The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 53 pages of information about The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 53 pages of information about The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction.
means were used to annoy him here, and misrepresent his proceedings at home; but he stood firm, and by an occasional visit to the Colonial Office in England, he opened the eyes of ministers to the proceedings of both parties, and for awhile averted the danger.  At length, some five years ago, finding the enemy was getting too strong for him, he repaired once more to England, and returned in triumph with an order from the Colonial Office, that nobody was in any way to interfere with his proceedings; and he has now the pleasure of contemplating some hundreds of miles of the best roads in the province, closely settled on each side by the most prosperous farmers within its bounds, who owe all they possess to his judgment, enthusiasm, and perseverance, and who are grateful to him in proportion to the benefits he has bestowed upon them, though in many instances much against their will at the time.  I spent a fortnight with him some eighteen months ago; and certainly one of his levees with his settlers would, if as well reported, be quite as amusing as one of those Mornings at Bow Street—­that about the time I left London were styled, by some wag, the leading articles of the Morning Herald.”

Chapter VII. describes the operation of the Lumber Trade, which has been carried on as follows: 

“A person, possessed of little or no capital and inflated with the spirit of speculation, hires a number of hands, and purchases a quantity of provisions (on credit), and betakes himself to the woods.  His terms with his men are to feed them, supply them with what necessaries they may require, and pay them when he sells his raft.”

Chapter VIII. enumerates the Religious Sects, and Chapter IX. consists of Odds and Ends.  From the latter we quote: 

“Very erroneous notions are current in England with regard to the taxation of the United States.  The truth is, that though America is lightly taxed in comparison with England, it is by no means to be considered so when compared to most of the continental nations.  The account usually rendered of American taxation is fallacious.  It is stated, that something under six millions sterling, or about 10_s_. per head on an average, pays the whole army, navy, civil list, and interest of debt of the United States, while we require fifty millions, or nearly 2_l_. 10_s_. each, for the same purpose.  But the fact is, that that sum is only about half what the Americans pay in reality; for each individual state has its own civil list, and all the machinery of a government to support; and insignificant as the expenses of that government appear in detail, yet the aggregate is of very serious importance.  For instance, there are five times as many judges in the state of New York alone as in Great Britain and Ireland; and though each individual of these were to receive no more than we would pay a macer of the court, yet when there comes to be two or three hundred of them, it becomes a serious matter; nor does it

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The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.