LETTER I.

THE present situation of your domestic con­cerns, and the fituation of public affairs in general, loudly call for your attention: It is time that you should know what comforts you are to enjoy, what rights you have to defend.

The laws of nature are sufficiently promulgated by that necessity which has occasioned them, by the benefit man receives in observing them, and the evils he suffers by their infraction. Governments are instituted to sup­port the laws of nature, and not by the arbitrary de­crees of men to violate them. These truths, although so obvious and simple, that no person can be ignorant of them, yet it is necessary that they should be premis­ed in order to establish the principles upon which men enter into civil society.

The least acquaintance with the order of sciences evidences that it is by the most simple truths that men attain the knowledge of those which are less evident. Thus in geometry, it is necessary to begin by learning that the whole is greater than any of its parts, that things which are equal to the same are equal to one an­other, and other truths which children know, but the use of which is necessary for penetrating into other truths which are not so clear.

[Page 4] To discover the origin of government it is not neces­sary that we should have recourse to the vague opinions of the scholiasts, or to the contradictory accounts of civilians: A careful investigation into the nature of man, manifests that it is the intention of the Creator of the world that he should live in society. His sensations, his faculties, his wants in childhood and in old age, render this state necessary. Man thus united in society, is not left to the arbitrary and capricious decrees of men; but, with every other part of the creation, has laws ordained by GOD for his government: these laws are simple and evident; they have their foundation in the reciprocal duties men owe to each other, and their rights arising from such duties.

On whatever side we turn our eyes, we see nothing in nature which is not governed by laws proper to its existence, and which is not organised in a manner to obey such laws, to acquire every succour which is a­greeable to the nature of its being, or necessary to its mode of existence, Man is not neglected by his Crea­tor; the gifts which to him are particular, and which give him the empire of the world, manifest that hap­piness and prosperity are designed for him, and an or­der proper to ensure him the enjoyment of them.— Therefore, we must regard society as being the work of GOD himself, and the laws constituting the social order as making part of the universal and immutable laws of the creation. In support of this opinion, man is found in every part of the world connected with his fellow creatures upon principles of government more or less perfect, according to the situation of the coun­try, and the number of its inhabitants, where the na­tural produce of the earth affords a sufficient support for its few inhabitants, and the gratification of their [Page 5]wants does not depend on the assistance of men, but arises from the bountiful gifts of GOD; the social tie is the weakest imaginable. Men depending on wild animals taken in chase, or on sish for their support, having a right in the game they take, as the just reward of their exertions and industry, and also in their bows and arrows, and other personal property, they are stronger united in society than the last; but even in this state, the society as a body does not revenge the injuries which any individual may sustain, as every man is supposed capable of defending his person and the small property immediately connected with it.

In the pastoral life, the mark of government is still stronger; here you have master and servant and some degree of subordination.

But whenever the population of a country becomes so great as to render the cultivation of the soil necessa­ry for the support of its inhabitants, then a sirm, esta­blished government becomes equally necessary to sup­port each individual citizen in the right of soil, and the advantages and prosits arising from his labor.

Considering Agriculture then, as forming the basis of regular government; it is proper that every citizen engaged in this most honorable, and most useful em­ploy, should be acquainted with that chain of practical truths, which constitutes the order of laws the most advantageous to men united in society: These are com­prised under regulations or ordinances, most favorable to the cultivation of the land, in which the interest of all is concerned, and to which the increase of every good is united.

[Page 6] Convinced of the dependence of civil society upon Agriculture, and that the population, the prosperity and the happiness of a country is in a direct ratio to the cultivation of the earth; it becomes the interest, it becomes the duty of the farmers of the United States, to procure a system of laws favorable to this di­vine science. Under this happy situation of public affairs the rights and duties of men would be known: justice and the energy of government, would be firmly united together for the protection of the liberty of every citizen; and your property, after having once contri­buted to the support of government by an equal direct tax, would become perfectly free, without being sub­ject to unjust commercial regulations.

The independent yeomanry of England are almost annihilated, owing to a destructive lethargy having taken place amongst them respecting their rights — The gentlemen in that country, living independent on their own estates, have always been duped, by men much more active and connected than themselves, into the belief that to grant the demands of the commercial and ma­nufacturing classes, was the best way of promoting their own interest—The farmer, after paying one tenth of the produce of his labor to the clergy, two or three more tenths to the government, and a very heavy tax for the support of a numerous poor, rendered so by large ma­nufacturing towns: after this weight of taxes, the free sale of the remainder of his produce is restricted to sa­tisfy the avarice of merchants and manufacturers.

A freeman should examine every act of government for himself; for, however disinterested, however vir­tuous the men intrusted with the legislative authority; yet if they are ignorant of the dependence of civil so­ciety [Page 7]upon the physical order of cultivation, their ad­ministration will produce nothing but arbitrary, mutable, and contradictory laws—Statesmen and lawyers have greatly contributed to involve the rights of men as con­nected in civil society into a labyrinth of error, invert­ing the order of nature, and, in the place of establish­ing government upon the simple principles of justice, using every artifice to render the science of politics im­penetrable to the people, wishing to attract the admira­tion of an ignorant populace by mysterious, and ob­scure oracles, rather than enlighten the minds of free citizens by substantial and immutable truths.

Nor is it any matter of astonishment that Lawyers should be ignorant of the fundamental principles of government: All the sciences have been rendered ob­scure by the pretended teachers of them. The history of medicine, and of philosophy in general, support this assertion. Even the Christian religion itself is so greatly altered from its original purity and simplicity, that was the holy founder of it now to appear on earth, he would scarcely be acknowledged by the ostentatious professors of his own doctrines. Mankind in general continue in error, because the guides on whom they depend, being themselves unacquainted with truth, are incapable of instructing others, and therefore only in­culcate such false principles as they are infested with. Knowledge must be acquired by experience and reflec­tion, by which means alone we are enabled to distin­guish substantial, permanent good, from transitory pleasure.

The science of political economy in no instance is subject to uncertainty, but a pleasing uniformity is dis­coverable in every part of it. To engage the learned [Page 8]in the belief of a new science may be difficult, and still more difficult to render them so humble as to study its elements. Wisdom frequently inspires us with a con­fidence in the knowledge acquired, and makes us sus­picious of novelties. Men, who have dedicated great part of their lives to antient and modern learning, will not easily be persuaded that the antients were ignorant of the essential truths of political economy; and that the moderns, who have acquired so much useful know­ledge in philosophy, should be unacquainted with the best system of promoting the happiness of men united in society. Yet this is really the case, and the world is alone indebted to a few enlightened men in France for this important discovery.

This subject merits your most serious attention, hav­ing no less an object in view than establishing a govern­ment founded in justice. The sublime satisfaction which you will experience in being the authors of pub­lic good, and of seeing thousands of your fellow citi­zens happy in living under your administration, will be your ample reward.

