A N ADDRESS, &c. AVING, upon fome former occafions, taken the liberty of addreffing you upon public matters, whilst I had the honour of ferving in Parliament for a moft refpectable Borough in the County of York, I hope you will not think it any unbecoming degree of prefumption in me, if I ftill wish to continue in communication of public fentiments with you, though I have no longer the claim of any parliamentary employment to entitle me, in a public capacity, to that honour. But if any industry of mine, in a private fituation, can be acceptable to you, or in the leaft degree inftrumental, in your hands, to promote the objects of those laudable exertions for the public good, which derive additional authority from your name and national importance, I fhall think myself highly honoured, if I may be permitted to throw in the fincere, though feeble, aid of a private individual towards the common caufe under your protection. Thofe principles which have been adopted by you, as the foundation of all your public proceedings, and which, through your means, have found their way to the hearts and feelings of the people of this kingdom, contain a full and complete fummary of all points, both in doctrine and practice, which can in any way contri bute to fecure the national fafety, honour, and welfare; with refpect, therefore, to principles and fundamentals, nothing can poffibly be fuperadded. However, as it may be convenient for the information of Gentlemen refident in the country, who have not had access to authentic parliamentary documents, to give some state of the national expenditure, of our enormous debts and taxes, and of thofe boundlefs parliamentary fupplies which are annually granted, and wasted in parliamentary inAuences A 2 fluence, and in fupport of a ruinous war in America, I will endeavour shortly to ftate fome plain and undeniable facts on the foregoing topics, leaving the refult to the collective sentiment of the feveral Counties in their public capacities, that they may form a national judgment upon the cafe, and that they may proceed accordingly to take fuch steps as may be necefsary to prevent the confummation of public ruin. I confider it as a great misfortune, that arguments upon the fubject of public finances are commonly looked upon as too abftrufe for general comprehenfion and popular judgment; for the natural tendency of this opinion is to produce an implicit and paffive furrender of the public property and purse, to the unrestrained discretion of the Minister for the time being. It thus happens that the country is kept in a state of profound and unfufpecting ignorance, in confequence of the palliations and deceptions which are put upon them by the Minister, until defeat, difgrace, defpair, and all the convulfive pangs of public ruin ftrike to the heart. How near we are to this state now I tremble to think; but ftill there remains this one confolation, that to be apprized of danger, is the road to fafety. The watch-word is at length gone forth throughout this kingdom, that all is not well. I hope the public vigilance will never be relaxed till we have to say all is well. As I wish to avoid all the confufion and embarraffment, which generally attend the explanation of financial estimates, to those who are not more immediately converfant with them, than merely from the respective shares which they are to sustain of the common profufion, I will endeavour, before I come to any argumentative application of facts, to ftate, in a preli minary way, fuch neceffary rudiments as will, when once ex plained, facilitate the whole courfe of the fubfequent argu ments. The general fyftem of national expences falls under three heads, viz. The Navy, the Army, and the Ordnance. There is an ordinary computation upon these three heads in the times of peace, which conftitues what is called the Peace Eftablishment. In the time of war the whole expence of that war is is incurred upon the excefs of these three articles above the ordinary Peace Establishment. By comparing the totals of these expences in different years of war and peace, we get a clear and indisputable information of the expence of the war. I will now proceed to ftate the ordinary Peace Establishment of this country, and after that I will draw out the expences of the war, and the prefent rate of expence in which we are proceeding. Ordinary PEACE ESTABLISHMENT. Eftimate for Guards, Garrifons, and Plantations |