its being one which the public interest of the country required)--I
propose _that, for a time to be limited, the income of this country
should be called on to contribute a certain sum for the purpose of
remedying this mighty and growing evil_, ... should bear a charge not
exceeding 7d. in the pound, which will not amount to 3 per cent, but,
speaking accurately, L.2, 18s. 4d. per cent--for the purpose of not only
supplying the deficiency in the revenue, but of enabling us, with
confidence and satisfaction, to propose great commercial reforms, which
will afford a hope of reviving commerce, and such an improvement in the
manufacturing interests as will re-act on every other interest in the
country; and by diminishing the prices of the articles of consumption
and the cost of living, will, in a pecuniary point of view, compensate
you for your present sacrifices; whilst you will be, at the same time,
relieved from the contemplation of a great public evil."[4]

[4] Hansard, vol, lxi. col. 439.

We have quoted the very words of Sir Robert Peel, because they are every
way memorable and worthy of permanent conspicuousness. In point, for
instance, of mere oratorical skill, observe the matchless tact of the
speaker. Conscious that he was about to propose what would come like a
clap of thunder on all present, and on the country, he prepares the way
for its favourable reception, by pointing out the almost necessarily
_direct pecuniary benefit_ ultimately derivable from his unpalatable
tax; and the instant that he has disclosed his proposal, in the same
breath carries our attention to a similar topic--an assurance calculated
to arouse the self-interest and excite the approbation first of the
commercial classes, and then of all classes, by the means this tax will
give the Minister of proposing "great commercial reforms," and "reducing
the cost of living." No power of description we possess can adequately