the lances, and the javelins; but what, urged them? The taxes of England. Let this always be clearly understood. It was the English money that did the thing in Europe, and that would have done the thing in America, if the Hertford Knights could have had their wish. In that hemisphere, however, it certainly has not been so potent, though, as we are told, the taxes of last year were greater than ever. In spite of all our paying, we have certainly been defeated in our attempts on the other side of the Atlantic. To the exceeding mortification of every one who really feels for the naval renown of England, there is now as much boasting about the capture of one American Frigate by two English Frigates as there used to be about our capturing of a whole fleet, by a force of two thirds of that of any enemy, Oh, shame! -It is very natural for us to be glad, that one of those terrible Frigates has been taken and added to our navy ; | but, to make a boast of it? This is the vexatious fact. To boast, that two of our frigates, followed closely by others of our ships, have taken one American frigate, is past all bearing. One would think, that the very frame of our rinds must have undergone a great change. The most material part of the speech is that, in which Mr. Vansittart speaks of being ready for a new war. Île does not seem to imagine, that other nations will be ready to go to war as well as we; and he seems to forget, that, if we go to war again, there will be no Jacobin cry to urge us on; and that if we attempt our blockades, and impressments, and orders in council, however just, (for I will have no dispute about that) we shall have America with, perhaps, a hundred public ships of war, of all sizes, against us. The Chancellor seems to have forgotten this fact; yet, a fact it is, and a very important one too. This danger, the greatest that England ever knew, we owe to the American war; a war which I laboured so hard to prevent, and which I said would create an American navy. has done that deed, and has thereby rendered it necessary for us to keep a much larger naval force in constant readiness; and, of course has entailed upon us an enormous expence.- -We are, it seems, to have loans in time of peace. I said we should. My propositions were these: It The War Taxes must all be continued, The army must be disbanded, and the. OR, There must be loans in time of peace. A middle course has been pursued, Part of the war taxes are to be continued, and we are to have loans in time of peace, a thing quite unprecedented in our history. But, this is, in fact, of no consequence at all to the people, It is the employment of the taxes; the power they give to those who rule us; the effect they have in debasing the spi rit and morals of the people; their terrible effect upon public liberty; this is the only light, in which it is worth the while of any rational man to view the taxes.- -The addition to the assessed taxes will produce very little, if the symp, toms I have seen are to be judged by. Those who kept two horses, will, in one half of the cases, keep but one. Servants and Dogs will be turned out of doors very fast, and chariots and gigs will fall in abundance. I do not think, that, upon these articles, any addition will be raised. The taxes upon hot, houses will weigh against the tax upon glass; which will also be diminished by a further closing up of windows.-The tax upon newspapers will make each paper cost in tax fourpence halfpenny, and payment to the news-man, three pence.-Eut, this will produce little, though it is so heavy on the article; for if one paper out of every seven, is laid down in consequence of it, the gain to the treasury is nothing at all; and there will be a corresponding falling off in the paper tax. Out of the sixpence halfpenny, which the news-man now receives, the Government has already received, in stamp duty, about 4-pence. This was pretty well; but, in fact, it is no matter. -Mr. VANSITTART hinted at the dearness of BEER. Will he say, that the Government does not now receive 3d. three-farthings out of the 6d. for which a pot of beer is sold? My ale is not loaded with beer duty, and yet, in every quart of it that I drink, I drink about two pence halfpenny in tax. CHEAP CORN, MR. COBBETT.-Pardon an intruder, more especially one who sets his face against all that has been said or written on this subject. It appears to him, according to the old and vulgar proverb, that you have all got the wrong sow by the ear. Each writer and speaker seems to vie with his neighbour which shall best elude the true statement of the case. The one affirms, that by keeping the bread dear, the poor will be better fed. Another says, that agriculture wants encouragement, at the expense of the manufacturer and the poor labourer. Some have asserted that the arable part of the country is small compared to the population. Others state, that the newly enclosed lands had been very expensive to those who have obtained them. Honest summer time I swallowone penny-farthing in tax at almost every draft, exclusive of the taxes which reach the barley, through the land, the assessed taxes, the leather, the salt, the soap, the candles, &c. &c. of the farmer. If I belonged to the Company of Brewers, I would publish an answer to this " hint," and would shew the labouring classes," in whose behalf the gentleman testified so much consideration, how large a part of the price of their beer consisted in taxes. This would be paying him in his own coin. And I would shew, too, that those who are able to brew their own beer, pay no beer tax, and only a tax on the malt, which latter is sufficiently heavy, and is, in great part, a war tar too; but is now to be continued, it seems in time of peace. However, it must be confessed, that the rabble, who were like to squeeze and stink to death "Alexan-folks! They then have robbed the poor “der the Deliverer,” and “Old Blucher," ought not to grudge to swallow taxes in their beer, since it was these taxes, which, as we are now told, procured them the pleasure of seeing and embracing those worthy personages.