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THE POWER OF GOLD DISPLAYED, IN THE HUMANE PROPOSAL OF THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER,

TO BRING FORWARD

An Act to put his MAJESTY into the diſagreeable Situation of ſigning a Decree, that no ſick or lame Perſon, or diſeaſed Cattle, in Great Britain, ſhall have a Medicine of Repute without paying Tribute; which the Writer contends, is not juſtifiable either by the Law of God, or Man, and is a diſgraceful Impoſt, as it places the Life of a human Being in competition with a Three-penny or Six-penny Stamp, &c.

By Frs. SPILSBURY.

IT IS THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY I PLEAD.

LONDON: SOLD at the DISPENSARY, SOHO SQUARE.

Price 6d.

[Entered at Stationers Hall.]

To the BOOKSELLERS of GREAT BRITAIN, Who had impoſed on the Public, Stamps with the common Medicines, only through fear of an Exchequer Threat.

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GENTLEMEN,

IS there occaſion to addreſs myſelf once more on this mournful ſubject, to perſuade you to act as men, endowed with reaſon, as citizens of a free country, bleſſed with the name of Britons? Survey your fetters, woven by imaginary power, rivetted by terror, which have diſgraced yourſelves, and reflect no credit either on your King or country. The Barons of the Exchequer, the guardians of conſtitutional freedom, are now your friends; they have declared from the bench of Juſtice, no ſuch acts as the medicine act is, (which operates only by fear, in a partial manner on the ſubject, contrary to the dictates of reaſon, juſtice, and humanity, founded on no decree of the Legiſlature,) ought to exiſt in this land; at the ſame time they obſerved, the more they read the act, the leſs they underſtood it, and with alacrity granted Meſſrs. Wray a new trial, who had been found guilty of the heinous crimes of ſelling two tooth bruſhes with tooth powder.

Gentlemen, have I not reaſon to rejoice, have I not reaſon to triumph, who at the firſt commencement of this ambiguous, ill-ſhapen act, oppoſed its monſtrous ſtride; and whoſe leviathan maw was only to be ſatiated with all that a man, or a miniſter of ſtate, ſhould hold worth preſerving, viz. the honour of his King, the liberty of the ſubject, the dignity of his country? For theſe have I pleaded, for theſe have I braved danger, in my tracts, Advice to Bookſellers, Diſcurſory Thoughts, &c. How could you, ye men of books, ſacrifice to fear your known good opinion of your Monarch? How could you believe his royal heart delighted to add diſtreſs to miſery? What have you obſerved in your King, to credit the diſgraceful ſtory? A King ſigning an act, that when his ſubject was bit by a mad dog, it demanded a tribute from the terrified ſufferer, or no medicine to heal his wound; or that his Majeſty's finances were ſo reduced, as to oblige him to countenance an edict, which bows to the proſtitute, in pleaſing view; by her, that baneful curſe of health ſhall ſpread its poignant ſting, which demands inevitably the ſwift aid of medicine, fettered with a ſtamp. Would Rome have thus chid her ſons who had indiſcreetly ſacrificed to nature's laws? No — it is only at a Stamp Office where Haman's fell principles in epitome are remembered. Can you reconcile to your minds, a King, and ſuch a paternal King as ours is, bleſt with a Queen, an amiable Queen, whom even ſlander ne'er whiſpered ſurmiſe of ill; could her King, and our Monarch, ſign ſo ungracious an act, which wreſts a tax from the helpleſs female ſervant, becauſe the imbecility of her ſex demands the friendly aid of medicine at certain times? It is not poſſible. Can a King take againſt his own ſubjects, and exult in their miſery? Is royalty a bar to diſeaſe? Will FEVERS, GOUT, DROPSY, CONSUMPTION, EVIL, LEPROSY, STONE, CHOLIC, ſtand at a diſtance, nor dare invade the palace? Then may we ſuppoſe that Kings feel not as common men. Is it not enough for human nature to bear the ills which ſickneſs, diſeaſe, or accidents create, without being tortured by forward, cruel ſervants of the crown, who to gratify the luſt of power, trample on all laws, human and divine? Whilſt they reprobate a highwayman's proceedings, they act on the ſame principle, only diverſified in the application; for have not ſervants of the crown demanded of you, by threats, to act contrary to the conſtitution of this country, which militated againſt yourſelves, and aggrandized your neighbour; which muſt transfer your buſineſs to another ſhop, where no croſſed ſtamp mark'd the threſhold, Who would have credited the report, ſhould it have been foretold, that miniſters of this country would have inſiſted on their ſervants to go round the kingdom with the Exchequer cudgel in their hand, and threaten bookſellers to commit an act which human nature revolts at, To refuſe a woman in labour a cheap medicine to eaſe her pains without paying for a ſtamp. Let her die firſt, is the language of the Stamp Office; or, We'll exchequer you. Again, find a parallel in any hiſtory, ſtate, or country, of the following impoſt; I challenge all the antiquarians of the age to do it; a tax (proclaim not the diſgraceful badge) which the officers of the crown of Great Britain have demanded, in the King's name, on a Pot of Ointment to cure the Itch; and inſiſted the polluted out-caſt wretch, though ſcarce cloaths to cover his nakedneſs, ſhould pay Threepence for a ſtamp, or [3]his diſeaſe ſhould worry him to death; or, what would turn to a better profit for the Stamp Office, he might infect other perſons, and then, joyful ſound, more ſtamps would be diſpoſed of.

