An Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain, During the Present and Four Preceding Reigns: And of the Losses of Her Trade from Every War Since the Revolution

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J. Stockdale, 1794 - Great Britain - 289 pages

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Page xli - That not to know at large of things remote From use, obscure and subtle, but to know That which before us lies in daily life, Is the prime wisdom...
Page 113 - Before her dance; behind her crawl the Old! See thronging Millions to the Pagod run, And offer Country, Parent, Wife, or Son! Hear her black Trumpet thro' the Land proclaim, That "Not to be corrupted is the Shame.
Page 133 - I'm sped, If foes, they write, if friends, they read me dead. Seized and tied down to judge, how wretched I! Who can't be silent, and who will not lie: To laugh, were want of goodness and of grace, And to be grave, exceeds all power of face. I sit with sad civility, I read With honest anguish, and an aching head; And drop at last, but in unwilling ears, This saving counsel, — 'Keep your piece nine years.
Page 77 - As to this country,* there have been three terrible years dearth of corn, and every place strewed with beggars ; but dearths are common in better climates, and our evils here lie much deeper. Imagine a nation the two thirds of whose revenues are spent out of it, and who are not permitted to trade with the other third...
Page 125 - II. to pull down a toll-gate, was continued as a perpetual law, before the conclufion of it. Yet, the great roads of England remained almoft in their ancient condition, even as late as 1752, and 1754, when the traveller feldom faw a turnpike for two hundred, miles, after leaving the vicinity of London*. And we now know, from experience, how much the making of highways and bridges advances the population of any country, by extending correfpondence, by facilitating communications, and, confequently,...
Page xxi - ... restraints that clogged their activities. This is a psychological basis upon which to build and it is confirmed by past experience. The revivifying effect of the Napoleonic wars was anticipated by Chalmers and confirmed after the event by Tooke. The first wrote in 1794 after the outbreak of hostilities " I engage to maintain that what has happened in our former wars will again happen in the present war in a greater or less degree; that we shall lose some of our external commerce, while we shall...
Page xix - Whilft all the ftars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And fpread the truth from pole to pole, Vot. HI. O o What III. What tho' in folemn filence all Move round the dark terreftrial ball ? What tho' nor real voice nor found Amid their radiant orbs be found?
Page xx - To do or not to do ; and reason why I do or not do this : the stars have none. They know not why they shine, more than this Taper, Nor how they work, nor what. I'll...
Page 132 - The commencement of this pernicious practice deserves to be noted ; a practice the more likely to become pernicious, the more a nation advances in opulence and credit. The ruinous effects of it are now become apparent, and threaten the very existence of the nation.
Page 46 - The activity and ardour which the civil commotions of the country had excited, began now to be turned to the arts of peace. The several manufactures and new productions of husbandry that were introduced from abroad, before the Revolution, not only formed a new epoch, but evince a vigorous application to the useful arts, in the intermediate period. The common highways were repaired and enlarged, and rivers were deepened for the purposes of water conveyance, while foreign trade was increased by opening...

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