their own reafon to ficep. This is a virtue which can be fupported on ly on the principles of true religion. This firft pointed out the form of government which has rendered us great and happy : without this, the fpirit which animated the form will be extin- guifhed ; the form itfelf will change : in other words, the conftitution will be altered ; and the means by which we became fo happy no longer exifting, our grandeur and felicity muft alfo fall. Let us thank heaven that public love is not yet become an unintelligible phrafe ! Many underfiand what it means, and fome think it their honor to pradife it? We have yet fome gallant fpirits in place, and fome not in place, ready to die to ferve their country. The ge nius of Britain ftill warms fome honeft breasts, which 362 Conclufion and recapitulation* which glow with zeal, to prove that they are in fluenced by virtuous principles. To fuppofe, otherwife, is to give up-the caufe, which never will be given up whilft one honeft man amongft us draws his breath. Let us hope for the befi : I would not hurt your brains with politics, nor yet turn my own : but as it is in your power to advance the hap pinefs of your country, by walking In the true paths of virtue; demonstrate that you have the public good at heart ; do your part ; cor rect yourfelf; rouze the indolent ; fhame the vi cious. If women become wifer and better, be affined that men will be lefs foolifh and wick ed. We have much to fear : the impiety of the nation is as notorious in many inftances as, fhe folly of it. What conclufions are we to draw from our prefent rule of condud? Either there is m God; or none who takes cognizance of our af-. fairs. If there is a God, who is jealous of his; honor, fooner or later he will vindicate his laws, and punifh us for the breach of them. Nor is it fufficient to afk, " are not other na- tions Conclufion and recapitulation. 363 tions as wicked as ourfelves ? " Comparifons are extremely difficult to make, and generally ve ry unprofitable, even between private perfons, how much more between nations. It is com monly faid, " there are the befi, and worfi, " people in the world, in England." The genius of our nation leads us to extremes ; yet I queftion if this faying is true. Whether it is in general true or not, I apprehend, that we may challenge all the people under the hea vens to enter the lift with us for three things. The firft, is an eager defire of money, fome times for the fake of luxurious pleafures ; and what is more ftrange, fometimes when we al ready poffefs the greateft fuperfluities of life. The fecond, is a traffic of felling voices or confidences. The third; the treating perjury and common Jwearing as venial evils in pradice, though we allow no fuch popifh diftindions in theory. In thefe inftances, I queftion If there is any people under heaven fo wicked as ourfelves. We have reduced it to a kind of political fyftem, to regard the Almighty as a very care- lefs, 264 Conclufion and recapitulation. lefs, fenfelefs being ; or as one whofe power is only an objed of the fear of children. If this were not the cafe, would peafants dare to dif pute, whether there Is any divine law which forbids taking money for a vote ? or whether fuch human inventions are obligatory ? Could they pun on the breach of the commandments, and tell you, He takes the Lord's name in vain, who takes nothing for his vote, not him whet receives money for it ? Woe be to that land whofe peafants turn ca- fuifis to deceive their own fouls ! What accu mulated curfas muft be expeded to fall on their heads, who have taught them to be thus inge- nioufly wicked ! Unhappy that nation, whofe ¦minifiers ad as if government could be carried on only by the means of corruption, fince the more regular the adminiftration of it, the more iniquitous muft the people be ; and the great er ftrides muft they make to their own ruin,! Good God, what a fyftem is this ! yet, were venality to ftop with the lower claffes, it might be hoped that heaven would with-hold its vengeance : but it goes higher : with fome change Concluftoh and recapitulation. 365 change of circumftances, this cancerous humor is fpread far and wide. O liberty ! heaven- born liberty, come with all thy powers, with all thy healing charms ; teach us, for thou canfi, how to defend ourfelves ; exert thy lenient arts, and cure our dangerous wounds ! Do not imagine, Madam, that this is rhap- fody, nor yet a visionary fear, or falfe refine ment. Nations differ in their manners, but with fome diftindions the fame caufes generally, produce the fame effeds : and I have conftant ly obferved, in every clime in which I have drawn my breath, where corruption prevailed moft, there the people have been moft galled with the yoke of arbitrary power. Defpotifm reaches not indeed beyond the grave ; it does not confign mens fouls to everlasting perdition : but fhall we invite a defpotic rule, with all its terrors, to try if that can make us virtuous ? When it pleafes the Almighty that our juft and pious monarch fhall leave this venal land, if an Aurelius or a Nero reign, if profiitution of confcience is not lefs