Theſe are the decrees, formed under the conſtruction of the King's Stamp Office! Are theſe deeds proper to be ranged in the Hiſtorian's page, as acts of George the IIId? Why, then, not procure a law, that whatever perſon is ſhipwrecked on your coaſt, he ſhall take ſo many ſtamps; or thoſe perſons who have their houſes burnt down, they ſhall be obliged to buy your paper currency, id eſt ſtamps. Theſe acts, miniſters may ſay, are diſgraceful, and no nation but an abandoned one, would enact them. Are they ſo? Not more than the imaginary medicine act, which is ſo pious, ſo loyally conſtrued for the honour and intereſt of the King, and he that will not gulp the creed down, is flagelated with the Exchequer ſcourge, to urge the bookſeller to be upon the watch; where, if he ſees a fellow-creature fall from his horſe and bruiſe himſelf, the unfortunate perſon muſt purchaſe a ſtamp before he can receive a medicine to ſooth his pain. Can there be (to Britons I appeal) a more humiliating, diſgraceful circumſtance in this country, than to ſee a ſet of loyal ſubjects pointed at by a malignant partiality founded in a jealous ſurmiſe, harraſſed by the Stamp Office, under the ſhadow of an act of Parliament, to commit actions which are almoſt as unnatural as if they were required to ſell their children. Yet no act of Parliament exiſts which will warrant ſuch encroachments on the ſubject. For the dignity of human nature, for the honour of my King and Country, I have pleaded and oppoſed theſe arbitrary unjuſtifiable deeds, which heretofore were never countenanced in this or any other free country.

