monarchy, and were made tools of oppression, instead of being intercessors for the people. 138. Fertile Lands changed into Deserts. It would be doubting the reader's capacities to cite examples of this. 139. Alfred's Registration of Acres. We must here excuse an error which occurred in the fourth line, page 132, herds having been written for hides. This measure of ground is calculated by Spelman as one hundred acres, and by Littleton otherwise. According to the former, the space is so great, that it could not be ploughed in less than one year. According to the latter, it was a space of land that produced enough to nourish a noble family with their attendants. 140. Population of Alfred's Dominions. The figure of six thousand souls, which Haller mentions as having lived in England in Alfred's time, seems rather small, and may be subjected to correction, even if we admit Alfred's realm to have then been only composed of the counties known under the appellation of Wessex. 141. Origin of Annual Parliamentary Sessions. This appears to have been the origin of the annual sessions of parliament in the autumn; but the custom has since been for preparatory business alone to be done in parliament at such epochs, unless the sittings were, as they now are, postponed to the month of January. 142. Voluntary Gifts and Taxes. Voluntary gifts to the crown have taken place both in ancient and modern times. All good-hearted people are ready to make, at any moment, a sacrifice, when they behold the country in danger. We find examples of this as far back as the time of the Carthaginians: "In the third Punian war, the Romans claimed all the ships that the Carthaginians had built since the last peace, under pretence of an armament destined for a breach of peace. They gave them up, and saw them burnt before their own eyes. The Romans then ordered them to quit the coast, and to build a new town in the interior of the country, and far from the sea. "The Carthaginians upon receiving this information were struck with terror; but, rather than accede to this, they unanimously declared themselves for war, with the exception of one of the Suffetians, who was stoned to death. They then resolved to bring all wooden moveables, even furniture and huts, to the docks, to build a new fleet. All the gold and silver, the metal of the grandees, the sepulchral ornaments of magistrates and heroes, the sacred vessels, the treasures of the temples, the ploughs, scythes, and all spareable implements were melted and cast into weapons. The whole feminine sex cut off their hair to twist into cords and ropes. All the inhabitants, without regard to rank, age, or sex, contributed every thing in their power to defend their old city."-The Ship: its Origin and Progress. Many instances of similar generosity in modern times, and even the latest epochs, might be cited from the English and other nations, and especially in Prussia in 1813, to free Germany from the French yoke; and in Paris after the revolution of 1848. It is lamentable that these voluntary gifts are often mis-used; but such is the lot of all gifts and contributions, whether voluntary or enforced. When society shall have attained such perfection that the amount of all revenues may be considered as well employed, we may indeed pretend to have reached the pinnacle of civilization. At present the budget presents heavy figures, unbalanced by light arguments, and against which all objections are regarded as chicanery of the opposition; the questions addressed to the leaders of the state, concerning these expenses, are but vaguely argued. The Chinese, sauvent mieux les apparences, and if taxes are there most strictly enforced, in the fourteenth maxim of the Emperor Kang-he, (in which he recommends to his subjects "to complete the payment of the taxes, in order to prevent frequent urgency;") he gives explanatory reasons of the destination of the taxes, namely: "for the expenses of the salaries of the mandarins, that they may rule our people; to pay the army, that they may protect our people; of preparing for years of scarcity, that our people may be fed; as these are all collected from the empire, so they are all employed for its use. How then can it be supposed that the granaries and treasury of the sovereign are intended to injure the people that he may nourish himself? Since our dynasty established the tripod until now, the proportions of the revenue have been fixed by an universally approved statute; and all the other unjust items have been completely cancelled a thread or a hair too much is not demanded from the people." We will not take trop a la lettre this last promise; but still find it very condescending of a Chinese despot to express himself in such terms. Our European governors do not trouble themselves so far, but leave us blindly to believe that the revenue of all taxes are well employed. A rule of Montesquieu on taxes, "qu'on peut lever les tribus plus forts à proportion de la liberté du sujet," is exactly followed in England; and as freedom is very dear to every English heart, we do not mind it so much if it costs a little dear. This spirited author afterwards confirms that maxim as follows:-"Il y a dans les états modérés un dédomagement pour la pesanteure des tribus: c'est la liberté. Il y a dans les états despotiques un equivalent pour la liberté: c'est la modicité des tribus."