758 SOCIAL ADVANTAGES TO SCOTLAND OF UNION WITH ENGLAND.
would much more than compensate any increase of taxes that might accompany that union. By the union with England, the middling and inferior ranks of people in Scotland gained a complete deliverance from the power of an aristocracy which had always before oppressed them. By a union with Great Britain, the greater part of the people of all ranks in Ireland would gain an equally complete deliverance from a much more oppressive aristocracy; an aristocracy not founded, like that of Scotland, in the natural and respectable distinctions of birth and fortune; but in the most odious of all distinctions, those of religious and political prejudices; distinctions which, more than any other, animate both the insolence of the oppressors and the hatred and indignation of the oppressed, and which commonly render the inhabitants of the same country more hostile to one another than those of different countries ever are. Without a union with Great Britain, the inhabitants of Ireland are not likely for many ages to consider themselves as one people.
No oppressive aristocracy has ever prevailed in the colonies. Even they, however, would, in point of happiness and tranquillity, gain considerably by a union with Great Britain. It would, at least, deliver them from those rancorous and virulent factions which are inseparable from small democracies, and which have so frequently divided the affections of their people, and disturbed the tranquillity of their governments, in their form so nearly democratical. In the case of a total separation from Great Britain, which, unless prevented by a union of this kind, seems very likely to take place, those factions would be ten times more virulent than ever. Before the commencement of the present disturbances, the coercive power of the mother country had always been able to restrain those factions from breaking out into anything worse than gross brutality and insult. If that coercive power were entirely taken away, they would probably soon break out into open violence and bloodshed. In all great countries which are united under one uniform government, the spirit of party commonly prevails less in the remote provinces than in the centre of the empire. The distance of those provinces from the capital, from the principal seat of the great scramble of faction and ambition, makes them enter less into the views of any of the contending parties, and renders them more indifferent and impartial spectators of the conduct of all. The spirit of party prevails less in Scotland than in England. In the case of a union it would probably prevail less in Ireland than in Scotland, and the colonies would probably soon enjoy a degree of concord and unanimity at present unknown in any part of the British empire. Both Ireland and the colonies, indeed, would be subjected to heavier taxes than any which they at present pay. In consequence, however, of a diligent and faithful application of the public revenue towards the scharge of the national debt, the greater part of those taxes might
not be of long continuance, and the public revenue of Great Britain might soon be reduced to what was necessary for maintaining a moderate peace establishment.
The territorial acquisitions of the East India Company, the undoubted right of the Crown, that is, of the state and people of Great Britain, might be rendered another source of revenue more abundant, perhaps, than all those already mentioned. Those countries are represented as more fertile, more extensive, and, in proportion to their extent, much richer and more populous than Great Britain. In order to draw a great revenue from them, it would not probably be necessary to introduce any new system of taxation into countries which are already sufficiently and more than sufficiently taxed. It might, perhaps, be more proper to lighten than to aggravate the burden of those unfortunate countries, and to endeavour to draw a revenue from them, not by imposing new taxes, but by preventing the embezzlement and misapplication of the greater part of those which they already pay.
If it should be found impracticable for Great Britain to draw any considerable augmentation of revenue from any of the resources above mentioned; the only resource which can remain to her is a diminution of her expense. In the mode of collecting, and in that of expending the public revenue, though in both there may be still room for improvement, Great Britain seems to be at least as economical as any of her neighbours. The military establishment which she maintains for her own defence in time of peace, is more moderate than that of any European state which can pretend to rival her either in wealth or in power. None of those articles, therefore, seem to admit of any considerable reduction of expense. The expense of the peace establishment of the colonies was, before the commencement of the present disturbances, very considerable, and is an expense which may, and if no revenue can be drawn from them, ought certainly to be saved altogether. This constant expense in time of peace, though very great, is insignificant in comparison with what the defence of the colonies has cost us in time of war. The last war, which was undertaken altogether on account of the colonies, cost Great Britain, it has already been observed, upwards of ninety millions. The Spanish war of 1739 was principally undertaken on their account; in which, and in the French war that was the consequence of it, Great Britain spent upwards of forty millions, a great part of which ought justly to be charged to the colonies. In those two wars the colonies cost Great Britain much more than double the sum which the national debt amounted to before the commencement of the first of them. Had it not been for those wars that debt might, and probably would by this time, have been completely paid; and had it not been for the colonies, the former of those wars might not, and the latter certainly would not have been undertaken. It was because the colonies were supposed to be pro
