.h a demand as if it went by that u our forefathers were extremely with regard to this right of pe- io,,mg,wiiicli,though ridiculed by Mr: ine,isa right, under the exrstenceot 1ich,ifit be freely euJoyed, and steadily ercised, a. tyranny never can exist for

length of time. The next thing l5, 9,, on what subjects the people ought w to petition the House of Commons” very man who reflects but little upon e matter, will perceivetthat the main mg to be accomplished is, a Reduction the Taxes. There are other things at want to be attended to. Divers very ying grievances; grievances such as. our rcfathers never dreamed of the possrbih- of; and these must all be redressed; or c, this reform of the Parliament \Vlll ye failed of its object. But, the first in; ofall is, a reduction of the taxes; cause the burden oftaxation is the real me of all the evils Which the country has endure. It is the cause ofthe bodily suffe- gsot‘tlie people; it is the cause of the reuse of crime; it is the cause of the olligacy of expenditure, not only in pub- alfairs, but in the private affairs of man; is the cause ofthe new and severe laws there been passed; and of the abridg- ntofour liberties of every description. erel'ore, the first thing to do is, to obtain eduetiou of these enormous taxes; and, ing these taxes in the order, in which y are cruel and mischievous, they stand, my opinion, in the following oriler:—l. etaxes on malt and hops—‘2. The tax soap.——3- The taxes on stamps.—-4 The as on houses, windows, and other things,

me- nacious

ese taxes immediately concerns us all; y are on the growth of our land, or on rtransactions with one another, or on rdwelling-places, or on the things that use. With regard to things which come m abroad, or things, the use of which not common to us all, there will be time uugh to speak hereafter. At present ese are the taxes to be petitioned against; due time should be lost in sending for- rd the petitions The malt and hop tes ought to stand at the head of every tilion for relief. Until these be entirely en ofi‘there can be no man in his senses propose any alteration in the Corn-bill. ey are the cause of more and greater ils than are to be described in a volume. eyhave mainly assisted in breaking up at happiest of all communities that the orld ever saw; namely, the agricultural mmunity ofEngland. The soap-tax is 50 excessively burdensome, and falling ostheavy on those who can least bear it; d, with regard to the stamps and the as- . dtaxes, indepedent of their pressure, Irpai‘tiality is so crying, that itis impos- . 'e for any 'ust man to look at them , ithout feeling himself swell with indigna-

THE BRITISH AMERICAN.

tion. The whole of the taxes ought to be repealed, and, that too, without loss of time; but still the malt and hop taxes demand a preference ; and it is for a repeal of those taxes, which I most strongly recommend all my countrymen to petition without loss of time. For a bushel of malt and a pound of hops we are now paying about twelve shillintrs in- stead of having them for about five l,nihich we should have, were there no tair upon either; so that here are the millions of Env- land and Wales paying pretty nearly t\:0 h'undred per cent. on account of tax, Upon their drink, caming from the produce of our owu soil. Every orie complains ofthe mis- cliiefof.the beer-shops; every one Complains of the groups of homeless and honseless young people in the country; every one com- plains of the increase of crime; every one perceives that these evils have proceeded from the banishment ofthe young people from the farm-houses; but no one seems to perceive the power which the malt-tax has hadin producing that banishment. I‘his malt-tax, therefore, is the first thing to be assailed; and the people should recollect, that their representatives have very little to do with regard to the expenditure of the public money; that their business is to pre- vent the moiiey being taken improperly from the people. No exciseman can go intoa malt-house without an act of Par- liament to warrant him in so doing. There- fore, it is to their representatives in Par- liament that the people are to apply, in or- der to be eased of this burden, and of all other burdens. It is the duty of the mem- bers to exert themselves to their utmost to accomplish this purpose; but it is also the duty of the people to second the efforts of those members; and the way for them‘ to seCond them is. to draw up, to sign as nu- merously as possible, and to send forward, their petitions to their own members, if they be ready to receive, to present, and to support them; or else to some other members. it * * I do beseech my readers well to think of these matters; ‘ A man of words and not ofrleeds. ls like a garden full of weeds;'

is a saying of old, in'all probability, as gar- dens theniselves; and I do beg my rea Lers to bethink them of it well now. Paper, pen, and ink, are all that are wanted, and a great deal less time and pens than are wasted by almost every man in every twenty-fourhours ot'liis life. Let this be borne in mind. * "“ "“ Again,l beg my readers to hear in mind, that it is upon their conduct, in this crisis, that they have to depend for their happiness.”

AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL RE- souncns or [ammo—The resources, both agricultural and commercial, of Ireland, are immense. Her soilfcontains 12,000,000

arable acres, exclusive of 5,000,000 that

209

might be rendered arable. Now suppo- sing that of this . quantity 3,000,000 acres are annually devoted to potatoes, 3,000,000 to wheat, and 6,000,000 to grass, oats, or barley, we shall find, that from this arable portion alone there might be raised the following quantity of food. 3 millions acres, in wheat, at 2 quarters per_acre, 6,000,000 quarters. 3 millions acres po- tatoes, at 50 bolls per acre, 150,000,000 Qlls. Now six millions of quarters of wheat will maintain six millions of souls, and 150,000,000 bolls of potatoes will at the very least maintain l5~000,000 more; so that the wheat and potatoes growing on these six millions of acres alone, would maintairitwenty-one millions ofsouls. This is supposing the waste lands in the island to yield nothing, and six millions of the arable' acres to be devoted to the production of grass, oats, or barley, for the conveni- ence and‘luxuries of life It is evident, therefore, that there is ample room in the soilof Ireland to maintain at least three times its present population, in the highest. state ofallluence and comfort. The ’ma- nufacturiug and commercial advantages of Ireland also are immense. From the cheapness of labour, which, at an avarage, is little more than halfthat in Great Britain, the linen manufacturers of the North have of late years made the most rapid progress, and a considerable part of the commercial capital of Glasgow has already emigrated to that more favourable seat of manufactu- ring industry. The numerous natural har- bors and deeply indented bays of the Irish coast, give facilities for the formation of seaports, and acoastways commerce, un- known to any other part of the empire. All along the west coast the shore is so precipitous, that almost every bay may be formed at a little expense into a harbour; and Valentia, the nearest point of Europe to America, is evidently destined to be- come the great emporium of British ex- port to the countless millions of the New World, and render the West of Ireland the scene of as great commercial activity as the Severn or the Mersey. In her fish- eries, too, Ireland enjoys a mine of wealth , hitherto almost unexplored, the. extent of which is incalculable. The rivers on its western coast all abound with salmon; its herring and deep-sea fisheries are equal in extent, and superior in quality, to those- of

~the whole of Great Britain. Little.expense

is required to render every bay 0n the north and west coast a fishing station, which may rival the activity of Wick or Thurso;

The Mayor of Wexford, Mr. C. G. ~ Walker, has refused to pay his tithe. and awarrant having been issued against him, there will be exhibited in his ‘person the extraordinary instance of a Chief Magis- trate committed to prison, and the main- tamer ot‘ the laws one of the first infringe" of them.