PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNOI, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 55, of Vol. lII.] FROM THE FREEMAN-s JOURNAL Mr. BAILEY, IT is tie duty of every good citizen, and every prudent man, to consider the nature and operation of the public rreafures, that arc adopted from time to time by government, whether they be those of Congress or the State Legislature. I found myfelt, fatisfied on very little reflexion, with the impofton foreign goods, and I fee plainly it tends to give a considerable part of the nc ceffary revenue, and, at the fame time, to encourage manufac turing at home. Smcc the new revenue law, or cxcife, as some call it, has been patted, I have had it in my mind a good deal, and turned it there much and often. On thinking for myfelf (for I d • not like any man to heat or cool me too much on pub lic fubjtfts) some things strike me, which did not at firft occur, and as they may not have come into the minds of some of my countrymen, may be it will do no harm to fend them to your free paper. The firft remark that strikes me is, that by the made, there appears to be no occasion Jor aland tax, or any otfw kind oj taxy and no probability ot one, if this revenue is colle£t«l ; for there seems enough impost and duty on spirit to keep us clear of them all. Now I never did expert to fee the public debts of) this country, and the expences of government and an Indian war/ all provided for at once, without one dollar of land tax, or tax oif polls, or heads, or personal property ! I find too, if I have a mind to be sober and frugal, and have a large family, whose maintenance obliges mc to be so, I can make out with cider, mead, metheglin and beer, without pay ing any of duty, and I can fell my gain for food, or to those who make a trade of distilling and brewing to fell by wholcfalc. There is no doubt that thole, who do follow liquor-making as a trade, will do it the cheaper, in propoition as they make it in large quantities, and that they can afford to give a price for grain to diftill, which it would not do tor an owner of a Hill of fitly gallons to pay. The duty on the lowest foreign rum, is much higher than the du ty on home made spirits ot the fame proof or strength. Ihe home made spirits of grain and fruit, pay only nine cents, or about eight pence Penufylvania money, which is cxaftly the du ty laid by the of Assembly, and continued tor many, many years, by as good patriotic whig as ever fat in this State, o- in any other country upon earth. But foreign spirits tf the famepioof pays 20 cents, or 18 pence Pennsylvania money, whicn is above double the duty on our spirits. It is plain to me that ttiis diff rence of eleven cents (or about ten pence) in favor ot home-niude spirits, mull very soon stop the ute of any great quantity 01 foreign rum and brandy, even on the ft:a coast, and that it will put an end to it in the back country, the firft time we have a good crop ?nd bad markets abroad. From accounts it feims very likely that thts will be the cafe with our present crop, This great difference in the duty in favor ot home made spirits, will be tound a vast help to the farmer, and therefore found and patriotic policy in Congress. It is better tor the maker of home spirits, to pay eight pence on his rum, ai)d to have eighteen pence «n rival Brill(h rum, than to be quite tree from duty, and have only seven pence as before, on foreign spirits. Under the State law, we had only 2 and 1-2 on foreign rum, and then our itills had a worte chance, by fix or seven pence. They think in Holland and Britain, that the growing of hops and barley is a very profitable part of farming ; and it is plain that America will be better off, by railing gieat quantities of them; for the mofe various our produce, the more certain it will be that wc shall get some of our crops through to advantage, in our va rious fcafotis wet and dry. I therefore argue, that the high du ties on foreign spirits (which have been very much increaf.d on account of the duty on ours) will bring on a deal of brewing, ana call for hops, and winter and fummcr barley, in large guanines. Indeed I think, this very season there will be such a want of bar ley, owing to the short impost of rum and molalfrs, that wheat will be mahed in some places. It a man that ov\ ns a ft:II, will ■work it smartly and pay by the capacity of the still, and not by the gallon, the duty will not stand him more than one third of ■what foreign rum is to pay, so he Can afford more for grain and fruit to still. We know very well iri Pennsylvania, that old William Penn was a fhrcwd fcnfible man. He kept peace with the Savages better than any of the other proprietors, governors, or old king's governors, thai we read of ; and he brought Pennsyl vania forward by the foundations he laid, fafter than any country m the world, in the fame time, This wife old man, in the year 1684. fixt a duty on spirits of all kinds, of twelve pence, as the nest revenue for a young country. He justly observes, thai the rich and the drunkard pay nearly the whole of it. The sober ami modcrau pay lit le ; and any man may pay nothing by using only cider, metheglin and bei r. Penn was certainly a very wife man, a good Christian, a friend to liberty, civil and leligious, and had a remarkable insight and foreh,;ht in the true interefl and ca pacities ot this country, ft is my opinion, Mr. Bailey, that the regulation of (piruuous liquors <s as importantto the happiness ©t man, and thetru ferviceof God, as schools and places of wor ship. School a youth ever so