Who will join iſſue, and ſay, ſuch heavy impoſts torn from the ſick, the lame, the diſeaſed part of the community, are to be countenanced in this Chriſtian land? Not the Houſe of Commons, not the Houſe of Lords, not his Majeſty, nor even the Hon. Wm. Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, whoſe great power ſtands unrivalled; witneſs, Britons wearing a ſtamp on their heads. Then, if there is no act of Legiſlature to juſtify theſe ſhameful, pilfering depredations from the people, why does a miniſter withhold his protection one ſeſſions after another from a ſet of men, only ſufferers becauſe they are loyal, becauſe they are conſcientious men, becauſe they are fearful to contend with Government? Is it for the honour of a miniſter to ſport his ſtrength with the man unarmed by power, naked as to riches, and whom he can terrify with the anathema, wrote in Exchequer form, in like manner as the approach of a wolf ſpreads terror to the flock? Do miniſters of the crown expect the people to act virtuouſly, to live honeſtly, to poſſeſs integrity; let miniſters look at the medicine act; there they will ſee oppreſſion ſtalk with gigantic ſtride, treading on the liberty of the ſubject, laughing at juſtice, and ſacrificing humanity to malignancy and avarice. Why will miniſters of ſtate form ſuch crippled paths for the inferior ranks of mankind to walk on? Why will not the Rulers of the nation, when they find errors in their acts of parliament, ſhew a readineſs to correct them? For intereſt they will do it. Has, then, honour nor juſtice no claim to attention? Is it not, ye guardians of the land, a ſore affliction to the owner of cattle, to hear his beaſt low with pain? Is that beaſt, or is an infant dying with diſeaſe, an object of taxation? I only aſk the queſtion. Are they fit objects for ſport? If they are, throw off the maſk, enact a law, that every perſon ſhall conſume a ſtamp between his bread and butter every morning; or that the people inhabiting Great Britain ſhall be bled four times a year, or take a ſtamp. Theſe laws, theſe acts, would be more honourable, more equitable, than your proceedings on the medicine act, where you doom a fellow-creature to death, rather than loſe ſelling a ſtamp with a common medicine conveyed by a bookſeller, although no act of Legiſlature exiſts to juſtify ſuch proceedings. To tax Quacks, or any other titulary traders, if hurtful to the community, I am not concerned; but when I obſerve his Majeſty's honourable Commiſſioners of the Stamp Office breathing a language, inſtead of villainous deceitful Quack, it is now, Dear brother, good creature, ſell your medicines, ſell your ſtuff, ſell your poiſons, or what you will, only ſell our ſtamps. When I hear that men in ſo honourable a ſtation ſend their emiſſaries round the country, inſiſting on bookſellers taking out a Five Shilling Licence, on pain of being exchequered, and oblige them to ſell ſtamps, and ſay, you are the perſons Government meant to tax, as we conſtrue it ſo and ſo; and at the ſame time let a next door neighbour ſell without ſtamps, the ſame commodity; can a perſon, unleſs he is loſt to all ſeeling which adorns the ſoul, do leſs [4]than reprobate ſuch actions, which diſgrace man, mar the beauty of our conſtitution, and render our Monarch the object of pity. Reflection, awake not, leſt thou bring to remembrance what this country was a few years back, when the people paid their taxes as chearful as one who giveth his corn to be ground and received flour in return: but now, our corn is demanded, and bran is thought a ſufficient recompence.

In former adminiſtrations, Juſtice and Humanity adorned our ſuperiors' councils; but now, an avaricious deceitful principle ſways the officers of the crown, who luxuriouſly baſk in the thought of the vaſt wedges of gold which are produced from ſcraps of paper, forgetting that the gold is wrung, from their own bankers, the people, the ſtrength of the nation; for this country, at this preſent moment, is faſt conſuming its vital principle, on which its very exiſtence as a ſtate depends; and a little time will loudly proclaim the deep decline of this once flouriſhing empire.

N. B. The foregoing letter was partly printed when I read the medicine act was to be cancelled, and a new one introduced of a more extenſive nature, by the Right Hon. William Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer. In all my ſtrictures on the act, I never dictated what I thought was proper to be done on the occaſion, being perſuaded whenever the medicine act came to be diſcuſſed, it would at once appear with ſuch a horrid aſpect, that no miniſter, nor no other perſon who had retained the principles of honour and humanity, would patronize the act in any ſhape.

THE NEW MEDICINE ACT CONSIDERED, AS NOW SUBSTITUTED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, JULY 8, 1785.

BY the new propoſed bill as ſtated in the public prints, I obſerve the medicine act is to be equalized, the rich as well as the poor are to ſwallow ſtamps with their medicines, without exceptions: So far this may be thought juſt. Does it alter the principles of the act? reconcile it to your minds, you who conſider medicines as only articles fit for TRAFFIC I abhor the act; a tax on medicines is but a Title, but it has an object, as a warrant has, which ends with an order for the execution of a fellow creature. Does it militate againſt pleaſure? No. — Luxury? No. — Or healthy perſons? No. It is an act which eyes the ſink of corruption ſettled in the limb of a fellow creature; gladdens in the reverberated ſound of diſtreſs. Achs, pains, and groans, are muſic to the ſpirit of the act, they are its very life; illneſs or diſeaſe, are its proper food, for what is an act to raiſe ſpecie without it is made productive? Frequent alarms of the people being in danger of fevers may be raiſed, and the uſual time of quarantine diſpenſed with, that the plague may ſpread its baneful inſluence; the wells of water contaminated; then men, women, and children will be ſeen in the ſtreets graſping medicines moſt gorgeouſly decorated with ſtamps, whilſt the table of the illuſtrious ſupporters of this moſt amiable chriſtian device, ſhall ſmoke with the fat of veniſon, and rich viands grace the board, equal to the lordly Deſpots.

