[No. LXXVI.j For the Tablet fee third page. THE GUEST. No. X. Conscience, the burthen of the song, Whether the action'i right or wrong. A AN enlightened Conscience is the vicegerent of Heaven in the foul of man : It fits in judgment upon all our aiftions—and from its decisions there is no appeal. It applauds our condudt when re gulated by jlilt principles ; and condemns every deviation from the paths of retftitude : Itfupports the mind under fuflerings in a righteous cause ; and plants a dagger in our bofoin amidst the ap plauses which we are conscious we do not merit. Conscience is however a term of very equivocal import,applied to those principles either religious or political, upon which different ideas are enter tained by mankind. Religious opinions, in an especial manner, have made fad work with the infallibility of Conscience: It has converted it into a convenient engine to coinpafs the purposes of fuperftitution, enthusiasm and ambition—and men have been plundered, butchered, and burn ed at the flake, "for Conscience fake." —Tis edu cation that gives, in a great ineafure, tlietimflure to Conscience : The follower of Mahomet feels no compuntftionattheviolation of laws, with the observance of which, the catholic thinks the en joyments of Heaven are inseparably connedled : One thinks that to eat flefli in lent, is a damnable fin ; the other anticipates the joys of paradifeiu the pleasures of his seraglio. The mind that is overlhadowed with the glooms of enthusiasm, feels its conscience wounded, when it beholds a chearful countenance, and a disposition which realizes that "to enjoy, is to obey." To wear a hat, or to pull it off, is a question of conscience with some—and to defend thatlife and property, •which men enter into focieiy more fully to pro teift, and more effectually to enjoy i is a Humbling Hone, and a rock of offence to those who never refufed o participate the peace and fecuricy, purcliafed by 'he blood anil treasure of their nei"-hb3rs. Conic'ence works wonders—it has transform»d many a blockhead int > a pulpit ora tor, wt- , ro get riil or the curse, " ill'the sweat of thy brow malt thoueai bread," pretends con science, when he forfakes his hoiieft calling, and becomes a rambling retailer of raving nonsense— " a blind leader of the bilnd." As to a political conscience, we have not heard much about it, since the explosion of pajftve obe dience, and the right divine. At the beginning of the revolution, some artful tories played a few tunes upon this firing—but the people were too penetrating not to fee thro their jesuitism, and they soon relinquiihcd the hope of railing a schism in the consciences of our countrymen —for they found that 110 article of faith in their poli tical creed, was more firmly established than this, that " Refflance to Tyrants, is obedience to Cod." Some make conscience of relieving thediCreffed but the miser's conscience has a reverse direc tion his conicience will overflow in good wishes, " be ye warmed, and be ye clothed," —but to bellow any part of his wealth to realize the text, is utterly againll his conscience—and under the pretence of providing for his own household, left he should be called an infidel, he monopolizes the bounties of providence, and becomes a curse to the world " for conscience fake." How important to our peace and tranquility then is a good conscience !—With refpec r t to the eternal principles of right and wrong, every ra tional being has an unerring monitor within— but opinions usurp the 1110 ft arbitrary dominion over the human mind. Happy the youth whole understanding is early conducted into the path', of virtue, philosophy, and fcienee—whe escape ; the timfture of enthusiasm, and the fetters of prejudice—who can give a scope to hisjudgment, and draw his maxims from the fountains of truth, experience, aHdrightreafon—to fuchamind, the universe is harmony—benevolence is its element and the Deity a delightful source of hope and contemplation—from which alone can result a " confcienee void of offence." ANECDOTE. HENRY IV. King of France, thus expressed liimfelf to the fair Gabrielle, " My beaute ous love, two hours after the arrival of this cour ier, you will fee a cavalier who loves you much. They call him King of France and Navarre, which are certainly honorable, though very painful ti tles. That of being your fubjeft is infinitely more delightful. All three together are good ; and let what will happen, I have resolved never to yiold tliemto anyone." SATURDAY January 2, 1790. THE OBSERVER. No. XI. Further remarks on a land tax. writer of this paper, tho' unknown even A to suspicion, and distant from fame, wishes to be thought an houeft man. Such fubje<ts as he is considering, are apt to excite a suspicion that fume evil is designed , these suspicions may be fomented by the litigious, but with the body of mankind, their origin is from a generous love of freedom, and a determination to vindicate their