the attention of these statesmen has been absorbed by the more urgent business of war. A deference to popular prejudices has also con tributed to delay the adoption of several important amendments. From both these causes the accumulating evils have either escaped notice, or, if forced upon the attention of government, have been referred for consideration to a future period a period of greater leisure to ministers, and of greater tranquillity to the nation.

A season, however, is now arrived, in which farther delay will be dangerous. We are left to our own unaided efforts; and, whether peace or war await us, it is obviously necessary that we should derive from our resources all the strength which an enlightened policy can afford. If, therefore, it appear that the general good can be promoted by a cession of the interests of a particular branch of the community, the present is, of all others, the tine at which that cession is most required. And if it farther appear, that, by such a surrender, the conceding party sustains only an imaginary loss, no pains should be spared in the removal of whatever prejudices may be adverse to the national prosperity.

The succeeding pages of this Work will show, by practical illustration, the community of interest which almost every member of the empire has in the welfare of the colonies. But every part of our history bears testimony to the happy effects of a liberal policy, and to the futility of the gloomy predictions, so often made by the enthusiastic advocates of narrow systems. In the commercial intercourse of nations, it was long thought, that whatever was gained by the one, must be lost by the other; but it is now pretty generally admitted that a rivalship in industry is profitable to both. It was foretold, that to sanction the independence of America, would give a death-blow to our trade; yet, not only has our general, commerce far surpassed that of any former period, but our intercourse with America herself is in a tenfold degree more extensive than when her territory was subject to our control. If these facts be incontrovertible in regard to foreign countries, how much more strongly must they apply to the component parts of the same Empire? It was maintained, that, the Union with Ireland swould cause the ruin of our woollen manufacatures Has this consequence ensuedor, when were our woollen manufactures so prosperous

i

as since the Union? The distinction which has so long been kept up between the Landed and Mercantile Interests, partakes of the imaginary character of the predictions I have mentioned. If each party will reflect dispassionately, they will find that there exists no real difference be¬ tween them that each is benefited by the success, and injured by the losses of the other. The prosperity of trade makes land sell in England for thirty years purchase, while in other countries it sells for twenty. The pros perity of the Landed Interest opens to the Merchant new channels of commerce. The union of the two in one state, forms a mixed commonwealth, of a far happier character than can be constituted by mere landholders, as in the South of Germany; or by mere merchants, as in Holland. Vices of government would arise from the exclusive preponderance of either party; but these are prevented or corrected by the salutary equipoise of the other. In paying the public taxes, as in every other respect; their interests are inseparably interwoven. When the burden is shared by both, is it not obvious, that whatever surplus may accrue from the prosperity of either goes to the common fund; and

that every defalcation, on whatever side it may originate, is a common loss?

It is with principles such as these, that I proceed to the more immediate object of this Work. The West-India planter asks nothing except upon the broad grounds of national advantage.. His situation has long been cruel, and requires only to be known to excite the sympathy of a generous people; but, in this season of general difficulty, it is well to be sparing of appeals to public generosity. Nor does the cause I have undertaken require them; it rests its claim for redress on a more solid ground-on the ground of its indispensable importance to the vital interests of the Empire.

Few subjects are less accurately understood by the public, than the real situation of the West-India trade. The number of ships which it employs, the quantity and value of the merchandise which they transport, suggest, to common observation, the idea of a traffic as lucrative to individuals, as it is important to the country. Impressed with the recollection of the splendid fortunes of which this commerce was once the source, and dazzled by its sur

prising extent, the world still associates prosperity and affluence with the name of WestIndia planter. A more attentive inquiry, however, will speedily dispel the illusion. It will teach us that, by conquering and improving the colonies of our enemies,, we have incalculably depreciated our own; that with an annual importation, nearly double our present annual consumption, and more than double our importation twenty years ago, we have failed to adapt to this extended supply a correspondent system of financial regulation; and that, while our manufactures and our public treasury de rive an ample revenue from this branch of our commerce, the individuals immediately engaged in it experience only disappointment and loss. This inquiry will also show, that the taxes imposed on sugar, at the most flourishing period of the trade, have not only been continued during its depression, but progressively increased; that these taxes, which the legislature intended should be borne by the consumer, have fallen wholly upon the planter; and that, by a singular and melancholy coincidence, their amount has been augmented exactly in proportion as the planter's means of payment have diminished.