fafhionable ; if there is not lefs corruption, jlavery muft enfue, The 366 Conclufion and recapitulation. The more confiderable the part you ad in this fcene of corruption, the more you ought to harden your arms for fetters, inftead of adorn ing them with bracelets, ; fince if we do not alter our meafures, be affured the time will come, heaven only knows how foon, when virtue will be imputed to you as a crime ; when your pious repentance of the fin of fubfcribing to this de ftrudive plan, fo far as you may have really fubfcribed to it, will be punifhed as an of fence •, and your not continuing to abet it, will be confidered as a contumacious oppofition of an efiablifhed fyfiem no longer to be oppofed. Whether we are more wicked than other nations, or not, I am fure we are not yet fo much punifhed. If to live under an arbitrary yoke is a punifhment, moft other nations alrea dy fuffer it. It i6 a melancholy confideration, which may be eafily made, from obferving the connexions and dependences of things, in every clime, under every kind of government. You will recollect what I have told you, that labor and induftry, arts and faiences will produce riches ; and riches excefs, and excefs corrup tion) Conclufion and recapitulation. 367 tion ; and men have generally been more rea dy and more willing to fell their country, than to forego fuch enjoyments as are become ha bitual to them. Thus have monarchies been defiroyed, and empires diffolved. On the other hand, if we negled the means of acquiring wealth, as the world is now con stituted, We may eafily become a prey to thofe who by the force of their riches can command the fwords of thoufands, and give laws to neighboring nations. For want of an active fpirit in fupport of the liberty of a free ftate, men may alfo become the fiaves of their own rulers ; and where there is but little wealth, that 'little may become fhe plunder of a few, who may ride on the backs of the people, and drive them like affes, or yoke them like Oxen. What then is to done ? We muft not forfake our wealth and induftry ; but neither is it permitted to enjoy the fruits of them in a vicious manner; if* we do, we muft fuffer the rod of affliction. 'Tis no longer a fubjed of difpute : €ven he who pretends to be an atheifi muft fee 368 Conclufion and recapitulat'wU fee that heaven will affert its rights. If we difobey his laws, who made and governs the world, fiavery, poverty, and diflrefs, anguifh and defpair will be our lot at laft. Let us not flatter ourfelves! Becaufe the Almighty does not fpeak to us from the battlements of heaven, fhall we therefore think he is a care lefs obferver, or no obferver at all, of what is pasting in thefe regions ? He who is omnifci- ent cannot he ignorant : he who is omnipotent will not with-hold his power, to punifh, or to reward. But could we fuppofe the world to be go verned by chance, and that no wife and fupreme lawgiver has any concern in the diredion of it ; yet it feems to be a contradiction to com mon fenfe and experience, for a people to boaft of freedom ; to bleed for it too ; and yet to give themfelves up to luxury and the love of money ; paffions as inconfiftent with the ge nerous fentiments which the love of liberty in- fpires, as virtue fet off with all worldly advan tages, is preferable to vice in rags. May we not then fufped, that we are already become flavifh Conclufion and recapitulation. 369 flavifh in mind, as well as fiupid in under ftanding ? Do we not aim at things diametri cally opposite ? There may be a very rich, and yet a free people ; but how can we imagine cor ruption and liberty can long exift together ? We fee that great venality would abforb a public treafure were we mafters of both the Indies : and can arbitrary power make greater havock than the abufa of freedom ? You may ftill give fubftantial proof of your patriotifm, if you endevor to promote the caufe of virtue ; if you attend to your domefiic affairs j if you pay your taxes from a fenfe of duty, and with a good grace ; if you abftain from fuch cuftoms as are too expenfive to yourfelf, or in jurious to the community ; and among the lat ter, let me again intreat you, to remember the la borious leffon I have given you upon tea. Britijh ladies have been long confidered the reverfe of mahommedan fiaves. Convince the world by your actions, that you have the trueft notions of liberty and honor ; and as juft a contempt of him who proftitutes his voice, as of her who proftitutes her perfon. You B b have 370 Conclufion and recapitulation. have an equal right to reafon and religion : yon love God, you muft love your country alfo. But if you are ignorant how to exprefs that love or negled to practife what you know, you will fhare the evils it muft bring on, and may live to curfie paft hours of thoughtleffnefi and Jolly ! Methinks I fee the blood rife in yonr face; blood that flows from a heart which difdains the thought of facrificing your country for any earthly good. I beg your pardon, Madam, I did not mean to reproach, but to admonijh: we are all prone to evil, every fan, as well as daughter of Eve, is apt to err. If you adopt opinions with a blind zeal, and take them for virtue: or, under a filly pretence that politics are not your province, depreciate your fex, debafe your dignity, and negled the duties of the rank in which providence has placed you ; you will offend againft common fenfe, as well as common virtue. Whatever noife you hear on the fubjed of patriotifm^ be affined it belongs to women as well Conclufion and recapitulation. 