To thoſe who judge of theſe matters by what quantity of bullion this act produces, this act will not want for embelliſhing titles, any more than the marble monument a poliſh to render it pleaſing to the ſight, which covers a rotten carcaſe. Call the medicine act by what name you pleaſe, I will proteſt againſt it; it is armed with a ſting againſt diſtreſs, groaning under inſupportable agony; it is a brutal act — a brutal act did I ſay? — from whence borrowed we that idea? — Do brutes prey on the ſame denominated race? — Will lions welter in the blood of lions? No. — Will a tyger ſeek a tyger to mangle his limbs for food? No. — Whence then the term [5]brutal? — Beaſt acts towards beaſt agreeable to the laws of nature; it is only man "who feeds on man," who talks of reformation, of more refined notions, yet this man, arrayed in ſcarlet or in purple, does not always remember the dignity of his ſtation, but ferrits, tortures, nay, for intereſt — devours his fellow creature; then, which deſerves the epithet of brute moſt, man or beaſt?

Such a propoſed medicine act no Heathen, Jew, or Mahometan Miniſter was ever recorded to have even brooded ſuch a deteſted thought of, much more dare ſtand up in a collective aſſembly to propoſe to force a tribute from women with child, children afflicted with the ſmall-pox, colds, ſore throats, convulſions, and from men afflicted with ulcerated legs, from whence purulent matter ouzes in hot ſteams ſo virulent as to ſcald the ſeeming ſound part of the ſkin, or with other maladies, which our tinder conſtitutions are likely to catch, even from the air we breathe in. This glorious diſcovery, this friendly act of commiſſeration, which is to act as the Salvator of the nation, verging on bankruptcy, a Chriſtian claims the honour; not a profeſſor of the Roman Catholic religion; no, a purer one than that, the reformed one, a Proteſtant of the Church of England. Who will credit the ſtory? Does a miniſter of Great Britain (will they ſay,) think to impoſe on the King's underſtanding, and cloud his ſenſibility, with golden arguments, to ſign the decree againſt his doleful ſubjects, who ſtand in need of all the protection, either care or power can beſtow, that like a ſhip (which has been toſſed by croſs winds and ſtorms, puts into port to fit it once more to combat the boiſterous wave) they become renovated ſo as to purſue the courſe of life.

Let foreign nations, whom yet humanity bleſſes, reject the report with ſcorn; as when a traveller relates he ſaw a lamb forſake the graſs and feed on vulture's prey; if Fame, in pity to Britannia, refuſes to ſound Avarice's triumph; let Truth declare, laſt week the Senators of Great Britain met, where it was propoſed in parliament, under the ſanction of a medicine tax, to raiſe ſupplies from a ſpoil, extorted from his Majeſty's moſt piteous unfortunate ſubjects, ſtretched on the tenterhook of pain, tormented with diſeaſes, which terrify the poor or rich wretch, worſe than any torments Hell can inflict, as far as we know, or have a right to think. — Harſh and ungenerous would be the ſojourner's ſurmiſe, whom night had overtaken in a lonely place, ſhould he find a hoſpitable roof, where himſelf and beaſt are bade a hearty welcome, expreſſed by officious care, ſhould he imagine, all this courteous kindneſs was but a prelude to ſome horrid purpoſe, when faſt in ſleep his outward centinels are locked; yet thus ungrateful man oft judges of his Creator's bounty, ere he ſheds the encumbered mantle, how will he ſmile at his childiſh fears when robing with immortality, whilſt experimentally he feels the attributes of a God.

A tax on illneſs! — Set dogs to gnaw a human creature, bears no compariſon to thoſe pains mankind feel when thus diſeaſed, for dogs lead to mercy; in their gripe they introduce that bleſſed friend DEATH, the great deliverer from oppreſſion, tyranny, diſeaſe, and miſery.