It is to you alone that the people of the United States can look—it is to you alone that they ought to look, for protection and support. Men of weak judge­ments and little reflection, regard the Farmers merely as laborers, who raise wheat or other grain for the sus­tenance of men; but they appear ignorant that it is the Farmers alone who furnish every other class of citizens with the means of paving their expences, and on whose success depends the prosperity of the state.

The necessity of a perfect knowledge with political economy, and the high station which you hold in civil [Page 9]society, should engage you to dedicate part of your leisure to the study of this science—a science evidently of the first importance, because it brings us near to GOD himself, by engaging us to promote the general prosperity and happiness of mankind. Removed from the noise and bustle of a great city, and accustomed to reflection, you are well qualified to become acquainted with truth, by means of strict examination.

Being yourselves convinced of the existence of a na­tural order, intended by the Creator of the Universe for the purpose of promoting the happiness of men united in society: For you to be silent or inactive on this important subject, would be criminal. Although you may not at present have sufficient influence to dis­sipate the thick clouds of political ignorance, with which our country is surrounded, or to stop the unjust measures of government; yet you may expect to see that day, when your fellow-citizens in general will be convinced of the justice of these salutary principles; and admitting their insluence over every department of government, we shall experience a happy revolution in our laws, and in our manners, by which means our country will become the seat of justice and of peace. Experience, reflection and truth, must open the eyes of men, and will dictate those measures most proper for them to adopt. For whenever public affairs are directed by mere opinion, they are always fluctuating, inadequate and unjust. Tyrants, governed by opinion, believe that their happiness and reputation consist in destructive wars, in parade, and in expence; and your Legislators, governed by mere opinion, think it neces­sary that the commerce of your country should be re­stricted by oppressive and embarrassing regulations, e­qually unjust and impolitic. When a people are inat­tentive [Page 10]to the fundamental principles of their original compact, or to the conduct of those men intrusted with the supreme power of the state, they must expect that the prosperity and happiness of the community will be continually sacrificed to the ambition and avarice of a few.

There are no people more submissive to their govern­ment than the Chinese, because they are well instructed in the reciprocal duties of the sovereign, and of the people, and are watchful that these duties are not vi­olated on either side.

You have hitherto been equally submissive to your government, but you have not been equally attentive to the conduct of your officers entrusted with the ad­ministration of it; and yet there are men among you who are anxious for a more efficient government, in order to render the people still more submissive.—Such characters should reflect, that a time may come when reason will find the minds of our citizens disposed to hear, and will determine them to do themselves justice. A wise Legislature will distinguish between the appro­bation of their constituents, and the indignant silence or lethargy of a free people.

LETTER II.

THE particular terms made use of in the inves­tigation of any science, should have clear and deter­mined ideas affixed to them. By political economy is to be understood, that natural order appointed by the Creator of the Universe, for the purpose of promoting the happiness of men in united society. This science is supported by the physical order of cultivation, cal­culated to render the soil the most productive possible; and by the sacred moral principle of doing unto others as we would have others to do unto us—The first is necessary to the maintenance and existence of civil so­ciety —the last, equally necessary to ensure its pros­perity.

In the propagation of this blessed doctrine, you must expect to be opposed by the ignorant, proud, and all those indolent characters among you who are anxious for lucrative offices in government, that they may be supported by the labor of their fellow-citizens. You will be told by these wretched disciples of Machiavel, Hobbs and Spinosa, that the natural state of man is that of a savage animal, perpetually at war with his fel­low-creatures; that it is force alone which renders him submissive to government; and that self-interest con­stantly engages him to take the advantage of his neigh­bors by force or stratagem—A most horrid system, which authorises every species of outrage and injustice, and from the adoption of which it necessarily follows, that every man in civil society must be either master or slave, oppressor or oppressed; and to preserve himself from destruction, must be constantly employed in the ruin of others. The error of these men arises from their want of reflection, and consequently mistak­ing a momentary interest for a solid, permanent good, dictated by reason.

[Page 12] The same Great Being who created man for the pur­poses of his own glory, has also appointed an order of conduct, calculated to conciliate the interests of men united in society, not merely by assuring to each indi­vidual his own safety, without usurping the rights of others, but by making the proportion of every man's happiness to depend upon his benevolence and services to others.

Men, thus united in society, and forming a distinct government, must naturally wish that such government should possess great riches, great authority, and great power. The only possible means of acquiring this situ­ation, depends upon a strict observance of the physical order of cultivation—When the supreme power of the state, considering itself as a partner entitled to receive only a just portion of the net proceeds of the land, se­cures and protects the Farmer in the free disposal of the remainder.

The sovereign power which thinks it has the right of commanding, and wishes to enjoy the power of making itself obeyed, should at the same time comply with its duty in doing nothing but for the general good of the society, and securing to every individual the full enjoyment of those natural rights, to secure which men enter into civil society, and put themselves under the protection of government,

The reciprocal rights and duties of the people, and of the sovereign, constitutes substantial justice. In con­sidering this subject one point should be attended to, which is, that in every government the duty of the sovereign power, in acting consistent with the safety of the people, always preceeds its right of demanding [Page 13]obedience; whilst, on the contrary, between individu­als, every man's duty of serving his fellow-citizens, precedes his right of expecting any benefit or attention from them. The justice and necessity of these funda­mental laws must appear evident to every person in the least acquainted with the situation of men in society; they naturally arise from that situation, and owe no­thing to legislative authority, or express contract.

An ignorance or neglect of these salutary principles of political economy, must occasion the whole admi­nistration of that extensive government which you have adopted, to be wavering and unjust; and your repre­sentatives being too far removed from the instructions of their constituents, will think that their own hasty o­pinion or caprice should be the ruling principle of legis­lation. But the yeomanry of the United States will certainly never suffer themselves to be reduced to that abject state of servility as to believe that thousands of freemen should be subject to the arbitrary opinion of the few; or that the people owe every submission to government, whilst that government is only devoted to support the luxury or ambition of its officers.

A Legislature unprovided with any fixed rule of conduct in the exercise of its power, must constantly be subject to the caprice of the moment. You should therefore impress the minds of your servants in Con­gress with the just principles of political economy—an attention to which will guard them against the infatua­tion of power, the projects of ambition, or any false ideas of glory, connected with the extravagance and parade of a court. This duty is more particularly ne­cessary at a time when your country is just at the com­mencement of a new and important aera, and when too [Page 14]many of your fellow-citizens, infatuated with the false principles of the government of Great-Britain, are anxious to adopt her wretched system of policy. To divide the interest of the people appears to be a funda­mental maxim of that government; and therefore it is constantly engaged in making laws to regulate its agri­culture, its commerce, and its manufactures; and thus, by sacrificing the interests of one class of citizens to an­other. jealousies and animosities are created among them. In the place of doing substantial justice to her industrious farmers, manufacturers, and mechanics, by admitting a free disposal of the produce of their labor and ingenuity, the country is overwhelmed with com­mercial regulations, in order to secure a monopoly of the carrying-trade to her own merchants, and to sup­port a very expensive navy; although the real advan­tage of either, have never been clearly ascertained.— From hence also the exclusion of strangers from her ports, prohibitory impositions, reprisals, jealousies of commerce, quarrels, and, in fine, the most destructive wars, to support measures, the contrary of which would be the true interest of that country.