760 BRITAIN SHOULD REAP PROFIT FROM HER COLONIES.
vinces of the British empire, that this expense was laid out upon them. But countries which contribute neither revenue nor military force towards the support of the empire, cannot be considered as provinces. They may perhaps be considered as appendages, as a sort of splendid and showy equipage of the empire. But if the empire can no longer support the expense of keeping up this equipage, it ought certainly to lay it down; and if it cannot raise its revenue in proportion to its expense, it ought, at least, to accommodate its expense to its revenue. If the colonies, notwithstanding their refusal to submit to British taxes, are still to be considered as provinces of the British empire, their defence in some future war may cost Great Britain as great an expense as it ever has done in any former war. The rulers of Great Britain have, for more than a century past, amused the people with the imagination that they possessed a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic. This empire, however, has hitherto existed in imagination only. It has hitherto been, not an empire, but the project of an empire; not a gold mine, but the project of a gold mine; a project which has cost, which continues to cost, and which, if pursued in the same way as it has been hitherto, is likely to cost, immense expense, without being likely to bring any profit; for the effects of the monopoly of the colonial trade, it has been shown, are, to the great body of the people, mere loss instead of profit. It is surely now time that our rulers should either realize this golden dream, in which they have been indulging themselves, perhaps, as well as the people; or, that they should awake from it themselves, and endeavour to awaken the people. If the project cannot be completed, it ought to be given up. If any of the provinces of the British empire cannot be made to contribute towards the support of the whole empire, it is surely time that Great Britain should free herself from the expense of defending those provinces in time of war, and of supporting any part of their civil or military establishments in time of peace, and endeavour to accom modate her future views and designs to the real mediocrity of her circumstances.
ABSENTEE tax, the, in Ireland, 713. Accounts in Europe kept in silver, 45. Actors, public estimation of, 97. Africa, the barbarous state of, 32.
African company, 583, 584, 586, 587.-history of, 586, 587:
Age gives rank and precedency in society, 561. Aggregate fund in British finances, 731. Agio of the Bank of Amsterdam, 371.-and of Hamburg, explained, 373, 378. Agriculture, the labour of, 12.-state of, in a colony, 86.-requires knowledge and ex- perience, and carried on without restrictions, 114.-rent between landlord and tenant, 127. -is extended by roads and canals, 130.- pasture land may be more valuable than arable, 132.-gardening not gainful, 134.— vines profitable, 135.-estimates of profit fallacious, 136.-cattle and tillage improve each other, 188.-remarks on that of Scot- land, 189.-of North America, 190.-poultry profitable, 192.-hogs, 193.-dairy, 194- land completely improved, 195.-cultivation as it raises the price of animal food, reduces that of vegetables, 207.-under feudal govern- ment, 268.-its operations, 290.-cause of prosperity of British colonies in America, 292.-profits exaggerated by projectors, 300. -naturally preferred to trade, 301.-arti- ficers necessary, 302.-neglected by Northern destroyers of the Roman Empire, 304.- ancient Europe unfavourable to, 313.-pro- moted commerce and manufactures, 328.- the wealth from, solid and durable, 332.- not encouraged by bounty on export of corn, 396.-why the business of new companies, 482.-agricultural system in France, 526.- discouraged by prohibitions in trade, 532.- favoured in China, 538.-and Hindostan, 540.-to check manufactures to promote agriculture, false policy, 544-landlords should cultivate part of their own land, 659. Alcavala, the tax in Spain, 718, 719. Alehouses not cause of drunkenness, 289, 383. Allodial rights mistaken for feudal rights, 324.
-feudal law moderated the authority of allodial lords, 325.
