his last century.

Indeed, when we consider the great noise that has often been made
about raising an inconsiderable sum, it is impossible not to be
astonished at the reluctance with which people pay taxes, when they
feel that they are paying them, and are not accustomed to the feeling.

Taxation is, then, to the feelings of men, disagreeable; to their
manners hurtful; they are also, in their operation, to a certain degree,
inimical to liberty. The ultimate consequence of this is, that persons
and property have both of them a tendency to quit a country where
taxes are high, and to go to one, where, with the same means, there
may be more enjoyment.

Taxes may be called a rent paid for living in a country, and operate
exactly like the rent of houses or land, or rent for any thing else; that
is, they make the tenant remove to a cheaper place, unless he finds
advantages where he is to counterbalance the expense.

Unfortunately, the persons who have the greatest disposition to quit a
country that is heavily taxed are those, who, having a certain income,
which they cannot increase, wish to enjoy it with some degree of
economy. They are, likewise, the persons who can remove with the
greatest [end of page #111] facility. Thus, people whose income is in
money are always the first to quit a country that is become too dear to
live in with comfort.

Many circumstances may favour or counteract this tendency, such as
the difficulty of finding an agreeable place to retire to, where the
money will be secure, or the interest regularly paid; but, an inquiry
into that will come more properly when we examine the external
causes of decline.

Though the increase of taxes, by augmenting the expense of living, and of
the necessaries of life, is little felt by the labouring class, their
wages rising in proportion; yet a most disastrous effect is produced on
the fine arts, and on all productions of which the price does not bear a
proportional rise.

Where taxes are high, and luxury great, there must be some persons
who have a great deal of ostentation, even if they have little taste. A
picture or a jewel of great value will, very certainly, find a purchaser,
but that will only serve as a motive for bringing the fine painting from
another country, where the necessaries of life are cheaper, and where
men enjoy that careless ease which is incompatible with a high state of
taxation.

When Rome became luxurious, to the highest pitch, there