Every unprejudiced citizen must allow, that the total freedom of commerce, without any restrictions what­ever, will be one of the principle means of promoting the prosperity of our country. In this great question you should take a decided part; and as you wish to support the general interest of the community, you should exert yourselves to expose and suppress the false principles of those men who wish to make their fortunes by monopolies and intrigue; and whose projects of o­pulence are ever founded upon the ruin of the people.

LETTER III.

THE Legislators of a free people, influenced by the just principles of political economy, will look only to the land for a source of revenue. Thus science mani­ests the truth of the following axioms, beyond the pos­sibility of a doubt.

1st: The earth is naturally fruitful.

2d. The earth is not sufficiently productive for the support of civil society without cultivation.

3d. The earth is the only source of those things ne­cessary to the existence of men.

4th. The earth being the only productive fund, the cultivation of the earth is the only productive employ.

5th. Every other kind of work which has for its object the preparation, alteration, or transport of such productions may be more or less necessary, but they are not productive.

6th. No work can be executed without expence; this expence consists in the support of its agents, and in the collection and preservation of the instruments ne­nessary to such work.

There exists then two kinds of work, the one pro­ductive —the other unproductive. They equally re­quire the expence of subsistence, but whilst the one is creative, the other only replaces the actual consumption of subsistence.

The cultivation of the land being the only produc­tive employ, it consequently does not merely pay the [Page 16]expence of subsistence, but also furnishes a surplus, more or less considerable, according to the ability or independent situation of the Farmer.

It is the interest of the government, and of every class of citizens, that this surplus should be the greatest possible.

Because it affords the only just revenue to the state:

Because, in proportion to the net produce of the land, will be the encouragement and comfortable sup­port of useful mechanics and manufacturers:

Because, the greater this produce, the greater will be the employ and profit of the merchant.

In fine, the whole community, from the most dig­nified character, to the poorest beggar, are all benefit­ted by the full cultivation of the earth.

As the prosperity and happiness of every individual in civil society depends upon Agriculture; and as it is the interest of all, that Agriculture should be the most productive possible, it is the duty of all to encourage and promote it. This must be accomplished by devot­ing large sums of money to those previous expences ne­cessary to making the land fertile.

The expences which are necessary to obtain an an­nual production from the land, by cultivation, are of two sorts: primitive expences, which consist in the pur­chase of instruments of husbandry, horses, oxen, and other animals necessary on a well regulated farm; and annual expences, which consists in the support of the Farmer, his family, and stock, from one harvest to the [Page 17]other: besides which, 10 per cent. upon the primitive expences should be annually deducted from the gross produce of the farm, to replace the stock, instruments of husbandry, &c. which require renovation at least every ten years.

The quantity of the net produce of Agriculture de­pends upon the primitive expence; when the fund is inadequate to the full cultivation of the soil; the an­nual expences of every kind being deducted leaves but a small surplus; and therefore, the greater the fund, the better will be the cultivation, and the greater will be the profit to the farmer, and to the state.

The gross produce of Agriculture naturally divides itself into two portions, one of which should be held sacred to discharge every expence necessary to the full cultivation of the soil; the remainder, forming the great mass of wealth of the community, is distributed among the citizens according to their industry and me­rit. And as this surplus arising from Agriculture is the only real wealth of a government, it follows, that a nation cannot spend annually more than its annual income, without destroying itself. The subsequent works to cultivation do not multiply the riches of a state, nor extend its power of supporting expence; they are certainly very necessary, and very useful, but they are unproductive.

The quantity of the net produce arising from culti­vation depends not only upon the quantity of the an­nual produce, but also on its value; when this is low, a greater proportion of the gross produce is required to pay the necessary expences of cultivation, and therefore the surplus remaining must be smaller. As it is the [Page 18]interest of every class of citizens, and of the govern­ment itself, that the produce of the land should be the greatest possible, so it is equally the interest of all, that such produce should bear the greatest possible price, by means of a perfect free commerce.

Ambitious Statesmen, and those contemptible wretches who are seeking to be supported by the public revenue, will endeavor to persuade you, That by imposts laid on the necessaries and conveniences of life, the burthen of supporting your government will be more equally di­vided amongst the citizens—that such taxes being op­tional they are most consistent with the independent spirit of freemen—and that the revenue arising from the consumption of the articles taxed, the acquiring of it is attended with less delay and difficulty than by a di­rect tax.

Instructed in the just principles of political economy, you certainly will not suffer yourselves to be deceived by such sophistry.

As all the private and public wealth of a country a­rises from the land, the revenue necessary for the sup­port of government can only be derived from the pro­prietors and farmers; therefore, every indirect tax, however circuitous, must finally flow from the same source. You can gain no possible advantage from in­direct taxes upon articles of consumption, but on the contrary must suffer a very considerable loss—The me­chanic —the manufacturer—the merchant, and every other class of citizens to whom you may have occasion to pay wages, will make their charges in proportion to the duties they pay to the government: All such ex­pences being deducted from the gross produce of your [Page 19]farms, must diminish that surplus which constitutes your wealth, and in proportion to which you should pay a revenue to the state for protection. Such charges may become so great as to eat up the whole produce of your industry, particularly where the soil is not very rich and fertile. In this situation you may be regarded as slaves to support the pageantry of government, but cannot be esteemed freemen, acquiring property for yourselves.

With respect to the second position—that indirect taxes being optional, they are most consistent with the independent spirit of freemen—it is a principle that no just or wise government will adopt. The tax which each individual is bound to pay, ought to be certain— the time and manner of payment, and the quantity to be paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contri­butor. Where it is otherwise, and it is left to the op­tion of every person to contribute what sum he pleases to the necessary expences of the state, disorder must pervade the most important department of government, and the public revenue will be in a situation of uncer­tainty never to be depended on. Besides, a free citi­zen of a republic will not wish to enjoy the protection of a government without contributing his just propor­tion towards its support.

An unjust and oppressive tax may be acquired from a free people without much difficulty, by laying a duty or excise upon articles of consumption, in which case the purchaser thinks he is only paying the price of the commodity, whilst in fact he is paying a heavy tax. Such a system of deception may be well calculated for an aristocracy, where a few haughty and deluded men are in the habit of violating the rights of their fello-citizens, [Page 20]and hold themselves unaccountable for the ex­penditure of the public revenue—But is it safe for a re­public of freemen to be indifferent with respect to their finances? An enlightened people, wishing to preserve the liberty of their country, will cheerfully submit to their duty in contributing to the necessary expences of government, but at the same time will contend for their rights, in having the revenue strictly appropriated to the just demands of the state, and not wasted in sup­porting the parade or extravagance of the servants of the people, or in bribery and corruption.