* 143. Assent to the Annual Budget. We refer the reader to the preceding note, having only to add, that besides some few exceptions of the opposition, the remainder nicken mit dem Kopfe und sagen “ja.” Legion of Officers for collecting Taxes. Haller speaks here of indirect duties and their faults, the opinions on which are divided everywhere. Most of the inhabitants of all countries are inclined towards the philanthropical system, and believe it would be better for every one to bear a heavy but direct burthen; for if all hands take up the weight at once, although one may receive a greater and another a lesser share, and the whole weight is the same, yet each thinks the burthen lighter. In England the partizans of each opinion are directly opposed by free trade and protectionists. We, the author, incline neither to the one nor the other side; we hate, indeed, the degrading vexations of the customs' officers in all countries, and really think that their power ought to be considerably checked, and the duties for the most part lessened, or even abolished, yet our love for truth and impartiality forbids us to admit the following maxims of Montesquieu, which require the greatest attention, and form a considerable weight in the scale on the side of the opponents of free trade:-"L'impot par tête est plus naturel à la servitude; l'impot sur la marchandise est plus naturel à la liberté, parce qu'il se rapporte d'une manière moin directe à la personne." He further says, that in despotic governments * In Russia the taxes were very moderate, but they have been increased since the despotism has been somewhat moderated. the prince grants lands to his military and his officers, because he imposes but light taxes. We will pass over this portion, and come to his other remark, which seems to us of the greatest import. "Le tribut naturel au gouvernement modéré est l'impôt sur les marchandises. Čet impôt étant réellement payé par l'acheteur, quoique le marchand l'avance est un prêt que le marchand a déja fait à l'acheteur: ainsi il faut regarder le négociant et comme le débiteur général de l'etat, et comme le créancier de tous les particuliers. Il avance à l'etat le droit que l'acheteur lui payera quelque jour; et il a payé, pour l'acheteur, le droit qu'il a payé pour la marchandise. On sent donc que plus le gouvernement est modéré, que plus l'esprit de liberté règne, que plus les fortunes ont de sûreté, plus il est facile au marchand d'avancerà l'etat, et de préter au particulier des droits considérables. En Angleterre, un marchand prète réellement a l'etat cinquante ou soixante livres sterling à chaque tonneau de vin qu' il recoit. Quel est le marchand qui oserait faire une chose de cette espèce dans un pays gouverné comme la Turquie? et, quand il l'oserait faire, comment le pourrait il, avec une fortune suspecte, incertaine, ruinée? We cannot deny that the above maxim, although written a hundred years ago, contains much truth; but the question is, whether it be really applicable to our time? We observe that it is a forced and very expensive loan from merchants to government, all kinds of loans bear something pernicious with them, but this, we think, more than any, from the present manner of levying the duties, from the expense of a "legion of officers," and from the small degree of bonne foi trusted to the payers of these taxes. When Montesquieu wrote these lines, he was probably far from supposing that towns would be connected, and the vast distances reduced, by means of railways and steam navigation, and thus many obstacles to the human enjoyment of the produce of the globe are removed. Whether such obstacles are favourable to trade in general or not, is a question already decided by economists and men of experience; and if the old school pretends that commerce is favoured by secrecy and obstacles, (as fishing in troubled water,) and that Mercury, its patron, protects it as being placed between bonne foi and fraud; we have now a better opinion of it, and have experienced that publicity and the removal of obstacles do not injure trade so much as conservatives fear. Many objections have been made to the cheapness which free trade and abundance produces, and a political one, lately suggested by a talented writer, that "in a heavily taxed country a general rise in price must be a public benefit, and a fall in price a public calamity," requires also some attention: "The value of the annual produce of the United Kingdom, including everything raised or manufactured by our twenty-nine millions of people, has been recently estimated to amount to about £448,000,000. Assuming our revenue, with all the costs of collection, to be £56,000,000-and a lower sum cannot suffice for the necessities of the country-then one-eighth of the whole national produce is swept into the imperial exchequer. But, suppose such a general rise of prices to take place, as that the national produce, instead of being worth £448,000,000 in money value, became worth double that sum; then, as the charge of taxation remained fixed, only one sixteenth part of the produce raised by our toiling millions would go into the exchequer, instead of one-eighth. On the other hand, suppose that, by a general fall of prices, the whole annual produce of the country only realized £224,000,000 in money value, then the the £56,000,000 of taxation would be equal to onefourth of it. Thus, the per centage charge of taxation becomes heavier as prices decline, and lighter as prices advance." Most of the French papers also pretend, that it is a sound policy to raise legislatively the prices of all things by the operations of the tariffs; but tariffs only raise the prices of things because they diminish the quantity offered in the market; and ought abundance, indeed, to be dreaded and scarcely to be desired? We shall try to trace this illusion to its source. "It is seen that a man becomes rich in proportion as he draws a greater profit from his work, that is to say, according as he sells at a higher price. He sells at a higher price, in proportion to the rarity or scarcity of the kind of product which is the object of his industry. Hence it is concluded that, with regard to him at least, scarcity enriches him. Applying successively that reasoning to all manufacturers and producers, the theory of scarcity is deduced. Hence we pass to the application; and, in order to favour all classes of producers, dearness is artificially excited, the scarcity of everything is brought about by prohibition, restriction, the abolition of machines, and other analogous means. The same reason may be pursued in the case of abundance. It is observed, that when any particular |