let me first observe, that the distress is by no means the primary cause of the discontents of the people; and this, indeed, has been acknowledged most distinctly by my Lord Grenville, who has said that the discontents have their origin in a cause which existed before the French Revolution. It is not I; it is not Mr. Hunt; it is not any other person now living, with whom the putting forward of this cause of Reform originated. The great mass of the Reformers were not born at the time of the origin of that cause, which has descended to them from father to son. This, therefore, and not the distresses of the country, is the great standing ground of discontent; and so firmly am I convinced that the mere bodily sufferings of the people are a nothing compared to this ground of discontent, that, I verily believe, that if his Royal Highness had been advised to say in his speech to the Parliament that he wished them to take into their consideration the question of Reform, the whole country would now have been as tranquil as ever it was at any one period of its history. I mean a mere simple recommendation that the Parliament would entertain the question and give it a calm and dispassionate discussion. This is the opinion of every man that I spoke with upon the subject, from the Docks at Liverpool to the Crown-and-Anchor Tavern in the Strand. We will suppose, for argument's sake, that a Reform would do no good. My opinion is directly the contrary (I beg you to observe that); but, for argument's sake, allow that it would do no good, still, would it not have been right to take into consideration a thing prayed for, most earnestly prayed for, by three-fourths, at least, of the active persons in the kingdom? How fully persuaded the people are that a Reform would be productive of happiness to the country is clearly demonstrated in the reception which the people have given to me. What has entitled me to their notice? Without riches; with the reputation of extreme poverty; notoriously without the power of conferring the smallest pecuniary favour upon any creature ; totally unknown to any part of the people in any of the counties through which I have come, except through the means of my writings: and yet I have received written addresses with a greater number of names to them than, perhaps, were ever signed to all the addresses put together that any man in England ever before received. Nearly fifty thousand names were subscribed to addresses in Lancashire; and I have this day received from Yorkshire, dated from Leeds, an Address with many many thousand names subscribed to it. These Yorkshiremen tell me that they owe to me the enlightening of their minds; that they have admired my perseverance in the cause of Reform: that their hopes of final success are strengthened by my return; and that they have the greatest confidence in the exertions which I shall be able to make to restore them to happiness and to preserve the Constitution of this Kingdom, of this their country, which they ardently love, and for my unalterable attachment to which, they are unalterably attached to me. I say, my Lord, that you have here in these facts alone, a proof of the ardent desire which the people have to see a Reform in the Parliament, and how fully they are persuaded that such Reform would restore them to happiness. The Dinner at the Crown-and-Anchor, upon my arrival, is another proof. What should induce four hundred persons to give five shillings and sixpence each merely to meet me, to eat a little bit of meat and bread, and to drink water? What should induce as many more to offer their money upon the occasion, and to go away regretting that there was not room for them. It has been hinted by several persons that I, amongst others, am actuated by ambitious motives; but, while I deny the right of any one to exclude me from the right of entertaining such motives as well as other men, what further can I want to gratify feelings of ambition? It is very clear, ther, first, that even the recommendation, on the part of the Prince to the Parliament, to take into consideration the question of Reform, would, at once, allay the ferment which has created so much alarm; second, it is clear that time can do nothing, of itself, in the way of diminishing the distress; and, it is equally clear to me, that a Reformed Parliament would have it completely in its power, not only to induce the people patiently to wait for the removal of the distress, but also, to remove it completely, and to settle the affairs of the country in such a way as to make the people happy and the Constitution, in King, Lords and Commons, secure. In another Letter I shall endeavour to show your Lordship that the opinion of your colleague with regard to the effect of taxation upon the people is erroneous, and to convince you, that, until a very large part of that taxation be removed, there cannot he the smallest hope of a restoration of that tranquillity and prosperity, which, in spite of all anger and all prejudice, I am well persuaded your Lordship firmly believes me sincerely to wish to see my country enjoy. I cannot conclude, my Lord, without once more adverting to that part of your speech and the speech of Lord Castlereagh, wherein you, in strains of great triumph, observe that there is distress in America, notwithstanding there is no King, no Lords, and no Established Church. I have exposed most fully your error as to the fact of distress; but, my Lord, have I ever said that the distress in England arose from the existence of the King, the Lords, and the Church? Have I not repeatedly, in my appeals to these very Reformers who are now addressing me, told them not to be amused with names; not to conclude that a people was free and happy merely