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¬ditional burthens, instead of appearing to oppress the people, were overshadowed by voluntary gifts; agriculture flourished beyond the experi- ence of former times; and our manufactures, though struck at by hostile conspiracies against their very existence, monopolised the markets of the world. — Peace came at last, so often invoked as the source of every blessing; but how shall I find credit when I tell you that scarcely had she finished her dove-like flight, and alighted amongst us, amidst universal acclamations, when our prosperity vanished like an enchantment! — The landholders looked in vain to their most opulent tenants for their rents, and they in their turn, even if their rents were remitted, could barely maintain themselves on the soil; labour- ers and servants in husbandry were every where discharged, and thronged our roads seeking in vain throughout the land for employ- ment, and with their children begging their bread. — The manufacturers, though they suffer- ed less, being partly upheld by foreign markets, yet without home consumption, could not but ¬languish, ¬
