tween him and Lord Grenville. Indeed, the articles, in the ministerial papers, insisting upon such a difference, really appear to bave been prepared beforehand. The partisans of Mr. Pitt seem to have niade sure that he had provided the means of embarrassing and confusing his opponents; and some of these discreet gentlemen have gone so far as to induce some persons to conclude, that the intended alliances with, and subsidies to, the continental powers, have for their sole object, the bumbling of the Opposition, and preserving Mr. Pitt's place, instead of the humbling of Napoleon, and preserving the independence of England! This must surely be not so; but, if such be the object, it will be a great pity; because it certainly will not be effected, and the attempt will have cost us very dear. No: the opposition stands upon a basis not to be shaken by any thing that Mr. Pitt could, even in his best days, have done. There is not the least probability that any difference of opinion will arise between the leaders of opposition relative either to peace or war. Those candid writers, who are paid for the purpose, do, indeed, continue to insist, that the New Opposition, as it was called, having pledged themselves to maintain the justice and fitness of eternal war, can never, upon a ques. tion of this sort, be in harmony (without an abandonment of principle on one side or the other) with the Old Opposition, they having pledged themselves to maintain the justice and fitness of eternal peace. The conclusion here is logical enough, and all that is wanting to render the argument sound, is, truth in the premises. It is, indeed, true enough, that these premises were, over and over again, argued upon as admitted and notoHious facts, by the makers of the peace of Amiens and their partisans; but, they were not, for all that, the less false; and, it must be remembered, that they were constantly denied by every person, to whom such wild and sweeping notions were attributed. It suited the purpose of Mr. Addington and Mr. Pitt extremely well, to inculcate a be lief, that those who opposed their peace, were persons who wished for eternal war; and that those who objected to their so soon changing that peace into a new war, were persons who wished for eternal peace. No thing would be more convenient to them than a belief of this sort, it being always sure to put their opponents apparently in the wrong. But, tricks of this sort, though very good, in some cases, for the first time, will not bear a repetition. We are told, that the Cockneys went once to see a man six feet bigh dance a hornpipe in a quart bottle;

but, when, in order to compensate for their disappointment, they were assured, that, if they would but come the next night, they should see him dance in a pint bottle, it is said, that even the half-idiot Cockneys per. ceived, either that they were nature's "fools," or the fools of the operator.

CONTINENTAL ALLIANCES. -That an alliance and hearty co-operation between this kingdom and the great powers of the continent are the only means of checking the encroachments of France, and of preserving our own independence, every man, of any political information, now, notwithstanding the efforts of Mr. Wilberforce, seems to be convinced. The Speech af fords reason to believe, that an alliance of this sort, to some extent at least, has bren, or will be, accomplished. That we have formed treaties with Russia and Sweden is certain; and, if the ministerial writers are to be believed, there is a pros pect of inducing Austria to join the coali, tion. Of Prussia, no hope, at present, appears to be entertained. With respect to the principle of this great measure, there will be no difference of opinion, except what may arise from the maxim laid down by Mr. Wilberforce, who insisted, that "the "ministers and people of this country were "too honest to have any connexion with the "powers of the Continent." But, though there can be hardly any difference of opi nion as to the general principle of continen tal connexions, or as to the principle, perhaps, of the particular coalition now projected; and, though it is possible, that the ministers may so conduct themselves in this respect, as to afford little or no ground of difference of opinion as to the detail of its formation, or the means and mode of carrying into effect; yet, it must be allowed to be very probable, that, as to these, there may be very good ground for opposition. Let us hope, that this will not be the case; but, it is necessary to guard against the fallacious conclusion, that, because you approve of the principle of a measure, you are to approve of the measure in all its parts, and also of the manner of its execution. And, this caution is, it will be granted, peculiarly necessary, when we consider, who are the persons, by whom the present proposed sure is to be executed; when we recollect their conduct in the former war against France, and especially when we recollect their language and conduct at the last peace, when all our allies were abandoned for the sake of sugar and spice islands, when we' heard Mr. Addington, who is now again at the head of affairs, make the declaration,