honeit acquirements. After so many delusions, and ill concerted poli cies, the Americans would be stupid indeed, did they not watch every proposition of measures as it rises. Next to personal liberty, the preserva tion of property is the nioft sacred object which can be affected by government, and taxation is the great instrument by which government acts on the p operties of the people. The propolal of a land tax is a weighty subject, and a firm conviction that it is the molt direct way of emancipating you from a fyftem,which you can never reduce to calculation, is the real'on of iny doing it. A citi zen is unfafely situated, when the demands made on him by government, cannot be reduced to previous estimation—but can you do this under your several State lyftems i You cannot deter mine from year to year the manner, nor the pro portion, nor the articles in which you are to be taxed—You choose aflemblymen once or twice a year, and from a long habit, they consider it as juftiuable to make sudden alterations—they im nofe new sums, of which yon htive no ( intelligence but by the warrant of a tax gatherer—thus cir cumltanced, 110 previous effimate of what you inuft pay can be made—this I consider as an evil, not of the gentlemen who serve you, but of the system you are pursuing.—Warrants go out from the State Treasurer against certain diltriifts for certain sums ; subordinate officers make the tux bills against individuals ; the law, gives them a rule ; but not one in ten of the people can tell whether this rule be honestly followed : If the multitude of your tax gatherers are not ftricftly honest, there will be some over charges, and if discovered, it is easy to call them mistakes. It wounds the feelings of a good fubjeit to wrangle, either with his law givers or collectors, and the , thing pafles. A fiinple charge on all lands, can be previously estimated—the planter knows the number of his improved acres, this once ascer tained answers forever, he forefees and provides for the exact demand, and there is no poliibility of fraud. I already hear it objected ; the proposal is partial, for improved lands are of unequal value, and fame one acre may be worth half a dozen others. The fame objection lies with greater force a gainst your present system—The tax you now pay on lands supposes them of equal value, only dis criminating the kind of cultivation. Your polls are equally assessed ; one of these may be sagaci ous, healthy and rich, and very profitable to the man who carries it ; while another is void of all discernment, sickly, poor and anexpenfive bill to the owner—your cattle are equally taxed ; when it is known some one beast, either for sale or im provement, maybe worth ten others in the flock —and this is the cafe with every article in your taxable estate as it now stands. No kind of property has a greater equality than the foil of the earth, the acres, naturally more productive are few, and superior cultivation is the chief thing which gives them an advantage. Taxing high cultivation, in moftinftances, is but taxing the industry which one man has greater than another ; and in this view of the subject, comes nearer to injustice. Improvements in the art of liufbandry Ir<rse made different kinds of foil much nearer in value and profit, than they were half a century past— vast extents of earth, lately supposed of no value, by cropping thetn suitably are made and daily improvements in hulbandry, increases their equality : but if after all, there be any foil so poor it will not pay a small tax, it ought to be dif mifled from cultivation and planted with trees, to prevent that fcarctty of timber and wood, which will soon become an intolerable evil to the poor, in the ancient parts of this country. To do fractional jufticein a matter of this na ture is impoflible. That system is the belt, which comes nearest to perfect justice, is most intelligi ble to the people, and may be executed with smallest expence. Suppose the comparative value of your lands were to be appraised—to dojultice the appraisement miift be frequently repeated, and the expence will more than balance the gain. I dread a system loaded with a prodigious number of subordinate officers—if you pay them a small [Published o/i We-dnefday and Saturday, 1 nra, their numbers will make an innnenfe a mount ; if you do not pay them, thev will by lome artifice pay them (elves from the hard earr ings or the people—and when public measures pais through an infinitude of managers, you can not make them responsible, and the citizen:? under the appearance of protection are pillaged at dil cretion. Remember the late war ! It was the humor of the people to multiply managers—you had public officers thro subordinate grades, innu merable as the leaves of summer, down to captains of a dozen oxen, flourifhing with the national ceckade in their hats—with all this apparatus, your armies fufFered every distress thro want of the provisions