well, teach him the way of a sober and pious life ever so carefuiiy, he will be in the greatcft danger it spirituous liquors be as plenty by him as the springs and foun tains. Isa man will spend his money, or give his labor for drink, ia such a degree as to make himfelt unfit for work, the more he pays for it the better, because the price will set lomc bounds to exccfTts. I find a particular comfoit in the excise, on the follow ing'(core—The Stare debts, if ihev had not been afTumed, would have remained for the States to pay. Havingvefted Congress with the impost', the States would probably have laid a land tax, for they could not have laid an excise without ruining the country distilleries, unless Congress had raised the duty on foreign rum, as rhey have done from a regard for the home distiller ; and it is bui right. further to mark the scrupulous justice of Congress, in regard to the money. In order that the money raised on stills and spirits in the back country, might be applied to the immedi ate benefit of the persons reTiding in those parts, they have provi ded, that all that /lull be raised this year, by the revenue or ex cise law, shall be pledged to pay the expences of General St. Clair's, and QcfoeTaiScotl-s and other expeditions against the Sa vages, thai harralsour back country, from Pennsylvania to Geor gia. This is surely giving the bell and faireft course to things, and is 1 iglit well done. This dary is alio to be applied in part to renewing the treaty with the emperor of Morocco, whose cruisers would take our veiTeU and interrupt the iales of our fifh, grain, indigo, rice, to baado and lumber in Europe, and the wine countries. Other uses to which the money produced by the excise will be applied, are to pa-y ofFonr de&ls to France and other friendly powers, contrasted in the late war with Britain, and £o our creditors at Saturday, August 20, 1791. home. It mud therefore be the desire and interest of every good dtizen. who wishes that our government inay discharge these ob ligations, and may obey these plain delates of policy, to give a helping hand to the law'. This is growing up inio a powerful and glorious country, and will continue to grow, if we have peace at home and keep'faith abroad. Above all, we Ihould try not to owe money to foreign kings, because it will give them a pretext to interfere in our affairs, and ihey are a fort of persons, who like to meddle with other nation's matters. lam your friend, and A CONSTANT READER. \JVe have received several numbers of the BEE, a new work, tidv) publijhing oy Dr. Anderson, in Edinburgh, from which extrafls may occafioually appear in this Gazette.~\ FROM THE BEE rT> EVOLUTIONS in l'ocieties and nations arc -t\- not affairs universally demonstrable, that owe their perfection or circUmscription to the powers of the human mind. These belong ra ther to the nature of cnufe and effect. 1 heir hidden and secret nature are belt known by their confcquences. One catfe however is obvious, the opprejfion of men in power. Despotic govern ments might preserve the peace and felicity of their subjects by lenity and equicy of administra tion. The people under such princes might be cemented to their sovereigns without so much as knowing for why—at least without any inquiry into the rights of sovereignty : But whenever op preflion begins, the painlul chains speak to their understanding more emphatically than all the eloquence of Demosthenes. Another evident rea son of (late-revolution is, the introduction of com merce. The heads of the people might even be generous and humane in framing an abfolnte go vernment : But these principles being only flexi ble, and corruptible by interest, what can lave a nation from utter ruin, but the common and commercial people ? and how (hall these become saviours ot their country, unless by mechanical ingenuity and commerce, they obtain influence to raise up their dignity ? Unless they indultri oufly cultivate those arts, which have fertility to flip pi y the defeats of nature ? Oppreflion, there fore, matching with influence and mental refine ment, will fh uggie and debate from their own weight and importance ; and the refulc mil ft turn out according to the superior balance of contend ing powers. Such things appear to have been two causes of the French Revolution, which, if as ftedfaftly maintained in infancy, as at the birth, imift be productive of the manhood of li berty. If these principles laid down are gene ral, "Spain in its multiplied degrees of fbciety, and ill firuation for trade, on account of the in flux of the Mexican fpecic, inufi yet spur long in, the furrows of slavery. Sketches of Fox, Burks., Pitt, Sheridan, See [By the Author of Lessons to a You nc Pr i nce,] [IT is an old, but ufeful adage -Read every author with ajeahus eye. — Mankind would be under infinitely greater obligations 10 men of learning for their literary labors, were they more candid in their remarks upon eath other ; there is a kind of Turkish po licy predominant in theii obfervalions on cotemporaries ; not merely imaginary rivalfhip, but any kind of equality is intolera ble—and hence'it is very uncommon to find a generous acknow ledgment of merit in the works of others, even on fubjefls in which neither are particularly interested ; but with refpeft to an oppofnion ol sentiment, it seldom fails to produce a copious ef fnfion ol difqualifying epithets. Thele observations will apply to differences in politics—the most brilliant success on the part of those who are fortunate rivals, cannot defend them from the fhafts of obloquy ; and