Wesley Corpus

They do not walk through every tart of the town, up to the garrets, and down to the cellars. I do; and by what I have seen with my own eyes, frequently fifteen, eighteen, or twenty in one house, I cannot believe there are fewer, at an average, than ten under one roof; and the same I believe of Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield, and most other trading towns. Besides, how many thousand houses have been added to London within these thirty or forty years? 13. “But the people of England are continually decreas ing.” So it has been confidently affirmed; but it is a total mistake. I know the contrary, having an opportunity of seeing ten times more of England, every year, than most men in the nation. All our manufacturing towns, as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, increase daily. So do very many villages all over the kingdom, even in the mountains of Derbyshire. And, in the mean time, exceeding few, either towns or villages, decrease. And it is no wonder the people should increase, considering the amazing increase of trade which has been lately, not in London only, but much more in Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, and indeed all parts of the kingdom, which I have had the opportunity of observing. There was a considerable decay of trade before; but the tide is turned, and it now pours in abundantly. So greatly were our American friends mistaken, who hoped, by shutting up their ports, to ruin most of the manufacturers in England, and so starve us into compliance with their demands. “However, in a century, the Americans will be twice as many as the English.” That admits of a doubt; but when they are, then let them avail themselves of it. 14. “Nay, not only the Americans, but all men, have a right to be self-governed and independent.” You mean, they had a right thereto, before any civil societies were formed. But when was that time, when no civil societies were formed? I doubt hardly since the flood; and, wherever such societies exist, no man is independent. Whoever is born in any civilized country, is, so long as he continues therein, whether he chooses it or no, subject to the laws and to the supreme governors of that country.