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contained in the motto to this sheet, and when we heard his coadjutor, Mr. Pitt, ntter, or give his unqualified approbation to, similar sentiments. This consideration is, indeed, of vast importance, whether as affecting the forming of a continental coalition, or the attainment of its professed object. For, besides the want of confidence which, in the continental powers, must arise from the present unstable appearance of the English cabinet, on whatever side that cabinet is viewed, it is quite impossible not to foresee, that, upon the urgency of circumstances at home, or upon the first reverse of fortune abroad, there, will arise, even in the very bosom of the government, a rivalship for popular favour through the means of peace; and, foreseeing this, the continental powers will, it is to be feared, never enter heartily into the contest, and constantly be too much disposed, each to make the best bargain she can for herself. Will any man, who takes an impartial view of all the circumstances of the case, deny that such a result is to be apprehended? and, if such should be the result, who will deny that we shall then be in a much worse situation than we now are? Considered in themselves, there is no objection to subsidies, though subsidies without an English army will avail little; but, if by subsidies we obtain no real, and no degree of permanent, security, it will not be denied, that to raise twenty or thirty, or even ten, millions of money in taxes, for the purpose of sending the said money abroad, inust prove a very serious injury. This, therefore, is all that can, at present, be said of the proposed measure: a coalition against France, in which we are a party, is, in itself considered, greatly to be desired; but, that, if there be a want of energy, of confidence, of fortitude, of real patriotism, in the persons conducting it, it may hasten, and may add to the horrors of, the evil that it is, on our part, intended to prevent. That, according to the way in which it is used, it may prove a blessing, or a curse; it may tend to give us permanent peace and security, or, after a long and ineffectual struggle, it may plunge us, first in ruin and finally in slavery.

ADDITIONAL BURDENS.-To those who believed the former statements and promises of either of the present premiers, the passage of his Majesty's speech that alludes to intended additional burdens may appear some. what surprising. To the readers of the Register, however, it scarcely can so appear, seeing that, as often as the occasion has offered, an endeavour has always been made to guard them against this sort of disap

pointment. When Mr. Addington brought forward his war system of finance, in June, 1803, he made use of these words: "The "committee will perceive, that the great "object I have in view is to raise a large "part of the supplies within the year. The "extent to which I wish to carry this prin"ciple is this, that there shall be no increase "whatever of the public debt during the "war." "* He afterwards qualifies this statement by saying, that the provisions he has made for carrying on a vigorous, and even a protracted contest, will prevent the necessity of making any greater addition to the public debt " than what will be annually "liquidated by the sinking fund." The fal lacy of such statements as this latter was shown at the time, and, I was sorry to hear, very much to the mortification of Mr. Pitt.† To liquidate means, to "clear away;" but, how is any part of the national'debt "cleared

away," unless we cease to pay the interest on it? When my neighbour tells me, that he has liquidated one half of a bond that he had entered into, I understand him, and who would not understand him, as having cleared away one half of the principal of the bond, and, of course, that he no longer has to pay interest on it ? Is not this the sense in which all mankind understand the word li quidate? How, then, can that word be applied to the operation of the sinking fund, which operation consists of a mere transfer of a portion of the evidences of the national debt, and which never does, or can, lessen, in the smallest degree, the amount of the interest annually to be paid? The way to view the national debt is, to confine your eye to the interest only. If you find that grow less, then you may truly say that some of the debt has been liquidated, cleared away, paid off; but, while you are called upon to pay interest to the same annual amount as if there were no sinking fund, to believe that that fund is producing an annual decrease in the debt, argues a degree of stupidity almost beneath the human species. To say the truth, however, the people are not thus stu pid; they do not thus give up their faculties of calculating and reasoning, and yield to a credulity so blind as that to which their hopes in the effect of the sinking fund are attributed: they are deceived as to a point of fact. They think that part of the debt is really liquidated every year; really cleared away; really paid off; and, of course, that,

* See this memorable speech: Register, Vol. III. p. 906, et seq. The part he quoted is in p. 911.