tho the world may award the tribute of applause, the acrimony of a party spirit will attempt to blast their laurels. The following sketches, are the produ&ion of genius, wit and learning, but the ebullitions of envy and prejudice are lo apparent that they cannot be read without indignatiun—The world at large have long entertained very different lentiments of the rcfpe&ive chara£ters, but this writer of lcflons, has flripped the group of both integrity and abilities—and with a generous design to benefit posterity no doubt, has configncd their me mories to execration !1 I AM going to hazard an opinion, on which 1 would hazard my life—that Fox, by far the foperior man of the party, is remarkably defec tive in the great and inventive properties of wif dom—fchemes, plans, information, or materials, have ever been collected for Fox, by all the ta lents and industry of a powerful party; and he has, above all men, the faculty of inltantly giv ing order and expression to uncouth and enor mous mafles; but his mind not embracing the origin of meaftires, it is a chance that he directs them to the ruin or advantage of his party. I will give as inllances—the coalition—the India bill—the inherent riglu of regency—and the trial of Warren Hading?—events which mark 129 tit&o [Whole No. 2.41.] the public life of Mr. Fox with national oditim; and he has incurred it, not from difhorielVy, for if there be an honest man among the political ad venturers and champions of the time, lie isCharlM Fox ; but for want of abilities, for want of wif- dom. Who projected the coalition I am not inform ed. By internal evidence, 1 ihould adjudged it to be the idea of Burke ; the extravagant absur dity of it suits 110 other mind. The India bill, I am well aflured, is Burke's own offspring, and it strongly bears the impres sions of its parent. The dodrine of hereditary regency was fur niflied by Lord Loughborough ('the well known Wedderburne) with abundant promises of autho rities and reasons, which are not fulfilled. In the trial of eloquence has been employed like water"! n an inundation, withouc judgment and without advantage. All the objects in the contemplation of Mr. Fox on these celebrated occasions, might have been obtained—not only without infamy, but with applause, Pitt has obtained them all, with abiliiies greatly .lferior, but with the art of profiting by the er rors of Fox. He has all the advantages of a coa lition, by detaching Robinson* from his old mailer. He has acquired more power in India, than Mr. Fox aimed at, by only saving appear ances with the King : he has acquired popularity by a doiSrine respeCting the power of twoeftates in Parliament, which if advanced by Mr. Fox, would have procured his impeachment—and he has rendered his opponents the inftrument9 of his own purposes refpecfting Mr. Haftings-j-. Such are the superlative abilities of your Royal Higlinefs's principal, though, perhaps, not your favorite couniellor. That Burke has talents, 110 man of sense will pretend to deny; but they are fuperficial, often ratious, and want the guidance of judgment and science. Satis eloquent!*, fapiintine paruin. Sh6rit]aii',"with equal imagination has more art; and being educated on the Itage, understands the method of giving effect to every sentiment, ac tion and expreflion. But he is a mere artificer of scenes ; his orations are plays in a new form, and they produce amusement and admiration, never conviction or refpetfl, The abilities and accomplishments of the three iiaited, would not conllitute a ftatcfinaii, or a. truly great man. Their fancies or imaginations are not balanced by science, or that high and etf*- ataed reason which is formed by the calm and pa *ien# |/ ltudy of Fhilofophy, a profound acquaintl - with liiftory, and fVridt discipline of mathe matics, * Lord North's confidential fecretarv. + If the conduct of the Minister were thoroughly understood in this bufinrfs ; if the motives of his sudden conversion to the opinion that Hastings should be impeached, were Hated to Parlia ment and the country by an able and honest Senator, we might fee what we have long wanted, a minister rendered a&ually re sponsible. EXTRACT from the ALBANY REGISTER. SUPPOSE a man to have fix children, three of them Tons, whose eflate is worth 3000]. —the iiuereft of this is only rßol. per annum ; —with this finall f«m he has fix children to maintain, clothe and educate—He certainly cannot bring all his lons up profelfional men, por his daugh ters fine ladies. Let him then make them ufejul members of society. Two of his sons let liim make tradesmen. By this he will save the ex pence of supporting them from 14 years of age, and ever after ; and give them what they will ever have reason to bless him for, a trade, which is better than an estate, because it can never be fpenr.—The third, if he be favored by the indul gent hand of Providence, with that defirablff bleflinggmius, let him make a profelfional man. And his daughters, let them be infti utfted to spin, knit and few 7 as well as the ordinary work ot a house, but by no means neglect their education. Let them Uoaft, with a conicious pride, that the cloaths they wear every day are the fruits of their ovrn industry; and I'll engage those allurements will soon attracft the notice of men of sense, and dazzle in their eyes, superior to the brilliancy of a crimson silk—the gay appearance of a fngar loaf bar. thrown carclefsly on one fide of the head, with the addition of an elastic bilhop, and a full bveaued ltomacher. AN OBSERVER,
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