Ambassadors, motive of their appointment, 578. America, why labour is dearer than in England, 69.-increase of population, 70.-rate of interest, 86.-new market for produce of its own silver mines, 174.-the empires of Peru and Mexico, 175.-the Spanish colonies, ibid.-paper currency of the British colonies, 261.-prosperity of the British colonies, 292. -why manufactures not established there, 302.-improvement due to foreign capitals, 303.-improvement of uncultivated land a profitable employment of capitals, 82.-com- mercial alterations produced by discovery of, 100, 101.-wealth of N. American colonies in- creased, though balance of trade against them, 388.-Madeira wine, how introduced there, 391.-review of European settle- ments in, 438.-of Spain, 446.--of Holland, 448.-of France, 449.-of Britain, 450.- ecclesiastical government in European colo- nies, 452.-fish trade from N. America to Spain, Portugal, and Mediterranean, 455- naval stores to Britain, 456.-little credit due
to Europe for success of the colonies, 463. -the colonization of, how far advantageous to Europe, 465.-and to America, 494- colonies governed by a spirit of monopoly, 499.-interest of the consumer in Britain sacrificed to that of the producer. 524-plan for British taxation over the provinces, 748. -how could the Americans pay taxes with- out specie, 753.-ought to contribute to dis- charge the public debt of Great Britain, 757. -expediency of their union with Britain, 758.
-British empire there a mere project, 760. Amsterdam, agio of Bank of, 371.-its es- tablishment, 373.-advantages, 374.-rate for keeping money, 375.-prices of bullion, and coin 376. note.-the great warehouse of Europe for bullion, 377.-demands, how made and answered, 378.-agio of, how kept, ibid.-treasure of, in its repositories, ibid.- the amount only conjectured, 379.-fees paid for business, ibid.
Annuities for years and lives in the British funds, account of, 733,
Apothecaries, profits of, not great, 101. Apprenticeship, the nature and intention of, 94.
limitations as to number of apprentices, 108.-statute of apprenticeship in England, 109.-in France and Scotland, ibid.-on the tendency and operation of long apprentice- ships, 110.
Arabs, manner of war among the, 546. Army, three ways to maintain one in a distant country, 342.-standing, and a militia, 552.- historical review of, 554.-Macedonian, ibid. -Carthaginian, 555.-Roman, 556.-per- petuates civilization of a country, 558.-when circumstances dangerous 10, and when favourable to, liberty, 559.
Artificers, prohibited by law from emigrating, 522.-residing abroad, and not returning on notice, exposed to outlawry, 523.
Asdrubal, discipline of, how defeated, 556. Assembly, houses of, in the British colonies, constitutional freedom of, 460.
Assize of bread and ale, remarks on, 155, 159. Augustus, emperor, emancipates the slaves of Vedius Pollio, for his cruelty, 463.
BALANCE of annual produce and consumption explained, 388.-may be in favour of a nation, when the balance is against it. 389. Balance of trade, hard to determine on which side it turns between two countries, 368.- doctrine of, on which regulations of trade are founded, absurd, 380.-if even, by the exchange of native commodities both sides may be gainers, 381.-how it would stand if native commodities on one side were paid with foreign commodities on the other, 381. -how it stands when commodities are pur- chased with gold and silver, 382.-ruin often predicted from the doctrine of an unfavour- able balance of trade, 387.
Banks, great increase of trade in Scotland since their establishment in principal towns, 237.-usual course of business, 238.-conse- quences of their issuing too much paper, 240. -caution observed as to giving credit to their customers, 243.-limits of the advances
they may make, 245.-how injured by the practice of drawing and redrawing bills, 249. -history of the Ayr Bank, 250.-of the Bank of England, 254.-nature and public advantage of banks considered, 256. — bankers might carry on their business with less paper, 259.-effects of the optional clauses in the Scots notes, 261.-their origin, 373-bank money explained, 374.-of England, in regard to the coinage, 433-Joint Stock com- panies why well adapted to banking, 598, 599.-whether the government is equal to manage the Bank to profit, 647.
Bankers, the credit of their notes, how estab- lished, 232.-nature of the business explained, 233, 238.-the competition of bankers, under proper regulation, of service, 264. Baretti, on the quantity of Portugal gold sent weekly to England, 429. Barons, feudal, their power contracted by the grant of municipal privileges, 316.-their extensive authority, 324.-how they lost it over their vassals, 325-and their power to disturb the country, 328.
