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pretexts are eafily tinged with the colouring of reafon; and that ceconomy which has been fo often courted, and always expected, appears and disappears in an inftant, leaving a black cloud over the beautiful countenance of truth, which fome faint rays had begun to render confpicuous.

Thefe reflections, Sire, written in the annals of every nation, are the faithful hiftory of the human heart: never could the meditation on them be more interefting to your majesty than at prefent, for the application fuits exactly to the urgent circumstances of the times. The more vigour and firmnefs your majefty will fhew for the intended reforms, and falutary refolutions, the more difficulties and obftacle swill certainly impede the way: and experience may perhaps have already proved, that the perfons interefted in thefe œconomical views begin to hint as if the propofed fums were equivocal and precarious, and the deductions agreed upon incompatible with old customs, and unlikely to laft a long time.

It is in your majefty's power to enforce, with a laudabfe perfeverance, the order that must establish with permanency this indifpenfable reform. Every thing fhould undergo the ftricteft enquiry. Your majefty's juftice, which is to us the fureft and most facred pledge, emboldens your parliament to lay before you, without danger of incurring your royal displeasure, fome of thole remarks and obfervations that must naturally have occurred to you. Had you known, Sire, the real ftate of your finances, no

doubt you would not have undertaken thofe immenfe edifices that are now building, nor made fo many acquifitions onerous to the ftate; you would not have permited fo many exchanges of the crown lands, nor granted thofe exceffive liberalities that the importunate and intriguing are always fure of obtaining. The facility of obtaining money from the treasury (the fatal bane of all adminiftrations) would never have been fuffered to increase, for it expofes every moment the fovereign to fome dangerous furprife; it fquanders fecretly the public revenue, and can never overbalance, with its pretended utility, the great inconveniences always attending it. Your majefty would certainly never have confented to have Paris furrounded by fuch a magnificent wall; to fee palaces* erected for your exife-officers at an exorbitant expence, in order to coincide with the views of the farmersgeneral, who, in expectation of a precarious and diftant gain, expend annually thofe fums that fhould be appropriated to wants of more real neceffity.

All these objects, Sire, and many others, the enumeration of which would aftonish, are fufceptible of amendment; fome require a confiderable diminution; others an entire fuppreffion. But it is not the total only of each department that fhould be properly diminished; every part of it should be fcrupulously examined, and divefted of all its fuperfluous charges; it fhould be reduced to the fimple and abfolutely neceffary expence in fo doing, your majefty might eafily dou

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*At every barriere (turnpike) there are two beautiful manfions, in the form of lodges, adorned with pillars, pilafters, medallions, &c.

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ble the intended reform of the forty millions of livres, and this might then prove a real relief to your fuffering fubjects.

There are honourable œconomies, Sire, that, far from diminishing the fplendour of a throne, add luftre and dignity to it. Majefty itself may fubmit to privations. The fovereign is always great when his fubject are happy; and the fight of happiness fpread over a whole people is fo pompous and brilliant, that it commands public admiration and univerfal applause.

Thefe diminutions, fuppreffions, reforms, and economies, fo often folicited by your parliaments, demanded by the notables, and promifed to their fpirited and juft perfeverance, are wifhed for and expected every day by the unhappy hufbandman, whofe tears bedew the very field that contributes to fo many uselefs expences before it has furnished the neceflary fubfiftence to the perfon who fowed it, for the fubfiftence of himself and family, and who, deprived of the common neceffaries, is forced to take from his poverty itself, wherewith to furnish to the exigencies of the ftate.

Thefe unhappy beings, Sire, Frenchmen by birth, and MEN, have a double right to enjoy their facred property even in the bofom of indigence; but as they cannot claim it themselves at your majefty's feet, let their claims and their rights be ever present before you; let their plaints find their way to the throne, and reach your royal perfon; let them hear your gracious anfwer, and let them know that your majefty's goodness and juftice are the fureft fupporters they can hope to find near the throne.

It

The French never confult any intereft infeparable from the throne; they are always biaffed by their fincere attachment to their monarch; in their fervent zeal and enthufiaftic emotions for the royal caufe, they have been capable of the greatest facrifices; and they may fancy the ways and means of the nation as unbounded as their affection. Thefe ways and means, therefore, muft be carefully managed and used at proper times. fhould be likewife confidered, that the contributions proceeding from the impofts granted to the monarch are only intended as fubfidies to the ftate, and that the fovereign is but the diftributor of whatever is not employed for the public weal, which naturally belongs to those who cooperate in levying the contributions; and, if they are diverted from their chief and primitive intent, their fertile fource will foon become infufficient, and, in a fhort time, exhaufted; particularly if the expences increase in proportion to the receipt.