In whatever manner a tax is taken, it is not a mat­ter of indifference to the prosperity of the country. A tax should take out of the pockets of the citizens as lit­tle as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury of the state. Indirect taxes upon arti­cles of consumption, in proportion to what they bring into the public treasury, take from the people more than any other tax, by the number of revenue officers necessary to carry the system into execution, whose sa­laries and perquisites are a real tax upon the people. However plausible these taxes may appear, they con­ceal a hidden poison, which is continually preying up­on the industrious part of the community. De Witt observes, that the Dutch taxes upon consumption, raised the price of their broad cloth 40 per cent. Bri­tain has long labored under the same distemper, which, by excluding her from foreign markets, will put an end to her manufactures. Nothing supports them at pre­sent but the immense capitals invested in them, and the great perfection to which they have brought machinery to aid and facilitate the work. The agriculture and infant manufactures of your country must suffer a si­milar fate, if the labor of the poor is to be enhanced by duties on salt and other necessary articles.

LETTER IV.

AS the earth is the only source of private and public wealth, it is evident that the revenue should be determined by the immutable principles of justice, being strictly confined to a certain proportion of the produce of the earth, after the deduction of every necessary ex­pence of the proprietor or farmer. The full cultiva­tion of the soil, and the real interest of society, depends upon this arrangement. It therefore cannot be vio­lated by government with impunity. The laborer, the mechanic, the manufacturer, and every other class of citizens, occupied in the service of the Farmer, ought not to be subject to a capitation tax, or to any indirect tax upon the necessaries or conveniences of life. These occupations, however useful or agreeable, yet not being productive of any real wealth, every charge and expence to which they are subject must be reimbursed by the Farmer. If these principles are not well founded, then civil society can exist independent of the produce of the land, or cultivation, which is impossible.

The history of all nations bears testimony that it is for want of looking to their true interest that so many governments pursue an unjust system of sinance, found­ed upon indirect taxes; being influenced by the caprice of the moment, without any regard to futurity. Such governments not only direct every public measure, but also interfere in the most minute actions of their citi­zens: But as such power is seldom exercised consistent with the strict principles of justice, it becomes oppres­sive, constantly violating the rights, the liberties and prosperity of the people. The ravages of such govern­ments may be discovered in every quarter of the world: Its direful effects may be traced in the poverty, in the inactivity, and in the depopulated state of all countries [Page 22]which have experienced its fury. Why at the present day do we find people living in the most wretched mise­ry, although inhabiting countries which by industry would afford them every convenience to render them happy and comfortable? Why are they deprived of useful manufactures, or necessary arts? Is the climate or soil of Egypt, of Greece, of Italy, and many other countries, now languishing in a state of misery, chang­ed? or, must we not rather attribute this astonishing alteration to the despotism of their governments, which has frustrated the most bountiful gifts of nature. Such tyrants, influenced by a puerile pride, attached to their own persons, and having no idea of real grandeur, connected with the general prosperity of the people, are contented to govern countries almost depopulated, and which present to the traveller the remains of a former prosperity and population, contrasted with the distressing appearance of present misery and wretched­ness. The negligence and the extravagance of unjust governments have in this manner changed the most flourishing and populous countries into deserts. The land, abandoned by the cultivator, frequently occasions famines, followed by contagion. All countries be­come healthy in proportion to their cultivation; they are not cultivated but in proportion to their popula­tion; they are not populous but in proportion to the prosperity, the ease and liberty of their inhabitants.

No government ever derived advantage from keeping its citizens in a state of misery; and yet there are some politicians who dare to support the false and detestible opinion, that to render the people subservient to go­vernment it is necessary to keep them poor and depen­dent. Men treated in this way will either fall into a ruinous lethargy and inaction; or, becoming desperate [Page 23]by accumulated wrongs, they will punish the authors of their misery. A government that wishes to acquire the love and confidence of its citizens, should be con­stantly engaged in promoting their prosperity and hap­piness —This maxim, so simple, and so self-evident, yet is too little attended to, by men exercising the so­vereign power of states—On the contrary, unjust and arbitrary rulers expect to be honored, whilst their op­pressive conduct only inspires horror. They desire that the agriculture of their country should flourish, whilst by unjust commercial regulations they prevent the free sale of the produce of labor—They wish that a general spirit of industry should prevail, whilst by indirect taxes they clog and impede every exertion of their citizens. They wish to enjoy an extensive com­merce, whilst by the most impolitic mercantile regula­tions they discourage foreigners from visiting their ports.

All these evils arise from inattention, or from an ignorance of the real interest of civil society, as found­ed upon the full cultivation of the soil.

As you, my fellow-citizens, value the real prospe­rity of your country, acquaint yourselves with the causes of the decline and fall of nations. The same effects will ever follow the same causes; and therefore you should strictly attend to the operations of that ex­tensive and dangerous government which you have just adopted. Congress is establishing a system of finance, founded in deception, which never has been pursued by any government but to the oppression of the great body of the people. Do not suffer yourselves to be lulled into a dangerous lethargy by the opinions of those men who are looking to Congress for lucrative [Page 24]offices, that they may be unjustly supported by the labor of others.—Come forward—tell your servants in Con­gress, that it is you who must feel the effects of their Machiavelian politics; tell them the truth, and convince them that their own true interests depend upon the ge­neral prosperity of the people. Convinced that a pub­lic revenue is necessary for the support of government, tell them that you are willing to pay a just proportion of the annual produce of your land into the public treasury, but that the remainder shall be left free at your own disposal.

A system of sinance of this kind is not unprecedent­ed^* —The Prince of Baden, in Germany, with full consent of his subjects, has long since adopted it; in consequence of which he has abolished every species of indirect tax, and all trafficking or commercial regula­tions, leaving the actions of his subjects totally free, except where they violate the rights of others. It is said the Duke of Tuscany, and some other Princes in Europe, are about adopting similar principles of re­venue.

But the apparent advantages of commercial regula­tions, and of indirect taxes upon articles of consump­tion, seduces your government in such a manner, that although at present it makes this system of finance, an excuse to prevent the excessive use of foreign articles of luxury, there is great reason to apprehend that it will, in time, become the only source from whence a public revenue will be drawn—The facility of adding [Page 25]to the old taxes, or inventing new ones—the ease of collecting—the pecuniary advantages which a great number of citizens gain as agents, and the deception which takes place upon acquiring a revenue by an in­direct tax upon articles of consumption, will all tend to establish this destructive system. The principle of fiscality will pervade every department of government, and the interest of the Farmer, the mechanic, the la­borer, and the most necessary and useful citizens, will constantly be sacrificed to rich monied men, who will be always ready to become the creditors of the state, in order to enjoy, in a slothful indolence, a participation of the public revenue.