—If you could take this class of persons, one by one, and clearly explain to them whither goes the 6d. which they pay for a pot of beer, what a surprising turn it would give to their minds ! Or, if there was an Exciseman in each public house, to receive from every purchaser of a pot of beer, the government part of the price, that would make the matter delightfully clear. Then, and not till then, should we hear these people talking about the taxes in a rational way.--But, as government are much too wise to adopt this mode of collection, we must expect to see such hints" as that of Mr.Vansittart received with great gratitude. How he must have laughed to himself when he conceived the notion of throwing out such a hint! Of stepping in between the makers and drinkers of beer! What a sight to see! A nation so besotted as receive this as an act of favour at the hands of the government; and the impudent hirelings of the press have the profligacy to say, that the public are indebted to the minister for To be convinced of the truth of this, having lowered the price of this neces- let the reader travel the kingdom round. sary of life! I do believe, that it is imposHe will soon learn, that the little farmas sible to produce a similar instance of national delusion. of their patrimony, without profit to themselves; nay with a certain loss. But there has been, as yet, only one of them honest enough to hint at the real cause of the evil. He is made to say, that he himself was in possession of an estate which formerly rented at six hundred a year. A short time since the lease expired, and it was let at double the amount. Here then, Mr. Cobbett, is the mystery explained. These gentlemen have each more than doubled their income by rack-renting their tenants, who now look to their landlord for support, and the decision is left to those very men, who by their rapacity gave birth to the complaint, that the farmer cannot afford to grow cheap corn. No more can they, as they now live.--Another trifling cause, entirely overlooked, or carefully concealed, is the consolidation of a number of small farms into one large one-extremely convenient, to be sure, for the landholder, and very profitable to, the rich farmer-The one receives his rent with less trouble from an individual in affluence, than from a number of poor tenants who may depend for their profits solely on their industry, and not, like the rich tenant, on the success of speculation. are consolidated into one great farm, and that the little farmers have, in consequence, either left the country, or now work (perhaps on what was once their make them yourselves. rents. Divide Lower your your large farms into small ones. Encourage the little farmer's industry. Pay the major part of the taxes yourselves, as you alone have benefitted by their imposition. Let the public eat cheap bread. Retrench all your own unnecessary expenses, and throw the savings into the public purse. ARISTIDES. own farms) as day labourers. Let him next step into one of these large farm houses; he will no longer see the farmer's daughters, Madge or Dolly, feeding the pigs, fetching in the cows, milking them, or churning or making cheese, while the old mother and grandmother are teaching the younger branches to knit coarse yarn stockings for feather, and brothers, and sisters-No, no: he will find the young ladies in a back parlour, playing upon the forte piano, drawing or embroidering, Mr COBBETT.-As I am a Farmer, perhaps making themselves up new caps I wish to say, how much I approve of or dresses to appear in at the next county your remarks uong the Cora Bill. Noball. The old mare with a pillion is also thing can be more correct than your discarded for a gig, chaise, or curricle; views of this subject. It is not the and the young gentleman, the farmer's farmer who wants a Corn Law, but the son, instead of thick high shoes well Government, that it may be able to smock studded with hobnails, with a raise taxes, which are to support a frock, and carter's whip on his shoulder, standing army, and a system of bribery new sports his military cut-upper-coat of and corruption. But as we do not want superfine, lined with silk, his Wellingtona standing army in time of peace with boots, his jemmy rattan, and his bit of blood -The ox cheek and leg of beef, and suet dumplin of ancient times, have given way to Modern Delicacies; and if one of the Misses happens to be remarkably notable, it is possible she may superintend the Pastry, the Jellies, the Blancmange, &c. &c. How can such Farmers afford to grow cheap Corn? all the world, and as we do not want a system of corruption, at any time, so taxes ought not to be raised for these unconstitutional purposes. It is against the taxes then that the farmers should meet to petition, and at the same time should connect with their petitions a reform in the representation, the want of which, has been, and still is the cause of all our grievances civil and religious. I do not wish to repeat what you have already said so often and so well upon this subject. You have shewn that we can do with less taxes, and without loans, and without Corn Bills. And I believe it to be the real interest of every farmer, to oppose instead of supporting Your's, &c. a Corn Bill. Feb. 20. 