All kinds of impofts fhould be porportioned to the neceffary wants of the nation, and end with them. Each citizen contributes part of his property, for the fake of maintaining public fafety and private tranquillity. The people, on fuch principles, founded on the rights of mankind, and confirmed by reason, fhould never increase their contributions but when the expences of the ftate have undergone all the favings, alterations, and retrench-' ments, they are capable of. It is for this reafon, therefore, that your parliament, Sire, look upon the duty an ftamped paper as entirely oppofite to thefe primitive notions. It would affect the private tranquil

pretexts are easily tinged with the colouring of reafon; and that ceconomy which has been so often courted, and always expected, appears and disappears in an inftant, leaving a black cloud over the beautiful countenance of truth, which fome faint rays had begun to render confpicuous.

These reflections, Sire, written in the annals of every nation, are the faithful hiftory of the human heart: never could the meditation on them be more interefting to your majesty than at prefent, for the application fuits exactly to the urgent circumstances of the times. The more vigour and firmness your majefty will fhew for the intended reforms, and falutary refolutions, the more difficulties and obftacle swill certainly impede the way: and experience may perhaps have already proved, that the perfons interefted in these œconomical views begin to hint as if the propofed fums were equivocal and precarious, and the deductions agreed upon incompatible with old customs, and unlikely to laft a long time.

It is in your majesty's power to enforce, with a laudabfe perfeverance, the order that must establish with permanency this indifpenfable reform. Every thing fhould undergo the ftricteft enquiry. Your majefty's juftice, which is to us the fureft and moft facred pledge, emboldens your parliament to lay before you, without danger of incurring your royal difpleafure, fome of those remarks and obfervations that muft naturally have occurred to you. Had you known, Sire, the real ftate of your finances, no

doubt you would not have undertaken thofe immenfe edifices that are now building, nor made fo many acquifitions onerous to the ftate; you would not have permited fo many exchanges of the crown lands, nor granted thofe exceffive liberalities that the importunate and intriguing are always fure of obtaining. The facility of obtaining money from the treasury (the fatal bane of all adminiftrations) would never have been fuffered to increase, for it exposes every moment the fovereign to fome dangerous furprife; it fquanders fecretly the public revenue, and can never overbalance, with its pretended utility, the great inconveniences always attending it. Your majefty would certainly never have confented to have Paris furrounded by fuch a magnificent wall; to fee palaces* erected for your exife-officers at an exorbitant expence, in order to co incide with the views of the farmersgeneral, who, in expectation of a precarious and diftant gain, expend annually those fums that should be appropriated to wants of more real neceffity.

All these objects, Sire, and many others, the enumeration of which would aftonifh, are fufceptible of amendment; fome require a confiderable diminution; others an entire fuppreffion. But it is not the total only of each department that fhould be properly diminished; every part of it fhould be fcrupulously examined, and divefted of all its fuperfluous charges; it fhould be reduced to the fimple and abfolutely neceffary expence in fo doing, your majefty might easily dou

*At every barriere (turnpike) there are two beautiful manfions, in the form of lodges, adorned with pillars, pilafters, medallions, &c.

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ble the intended reform of the forty millions of livres, and this might then prove a real relief to your fuffering fubjects.

There are honourable œconomies, Sire, that, far from diminishing the fplendour of a throne, add luftre and dignity to it. Majefty itself may fubmit to privations. The fovereign is always great when his fubject are happy; and the fight of happiness spread over a whole people is fo pompous and brilliant, that it commands public admiration and univerfal applause.

Thefe diminutions, fuppreffions, reforms, and economies, so often folicited by your parliaments, demanded by the notables, and promifed to their fpirited and juft perfeverance, are wifhed for and expected every day by the unhappy hufbandman, whofe tears bedew the very field that contributes to fo many ufelefs expences before it has furnished the neceffary fubfiftence to the perfon who fowed it, for the fubfiftence of himself and family, and who, deprived of the common neceffaries, is forced to take from his poverty itself, wherewith to furnish to the exigencies of the ftate.