because the Government was called a Republic? Have I not repeatedly told them to recollect, that if their country was the most famous and the most powerful in the world, it had acquired that fame and power under a Government of King, Lords and Commons; has not this always been my language, whether I was writing from abroad or writing from at home; and have I not, since my arrival in the country, told the people of Lancashire in answer to an Address overflowing with the kindest feelings towards myself, that that part of their Address which expresses their firm attachment to the present form of government has given me more pleasure than any other part of that affectionate document, telling them at the same time that to introduce a republican government into England would be the surest way of rendering ruin and degradation permanent? Your Lordship can deny the truth of none of this. Your colleague can deny the truth of none of it. Upon what ground, then, is it pretended to be believed that the Reformers ascribe the present distress to the existing form of government? Upon what ground is it pretended to be believed, that those who seek a Reform in words have a Revolution at the bottom of their hearts? Whence proceeds the unmanly hints that my publication is seditious and blasphemous that I am the principal author of the evils which are to be provided against; that I am the great propagator of discontent, disobedience to the laws, disaffection to the Constitution and disloyalty to the King? No, no, my Lord; not a man in the kingdom believes this or any part of it; but most men believe that I possess great influence over : the minds of the people, that I am firmly convinced that a Reform of the Parliament ought to take place, and that, unless, by some means or other, I can be silenced, that Reform will take place. I perceive, that the word Reform does not excite quite so much apparent horror in certain minds as it heretofore excited. I am not without hope that those who have the power of conciliation completely in their hands, will yet be disposed to conciliate. I most earnestly pray God that they may, and that this, our once free and happy country, may be rendered as firm and united in mind as it has been made safe and strong by the hand of nature. Leading a life of sobriety and industry, I have had a great deal of time to bestow upon reflecting on the means by which the country is to be saved. The wish nearest my heart is, to see England happy, free, powerful and dreaded by all other nations. I can see her substance fast wasting away; I can see the fruits of past industry itself passing into other States;. I can see the industry passing away into those States; and I am firmly persuaded, that unless efficient remedies be speedily applied, this country, hitherto so famed in the world, will become one of the most despicable and feeble of nations. To prevent this I shall not fail to do all that shall lie in my power; and if my endeavours should be wholly unavailing, I will take care that it shall be said of me that I had no hand in the ruin and degradation of England. I am, my Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient Wм. COBBETT. TO THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL ON THE POWER OF TAXATION TO PRODUCE MISERY; AND ON THE SPEECH OF MR. BARING RELATIVE TO THE TAXES, THE PAPER-MONEY, AND THE FUNDS. (Political Register, December, 1819.) LETTER II. London, December 14, 1819. MY LORD, The speech of Mr. Baring, as reported in the Morning Chronicle, made me jump out of my chair. My tongue and fingers itched for the want of power to give him an instant answer. This speech was cheered as something extraordinarily fine: it was "wise;" it was "profound; "it was "philosophical!" One Member wished that the deluded Reformers could all have been present to hear it. I wish so, too, with all my heart; provided, however, that the Reformers could have heard me answer that famous speech. Nay, I wish the Reformers could have heard it even without the answer; for, however ignorant and deluded you may think them, there is scarcely man or woman amongst them, who would not have been able to give it an answer themselves. They have not read about a hundred and fifty twopenny Registers without being fully qualified to judge correctly with regard to any speech that any body can make upon the subject of taxes, paper-money and the funds. My tongue itched, however, for the power of answering this speech upon the spot; and I felt great mortification, that it must be a week before I could put forth even a limited answer. The next best thing to being able to answer upon the spot, is, to be able to answer the next day, through the channel of what your noble colleague, Lord Castlereagh, calls the respectable part of the press; and, therefore, a part of that respectable part I shall, think, very speedily have at my command. I will have a little corner in it by some means or other. Before I proceed to notice more particularly, the report of the speech of Mr. Baring, let me notice what has been said by Lord Castlereagh and others during the late debates, with regard to the causes of the national distress. In the year 1818, and in the month of February, a petition was delivered to Lord Folkestone, with a written request from me, very respectfully worded, that he would be pleased to present that petition. His Lordship refused to do this; not upon the ground of its containing any improper matter, but merely because it was too long. He stated that the House usually rejected petitions, when running through several sheets of paper, and that this was his only reason for declining to present the present petition, which was written on about two and a half sheets of common