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fhould be called a good and necefsary la The end of all good government is t the peace, to secure the property, and the person of eyery subject of the state, fering unjust annoyance from any one. that promote these objects are good. 1 have an opposite tendency are bad, and be reprobated.

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A law, therefore, which imposes a tax subject, may be a very good law; but the pretext of levying this tax, it sul property of any subject to unjust sei his person to dangers and repeated ala cruel, unjust and oppressive: It can no deemed a wise regulation of governmen effusion of insanity and ignorance, if n potism and cruelty.

How it should have happened, that in a whose inhabitants have ever expressed a lousy about their personal freedom, a se fhould have been deliberately enacted, a long time patiently submitted to, that a rectly subversive of every principle of vernment, as the general tenor of the ex in Britain are, it would be difficult to This difficulty, however, disappears be man of extensive observation. He kn babit gradually gets the better of judge every case; and that designing men, re

this prejudice of the mind, are capable, by slow degrees, of making the most palpable absurdities be not only tolerated, but even be idolized as superior to the dictates of reason itself. The influence of habit is such, as to make the man who dares attempt to controul it, run even the risk of being deemed insane,-a disturber of the public peace, an enemy to good order, and a dangerous member of society.

In the laws respecting the customs, some regulations, though sparingly, have been adopted for punishing the officers who, in the discharge of their duty, overstep the bounds of their authority, and commit outrages on the subject; Judges have been fined, and put to death for errors in the discharge of the duties of their office; but where is. the law that has been enacted for punishing an excise officer in the discharge of his duty? If there be such a law, I know it not. If there be such a law, the universal practice of all our courts disregards it.

The following case which recently happened in this country, plainly fhows that there is no such law in existence.

A merchant in Edinburgh having lately imported some pieces of French cambrics, paid the duties for them; and every form required by law was complied with at the Customhouse. Some of this cambric was afterwards sold to a person who kept a retail shop in a country village. The goods, like others, were openly displayed in his fhop. An excise officer happened to be there one day,

did he sell it as such, and that he knew existence which required such a stamp cambric. Still the officer was deaf to a and actually seized the goods, and carria in triumph. The poor man, astonish procedure, and anxious about the fate o perty, wrote immediately to the merch whom he had bought it, stating the circu and requiring his interference to free him scrape. The merchant took the advice learned in the law, how he should proceed advised to try if he could recover his g fair means," as the easiest way for hims merchant, considering that a high tres been committed, said that he and partn desirous of making an example of this m a view to deter others from doing the lik he was told this was a very doubtful exp and the counsellor rather advised him to with the lofs already incurred, than th more money on that article, without hop ing reimbursed. He then turned up the respecting the importation of French ca and read to him a clause which provided, if an excise officer, through ignorance, or wise, [i. e. or malice] fhall make an unjust of any of those goods, which fhall have be legally imported, he shall be obliged, upon t porter or seller producing full evidence, to

tisfaction of the judge, that they have been legally imported, " to deliver back the goods;" but no penalty whatever is awarded as a punishment for this wanton attack upon private property. In this case the merchant had no other resource than to send authentic documents, that the goods in question had been legally imported, desiring the shopkeeper to fhow these to the excise officer, and to require him then to deliver them up, otherwise he fhould be forced to have recourse to law for the recovery of his property. Fortunately for the dealers, this excise officer was of a more complying disposition than some others, and did deliver up the goods, without obliging them to have recourse to law, which might probably have made them incur an expence above the value of the goods.

From this plain state of facts, it is very obvious that a certain clafs of men, are by law, in this country, authorised to harass, to plunder, and to rob their neighbours with impunity; I say to rob. For if the value of the goods so seized, should be considerably below the expence, that must be incurred before they can be recovered, a man of sense will rather submit quietly to that loss than subject himself to a greater in order to recover them. All this is done under the pretext of benefiting the revenue. If, say the advocates for government, as they falsely stile themselves, a law were made subjecting excise officers to heavy penalties for errors in discharge of their duty, they would be intimidated in their businefs, and would not act with that strictness that the exigen

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cause no other means equally easy an have been devised for obtaining mone the expence necefsarily incurred f ing the person of the subject from oppr his property from embezzlement; is it no ous solecism to say, that in order to money for these purposes, we shall in of persons with legal authority to oppre sons and embezzle the property of the st not this as if we were to provide a bo with arms, under the pretext of defending insult, and at the same time, let them k they may cut our own throats with whenever they please? Yet this we through the force of habit we see no imp in our conduct. Surely it behoves all the of good government, among which numbe to rank myself, to expose the absurdity execrate the iniqity of such laws; and steady firmnefs to require our legislators t these laws, and to correct these fhocking a ties.

As I observe, sir, that you are a friend i country, and not one of the servum pecus, ways idolise the minister of the day, what may be, a species of animals which naturalis tend to say, are remarkably congenial to t mate. I fhall, by your permission, from to time, offer a few remarks on subjects of th

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