1815. G. G. FORDHAM. obe But the Taxes-true; but Gentlemen Landholders, how came these taxes? You Gentlemen Landholders, have the exclusive privilege of sitting in Parliament: You have consented to these Taxes. Did you represent the Land or the Inhabitants? If it was the inhabitants, have you done them justice? What advantage, what compensation, have they received, or are they to receive from these taxes ?-Speak out:-have these taxes of your own imposing, have they not been to your own profit?-Pay P. S. In your last Register you them then yourselves, after consolidating serve, that if any addition is made to all the land of the country in your own your assessed taxes, you shall only keep hands-all the wealth in your own pock- one good horse and five or six dogs, ets. Is it not a nefarious attempt to as being necessaries of life. I cannot make the poor, those who have not one comprehend how the six dogs are necesfoot of land-those who live by labour cessaries of life, unless you intend to and industry, those whom one week's sick-put them to plough to save the horse tax. ness sends to the work-house, those who toil all day that you may game and revel all night, those who are the bulk of the SIR,-I am a good deal astonished at nation, and, we may add, the least vicious of any--Startle not, Gentlemen:-it is the extraordinary defence of the New truth that guides my pen-Is it not a ne-Legion of Honour, which your corresfarious attempt to make such men cat pondent, P. C. has thought proper to dear bread? If sacrifices are to be made, make in your last number. He considers LEGION OF HONOUR. 66 " that body as having been most cruelly pounds a year? But so it is, I fear; and attacked, by the name of Major General the pour Major General will of course, Digby Hamilton having been added to he obliged to put down his carriages, and the list of its most respectable members. to lose his coachmen and footmen and P. C. states this not to be the case, but their pretty ink liveries, who, of course, I he himself confesses that the Major Ge- if the "Royal Waggen Train" is disneral did apply for admission; there- anded as is expected, these servants, fore, at least, there was certainly some being" Royal Waggoners,' will be disfoundation for the report. P. C. very sa charged from the public service; and if tirically compares the Major General's kept in the Major General's service, must claims to those of the Under City Mar- be so at his ewn expense. You reformers shall, Mr. Nalder, on the ground of ser- are sad men, Mr. Cobbett? What a deal "vices." Now, Sir, I beg leave to be dis- of mischief you are about to entail upon tinctly understood, that there are various this valuable officer,by your meanness in sorts of " services," for which this "deco-thinking of a few hundreds of thousands "ration," is bestowed:-there are military services, diplomatic services, pen and ink services, Horse Guards services, back door services, negotiation services, procuration scrvices, cum multiis aliis, too numerous to mention; so that the worthy Major General may have very eminently distinguished himself "in his way," and may have as good a title to the " decoration" as the Duke of Wellington himself. The Drum Boy, is, in his line, a great warrior; and I have no doubt, that the Major General could unfold as brilliant a list of achievements in his escutcheon, as any one of the "Knights Grand Crosses of the Order. Every man in his vocation: The Major General has not been a war man; he has laboured peaceably at home, and has done wonders! For, as your correspondent observes, he contrives to continue" on,permanent poy,” with " tem"porary" rank. I am sorry, however, Sir, to be obliged to inform you, that have heard, from unquestionable authority, that it is the intention of one of those most awful " Jacobins," Mr. Whitbread, Mr. Ponsonby, Sir Francis Burdett, or some other of the "vile crew," to object to the continuance of the temporary rank Major General's " permanent Corps. How cruel this will be! Poor man! to deprive him of the sweet little country box at Croydon Barracks, and of the little comforts of coals, candles, hay, straw, and corn; to say nothing of his nice garden, and farm yard, and of the convenience of bringing up all these "comforts" to Cleveland Row, in a covered waggon, drawn by four horses! Surely Mr. Whitbread could not be so is the sovereign head of the church, cruel as to begrudge the "Major General" or state religion of this country, and these trifling enjoyments, particularly" Defender of the Faith. " This when they do not cost the country more faith is a branch of a system called than two or three hundred thousand christian, from the name of its founder, of pounds? I know, in your way, paltry you will be calculating how many families might be supported by the pay and allowances, seen and unseen, allowed and not allowed, permitetd and not permitted, but possessed by the Major General; and will ask, in your impertinent manner, what he does, or has done, to deserve such ample reward, while so many very meritorious oflicers without arms or legs, &c. &c. &c. are sent to cultivate their health in wholesome retirement, in Wales and the Highlands of Scotland, where alone their little pittance can provide them with potatoes and small beer. But, Sir, your correspondent, P. C. who dates his Letter from the Horse Guards, and of whose identity el can give a shrewd guess, can, if he pleases, unfold the whole story, and shew you that the "Major General" has claims, which connot be disputed. If I` am wrong, I call upon him to put me right; and I am sure your candour and love of truth is too great not to give insertion to whatever explanation he may think fit to make. That he will do which forthwith is the earnest wish of your sincere and fervent admirer, " PHILO CIVIS. ON RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. LETTER VII. "Remember that the disorders of the Soul are no "to be cured by force and violence." Cardinal de Camus.