Whether all that had appeared to the Author, as founded in reason and equity, do not finally prove (in spite of the general conspiracy of all Nations and all Ministers) to be strictly conformable to the most stubborn facts;—and whether it do not result from that mass of facts and reasons, that the Author’s assertion, the most interesting to mankind, (that is, to all Princes and their People) is not of the most irrefragable truth, and a truth the most easily brought within the reach of all the parts interested therein?
I, though merely Editor, shall venture still further;—I shall suppose the result of this combination of facts and reasons to be, that the means hitherto devised as the most proper to alleviate the burdens of the people, were the best devised to oppress them: What matters it to the people, provided they are to be oppressed no longer? What is the time past, but the baseless fabric of a vision?
I shall likewise suppose, that from those facts and reasons it should result also, that never was a decrease in the Prince’s revenue more effectually secured, than by the contrivances devised to increase it: What is it to the Prince, provided it be no longer possible to mistake the true means of enriching him?—Is it not the time to come, that should, above all, engross the attention of a Great Prince?
I shall again suppose, as another result, that it has been a mistaken notion, to imagine that the revenue of the People must be lessened, in order to increase that of the Prince:—What is that to the Prince—what is it to the People—provided both be now convinced, that it is not possible to enrich the one, either really or nominally, without enriching the other in the same manner, and in the same proportion?
I shall further suppose, that it should evidently result also, that in the Administration of the finances of any country, there is not, there has not been a single principle, nay, not a single idea worthy of the name: What is this to the Ministers who now hold that department?—Can they command what is past? And is it not the redressing of abuses, when discovered, that constitutes the true glory of a Ministry?
To crown the whole, I shall even suppose, that thence also should result, to a very insignificant individual of America, a little sprig of that European shrub called Bay-tree:—What would that signify to all the Ministers, all the People, and all the Princes in Europe?—Will America consume less European goods, or will she produce less gold and silver, for having produced an idea?