This system of taxation is more ruinous by its de­structive effects upon cultivation, than by the enormous expence necessary to carry it into operation: and yet, if you refuse to pay to government a just proportion of the net produce of your farms, by a direct tax, and you will submit to be deceived and ruined by the arts and projects of crafty financiers, you must expect that, by circuitous impositions, the free sale of your produce will be circumscribed, and the very sources of your riches will be destroyed. The immutable principles of political economy cannot be diverted or frustrated by the false opinions of speculative men. A constant re­venue is necsseary for the support of civil government; the source of such revenue should be equally certain, and therefore must arise from the annual produce of the land.

The difference to the Farmer between a direct and an indirect tax, is very great. A direct tax is con­sined to a just proportion of the not produce of the land.—Indirect taxes are obscure in their operation, [Page 26]devoid of all order and proportion. The money raised by a direct tax passes immediately into the public Trea­sury, whilst an indirect tax, upon articles of consump­tion, requires a great expence to support a host of re­venue officers. A direct tax, being confined to a just proportion of the net produce of your farms, can never be oppressive; whilst an indirect tax, preying upon the gross produce of your farms, will destroy the means of future cultivation.

When the public revenue depends upon indirect taxes, little attention is given to economy in the ex­penditure of it. Ministers look forward to future taxes to supply deficiencies, but such resources do not produce relief to satisfy the demand, because the re­venue must be diminished in proportion to the destruc­tion of the productive fund. In this state of disorder the expence will always exceed the public revenue: every year will create new demands, and will augment the difficulty of providing for them. Under these cir­cumstances public debts must be contracted, by which you will unjustly burthen posterity to discharge debts contracted to support the folly and extravagance of the present day.

The dreadful example of Great Britain, and of some other nations, which have given way to the destructive system of supporting their governments, by procuring public credit, should be a warning to this infant repub­lic: Should we be so far infatuated as to adopt similar principles of sinance, we must expect that the property of our best and most useful citizens, will be sacrificed to satiate the unbounded avarice of stock-jobbers and usurers; and the wealth of our country, wrested from necessary agricultural improvements, (in which the in­terest [Page 27]of the whole community is concerned) will be devoted to support the parade and dissipation of a few idle men, in great cities.

The essential object of civil society is, to procure to every individual citizen the greatest possible happiness, by securing to him the full enjoyment of his property. Under this general term is included, the property of person, the property of moveable goods, and the pro­perty of the soil rendered productive by labor.

In the natural order of political economy, the duties and rights of men are equal. The right which cor­responds with the absolute duty and necessity of satis­fying our wants, is the right of a full and entire liber­ty of our persons. To violate this right, is to destroy the very intention of our existence. Every man in your country, should be regarded as the absolute so­vereign of his person. The nature of our existence, by which we are rendered liable to constant wants, re­minds us of our duty, without the interference of go­vernment to prescribe or delimit our conduct. A wise legislature will not, therefore, interfere with the actions of citizens, except when they violate the rights of others. Make use of every means in your power to establish this first law of nature. The two other species of pro­perty depends upon the unequivocal rights of our per­sons. The three together will insure the prosperity and stability of your government.

Our rights over the other species of property arise from the labor we have bestowed in acquiring them, or from the bounty of others: Such property can be a­lienated, as its existence does not depend upon the life of the original proprietor.

[Page 28] The necessity of subsistence excites us to work.— The first employ is that of hunting, or collecting the spontaneous fruits of the earth: By this means, men are supported during the time they are engaged in clearing the land, and rendering it productive by agriculture. The property of goods precedes the property of land, in the same manner that personal property precedes both. They are all so intimately blended together, that one cannot be violated without the others suffering in­jury. Of what advantage is the free disposal of a man's person, if the whole property acquired by his labor, is to be wrested from him by an arbitrary power? The territorial right of a government, can give it no legal authority over the property of its citizens; except as far as is necessary to support the expence of protection consistent with the original compact.

If you admit these principles to form the basis of your laws, you may expect, that the agriculture of your country will immediately revive. Under your govern­ment, men will regard their property as certain of the powerful protection of inviolable justice, and, therefore, will invest large sums of money in the cultivation of the earth, as the most prositable employ. You best know how far an event of this importance is to be desired: Your experience has long since taught you, that land is productive in proportion to the previous expence be­stowed.

Men do not esteem or value property but as they are the peaceable possessors of it; and, therefore in a coun­try where the moveable property is not exempt from tax, and held sacred, the idea of wealth will only be attached to gold and silver, the amount of which, in the hands of individuals, is seldom known to the pub­lic. [Page 29]From hence accumulation of gold will be regard­ed as the only riches of your country, and every art will be made use of to draw it from strangers, not to be appropriated to the necessary and useful improve­ments of agriculture and [...], but to be ex­pended in the dainties of the table, costly equipages, and personal ornaments—The most certain symptoms of the ruin of a state.

The industry of a country will ever be influenced by its laws. Oppressed by unjust laws, men will not invest their money in the cultivation of the land, which, to render productive, requires great expence of money, or moveable property.

The real wealth of a country, as arising from agri­culture, should pay a tax to that government by which it is protected. Whatever form it may afterwards as­sume, or however it may change its situation, it should be left to the free disposal of the proprietor. This is the right of every citizen, and it is the duty of the so­vereign authority to support him in such right.

The possession of territory, without its being culti­vated, is of little value to civil society, whether con­sisting of forests or extensive plains, depopulated by oppressive governments. Personal labor and move­able property are necessary to render the land pro­ductive.

From the principles adduced respecting the public revenue due to a government, it appears,

1st. That civil society has no claim upon the per­son of a citizen, because he derives this right from GOD, independent of society.

[Page 30] 2d. That moveable property owes nothing to go­vernment, as its just appropriation is to render the land productive; on which account it should be left to the free disposal of the proprietor.

The full liberty and security of these rights, sup­ported by the concurrence and union of men in civil society, produces an increase of property, which is obtained from the earth by means of agriculture. The net produce of such property, together with a very small part naturally arising from fertile soils, constitute the real wealth of a people, and therefore is the only so [...]e from which a just revenue can be drawn. As this advantage to individuals totally depends on the pro­tection of government, it becomes the first duty of every citizen to support its authority and power. This pre­ference is consistent with strict justice, because men ac­quire the whole of such property under the protection of civil society. These reciprocal rights and duties of the people and of the sovereign power, being well un­derstood, and mutually supported, must render a go­vernment happy and permanent. Under its benign influence, the net produce of the land would become the greatest possible to the emolument of the Farmer, and through him to the advantage of every individual in the state.

