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The letters of Valens [W. Burke, assisted by E. and R. Burke].
The letters of Valens - W. Burke, assisted by E. and R. Burke Author:William Burke Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LETTER IV. THE CAMPAIGN. Saturday, Offober 11. Mr. Miller, THE proper anfwer to an addrefs for war, is a tax. There can be no doubt, but that fuch an an... more »fwer will be returned fairly and fpeedily, and without a fhadow of equivocation. In this point at leaft, the Minifters are capable of giving perfect fatisfaction to their admirers. To exhauft the Jinking fund,—to accumulate debt,—to raife the land tax,—to put an additional duty on malt, and on malt liquors,—and to revive the home excife upon cyder,—thefe are things within the power of the moft common financier. The ways of taking the public money, or of fpend- ing it when taken, are tolerably obvious. There is nothing required for thefe purpofes, but patience on the part of the people. And Admini- ftration has had, for fome time paft, comfort- E ableable afiurances, that the good people of England poflefs a fufHcient fhare of that Heady and ufeful, though not very fmning virtue. The Addreflers, with an honeft eagernefs and anxiety, afk for war, and they offer the'r fortunes. They need be under no fort of uneafi- nefs. The one will be given, and the other will be taken ; and as far as I can difcover from the courtly language of the Gazette, this is what is defired, and all that is defired, in the many dutiful and loyal addrefles with which that inftructive paper has lately fwelled fo much beyond its ufual dimenfions. In former times, when the evil habits of faction had rendered men importunate and difficult, a little more than this would have been looked for. People would have been defirous of fome account of the ends and purpofes for which the public money had been expended; of the manner in which the war had been conducted; of the future profpect of fuccefs from the arrangements already made, or which were in appare...« less