been completed to their full complement, and the army augmented by 50,000 infantry, and ten or twelve thousand horse.

I find, in the next place, that two millions of that revenue, (87,5007. sterling) which in time of peace would pay the interest of a loan of forty millions, (1,750,000l. sterling) would have added to our navy thirty men of war, and a proportionate number of frigates; and this augmentation might have been maintained by four millions yearly (175,0007.)—Thus we see twenty-four millions (1,050,0002. sterling) of that revenue devoted solely .to the military service.

Let us now apply the surplus to the various parts of administration, and let us consider the result.

With eighteen millions (787,500l. sterling) yearly, the price of salt might have been rendered uniform throughout the kingdom, by reducing it one-third in the provinces of little gabels, and two-thirds in those of the great, and not increasing the charges of the privileged provinces.

With from four to five millions (from 175,000l. to 218,7501. sterling) annually, the interior parts of the kingdom might have been freed from all custom-house duties, without raising those levied on the exports and imports of the kingdom, or carrying to account the improvements I suggested when treating on this subject.

With 2,500,000 livres, (109,3757. sterling) serving to pay the interest of successive loans to the amount of fifty millions, (2,187,500%. sterling) all the necessary canals might have been executed, that are still wanting in the kingdom.

With one million more per annum, (43,750l. sterling) government might be enabled to bestow sufficient encouragement on all the establishments of industry that can advance the prosperity of France.

With 1,500,000 livres (65,6257. sterling,) the sums annually destined to give employment to the poor might be doubled; and while great advantages would thus accrue to the inhabitants of the country, the neighbouring communications might be multiplied.

With the same sum, the prisons throughout the kingdom might in a few years be improved, and all the charitable institutions brought to perfection.

And with 2,000,000 annually, (87,500l. sterling) the clearing of the waste lands might proceed with incredible vigour.

* The gabel is an excise on salt

These distributions amount to thirty-one millions, (1,356,2501. sterling) which, joined to twenty-four millions (1,050,000l. sterling) for military expenses, make together the annual revenue of fifty-five millions employed as above (2,406,250l. sterling) a sum equal to that which I have supposed to be alienated for the disbursements of the war. The distributions which I have thus suggested, it is evident, may be modified in many different manners; but it is sufficient to perceive the immense advantages which this simple statement exhibits, whether with respect to the strength and prosperity of the kingdom, or for the assistance and solace of the indigent class of people.

This is not all: for if we estimate the diminution of commerce which results from a war of five or six years' duration, it will be found that the kingdom is deprived of a considerable increase of riches.

In fine, war, and the loans which it occasions, create a very sensible rise in the rate of interest. On the contrary, peace, under a wise administration, would lower it annually, were it only in consequence of the increase of specie, and of the influence of the stated reimbursements. This successive reduction of interest is likewise a source of inestimable advantages to commerce, agriculture, and the finances. Let these effects be now compared with the advantages which a fortunate war (and all wars are not so) would give to a kingdom arrived at that height of prosperity by which France is now distinguished; and let this comparison be made, not in a desultory manner, but by the aid of reflection and science, and it will be found, for the most part, that ten seeds have been sown, in order to gather the fruit of one.

Undoubtedly, with so many powerful means, a government may expect, with great probability, to humble its rivals, and extend its dominions. But, to employ its resources for the happiness of its subjects; to command respect without the assistance and dangers of an ever restless policy; this is a conduct, which alone can correspond to the greatness of its situation; and which displays at once a knowledge of its ascendancy and of the advantages to be derived from it. By such a conduct a government imitates those beneficent rivers, whose rapid current cannot be impeded, but which, in their majestic course, encourage navigation, facilitate commerce, and fertilize the country without injury and devastation.

It is not war, but a wise and pacific administration, that can procure all the advantages of which France may be yet in want.

The quantity of specie in the kingdom is immense; but the want of public confidence very often occasions the greater part of it to be hoarded up.

The population of the kingdom is immense; but the excess and nature of the taxes impoverish and dishearten the inhabitants of the country. In a state of misery the human species is weakened, and the number of children who die before their strength can be matured, is no longer in a natural proportion.

The revenue of the sovereign is immense; but the public debt consumes two-fifths of it; and nothing can diminish this burthen but the fruits of a prudent economy, and the lowering of the rate of interest.

The contributions of the nation, in particular, are immense; but it is only by the strengthening of public credit, that government can succeed in finding sufficient resources in extraordinary emergencies.

Finally, the balance of commerce in favour of the kingdom is an immense source of riches; but war interrupts the current. Hence results an important reflection; namely, that the nation which derives the most considerable advantages from peace, makes also the greatest sacrifices, whenever it renounces that state of quiet and prosperity.