Under whatever form the sovereign authority of a country may be administered, it has a just claim only to a certain proportion of the net produce of the earth, to defray the necessary expence of protection, and there­fore it should be regarded as a co-partner with the pro­prietor or Farmer. In this situation it could never in­jure the rights of its citizens, without experiencing an equal injury to its own power. As the prosperity and [Page 31]happiness of the people, and the full enjoyment of their rights, is of consequence to the sovereign authority, so the prosperity and power of the government is equal­ly interesting to the people under its protection. The only means of establishing a useful and permanent a­greement between these reciprocal rights and duties, so necessary to be supported, is to establish the just pro­portion due to government for protection, and strictly consining the appropriation of the public revenue to the necessary services of the state, and not sacrificing it to the support of a few men in lucrative or unnecessary offices. The power and authority of government, u­nited with the private exertions of our citizens to ren­der the land productive, would make our country po­polous and happy.

Such is the immutable law of political economy, or­dained by GOD to promote the happiness of men united in society, and is the only just foundation of revenue.

LETTER V.

HOW long will you suffer yourselves to be duped by the low cunning and artifice of half-informed Law­yers, and mercenary Merchants? Are these characters to be the dictators of a free people? Are you to have no laws, no regulations, but through their influence, or by their authority?—Certainly you have not wrest­ed the power from Great Britain, to place it in the hands of these men. As you value your own prospe­rity and that of your children, look well to the present moment: a dangerous aristocracy is forming, which if not crushed in the bud, will destroy your liberties for ever: Continuing in a state of lethargy respecting pub­lic affairs, you will too late repent of your folly and negligence.

From whence does your government derive its au­thority for interfering in, or directing the occupation of its citizens—from whence its power of restricting the free sale of the produce of your farms by commercial regulations? Are these measures founded in wisdom and justice; or are they not rather a contemptible imi­tation of the oppressive governments in Europe, where it is a political maxim, that it is necessary to keep the people poor and dependent, in order to render them sub­missive. This could not be effected by an equal direct tax, and therefore recourse is had to indirect taxes up­on articles of consumption; by which means the weal­thy citizens and great landed proprietors, do not con­tribute to the public revenue in proportion to their in­come, whilst the Farmer, the mechanic, and the labor­er, are unjustly oppressed. The prosperity of your country does not require that a few members of so­ciety should enjoy a supersluity of wealth, but that the great body of the people should live at their ease and be [Page 33]happy. It is the misfortune of the present day to connect the dignity of government, with the parade and extravagance of its officers. A more ruinous sys­tem of policy cannot be pursued, than lavishing the property of industrious citizens upon useless offices, or in pensions to idle men in no manner engaged in pro­moting the good of the Commonwealth. The wealth of private citizens at their own free command, and employed by themselves, will ever be of the greatest advantage to their country. It is therefore the inter­est of every nation that such useful characters should enjoy the most comfortable support, that thereby they may be encouraged to defend and support their coun­try in times of public danger. To make war a profes­sion, in order to acquire territory or riches, is to ruin the great body of citizens, to enable a few to enrich themselves—besides, money thus acquired constantly brings in its train luxury, venality, baseness, and every vice which tends to the destruction of civil society.

Almost all the wars which have been entered into by the kingdoms of Europe for many years past, have been to procure to themselves an extensive commerce, which has appeared to them the only source of wealth. Their politicians do not perceive that the abundance of silver, produced by commerce, terminates by destroying commerce itself. The greater the quantity of money, bank notes, or any circulating paper, in a country, the greater will become the price of sustenance, and con­sequently of work; then the poorer nations will natu­rally supplant their rich neighbours in their commerce. Merchants will always apply where they can be supplied at the lowest rate.

[Page 34] Your Legislators appear to forget that their country is inhabited by an independent yeomanry, who ought to be regarded as the most valuable class of citizens, and not sacrificed to the avidity of merchants, who are citizens of the world, and who know no country but their coffers of gold. The Farmer, finally, pays all the imposts, and by his industry procures from the earth the necessary subsistence for society. Merchants are in general engaged in furnishing nations with use­less or unnecessary articles.—Their commerce would be confined within narrow limits, if they were only to supply those things necessary to render life comfortable or happy. It is true, that in a country accustomed to frivolity and dissipation, a vitiated taste makes many things indispensable; but are governments instituted to support the extravagant fancies of a few idle men, who know nothing more interesting to their country, than what will contribute to their own vanity, or grati­fication?

An enlightened government will ever give the great­est attention to the happiness and to the prosperity of its real citizens; to those who possess and cultivate the land: it will give every encouragement to agriculture, as the most useful occupation in which its citizens can be employed.

What advantage has the yeomanry of any country derived from wars undertaken on account of commerce? Nothing but new taxes, or having their estates and the industry of their children mortgaged, to pay an annu­al and heavy interest to a few monied men.

To appease the clamors of merchants, who think themselves of importance to the state, because they oc­casion [Page 35]an influx of silver, wars are commenced and pursued to the ruin of the Farmer. The ordinary re­venues of the state are found insufficient to satisfy the additional expence occasioned by the war, and govern­ment has recourse to public credit. The wealthy Mer­chant lends the money to government, and the Farmer pays the interest without receiving any benefit from the measure. In this manner a commercial war, carried on at the expence of the lives of many valuable citi­zens, and much treasure, terminates in bringing an ad­ditional burthen on the nation. Whilst it enriches merchants, financiers and usurers, who may possess no real property in the state, and who may remove from it, as soon as they have accumulated the property of its laborious citizens.

The establishment of public funds, from whence your wealthy citizens may draw an annual income, will not only become very burthensome to the industrious part of the community, but will also favor the indolence of men, who, neglecting agriculture, or any other em­ployment of real use to their country, will abandon themselves to indolence, and seek for amusement in the dissipation of your cities, which they will infest by their disorderly lives. Wishing to preserve the man­ners of the people, you should not suffer your govern­ment to furnish any citizens with the means of living in a useless state of inaction, but rather provide for the happiness of the great body of the people, by encourag­ing them in moderate work, by which they may pro­cure the real comforts of life. It is impossible to ren­der men happy whilst plunged in essiminacy, indolence and vice, and whose disordered imaginations are per­petually occupied in creating chimerical wants.

[Page 36] The unjust policy of nations in violating the rights of the people in favor of a few, is the fruitful source of every moral and political evil.

Public credit, which our politicians esteem of the greatest importance to government, should be regard­ed as the most unjust and ruinous invention of modern times. It is only useful and convenient to serve the ambitious projects of governments, and to add to the wealth of monied men. The facility of acquiring cre­dit precipitates nations into wars and other expences beyond the revenues of the state; funding systems are adopted, and peace itself does not relieve the people from oppressive taxes; but the misery of the present generation is unjustly transmitted to posterity. Thus kingdoms, which pass for the most opulent, experience real distress, and those who govern them are continu­ally reduced to seek for new expedients to satisfy the demands of usurers. They resemble those young men who borrow money at any rate, and mortgage their patrimony to supply the extravagancies and follies of youth.

