All circumstances, then, taken together, arising from the French
revolution, from the approaching harmony and reciprocal interest of
the two nations, the abolition of the court intrigue on both sides,
and the progress of knowledge in the science of government, the annual
expenditure might be put back to one million and a half, viz.:
Navy L 500,000
Army 500,000
Expenses of Government 500,000
----------
L1,500,000
Even this sum is six times greater than the expenses of government
are in America, yet the civil internal government in England (I mean
that administered by means of quarter sessions, juries and assize, and
which, in fact, is nearly the whole, and performed by the nation),
is less expense upon the revenue, than the same species and portion of
government is in America.
It is time that nations should be rational, and not be governed like
animals, for the pleasure of their riders. To read the history of
kings, a man would be almost inclined to suppose that government
consisted in stag-hunting, and that every nation paid a million a-year
to a huntsman.
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