+ Register, Vol. III. p. 920.

upon that part of the debt, they have no longer to pay interest. From very extensive and careful observation. I am convinced, that, out of every ten thousand persons in the kingdom, nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine, who view the matter in this light. If they knew that they had interest to pay upon the "liquidated" part of the debt, as well as upon the part not "liquidated," is there a man amongst them, who would not scout the whole project?— To remove this deep-rooted and widelyspread deception must, however, be left to the hand of time; we will, therefore, return to the subject more immediately before us, taking up the premier where we left him, promising the parliament, that, though the war should be vigorous and protracted, he had, in his budget of June, 1803, provided the pecuniary means for supporting it without any addition to the national debt, beyond the sum of six millions a year, which sum, he said, would, of course, be raised by loan. He was speaking of Great Britain only, but we must not quite forget Ireland, when we are talking upon these matters. For that year, indeed (1903), his war taxes not being likely to come into full operation very soon, he took a loan of ten millions for Great Britain and of two millions for Ireland; but, he assured the Parliament, that this would not be the case in future. Notwithstanding these assurances, however, he came last year, to the same unobjecting body of men, demanded, and instantly obtained, authority to make a lean of 10 millions for England and of 54 milJions for Ireland! And here it is proper to stop a moment, and to say a word or two with a view of shewing, that these loans for Ireland are not altogether unworthy of the notice of us English people. Five millions and three quarters was the sum borrowed on account of Ireland last year. The whole annual revenue of Ireland amounts to only about two million eight hundred thousand pounds! The annual permanent revenue of England (using that word to avoid repetition of the clumsy phrase Great Britain) amounts to about 36 millions; and what would be said, were she to borrow 72 millions in one year? But, this, we shall be told, is only for one year and away. So very great a loan will not be made for Ireland every year, perhaps, but a loan, very nearly equal in amount to the whole of her annual revenue, has been made every year; for many years past. Let us hear Mr. Foster, the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer upon this subject for it is one of very great importance, and closely connected with the question of

our ability to continue the war. "It fell," says he," to my lot, in the late parliament "of Ireland, to represent to the House, that "the revenues of that country were in a ra"pidly decaying and decreasing state; and, upon the same occasion, I prognosticated, "that they would not become better. Experience has verified the prediction; for, "so far from being better, they are actually "in a worse state, as will appear from a "statement of the Irish debt at different pe"riods." He then took several periods, beginning with 1793; but, it will be better

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to take them further back. In 1793, Ireland had no debt. In 1788, it amounted to. In 1784, her debt began with to.... In 1794, In 1798,

£1,527,600 1,7 18,240 2,134,140 10,128,906

In 1800, (year before the union) 24,207,290 In 1903, .. 39,541,258

In 1804, (month of July)...... 53,296,356 After drawing a comparison, as to the relative amount of the loans made by England and Ireland, he proceeds thus.. The "worst circumstance of all that belongs to "this ruinous system, is, that the Govern "ment of Ireland is borrowing money cutef

Ireland; and, by that means, are not "only creating absentee debts and absentee

taxes, but are contracting all the means "which the country possesses of increasing "her exports and diminishing her imports. "But, the debt to be raised has a still

worse tendency: it has the effect of di"minishing that revenue which should pay "the interest of it. Ireland is in as bad a "state with regard to her revenues as her "debt. In the year 1800, the amount of "the ordinary revenue was 2,800,000l. "when the debt was but 25 millions; last

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year, the revenue was 2,789,000l. that is 16,000l. less than it was the year be"fore the union, and the debt of Ireland now being 53 millions. But, assuming "the net produce of the ordinary revenue at 2,800,000l. the amount of interest and "charges to be defrayed thereout, on the "sole account of the national debt, is "2,500,000l.; so that, scarcely 300,000!. "will remain to be applied to the joint "charge of the empire, Ireland's propor "tion of that joint charge being, for this year, 4 millions! But the prospect is still

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worse, for it appears, that the revenue "has decreased since January last, in the "proportion of from 2 to 3 hundred thou "sand pounds in the year, and if it con"tinue to diminish in the same ratio to the « end of the year, there will remain unhing