Thefe unhappy beings, Sire, Frenchmen by birth, and MEN, have a double right to enjoy their facred property even in the bofom of indigence; but as they cannot claim it themselves at your majefty's feet, let their claims and their rights be ever present before you; let their plaints find their way to the throne, and reach your royal perfon; let them hear your gracious answer, and let them know that your majef ty's goodness and juftice are the fureft fupporters they can hope to find near the throne.

It

The French never confult any intereft infeparable from the throne; they are always biaffed by their fincere attachment to their monarch; in their fervent zeal and enthufiaftic emotions for the royal caufe, they have been capable of the greateft facrifices; and they may fancy the ways and means of the nation as unbounded as their affection. Thefe ways and means, therefore, must be carefully managed and used at proper times. fhould be likewise considered, that the contributions proceeding from the impofts granted to the monarch are only intended as fubfidies to the ftate, and that the fovereign is but the diftributor of whatever is not employed for the public weal, which naturally belongs to thofe who cooperate in levying the contributions; and, if they are diverted from their chief and primitive intent, their fertile fource will foon become infufficient, and, in a fhort time, exhaufted; particularly if the expences increase in proportion to the receipt.

All kinds of impofts fhould be porportioned to the neceffary wants of the nation, and end with them. Each citizen contributes part of his property, for the fake of maintaining public fafety and private tranquillity. The people, on fuch principles, founded on the rights of mankind, and confirmed by reason, fhould never increase their contributions but when the expences of the ftate have undergone all the favings, alterations, and retrench-' ments, they are capable of. It is for this reafon, therefore, that your parliament, Sire, look upon the duty an ftamped paper as entirely oppofite to thefe primitive notions. It would affect the private tranquil

Hity, by neceffarily opening a way to errors, and thereby would prove far more dangerous than the gabelle [duty on falt, a kind of excife], which was, as has been seen, liable to open frauds. The most exact and habitual attention could hardly be fufficient to distinguish the numberlefs ftamped papers that are to ferve for each refpective act of juftice or common tranfaction.

What mistakes will not the greateft part of your fubjects be liable to, by interchanging these papers, and making use of the one for the other! Many writings, by fuch involuntary faults, may appear counterfeited in the eye of juftice; and the unwary individual will find himself daily expofed to pay exorbitant fines, or to encounter difagreeable and heavy fuits at law.

Such a duty, Sire, is likewife incompatible with public fafety, as it would deeply wound mutual confidence, which is the fure foundation of it. Individuals would be afraid of producing unftamped bills or notes before a tribunal; and in this age, where there are fuch frequent inftances of perfons taking all forts of advantages, and commencing or prolonging vexatious and never-ending fuits, a wife legiflator fhould be very careful not to introduce new subjects of chicanery. Befides, our public truft, Sire, and our national dignity, abfolutely forbid the introduction of fuch a dangerous duty.

The moment a declaration is iffued, which is generally vicious in almost all its difpofitions, a feducing facility of extending its meaning or duration offers itself, and pretences are not wanting for impofing plaufibly on the public. Experience furnishes us with too many exam

ples. The two fous and the eight fous per livre for instance, the fecond warrant for the poll-tax, and fo many other inventions, which the fertile genius of financiers has imagined, and is never at a lofs to find to overcharge the fabjects, are but a continuation and extenfion of a duty, fimple in its origin; and fuch an extenfion, Sire, is often divested of any legal authority, and only collected in virtue of the minifter's mandate. Without mentioning, Sire, the multiplicity of marks, precautions, and fines, annexed to and attending the duty on ftamped paper, it is certain that it would caufe a delay in public and private business, and obftruct the common daily transactions. All delay is dangerous, and all obftruction must produce a delay. A bill of exchange, improperly stamped, would be liable to a fine; the fine must be paid immediately by the poffeffor of the bill; he therefore would be obliged to advance the fum for the fine, pay instead of receive, and be out of his money till the expiration of his unlucky bill. He would be a fufferer for other perfons faults, and fuch faults might be renewed several times in one and the fame day, in the very fame hour; his payments must be affected by it, and his credit called in queftion. Thence mistrust and doubts will neceffarily arife; and you know, Sire, that there fubfifts a kind of chain in the course of exchanges, that ftrongly binds all the commercial parts of mankind in the known world. Our trading towns would lose, in the eyes of a foreigner, that level or advantage they were wont to enjoy. In short, were not fuch a duty extremely onerous in itself, its unlimited dura

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