;
and, the latter, in reasoning on the taxation at the time he wrote, as if
nearly the utmost degree, though it has since trebled, and the difficulty
in paying seems to be diminished; at least it appears not to have
augmented.

To fix the point at which this can stop is not, indeed, very easy;
particularly, as the value of gold and silver, which are the measures of
other values, do themselves vary. Thus, for example, a working man
can, with his day's wages, purchase as much bread and beer as he
could have done with it forty years ago. Though the national debt [end
of page #114] is five times as great as it was then, at the present price
of bread, it would not take twice the number of loaves to pay it that it
would have required at that time.

The depreciation of money, then, as well as the continuation and
augmented pressure of necessity, counteract, to a certain degree, and
for a certain time, the natural tendency of taxes; but that counteraction,
though operating in all cases, in its degree and duration, must depend
upon particular circumstances; and though, perhaps, it cannot be, with
much accuracy, ascertained in any case, it is impossible to attempt
resolving the question in a general way; we shall, therefore, return to
the subject, when we apply the general principles to the particular
situation of England.

One conclusion, however, is, that as taxes, carried to a great extent,
are very dangerous, though not so if only carried to a certain point; as
that point cannot be ascertained, it ought to be a general rule to lay on
as few taxes as possible; and the giving as little trouble and
derangement to the contributor as may be, is also another point, with
respect to which there cannot be two different opinions. [end of page
#115]

CHAP. IV.

_Of the interior Causes of Decline, arising from the Encroachments of
public and privileged Bodies, and of those who have a common
Interest; on those who have no common Interest_. {96}

From the moment that any particular form of government or order is
established in a nation, there must be separate and adverse interests;
or, which is the same thing, bodies acting in opposition to each other,
and seeking their own power and advantage at the expense of the rest.

In a country where the executive government is under no sufficient
control, its strides to arbitrary power are well known; but, in a
government poised like that of England, where there are deliberative
bod