In Turkey, and such despotic governments, where the lives and fortunes of the people are at the arbitrary disposal of the supreme power of the state, the proper­ty of the subject is taken by force—and therefore there is no occasion to support the phantom of public credit. Free governments, unjustly or weakly administered, have recourse to this destructive expedient. By dou­ceurs and great apparent advantages, men are tempted to become creditors to the state—Government finds it­self embarrassed, and every artifice and deception is made use of to draw money from the people to satisfy the demands of men, who living upon the blood of [Page 37]their fellow-citizens, insult them with an ostentatious parade of their ill-gotten wealth.

An extensive public credit can be of little service to you: it may tend to ruin your country. The cer­tainty of borrowing will precipitate your Legislators in­to unnecessary expences and wars, which may be a means of adding to the wealth of a few artful men, but will add nothing to the happiness of the useful and laborious citizen.

The enormous debts, which at present oppress and will ruin all the great nations of Europe, has been pro­gressive; and the practice of funding such debts has gradually enfeebled every state which has adopted that destructive system. The republics of Venice and Genoa, have long languished under the oppressive load, and the citizens of Holland can no longer boast of en­joying their ancient liberty, whilst they are under the absolute control of an aristocracy of monied men.

To proportion your expences to your income, is a maxim as necessary to be attended to by government, as by individuals. This salutary principle is despised and neglected when public credit is too easily acquired; and, therefore, in the place of esteeming an enormous public debt as a blessing, every wise and good man will regard it with anxiety and horror.

Let your government conduct with that degree of wisdom and justice, as to secure the considence and affection of the people, and it will have no occasion of rich creditors, to support its authority and dignity.

[Page 38] Whilst engaged in the laborious, but honorable, em­ploy of cultivating your sields, it would afford you some consolation to reflect, that, after paying into the public treasury an equitable proportion of the net pro­duce of your farms, to defray the expences of a just government; you were permitted to enjoy the free dis­posal of the remainder. But to see your property wast­ed to support the dissipation, extravagance and folly of officers of government, or unjustly taken from you to support idle peasioners and placemen, is hard indeed. But even here the evil does not end; the pittance of property left, is made subject to commercial regula­tions, and thus your rights are sacrificed to add to the wealth of a few merchants in your sea ports. How far such regulations are politic or just, requires your seri­ous consideration. Will not an enlightened posterity be as much astonished at the unjust principles of fiscali­ty, and the oppressive commercial regulations, of mo­dern governments, as we are in the present day, at the horrid tyranny of the last age in directing the consci­ences and the religious opinions of men? The com­plete establishment ofthe religious rights of men, is the brightest ornament of the American revolution. Why was not this just principle extended to our civil rights? Why suffer a violation of them? Can you be regarded as freemen, if all your actions are to be directed or impeded by excise and mercantile regulations.

Your Legislators, not daring openly to violate your rights, effect their purpose under the pretext of neces­sary commercial regulations; this point being once firmly established, they will follow the example of Great Britain, and intersere in every action of your lives, till, at length, like the people of that devoted country, you will not deserve the name of freemen. [Page 39]Such impositions can only be brought about by decep­tion, and adopted by error.

In a former letter we have offered some reflections on direct and ndirect taxes; the latter may lead a peo­ple into slavery, the former never can.

Commerce is a subject on which the general govern­ment of the United States has spent much time, but appear totally ignorant of its principles. Every act of Congress manifests that the interest of the local mer­chant is substituted for the general interest of the coun­try, as depending on a free, unlimitted commerce.

The disposal of the produce of your labor is not an adventitious right, arising from your connection in civil society, but is one of those natural, original rights, to preserve which, you have entered into society.

To acquire an unrestricted commerce, was one of the objects for which you contended with Britain, and now you submit to its being violated by your immedi­ate representatives.

All restrictions of trade, under the name of com­mercial regulations, are impolitic, oppressive, and un­just; and whatever form they may assume, they have ever been found burthensome to the people and injuri­ous to the revenues of the state. No authority on earth has alegal right to subject you to such regulations. The first right derived from nature, is the full liberty of our faculties, and the enjoyment of property arising from the use of them. Our sensations engage us to pursue such advantages, to seek pleasure, to avoid pain, to support our existence, and to satisfy our wants by [Page 40]the means of a multitude of productions, which we cannot make use of without acquiring them, and which we cannot acquire but by the full enjoyment of our fa­culties and of our labor.

All associations among men have commenced from an express or tacit convention to respect each others rights. When such primitive associations created a so­vereign authority, it was because the great increase of population, and the necessary inequality of riches, ren­dered the rights of all unsafe; and therefore to pro­mote order, and the better to secure to every one the use of his property, government was armed with a power superior to that of any individual. No other interest, no other motive, no other object could have engaged men to submit to such authority.

The original and fundamental title, which the Con­gress of the United States has to sovereignty, is to main­tain, to protect, and to preserve the rights of all.— These rights, as has been observed, consist in every ci­tizen enjoying the greatest possible advantage from the use of his faculties and property, which includes an unlimited pursuit in every kind of work, and a free ex­change of his property. These principles cannot be contradicted, but in an age of ignorance and barbari­ty, in which the rights of the sovereign and of the peo­ple are not known. Nor can your government violate them without diminishing the riches, the prosperity and number of our citizens, and consequently the wealth and power of our country.

It is easy to pursue the beaten track of British poli­tics; but it requires an enlightened understanding, and some attention to discern, the natural and inevitable [Page 41]consequence of adopting such measures. Local and temporary evils disappear before the eye of a wise Le­gislator, who takes a general view of things, and regu­lates his conduct in conformity to the natural and essen­tial laws of justice.

There is a law anterior to civil laws, the support of which ought to be the only object of government. It is the sacred law of PROPERTY: By this, every man has a right to the free disposal of his person, and of goods acquired by his industry as far as he does not in­jure the rights of others. This principle so simple in itself constitutes the foundation and basis of civil law.

The first property of man is that of his person, which consists in the free use of his faculties. A se­cond property, not less sacred, arises from the first, and consists in the goods acquired by his industry.— The fruits of the tree which he cultivates, and the pro­duce of grain which he sows, although he receives them at the hands of nature, yet this bounty is not purely gratuitous, but is the just reward of his atten­tion and labor. It is then evident that man's right to such property is absolute, that he may use it, or destroy it at his pleasure, without being accountable to any set of men on earth. It is impossible to conceive that, consistent with the strict principles of justice, such right can be susceptible of any limitation. Should you desire to cut down a tree which you had planted, should you wish to consume, or even to destroy, the produce of your farms, what right has government to intersere, to prevent you from having the free disposal of pro­perty arising from your exertions, and constituting the reward of your industry?

[Page 42] Unpon this right, which every man has over his pro­perty, is founded his right to a free, unlimited com­merce, or exchange of such property. This liberty is necessary to accomplish the mutual exchange of pro­perty amongst men, to satisfy their reciprocal wants. This exchange is a contract purely natural, where the command of property should be free in its most exten­sive sense. Civil law may intervene to compel the exe­cution of a contract; but it ought not to regulate the conditions or limit the price.