Barter, the propensity to, of extensive opera- tion, and peculiar to man, 26.—is not suffi- cient for the intercourse of mankind, 22. Batavia, prosperity of the Dutch there, 503. Beaver skins, policy used in the trade for, 521. Beef, cheaper now in London than in the reign of James I., 133.-compared with the prices of wheat at the corresponding times, 134. Benefices, ecclesiastical, the tenure of, why rendered secure, 631.-the power of collating to, how taken from the Pope, in England and France, 636.-equality of, among Presby- terians, 640.- good effects here of, 641. Bengal, to what its early improvement in agriculture and manufactures was owing, 31.-present miserable state of the country, 71.-high rates of interest there, 87.-op- pressive conduct of the English to suit the trade in opium, 504.-why more remarkable for export of manufactures than of grain, 541. Berne, the republic of, 317.-establishment of the reformation there, 637.-revenue of the Catholic clergy, 643.-revenue from the interest of its treasure, 648.
Bills of Exchange, punctuality in the payment
of, how secured, 247.-the pernicious practice of drawing and redrawing, 248.-the arts made use of to disguise this traffic, 249. Birth, superiority of, how it confers respect and authority, 562.
Bishops, the ancient mode of electing them, and how altered, 632, 636.
Body, natural & political, analogy between, 534. Bohemia, the tax imposed there on the in- dustry of artificers, 638.
Bounty on the exportation of corn, the ten- dency of this measure, 168. Bounties, why given in commerce, 350.--on exportation, the policy of granting them, 393. -on export of corn, 394.-imposes two taxes on the people, 396.-its evil tendency, 400.- beneficial only to the exporter and importer, 401-motives of the country gentlemen in granting the bounty, ibid.-a trade which requires a bounty, a losing one, 403.-tonnage bounties to the fisheries, 667.-the white- herring fishery, 406.-other bounties, -407. principles on which they are granted, 408, -those on American produce founded
on mistaken policy, 512.-how they affect the consumer, 523.
Bourdeaux, the great trade of, 269.
Brazil became a powerful colony under neglect, 447.-the Dutch invaders expelled by the Portuguese colonists, 448.-number of the inhabitants, ibid.-trade of the provinces oppressed by the Portuguese, 453-
Bread, the value of, with that of butcher's meat compared, 131, 133-
Brewery, reasons for transferring the taxes on, to the malt, 708.
Bridges, how erected and maintained, 571. Britain, Great, evidences that labour is suffi ciently paid for there, 72.-price of provisions nearly the same in most places, ibid. — great variations in the price of labour, 73.-vege tables imported from Flanders in the last century, 75.-alterations the interest of money has undergone, 83.-double interest deemed a reasonable mercantile profit, 90.- the carrying trade is advantageous to, 297.- appears to enjoy more of that of Europe than it really has, 299-the only country of Europe in which the obligation of purveyance is abolished, 312.-funds for the support of foreign wars inquired into, 334.-on the free importation of Irish cattle, 357-no salt pro- visions, 358.-could be little affected by the importation of foreign corn, ibid.—the policy of the commercial restraints on the trade with France examined, 268.-might be more advantageous to each country than that with any other, 386.-why one of the richest countries in Europe, while Spain and Portu- gal are among the poorest, 423.-her American colonies, 450.-trade of her colo- nies, how regulated, 454.-distinction between enumerated and non-enumerated commodi- ties, ibid.-restrains manufactures in America, 457.-indulgencies to the colonies, 459- constitutional freedom of her colonial govern- ment, 460.-sugar colonies of, worse governed than those of France, 462.-disadvantages resulting from retaining the exclusive trade of tobacco with Maryland and Virginia, 468 - the navigation act has increased the colonial trade at the expense of many other branches of foreign trade, 470.-the advantage of the colonial trade estimated, 474.-a gradual relaxation of the exclusive trade recom mended, 476.-events which have concurred to prevent the ill effects of the loss of the colonial trade, 480.-natural good effects of the colonial trade, more than counterbalance the bad effects of the monopoly, 482.-to maintain a monopoly, the principal end of the dominion assumed over the colonies, 487. -has derived nothing but loss from this, ibid.-perhaps the only state which has only increased its expenses by extending its empire, 491.-the constitution of, would have been completed by admitting of Ameri can representation, 493.-the administration of the East India Co., 505.-interest of con sumer sacrificed to that of producer in raising an empire in America, 524-annual revenue of, compared with annual rents and interest of capital stock, 651.-the land-tax, 655- tithes. 664.-window-tax, 671.-stamp duties, 684, 687.-poll-taxes in the reign of Will. III, 690.-uniformity of taxation in, favourable to internal trade, 718.-taxation in, compared
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