371 well as men ; and that integrity of heart, is, a more effential mark of it, than great, learning, deep knowledge, tedious harangues, or the moft fiaming expressions in praifie of liberty. He that means to preferve his country, muft make the love of it his ruling paffion. He may likewife entertain ambition, but it muft be the noble ambition of rifking all to fave bis country. Education, alas, has taken a wrong turn, in male and female ; we have loft the fimplicity of our manners, and the love of our country is, in a great degree, gone with it. The very phrafe, love of our country, is generally treat ed as a mere pretence, or regarded as if it meant fomething myfterious, whereas no idea can be more plain andfimple. Private charity, which proceeds from folid motives of piety and humanity, if it is attended with an improved underftanding, will certainly grow into the love of our country ; for what is this love but an enlarged and extenfive charity, a beneficence which takes in the good of the whole ? The more it is improved, the more it will pu- B b 2 rifyt 3 72. Conclufion and recapitulation. rify, enoble, and exalt the mind : nothing can be a higher motive to brave and generous ac tions ; and, confequently, nothing can render us more acceptable to the great parent of man kind, who guards and defends us all, in life and death. How many lawgivers, philofophers and pa triots ; how many female-fovereigns and faints have fubmitted to die rather than give up their country's caufe ; rather than abandon the true intereft of their fellow- citizens. To go up to the highest example amongft the race of men ; if we confider Jefus Chrift as a man, or as a jew, how does he lament the fate of his country ! When he faw Jerufalem he wept, and broke out' in this pathetic ftrain: Hadft thou but known the things which belong to thy peace, but now are they hid from thine eyes ! And what was the bufinefs of Meffidh, but to fave man kind ? What higher honor can a mortal man enjoy, than to do his utmoft to preferve, or, as we generally term it,- to fave his country ? Before I finifh my letter, methinks the world is vanifhing from my fight ! — My much honor* ed, much loved friend ""is dead! — The pious, Conclufion and recapitulation. 373 Intrepid, lively, intelligent captain Hamilton \s no more ! Though we may fafely con clude his fpirit poffeffes immortal happinefs, not his friends only, but his country ought to de plore their lofs. Had it pleafed heaven to grant him an ample fhare in humbling our ene mies, how joyfully would he have refigned his breath ! Our young friend the ingenious and melodious mifs Griefdale, is alfo gone! Behold the good, the brave, the innocent, cut off before their time ! The life of man truly paffes away like a fhadow ; but the end will be fbbftantial joy or mifery ! If you love yourfelf, ad as if you thought fo. Of theyk^ recorded in thefe humble pages, what a change may even fix months more cre ate ! What is there here worth much fiolici- iude ? Shall we give up the caufe of vir tue for any thing this world can afford ? — — < Or fhall we ferioufiy, and in good earnefi, pre pare for that tremendous day, when only a well- fipentlife will be of moment to us?-=- — What Jolly! what madnefs it is, to diftrefs our thoughts about the common concerns of life, which 374 Conclufion and recapitulation, which at moft can be entitled only to afecon- dary regard. Let the firft and important leffori be, not to utter founds with our tongues only, but to fpeak from our hearts, "In thee O " Lord, have I put my truft, let me never be cc brought to confufion ; fave and deliver me for " thy mercies fake" ! However it may fare with us, or our friends, with regard to the accidents of life, or the duration of it, we are morally certain it will be fhort; that we fhall leave millions behind us ; that new generations of men will fucceed them j and that the happinefs of their Jives will, in a great meafure, depend on our condud. — And let us ftridly examine, if any thing bids fo fair to obtain the ultimate end of our purfuits^ I mean our own eternal happinefs, as promoting the welfare of others ; therefore, on this prin ciple alone, had virtue no charms, nor carried; any immediate reward along with it, common fenfe would teach us to do every thing in our power for the common good, fince this includes the welfare of every individual. This ought to be our conftant and uniform motive to action,, that Conclufion and recapitulation. 375 that even at the laft hour, when we tremble on the verge of eternity, ftill we may look up to heaven, and fay, " Ob, fave my country ! " I am, with great truth, Madam, Your moft obedient, And moil fincere fervant, London, Feb. »8. 1756. FINIS.