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an

"for the joint charge, and Ireland will, in "that respect, be a sheet of blank paper." Then he proceeds with his plans for arresting the progress of the evil. To what extent these plans will succeed, cannot, as yet, be fully ascertained; but, if we are to judge from present appearances, the success will fall very far short of the object. The conclusion is, that, though the name of Ireland may continue to be made use of in the making of loans, the interest of those loans, or, which is the same in effect, Ireland's share of the joint charge, must fall upon England; and, indeed, it is said (for I have not yet seen the pamphlet) that Irish member" recommends, as the wisest course, for England at once to take upon herself the whole of the Irish national debt. In speaking, therefore, of the loans of the year we must never forget to include those which are made for Ireland.--The whole borrowed last year was, then, 15 millions; and, this year, the loans will scarcely amount to less than 20, or, probably, 25 millions, instead of 6 millions, or 8 millions including Ireland, the sum to which Mr. Addington said the wants of the nation would be restricted; for, it is by no means fair to allow him to have had in view to borrow for Ireland a sum every year more than equal to her whole revenue.-- -We must now hear the declarations of the same minister, at the time of opening his budget in April last. "The committee" said he, "will observe, that, though, in the present "instance,the ways and means do not accom"plish the object of preventing all accumu "lation of debt, the addition this year will "be under 4 millions. But the committee " will understand, that if they should "adopt the provisions, which I have pla"ced under their consideration, there will "be ways and means sufficient to meet "what I consider the average amount of "the war-expenses. If the system which "I recommend be adopted, and the war "should continue for three years, we shall "have arrived, at the end of those three years, at a point when all addition to the public debt will cease, and the debt "will be diminishing, even under our

present expenses. Thus, we shall have "to carry on the contest, if it should con"tinue beyond that period, under the cir"cumstance of a diminution rather than "an increase of debt."+ Ireland is carefully kept out of sight, observe. All his propositions were adopted; and, we have

*Parliamentary Debates, vol. II. p. 773. + Ibid. vol. II. p. 356.

a right to demand, from him, the promised consequences, but, while some persons were really weak enough to be in expectation of those consequences, íorth comes the Speech, regretting the necessity of additional burdens and sacrifices!" But, these additi ns may, possibly, arise from the subsidies expected to be called for by the powers of the Continent; and, it is right to state, that the minister, in both the budgetspeeches, above referred to, expressly excepted the sums that might be called for by such a contingency. Whatever, therefore, may be the amount of those subsidies, it must be added to the 6 millions a year, which he always regarded it as necessary to continue to borrow during the war. Suppose, then, the subsidies for the present year should amount to 5 millions, as it is said they will, the loan for England should not exceed 11 millions, and, for Ireland (certainly within the amount of her whole annual revenue). it ought not to exceed millions, or, at most 2 millions; yet, as was above-stated, the probability is, that it must exceed 20 millions for England alone, or, that new taxes to the amount of the deficit must be imposed. The truth is, I believe, that we shall have a very considerablean and new taxes to a great amount besides; and, the reason for making these remarks, is, that people may be prepared for the exertions they will be called on to make. The doubling of the Income-Tax has been spoken of as a probable measure. The tax is objectionable only because it sets the neighbours of a man to pry into his secrets; to fathom the length of his purse; to wound and finally destroy his laudab'e pride; in many cases to mar his fortune; to prevent his recovering from a state of depression; to break down his independence of spirit, and to efface from his mind those notions of liberty and security, without which (whatever other nations may be) Englishmen are worth nothing. But, in that quarter, (I mean the funds) where the loudest cry has been set up against the Income-tax, none of these objections are of any weight. There the property is visible. The owner has, of himself, exposed the evidences of it to the world. There the assessor sees only what a man bas, and does not discover what he has not, but what, in many instances much to his advantage, he is thought to have, even by the hawk-eved assessor himself. To a lax upon the funds, therefore, there can be, no objection that will not equally well apply to a tax upon houses or land; and, the