It has numerous and convenient harbors in facility of internal communication it exceeds all others. For three and twenty years we have enjoyed a profound peace. Yet with all the elements of national prosperity, and with every disposition and capacity to take advantage of them, we find ourselves overwhelmed with public and private suffering. We are bowed down under a load of taxes, which, notwithstanding, fall greatly short of the wants of our rulers. Our traders are trembling on the verge of bankruptcy, our workmen are starving.
Capital brings no profit, and labor no remuneration.
The home of the artificer is desolate, and the warehouse of the pawnbroker is full. The workhouse is crowded, and the manufactory is deserted. We can discover none in nature or in Providence. . . . The energies of a mighty kingdom have been wasted in building up the power of selfish and ignorant men, and its resources squandered for their aggrandisement. The few have governed for the interest of the few, while the interests of the many have been sottishly neglected, or insolently and tyrannically trampled upon.