every thing is high in price. the farmer would (if he were Now suppose there to be a com-a yeomanry-man, at least) call munity of only ten men, who upon poor Crispin to pay him; have a given number of dealings and Crispin must give him ten pair amongst them in a year, and of shoes (or the price of ten who move from hand to hand pair) instead of five. So that, a certain quantity of valuable in fact, Crispin's debt, though things. Suppose one of them still only fifty shillings in name, to be a farmer, and that he has would, by the diminution in the to sell wheat to the rest, and whole quantity of money, be suppose his wheat to sell for doubled. 10s. a bushel We will supThis is our case precisely! pose, next, that the quantity of The fund-holders, the army, the money, possessed by the whole navy, the placemen, the pencommunity to be six hundred sioners, lent their money to the pounds. Every one has his due government, took places and proportion according to his pro- pensions under the government, perty. Now, suppose, that, by and, in fact, made the nation some accident or other, every their debtor for so much a year. man, just at the same moment, But, now that the quantity of loses one half of his money. The the money is reduced in such effect of this would be, that a way as to bring down prices every one could give for the nearly one half, the nation has things that he would want of to pay them all to the full noevery other one, only just half as much as he gave before; and, of course, the farmer must sell his wheat for 5s. a bushel. The shoe-maker must sell his shoes at 5s. a pair instead of 10s. and so on. This change would produce injury to no one; because a pair of shoes would still bring a bushel of wheat. There would be less money; but money is merely a thing to be used as a measure of the value of useful things. This little community would still have a just measure of value; and, though prices would fall one half, no soul would suffer from the change. But, suppose the shoe-maker to have owed the farmer fifty shillings before the change took place. The shoe-maker would lose greatly by the change; but, minal amount; which, though it be still called by the same name, is, in fact, nearly double what it was before the quantity of money was reduced. Each of you has fifteen shillings tax to pay on a bushel of salt; and, so you had before: but, as fifteen shillings will now purchase twice as much of your labour as they would purchase before, your salt tax is in fact doubled. Thus it is as to the whole nation. It has about thirty millions a-year to pay to the fundholders, but now, the thirty are equal to what sixty would have been when the money was borrowed. Suppose a fund-holder to have lent the government a hundred pounds twelve years ago; and suppose, that he was to receive five per cent. for it. 871 Suppose a farmer had been to choose; and, in this way, the for only five hundred of the This is what has been now done; and, what is more, it' has been done with a professed of desire to remove the evils that pay afflict the country! The the placemen, pensioners, fundholders, soldiers, and of all those who live on the taxes, has thus been augmented; and by the But, you will say, how can the Bank lessen the quantity of money, and ruin the people thus by doubling the real amount of debts and salaries and pensions and other incomes of those who live on taxes? I will tell you how. The Bank can make as much paper-money as it pleases. The cost of it is merely the paper and the print. They are al-same means, those who pay the ways borrowers enough. Now, taxes have been ruined. The I want to borrow. I go to the labouring classes, in all such Bank and give them a note for cases, suffer most severely; but, a hundred pounds, which I pro- when they are quite down, they They fall mise to pay them again in two can fall no lower. months. They take my note, into the ranks of the paupers, and give me the hundred pounds and there they remain. There in their paper-money, taking is another class, however, who the two months' interest out. will endeavour to save themThis interest is called discount; selves: I mean, those who have, and this is called discounting a as yet, some property left.. note. The Bank can discount They will flee from the dismal as much or as little as it pleases. and desolating plague. They When I bring my hundred will carry their creative induspounds, and take the note out try and their capital with them. of pawn, I may get another And will thus leave the burden note discounted if the Bank greater for those whose timidity - makes them remain behind.- and that, too, in a short space Thousands are preparing to go of time; and, if I am asked, to America. And, unless some-why I do not suggest those easy thing be speedily done to relieve means, my answer is, that I us, they act wisely. It is, on an have done all that a private inaverage, only a month at sea. dividual could do to prevent the The danger is nothing. And, evils; for all my efforts, I have, when a man reflects, that he except by the people, been rehas left the tax-gatherer behind paid in abuse and persecution; him, and can now set him at and that, therefore, in the cadefiance, what are dangers of pacity of a writer, I will suggest the sea, or any other dangers? nothing in the way of remedy. One would escape out of Eng-My former efforts have been land, and even out of the world, treated with scorn, and now let to avoid the sight of men har- the scorners extricate themnessed and drawing carts, load-selves. If I were in parliaed with gravel for the repair of ment, I would point out the the highways. means. Not being there I will point out none. Those who have property at stake, have, even now, the means of putting me there. If they do, my opi nion is, that measures of salvation will be adopted; if they do not, I am of opinion that no such measures will even be pro No man, you will observe, proposes to do any thing that has a tendency to relieve our distress. The very measure for diminishing the quantity of paper-money is only beginning to operate. It has not yet produced a tenth part of the evils posed. In either case I shall that it is calculated to produce, have the satisfaction to reflect and that it