The necessary effect of the division, the distribution and the free circulation of property, is to produce the just value of every commodity. A fair competition takes place between the purchasers, and the price of the merchandise is regulated by its plenty or scarcity. No person will have just reason to complain where the price of things are in this manner regulated by causes purely natural.

A perfect free trade will always ensure to the Farmer the highest price for his produce, by bringing purchas­ers of every denomination to his very doors: and by creating a competition between the purchasers, that price will always afford the most just criterion of the real value of property. Under the laws of order and justice, every man enjoys the greatest possible liberty in the exercife of his right of property; and therefore he is encouraged to render his farm in the highest de­gree productive, not only to his own emolument, but to that of his country: Such might be your happy si­tuation, if the natural order of things was not inverted by arbitrary commercial regulations.

Wherever the right of property is violated by pro­hibitive laws, or a just competition destroyed by exclu­sive [Page 43]regulation, all must be confusion and disorder.— The price of things not being influenced by natural causes, every man seeks to give them a complexion fa­vorable to himself; and commerce, instead of being an amicable exchange of property, becomes the theatre of little, low cunning and deception. The Farmers and Merchants, no longer obliged to submit to the common law of competition, treat each other as ene­mies, and reciprocally seek to turn in their own favor a balance which is always false, when not regulated by LIBERTY. The merchant, enjoying a monopoly un­der the sanction of law, obtains the property of the Farmer without giving the full value of it, and by this means unjustly deprives him of the reward of his labor.

It is greatly to be lamented that the commercial re­gulations and laws of all the nations in Europe, are founded in error and injustice; and it is equally to be lamented that your servants in Congress are adopting similar measures. It is time that a free people should know, that however high the authority from which they take their examples, yet that error never will sanc­tion injustice and oppression.

It is confidently asserted that Great Britain owes all her power and grandeur to her navigation act.—to her excise laws—and to her commercial regulations—To those causes she is indebted for the misery of her most useful citizens. The grandeur and power of a nation must be estimated, not from the exuberant wealth of the few, but from the ease and prosperity of the many. It is true that London, and some other parts of Britain, exhibit an appearance of wealth, little known in former days. But what is the situation of the great body of the people? Marchall and Young, two of the latest and [Page 44]most accurate observers of the agriculture of England, declare that the yeomanry of that country are almost annihilated; and their manufacturers and laborers are daily becoming objects of charity. Instead of being alarmed at these appearances, and seeking to remedy so great an evil we are told with the most astonishing, thoughtless exultation, that their King was chanted in­to church by seven thousand charity children, and that three hundred thousand children belonging to parents not capable of bearing, the expence of their education, were objects of Sunday schools. Whilst such instances mani­fest the humanity and benevolence of that nation, they at the same time afford the most unequivocal proof of the wretched, depending situation of the people.

The navigation act of Britain, which appears to be the fond object of imitation with Congress, has for more than a century, subjected the industrious part of the people to a legal monopoly; it has violated the rights of the husbandman, and of the most industrious citizens, to augment the riches of the merchants: it has impoverished the masters of the house, the real citizens occupying the land, to enrich the servants; it has contributed to raise pecuniary fortunes, by which the delirium of public sunds has been supported. The merchants of London, Bristol and other sea ports, have rapidly increased their fortunes at the expence of their fellow-citizens, and becoming of importance by the influence of their riches, they have precipitated the nation into commercial wars beyond its ability.

Had Britain never experienced the curse of a naviga­tion act—had the industrious part of the nation been permitted to enjoy the full and just value of the pro­duce of their labor, by a free commerce; had she not [Page 45]entered into wars to support the unbounded avarice of her merchants—had she not borrowed money, and funded her debts, to enable her to carry on such wars —and had she avoided excise laws, and every species of indirect taxation; contenting herself with a just portion of the net produce of the land, the great body of the people would enjoy a degree of ease and happi­ness to which they are now strangers, and the nation itself would experience real prosperity and power.

The raw, bulky materials, which constitute the principal part of your exports, does not afford a freight to satisfy your merchants; and therefore, these men, ever attentive to their private emolument, have taken the advantage of your lethargy, and have influenced Congress to enact the most arbitrary and unjust laws, sacrificing your rights and your property, to add to their wealth.

Engage your Legislators to take a survey of the ex­hausted, and almost dismantled state of your farms; inform them of your poverty and inability to render your farms productive, and then let them turn their attention to the ease and affluence of the merchants, enjoying every comfort and luxury in your great cities. The contrast is so great that no man can think it con­sistent with justice, that Congress should establish a monopoly in their favor. A just competition for the produce of your farms, being destroyed by restricting foreign vessels from coming amongst us; the whole agricultural interest of your country must depend upon the mercy of a combination of merchants.

LETTER VI.

KNOWING what constitutes your rights, you should comply with that duty you owe to yourselves and to your posterity, and support such rights.

Do not suffer ambitious and designing men to mis­lead you into an opinion, that whilst you enjoy the freedom of electing your Legislators there is no danger of your rights being violated. This is a dangerous and false doctrine; for laws made by the immediate repre­sentatives of the people, are not always just. Britain, which is regarded by many of our politicians, as an ex­ample worthy of imitation, is continually enacting laws, not only unjust, but oppressive to her most valuable citizens. You can only be regarded as a free people whilst your Legislature adheres strictly to the laws of nature, and calculates every one of its regulations for the protection of PROPERTY, and for promoting the general happiness of the community. This princi­ple is too frequently stifled by the voice of avarice and ambition; the wealthy citizens, by intrigue, sumptuous entertainments, and bribery, influence the conduct of Legislators; and when by such means a law is obtain­ed in favor of the few, however the general rights of the community may be violated, yet it must never be altered or repealed, from a mock apprehension of a breach of public faith.

Under such circumstances of finesse and imposition, it is necessary that you should support a regular militia; otherwise an army of mercenaries may be thought ne­cessary to procure obedience to laws. This has taken place in England to support the most unjust and op­pressive excise laws; and the Ministry of that country [Page 47]depends more on a willing, obedient soldiery, than on the justice of laws, to procure a submission to them.

Under every government the dernier resort of the people, is an appeal to the sword; whether to defend themselves against the open attacks of a foreign enemy, or to check the insidious encroachments of domestic foes. Whenever a people are so enervated by luxury, as to intrust the defence of their country to a regular, standing army, composed of mercenaries, the power of that country will remain under the direction and in­fluence of the most wealthy citizens. The history of Holland and other modern republics will manifest, how far a mere monied interest is to be intrusted with the li­berties of the people. This subject requires your most serious consideration. Whatever form your govern­ment may assume, your liberties will be safe as long as you support a well regulated militia. Those who expe­rience the labor of acquiring property, will ever be the best defenders of it.