de and wilful
murder. The persecution of this unfortunate race may be said to
commence before they are born; and, though the strength of a nation
depends much on its population, less care is taken to encourage it,
than to produce mushrooms, or to preserve hares and partridges.

[end of page #256]

CHAP. VI.

_Causes of Decline, peculiar to England_.

In addition to the causes of decline which Britain, as a wealthy
country, has, in common with most other nations, it has some peculiar
to itself, (or of which the degree at least is peculiar to it).

The national debt, the high rate of taxation, the prodigious expense of
the poor, and the nature of the government, are peculiar to this
country. There are other circumstances in its favour, of which we shall
speak in the next chapter; but, in this, we shall review those that are
against it, and of an unfavourable nature and operation.

The high rate of taxation, for the very reason that it is the highest ever
known, inspires our enemies with hopes of our downfall, and makes
them persevere in continuing to put us to expense.

The unprecedented commerce we enjoy, of which every other nation
would wish to have a share, (and of which each, most mistakenly,
thinks it would have a share, if Britain was undone,) is a cause of
attracting envy and enmity, and repelling friendship. Our colonies in
the West, and our possessions in the East, act like the conductors that
draw the electric fluid to a building, but they do not, like those
conductors, serve to protect it from violence. We have seen, that the
advantage arising from them is more than doubtful, that they enrich
individuals and impoverish the state; but all this would be nothing
new, were it not for the vast scale on which those evils exist.

The poor's rate, which is in itself completely unexampled, though a
common thing to all nations, is so exorbitant in England, that it may
very properly be ranked amongst the dangers peculiar to this country.
Who would believe, that Frederick the Great of Prussia carried on his
brilliant and successful wars against the most formidable enemies,
expended more than one-eighth of his revenues annually on the
encouragement of industry, and left his treasury well stored, yet all
this with an income, less by one-fourth than the sums that go to
support [end of page #257] the poor in England, notwithstanding all
the miserable manoeuvres that are practiced =sic= to avoid giving
them a