will produce, if that I have done my duty; and whether the country be doomed persevered in. The labouring classes, I mean, those who have to anarchy or despotism I am as able to bear the scourge as anono property in any thing but ther. their labour, cannot fall much lower. Hundreds die for want of a sufficiency of food; but hundreds of thousands will not. And, as they have not the means of going to America, they will remain, and will live somehow or other; for, as to being transported to Canada or the Cape of Good Hope, they neither will nor can. The means of restoration are, however, easy. The affairs of the nation might be retrieved, Amongst our duties are the duties which we owe ourselves: and, amongst those duties is that of not suffering ourselves to be degraded. And, for my part, I should deem it degradation to the last degree to be an underworker of such men as those, who have brought this once free and happy nation into its present state. An endeavour to serve the country in this way would, too, be wholly unavailing. It would only tend to Q·q TO THE REFORMERS. On the subject of raising a sum of money for the purpose of defraying the expenses attending the securing of a seat in Parliament at the next Election. 'London, Feb. 5, 1820. FRIENDS AND FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, AND COUNTRYWOMEN. The sum of money which I wished you to put me in possession of, under the name of a FUND FOR REFORM, will, I can clearly see, be raised by the time that I should think it necessary to employ it. But the death of the King has made me anxious to appeal to you for a purpose, which I think proper openly to avow; and that is, the ob amuse and deceive. And, therefore, I will never attempt it. will hear the schemes of others. If they adopt any thing that I have already laid down, I will claim it as my own. If they broach any thing new, I will offer my opinions on it; but, unless in parliament, the thing, for me, shall take its course. 1, at present, owe nothing to the country, except to the labouring classes. If I am placed in parliament, it will be my duty to do much, and much I shall do: if I am not placed there, the country will have no demand upon me. Even in the utter ruin and abasement of the country I shall be neither ruined nor abassed. Not to possess wealth taining of the means of securing a is nothing to him who does not seat in the House of Commons; which desire it; and, as to reputation, seat great numbers of you are certhe world would have the jus-tainly very anxious that I should obtice to say, that I have lost none tain. Before I proceed further, in by events which I had foreseen and foretold, and which I had endeavoured to prevent, and for which endeavours I had been most furiously persecuted. speaking of the utility of my being in Parliament, suffer me to say some little matter with regard to the calumnies which have been heaped upon me by the atrocious Daily Press of the My beloved countrymen and metropolis; by the still more atrocious countrywomen, think of these Quarterly Review, and by almost the things; and, be assured that, whole of the country newspapers. I under all circumstances, I shall shall go back further than may be bear about me and carry with thought necessary, in order that you me to the grave the kindest feel-may see me from the beginning. For, ings towards you, and the most upon this particular occasion, I am anxious wishes for your happi-desirous that you should have all the ness. I am, Your friend, And obedient servant, means of judging fairly, between mo and those by whom I have so long been assailed. At eleven years of age my employment was clipping of box-edgings and weeding beds of flowers in the garden of the Bishop of Winchester, at the WM. COBBETT. Castle of Farnham, my native town. 877 1 I had always been fond of beautiful | it was dark, without any thought about gardens; and, a gardener, who had supper or bed. When I could see no» just come from the King's gardens at longer, I put my little book in my Kew, gave me such a description of pocket, and tumbled down by the side them as made me instantly resolve to of the stack, where I slept till the birds work in those gardens. The next in Kew gardens awaked me in the morning, without saying a word to any morning; when off I started to Kew, one, off I set, with no clothes, except reading my little book. The singulathose upon my back, and with thirteen rity of my dress, the simplicity of my halfpence in my pocket. I found that manner, my confident and lively air, I must go to Richmond, and I, accord- and, doubtless, his own compassion › ingly, went on, from place to place, besides, induced the gardener, who inquiring my way thither. A long day was a Scotsman, I remember, to give (it was in June) brought me to Rich- me victuals, find me lodging, and set mond in the afternoon. Two penny-me to work. And, it was during the worth of bread and cheese and a penny-worth of small beer, which I had on the road, and one half-penny that I had lost somehow or other, left three pence in my pocket. With this for my whole fortune, I was trudging through Richmond, in my blue smockfrock and my red garters tied under my knees, when, staring about me, my eye fell upon a little book, in a book-seller's window, on the outside of which was written: "TALE OF A TUB; PRICE 3d." The title was so odd, that my curiosity was excited. I had the 3d. but, then, I could have no supper. In I went, and got the little book, which I was so impatient to read, that I got over into a field, at the upper corner of Kew gardens, where there stood a hay-stack. On the shady side of this, I sat down to read. The book was so different from any thing that I had ever read before: it was something so new to my mind, period that I was at Kew, that the This circumstance, trifling as it was, Kew, in order to show them the place where the hay stack stood; having fre that, though I could not at all under-quently related to them what I have stand some of it, it delighted me be-now related to you. yond description; and it produced Far be it from me to suppose, that what I have always considered a sort you want any thing to convince you, of birth of intellect. I read on till that the numerous foul accusations, |