To William Pitt, First Lord of the Treasury Date: BATH, September 6, 1784. SIR, - Your former goodness, shown to one of my relations Mr. Thomas Ellison, For John Ellison, see letter of Sept. 7, 1777; and for Captain Webb, May 25, 1782. emboldens me to take the liberty of recommending to your notice an old friend, Lieutenant Webb. On my mentioning formerly some of his services to Lord North, his lordship was pleased to order him 100 a year. But as it has since been reduced, it is hardly a maintenance for himself and his family. If you would be so good as to remember him in this or any other way, I should esteem it a particular favor. Will you excuse me, sir, for going out of my province by hinting a few things which have been long upon my mind If those hints do not deserve any further notice, they may be forgiven and forgotten. New taxes must undoubtedly be imposed; but may not more money be produced by the old ones For instance: 1. When the land tax is four shillings in the pound, I know some towns which pay regularly seven- or fivepence. Nay, I know one town where they pay one penny in the pound. Is there no help for this 2. As to window tax: I know a gentleman who has near a hundred windows in his house; he told me he paid for twenty. 3. The same gentleman told me, 'We have above an hundred men servants in this town, but not above ten are paid for.' 4. I firmly believe that' in Cornwall alone the King is defrauded of half a million yearly in customs. What does this amount to in all Great Britain Surely not so little as five millions. Is there no way of extirpating those smuggling villains, notwithstanding their Honorable or Right Honorable abettors

5. Servants of distillers inform me that their masters do not pay for a fortieth part of what they distil. And this duty last year (if I am rightly informed) amounted only to 20,000. But have not the spirits distilled this year cost 20,000 lives of His Majesty's liege subjects Is not, then, the blood of these men vilely bartered for 20,000 not to say anything of the enormous wickedness which has been occasioned thereby; and not to suppose that these poor wretches have any souls! But (to consider money alone), is the King a gainer or an immense loser To say nothing of many millions of quarters of corn destroyed, which if exported would have added more than 20,000 to the revenue, be it considered, 'Dead men pay no taxes.' So that by the death of 20,000 persons yearly (and this computation is far under the mark), the revenue loses far more than it gains. But I may urge another consideration to you. You are a man. You have not lost human feelings. You do not love to drink human blood. You are a son of Lord Chatham. Nay, if I mistake not, you are a Christian. Dare you, then, sustain a sinking nation Is the God whom you serve able to deliver from ten thousand enemies I believe He is; nay, and you believe it. 0 may you fear nothing but displeasing Him! May I add a word on another head How would your benevolent heart rejoice if a stop could be put to that scandal of the English nation, suicide! The present laws against it avail nothing; for every such murderer is brought in non compos. If he was a poor man, the jurors forswear themselves from pity. If he was rich, they hope to be well paid for it. So no ignominy pursues either the living or the dead, and self-murder increases daily. But what help

I conceive this horrid crime might be totally prevented, and that without doing the least hurt to either the living or the dead. Do you not remember, sir, how the rage for self-murder among the Spartan matrons was stopped at once By ordering that the body of every woman that killed herself should be dragged naked through the streets of the city. Would it not have the same effect in England if an Act of Parliament were passed repealing all other acts and appointing that every self-murderer should be hanged in chains Suppose your influence could prevent suicide by this means, and distilling by making it felony, you would do more service to your country than any Prime Minister has done these hundred years. Your name would be precious to all true Englishmen as long as England continued a nation. And, what is infinitely more, a greater Monarch than King George would say to you, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' I earnestly commit you to His care, and am, sir, your willing servant.