foolscap paper; which will be readily believed by any one who looks at it, as it now stands, in Number six of volume thirty-three of the Register. [See it in page 331 of this Volume.] I have complained of this conduct on the part of my Lord Folkestone; and, I revive my complaint upon this particular occasion; because in that petition are clearly set forth the cause of the nation's miseries, and also the means of putting an end to those miseries. In that petition is contained the answer to all those who believe, or who affect to believe, that the taxes have nothing to do in producing the present distress. The reported debates say, that if nineteen twentieths of the taxes were taken off, the people would not be thereby benefitted. The people are firmly convinced of the contrary; they believe that the taxes (co-operating with the paper-money) are the sole cause of their suffering: they believe that the taxes would be greatly reduced if the people at large had the choosing of the Members of the House of Commons: and they believe that therefore it is their duty, their duty towards their sovereign as well as themselves, to endeavour to bring about such a Reform as would cause the members to be elected by the people at large. With regard to their belief as to the two latter propositions, I shall say nothing at present, except that I most heartily concur in it. It is with regard to the first proposition, that I mean to address your Lordship upcn this occasion. Surely, there is something monstrous in the assertion that taxes do not take the means, or, at least, part of the means, of good living from those who pay the taxes! There surely must be something monstrous in such a proposition; full as monstrous, I pledge myself to prove, as it would be to say, that a man who has just had one-half of his property taken from him is as rich as he was before any part of it was taken away; as rich as he was when he possessed the whole. When an assertion is made which is in direct contradiction to the settled opinion of all mankind; when it at once oversets, or, rather, attempts to overset, opinions universally agreed in; in such a case we generally treat it with silent contempt. But, when circumstances are menacing; when such assertions come from the source of power; when they are put forward as grounds of action; when dreadful affliction may possibly be prolonged by the want of refutation; in such a case; such an extreme case, we may be justified, in the eyes of the world, for calling upon men to listen while the refutation is produced. The word tax itself, is synonymous with burden or charge. Taxes have always been looked upon as burdensome; as producing privations; as lessening the property and the comforts and enjoyments of those who had to pay them. The King's speeches have from time immemorial spoken of taxes as burdensome, as a species of suffering imposed. When new taxes are laid on we always hear the King lamenting the necessity of them, and observing that he trusts that they will be laid on in a way the least burdensome to his people. When taxes are taken off we hear him expressing his satisfaction, that his people have been relieved from a part of their burdens. In the Houses of Parliament what endless debates have we heard about which tax would weigh heaviest and which lightest upon the people? What long, long disputes about the injury to the farmer when a tax was to be laid upon him; about the injury to this trade or that trade, when taxes were to be laid upon them! Particular stress has always been laid upon any circumstance which would enable the proposers of a tax to urge that it did not press heavily upon this class or upon that class, and especially that it did not press upon the lower or labouring classes of the community. The horse-tax, the dog-tax, the window-tax, the carriage-tax, the hair-powder-tax, the game-license tax, the armorial-bearings-tax, and many others, have received eulogies of hours in length; because, as it was said, they did not press upon the labouring classes. Upon this same principle, houses having less than five windows or six windows, have been exempted from the window-tax ; cottagers have been allowed to keep a dog each without paying any tax ; small horses kept by poor people, and asses have not been taxed. So that a great parade has been continually making, upon every occasion, when the case could at all justify it, about not burdening the labouring classes with taxes. On the other hand, when a sweeping and most dreadful load has, at any time, been laid upon any of the necessaries of life, deep sorrow has been expressed that such tax would affect the labouring classes. Now, my Lord, are we, upon the assertion of my Lord Castlereagh, to allow that all these notions are wholly false; that taxes are no burden at all, and that all mankind have, up to the moment that he chose to make that assertion, been totally in error? Are we to say that we have been listening to folly from the beginning of the world to the present time, and that wisdom, in the person of your noble colleague, has at last chosen to open her mouth? I am aware, that the assertion of one of those who have the distribution of fifty millions of taxes annually, will, by the hirelings and sycophants of the day, be regarded as superior in point of proof, to all the conclusions drawn from experience or from reasoning. Nevertheless, let us see a little of what both these say upon the subject, beginning with the former. We see, that, in England, pauperism has increased in an exact proportion to the increase of the taxes. In the reign of Charles the Second, the Poor-rates amounted to not more than two hundred and fifty thousand pounds a year. They now amount, I suppose, to about |