then rotting in store. An absolute monarch isjpolitic in encreafing the number of in terior officers, for the additional expence creates an influence by which he govqrns the people; but a republic needs not this policy. A repub lican government mull be grounded on economy, on the affections and confidence of the people, on general knowledge and happiness ; audit ouglic theieforeto avoid a scheme of nieafures, that is either intricate or expensive. Another objection to the land tax, asjpropofed, will be this—that the inhabitants in ihe great tovms escape the payment oj a fuul proportioned to their ability. The objection appears with weight—let it be candidly considered. The men of honesty honor, will not vviffi to avoid their part of the bur then, whether town or country be his relidence. Where a tax on lands the only means of a nation al revenue, the proposal might work injustice— but by the joint operation of a national ii;spcft, excise and land tax, the objection will be obviated. Suppose twoperfons of equal interefl, one a ciri zenin some great town, the other a planter in the country—the nature of a citylife will lead to the greater consumption of such articles as are char ged with import and excise, so that the city inha bitant payS double or treble the sum paid by the other. The inhabitants of a great town roust purchase all their food and cloathing ; and it is not a love of luxury, but neceflity that obliges them to do this ; by which means they confurie a fcui fold share of taxable articles—atid duties on commerce mult always have this eiFeCt—for every man pays in the proportion that he consumes the duticd articles. The wealth of great towns is generally overated—they present you with a /cw instances of great riches, and a thousand of extreme indi gence and wretchedness. Were the property of large cities to be equalized among their irhabi tants, a share would not be more than an average with the country inhabitants. '■ lie parage of business, the (how of mercantile property, myh of which is owned in the ba. k count , and col lected for sale—the luxury and idleness of a few, with the general hilarity among a concourse of people, are circnmftances, when he beholds them, which lead the unacquainted planter to fuppoie, that the people in great cities might pay a propor tion, much greater than they do, without intol erable wretchedness. Onthis stating of facts, let a land tax be brought into joint operation with a national import and excise. I think the objection is obviated. EUROPE. LONDON, Nov. 2 IT is to the honor as well as to the good fortune of this country, that the bank, of England never since its firft foundation flopped payment for one day,or evei used the least fubterfuge in payment, but upon one occasion-, and that was one day during the rebellion of 1745 J from a scarcity of specie, they paid that day only in sil ver, which from the increased quantity of time used in couuting, &c. necessarily checked a run which might have been fatal to pub lic credit. The next day, what from the sams of money sent by merchants and bankers, every thing went on at the bank as ufua). Extract of a letter from BrnJJcls, OR. 19. " This city has narrowly escaped from becoming an awful mo nument of civil discord ana popular despair. A confpiracv has just been detefled to undermine and blow up the houses of Dalton and Tranfmanfdorff (the Launav and Bertheirof the Netherlands) and the guardhouse; seizing ihearfenal* and one of the gates, ancf admitting a body of exiles into the city. The conspirators were notthofe who had either spirit or vigor for martial enterpi ife, for the nobles and theyouth had been exiled. But the contagious sen timent of general indignation had reached that portion of society which is the least acceltible to it. " The unwarlike chara&er of the priesthood, the peaceful hab its of commercial opulence, the seclusion and feeblenefs of clois tered females, were animated and armed by the public despair. A quantify of powder and combustible materials had been intro duced into a vault, where the treasure has been usually deposited The key of this vault had been furnifhed by the Emperor's bartk. er, who is -.ed. The town engineer had been employed in un dermining the devoted houses; arms and ammunition In the gardens of some of the conspirators, and coin hid in the of the nuns, in many convents. But they were beuayed by their indiscreet and confident exultation. The vigilance of the minifierial jfpies, who have been so nu merous as to poison all social intercourse, discovered the design. The firft person apprehended was the preeeptor of the children of the Due d'Urfi. In the chamber of that ill fated young man were fonnd plan* for taking off the ininifter and General, manifeftos >0 be scattered among the people, and other papers alluding to de- Hgns which it is believed the Government are not very anxious to
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