--Pastoral Instructions.1688. Continued from page 217. Our Prince (acting for his father) and first instituted, as the almanacks tell us, about 1815 years ago. Whatever might have been the opinions of the early professors of this religion, we at the present day, that is, the great bulk of Christians in this country, believe, that the great Author of Nature, in order to redeem his creatures from a portion of the disgrace entailed upon them, ia consequence of their first parents eating some fruit from a forbidden tree, he begot, in a supernatural manner, a son upon the body of a young woman, who was betrothed to an old man. That this immaculate conception was brought about by the instrumentality of the Holy Ghost,an incorporeal spiritual personage, sometimes represented as appearing in the shape of a Dove, and sometimes in various other forms. We believe also in a doctrine called the Trinity, said to have been established about the third century of Christianity, which represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to partake equally of divinity, and, in fact, to be three Gods and one God at the same time; three in one, and one composing three, and yet not one God but three, and not three separate Gods but flourished in the early ages of the Gospel dispensation, may, with perfect consistency, despise the pretensions of Johanna, because they reject the miraculous conception of Mary, the divinity of Jesus, and the sublime mystery of the Trinity; but we, who stake our salvation upon our faith in these things, cannot consistently, or without great danger to our holy religion, appear hostile to the opinions of this new sect.-If these Millenarians had denied any part of our sacred writings, and proved some characters, which we greatly admire, to be bad ones; if they had abused our church, reviled its ministry, or breathed a spirit of Jacobinism, we might then have found some pretext for persecuting them with all the fury of religious monsters just let loose from hell; but, on the contrary, they admit the whole of our Scriptures to be true, and, so far from disrespecting the State Religion, they read the whole of its forms in their Meetings.-Now the difficulty we laboured under in opposing their system was this, that we admit all things to be possible with God, that the ways of providence are often dark and mysterious, and that he does not It is true, our enemies ridicule this consult either ourselves or our underineffable mystery of our holy religion, but standings in the government of the uniwe implicitly believe it, though so inscru- verse, or the means he shall use to carry table that we cannot comprehend it. It his designs into execution; all this we must also be recollected, that we believe acknowledge when we give him the attriour Saviour Jesus Christ to have been bute of " Omnipotence." Is it not palthe promised Messiah mentioned in the pable then, that by doubting the superancient traditions and prophecies of the natural pregnancy of Mrs. Southcott, Jews, who, when he came, was to bring and hastily determining it to be impossible, about such wonderful things that the we called in question the power of the earth was to be a sort of paradise. The Almighty? Was not her case strictly Jews will not agree to this. They say analagous to that of the blessed Virgin that our Messiah was executed without Mary, whom the Catholics always honor having accomplished what was predicted with the appellation of " Mother of of him; that we misrepresent their scrip- God?" We own that the Lord has tures, and contrive, by means of forged worked hundreds and thousands of genealogies, and other insidious arts, to Miracles, and are pigmies like us to say graft our system on theirs to give it a bet-when he shall cease to work them? If ter foundation: but we, as Christians, consider them mistaken, and give no credit to aspersions so injurious to our holy faith. one. this would have been a greater Miracle than the birth of Christ, might it not be more necessary, at a period like this, when, instead of the ignorant idolatry These being some of the leading points of those days, the earth is over-run with of our religion, and indeed being the an enlightened infidelity, and when, in very foundation stones upon which the fact, the progress of knowledge has only superstructure is reared, does it not be- facilitated the march of materialism and hove us to be particularly cautious how scepticism? But where can be the difwe meddle with the mission and the doc-ference to the Almighty?-Is he not trines of Mrs. Southcott?-Such Chris-as capable of commanding an aged virtians as many, or most of the sects who gin to bring forth, without connection |
