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but a Murderer of his King: And his Children being alfo illegitimate, the whole hereditary Right must have paffed from him to his Sifter Maud, the Daughter and only furviving Iffue of Henry II. (in whom, N. B. the Norman and Saxon Lines were united.) And from this Princefs, married to the Duke of Bavaria, His prefent Majefty, King George II. is LINEALLY defcended. So that tho the Plea of an indefeasible hereditary Right is certainly a very weak one, and fuch as every Friend to our present happy Constitution would heartily disclaim, yet it may have its Ufe merely as an Argumentum ad Hominem, and ferve to confute the Defenders of a wild, extravagant Opinion, upon their own Principles.

X. LASTLY, The Faults of the Administration, the Number of our Taxes, and the vast Load of the National Debt, are made ftanding Subjects of Complaint.

As to Faults and Miscarriages, there is no Doubt to be made, but every human Inftitution is fubject to them; and with refpect to our own, its best Friends will the more readily acknowledge it, as they are the moft zealous in their Endeavours to rectify what may feem amifs, and to render our Conftitution ftill more complete and perfect. For it is one Thing to aim at the Improvement and Perfection of the Government under which we live, and another to plot its Ruin, and fide with its Enemies. Moreover, it is an indifputable Fact, that many Things have been made Matters of great Complaint, which really

deferved

deferved Commendation; and that fome of the most violent Clamours against Male Adminiftration have had no other Grounds, than either a Spirit of Difaffection, or the Views of Ambition.

As to the NATIONAL DEBTS, the real Fact ftands thus:

THE first Article upon the Lift was a Debt contracted in the Time of King Charles II. when he fhut up the Exchequer, and rewarded that Gentle man (Mr Clifford) with a Peerage, and raised him to the Office of Lord High Treasurer, who pro jected this infamous Scheme of robbing the Publick Creditors.

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THE fecond Caufe of neceffary Expence was the Revolution; concerning which it may be fufficient to fay, that either the Nation must have taken thofe Measures, or have fubmitted to the Lofs of all its Liberties, Civil and Religious, and been contented to wear the Chains of arbitrary Power, riveted by Popish Bigottry and Perfecution...

THE third was the Reduction of Ireland, then in the Hands of an Army of French and Irish Papifts, with King James at the Head of them, exercifing all Manner of Cruelties on the poor Proteftants of that Country, and ready to invade England at the first Opportunity.

THE fourth, and greatest of all, was occafioned by the long Wars with France; When the real Question was, Whether the Nation would prefer

being

being a free People, or fubmit to become a Pros vince to the French Monarchy ?

THE fifth was owing to the Intrigues and Cabals of the difaffected Party at Home, who endeavoured to fubvert the Government by destroying its Credit;-in which wicked Arts they fo far fucceeded, as to cause the Premiums, Discounts, and Interest of Money lent to the Publick, to be raised to a most exorbitant Height, and then made thefe Evils the Foundation of new Clamours; thus going on in a Circle of Complaining, and creating more Caufes of Complaint.

THE fixth was the unwearied Attempts of the fame Party by continual Plots and Intrigues, by fepeated Infurrections and Rebellions, which have occafioned the neceffary Expence of constant Precautions. And therefore, when all these Things are taken into the Account, let it be fubmitted to the Judgment of the impartial World, who hath most Reason to complain of the Load of our 'National Debts, and to whose Conduct and Behaviour it is chiefly to be imputed.

MOREOVER, as to the Number of TAXES, that Part of them which is neceffary for the Payment of Interest in the Funds, ought in Truth and Juftice to be fo far imputed to the difaffected Party, as they have been the Occafion of the prefent Largeness of our publick Debts. *And as to the remaining

*SEE this, and the following Article, clearly demonstrated in a Pamphlet called The By-ftander, which contains many other very folid and judicious Reflections. London, printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion in Ludgate Street.

remaining Taxes, one Portion of them is now fo abfolutely appropriated to the Publick Service, and fo entirely under the Command of the Parliament, that an Examination is made, Accounts and Vouchers produced every Seffions; an Happiness this, which never could be obtained till the Revolution. And in regard to the other Part, called the Civil Lift, this is in fact lefs by one half than what it was in the Times of King Charles II. and King James II. that is, when the Sums expended on the Publick Service were taken out of the Sums granted by Parliament, or otherwife received, the Balance remaining in the Hands of the Crown at that Juncture was really double the Income of the prefent Civil Lift, confidering the Difference between the Value of Money then and now.

IT may be farther obferved, what I do not recollect hath ever yet been particularly taken Notice of, that the Syftem of our Finances and Commerce hath, in fome Measure, been put upon a New Footing fince the Revolution, to the Nation's great Advantage;-though there is ftill Room for very great Improvements. For with regard to our Finances, it is not fo much the Confideration of the Sum raised, as of the Commodity or Perfons that are to pay it, which fhould denominate a Tax ufeful or oppressive:-Because a Tax produc

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* «THE Amount of the Civil Lift for three Years and an "half [that is, from the first half Year after the Restoration, ending at Chriftmafs 1660, till Chriftmafs 1663.] was "6,075,855. which is after the Rate of 1,735,900/. for one "Year. And this may be fairly ftated, as upon a Medium, "the Annual Civil Lift Revenue after the Refloration." ByAander, Pages 84, and 85.

ing vaft Sums, may be laid on in such a Manner as to promote the Publick Welfare, by checking thofe VICIOUS artificial Wants, which are prejudicial to a general, lafting, and extenfive Commerce: And on the other Hand, another may be fuppofed of fo fatal a Tendency, though its own Amount may be but a Trifle, as to prevent the Circulation of MILLIONS, by ftopping the Machine of Commerce in its first Motions. Now this was too much the Cafe before the Revolution; for Taxes were laid upon the Exportation of our own Manufactures, and even upon Cloth itself, Nay the very Ingredients used in Dying of Cloth, paid a Duty upon Importation fo late as the 8th of King George II. when in Purfuance of His Majefty's moft Gracious Speech from the Throne, a Repeal was made of those abfurd and pernicious Laws.

AND as to the more immediate Concerns of Commerce, it is a Principle not to be doubted, tho' never taken Notice of till the happy Revolution, that many Branches of Commerce, greatly advantageous to the Kingdom, are of fuch a Nature as not to afford a fufficient Profit to Individuals, unless hired at the Publick Expence, to engage in them. Hence therefore all our Bounties, Premiums, and Drawbacks, which are certainly right in themselves, when judiciously applied, though they are fubject, as every good Thing is, to many Frauds and Abuses. But if we want any Example or Illustration of their general Utility, we need have Recourse to no other, than to the Cafe of the Bounty upon the Exportation of Corn,

For

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