The Sun.
London, England, 1810-08-11 00:00:00

fern by these. multiplied and comiAlcated restrain ts.
Every
„person ' conneaed; • how;yer remotely, with
commerce,, or who, has diiecqed any poriion ot his
capital or indttstry to any of,,iis_var,iotas brineries,
participates in
.the calamity, and by the operation of
these measures in restraint Of 'lreedOrn,.we see the
very sources of. wealth and litosperity, one alter
another, dried up. Thus pet sons Of every, descrip-
tion, pronied men, -manufacturers, brokers, clerks,
agents of.every kind, persons connected with the
sea, b.hrge-ow ners, packers,- carriers, and persons of
other, occupations, whose brembis taken from them,
tho Se. who were employed in the manufactute of
clothing; furniture; ; in short the whtile of that
_numerous set of persons whositbsist upon the. wages
of, the labour which the rich- have been accustomed
to require from them, sensibly feel the interruption
of the circulations of commence, and are already
volved by it in different degrees of distress. Nor is
the agricultural part ot the community by-any mem's.
exempt from this distress ; the husbandman ip vain
loOks for those customers Who. heretofore flocked
to him with ready money to purchase his wine and
the other produce of his soil.
It cannot be Wondered.at, that in' such circum.:
stances the countryman is disheartened from sow-
ing his fields and planting his vineyard, and that
this neglea of cultivation should prejudice for years
the produtlive powers of the soil. It would be easy
to enlarge upon these topics, but surely enough has
been already said to prove . that the Continent cent- 11
-
not continue to support the stagnation which has
taken place in the ordinary in!ercourSes of, life.. • .

" But more than -This, how is it to be inna&ed
that nations can. continue to pay taxesmpo,nions,
and contribwions, after the channelso of income
have beau closed ? It was a wise Observation of
Prince Eugene of Savoy,- * " Nobody complained
of a very great, but very.equitably distributed tax,
which I plopo.ied throughout the whole kingdom,
because Izat the sathe time allOrded it means of in-
crelsirig its commerce, which had not before been
thought of."
" Thus then it is to the interruption of commerce
that we must refer the :extreme distress under which
the continent of Europe, from one extremity to the
other, at present sutlers distress which a continental
peace alone cannot suffice to relieve. '
" Even these countries of thecontinent in which_
the frigtrtful cry of war is not immediately heard,
feel them Selves oppressed and deprived of their
strength, they are IA itholit resources for the present,
without hope fi.r the future. Ali persons who have
the means propose to emigrate to Englatid or Ame-
rica, and amongst those to whom. this plan of relief
is denied, how many have already perished under
their sufferings!
There is one other consideration, which it can-
not be believed that Governments will regard With
indifference—the shocking want of integrity and
good faith which these privations and ,distress are
rapidly iotroducing. Heretofore a ready obedience
was, paid 'to laws, because the tendency of those
laws was to promote'the welfire of the people ;
but the new s) stern, which denies to them the
means of providing for their subsistence, reduces
them to a . sort of stupefa6tion they can Scarcely,
believe in the reality of such prohibitions, and they
allege their disbelief, as. an excuse for their disobe-
dience. In this way they habituate themselve4 to
contempt of the laws and the public authority.—
What a host ofctiminals must such a state of things
create! How many, under the influence of want
and desperation, will have recourse to fraud and rob-
bery ; and having no legal means of pursuing their
occupations, will avail iberpsives:of those which
itre illegal. Hence arise false oath and the bribery
of the officers employedito enforce the laws, so that
what little giinful theinost cor-
rupt hands, and the most grievous severity of distress
falls with all its weight upon persons of the strictest
integrity.

• " Princes! Parents of your-People !' You, who
hear their complaints and their "groans—it is you
whom our prayers invoke-in you our hopes seek a
refuge--you will be our intercessors—you will
bear our lamentations to the throne of the Great
Napoleon—you will convey to his conscientious
feelings that inforrna►ion contenting our distressed
and. critical condition, which, doubtless, has never
yet been fairly laid before him. With his powerful
arm, with his genius it rests to save us, utterly: Jo put
an end to the iestraints under which we are perish-
ing, and to construct a new system in unison with
the accomplishment of' his great designs. May you
enjoy the inestimable felicity of reigning over' sub-
jects, happy, contented, grateful,, loyal, and vir-
tuous This is the greatest blessing which we can
implore Heaven to confer upon you !"

* Memoirs of Prince Eugene of Savoy, Ed. 1809. p. 146.