What, then, would be the case, if, which cannot be avoided, we join to all these considerations, the affecting representations of the calamities inseparable from war? How would it appear were we to endeavour to form an estimate of the lives and sufferings of men? And as the speculations of the understanding are uncertain, and mere reasoning is deficient often in that energy which is peculiar to the affections, we cannot too ardently wish, that the ministers of kings may possess that deep sense of humanity which animates every thought. Then, an examination into the motives that may determine the commencement of a war, will appear to be the most serious of all deliberations: a sensible emotion will then affect all those who may be summoned to this discussion: and, in the midst of a council, in which endeavours might be used to influence the opinion of the sovereign, the most upright of his servants might perhaps have the courage to address him in this language :

Sire,

:

War is the source of so many evils, it is so terrible a scourge, that a gracious and discerning Prince ought never to undertake it but

from motives of justice that are indisputable; and it behoves the greatest monarch in the world to give that example of the morality of kings, which assures the happiness of humanity, and the tranquillity of nations. Do not give way, Sire, to vain anxieties, nor to uncertain expectations. Ah! what have you to fear, and what can excite your jealousy? You reign over 26,000,000 of men. Providence, with a bountiful hand, has diffused the choicest blessings through your em. pire, by multiplying the productions of every kind. Your kingdom acquires as much specie every year as all the rest of Europe collectively taken. You enjoy immense revenues; and the prudent distri bution of them may enable you constantly to maintain fleets and armies capable of commanding respect from the nations envious of your power. The war to which you are advised, will cost you, perhaps, eight or nine hundred millions (from 35,000,000l. to 39,375,000l. sterling); and were even victory every where to follow your arms, you will devote to death, or to cruel sufferings, so great a number of your subjects, that were any one, who could read futurity, to present you this moment with the list, you would start back with horror. Nor is this yet all: your people, who have scarcely had a respite, you are going to crush with new taxes. You are going to slacken the activity of commerce and manufactures, those inestimable sources of industry and wealth; and, in order to procure soldiers and seamen, the men accustomed to the cultivation of the earth will be forced from the interior provinces, and a hundred thousand families, perhaps, will be deprived of the hands that support them. And when crowned by the most splendid success, after so many evils, after so many calamities, what may you perhaps obtain ? An unsteady ally, uncertain gratitude, an island more than two thousand leagues from your empire, or some new subjects in another hemisphere. Alas! you are invited to nobler conquests. Turn your eyes to the interior parts of your kingdom. Consider what communications and canals may still be wanting. Behold those pestilential marshes that ought to be drained, and those deserted lands which would be cultivated on the first tender of support from government. Behold that part of your people whom a diminution of taxes would excite to new undertakings. Look, more especially, on that other truly wretched class, who stand in immediate need of succour in order to support the misery of their situation. In the mean time, in

order to effectuate so many benefits, a small part of the revenues which you are going to consume in the war to which you are advised, would perhaps be sufficient. Are not the numerous inhabitants of your extensive dominions sufficient to engage your paternal love? And, if I may be allowed to say it, is not their happiness equal to the greatest extent of good which it is in the power of a single man to perform? But if you are desirous of new subjects, you may acquire them without the effusion of blood, or the triumphs of a battle; for they will spring up in every part of your empire, fostered by the beneficent means that are in your hands. A good government multiplies men as the morning dews of the spring unfold the buds of plants. Before you seek, therefore, beyond the ocean, for those new subjects which are unknown to you, reflect that, in order to acquire them, you are going to sacrifice a greater number of those who love you, whom you love, whose fidelity you have experienced, and whose happiness is committed to your protection. What personal motive can then determine you to war? Is it the splendour of victories for which you hope? Is it the ambition of a greater name in the annals of mankind? But is renown then confined to bloodshed and devastation? And is that which a monarch obtains, by diffusing ease and happiness throughout his dominions, unworthy of consideration? Titus reigned only three years; and his name, transmitted from age to age, by the love of nations, is still introduced, in our days, in all the eulogies of princes.

"Do not doubt it, Sire, a wise administration is of more value to you than the most refined political system; and if, to such resources, you unite that empire over other nations which is acquired by a transcendent character of justice and moderation, you will enjoy at once the greatest glory, and the most formidable power. Ah! Sire, exhibit this magnificent spectacle to the world; and then, if triumphal arches be wanting, make the tour of your provinces; and, preceded by all the good you have diffused, appear surrounded by the blessings of your people, and the ecstatic acclamations of a grateful nation, made happy by its sovereign."

Such is nearly the language of an honest minister, impressed with a deep sense of the various duties of his station. I cannot believe that such reflections would be foreign to political deliberations. At first, they would be thought extraordinary, and the minister who were to