en to have been
wantonly added to oppression; and the natives were universally reduced to
such a state of meanness and poverty, that the English name became a term
of reproach; and several generations elapsed before one family of Saxon
pedigree was raised to any considerable honours, or could so much as
obtain the rank of baron of the realm."--Yet the English people owe much
to the ancestors of the aristocracy, who introduced among them the arts
and refinements of civilization, and by their wisdom and disciplined
valour have raised the country to that pitch of greatness, so justly
termed "the envy of surrounding nations." I do not contend, that because a
nation may have acquired the name of great, that therefore _the people_
are more happy; but am rather inclined to think the contrary, for
conquests are generally made and wealth is accumulated for the benefit of
the few, and at the expense of the many.

A law has been lately passed by the legislature of Pennsylvania, taxing
wholesale and retail dealers in merchandize, excepting those importers of
foreign goods who vend the articles in the form in which they are
imported. This act classes the citizens according to their annual amount
of sales, and taxes them in the same proportion. Those who effect sales to
the amount of fifty thousand dollars, constitute the first class; of forty
thousand dollars, the second class; of thirty thousand dollars, the third
class; of twenty thousand dollars, the fourth class; of fifteen thousand
dollars, the fifth class; of ten thousand dollars, the sixth class; of
five thousand dollars, the seventh class; and all persons effecting sales
not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars, constitute the eighth
class. The first class shall pay for license, annually, fifty dollars; the
second class, forty dollars; the third class, thirty dollars; the fourth
class, twenty-five dollars; the fifth class, twenty dollars; the sixth
class, fifteen dollars; the seventh class, twelve dollars and fifty cents,
and the eighth class ten dollars.

Direct taxation has been found in all cases to be obnoxious, and this
particular mode, I apprehend, is calculated to produce very pernicious
effects. The laws of a republic should all tend to establish and support,
as far as is practicable, the principle of equality, and any act that has
a contrary tendency must be injurious to the community. Now this act draws
a direct line of demarcation between citizens, in propo