Who can behold even a dog in pain that can avoid pity if he cannot relieve; but to ſee officers of the crown harraſſing a fellow creature, worried with the evil, with a cancerous gaſhing wound, with a ſcald head, a human body covered with ulcers, ſtinking moſt diſguſtfully horrible, deteſted by its inmate, the ſoul chained to ſo vile a peſtilential body, which is ſhunned by ſociety, and whoſe corrupted form breathes poiſonous vapours, which petrify the man by profeſſion bred a champion in nature's cauſe, — walking familiar with diſeaſe, yet here pauſes, and ſhrinks from power ſo, dreadfully armed, is a ſorry ſight. Whilſt from ſuch diſeaſed objects, and from diſeaſed cattle, a Miniſter of State, with as much compoſure as a rat-catcher kills vermin, meditated an act of parliament which would pointedly militate againſt the welfare of the human and brute creation, loaded with inſupportable infirmities, for he enacted that medicines of eſtabliſhed reputation; which were adminiſtered either by outward or inward application, ſhould not be applied unleſs they gave a ſtipulated ſum for a piece of paper.

What is this decree but a ſecondary one to Nebuchadnezzar's which threatened death to thoſe who did not bow to the idol of Gold? Yet this medicine act, under the diſpenſation of the goſpel, is far more cruel. Does Chriſtian power act here like a Samaritan, to pour oil into the wound? How reverſed! Does it act, like the Levite and Prieſt, who are held up by the Saviour of the world as men actuated by ſelfiſh principles, void of compaſſion? No. — The Prieſt and the Levite, if they did not relieve [6]the wounded man, were not as yet ſuch hardened monſters as to take advantage of his diſtreſs. Formerly Kings of Albion delighted to act the phyſician's part, and inveſted the unhappy mortal, afflicted with the EVIL, with a piece of gold; Heaven ſanctified the deed: Now a miniſter urges his Majeſty to levy on his own diſeaſed ſubject a piece of money, or neither he, nor yet his beaſt, if ill, ſhall be entitled to the general benefits of medicine, Heaven's gift, which by providence was deſigned to be as free for all nature's children as the air we breathe, or the water of the earth; the wretch who taxes one, would, could his unhumanized ſoul find means, curſe the other with his official breath — for lucre.

The medicine act, whilſt in debate, is the miniſter's; but when the King ſigns the mandate it is then cloathed with royalty, it ſpeaks majeſtic, and awes the ſubject to compliance with tremendous voice; the inhabitants of Great Britain muſt hear a King ſpeak to his officers of ſtate agreeable to the act: "Let no one of my ſubjects, who are grievouſly tormented with pains, mortifications, gangrene wounds, fluxes, and other deadly diſeaſes, have certain medicines they deſire, unleſs they pay a tribute, on pain of my diſpleaſure, and the heavy penalties the act preſcribes."

Is not this a fair delineation of the intended act? — Divines ſay bad thoughts and diabolical actions originate below, from whence we pretend to borrow colours to paint an infernal ſcene; but the original deſign, I am inclined to think, is too often borrowed from earth.

Suppoſe a miniſter ſhould have power to perſuade the King to approve of the edict — what is this edict? Man may ſtile it a medicine act, but I call it a redemptory act — What ſays the act? pay a tribute, or no medicine; woe to the man who dares let any perſon have a medicinal packet without a ſtamp; here is your redemption, or rather a paſſport to ſhew you have the King's leave — to live — Courteous Royal bequeſt — what wonderful condeſcenſion. Is not this the true explanation and intent of the act, fabricated in this once truly honoured iſland, the envy of all foreign powers? Rather than thus inflict the ſickly diſeaſed ſubject, I aſk the Miniſter, I aſk the Rt. Hon. William Pitt, whether it would not redound more to his honour as a man, as miniſter of colloſſian power, to ſend round a party of guards to the healthy perſons, and demand of them to give ſixpence for the emblazoned paper or put them to death, rather than go to the ſick man, expiring with diſeaſe, tormented with ulcers and carious bones, and inſiſt on his taking the official ſtamps, by which the gold already produced being ſufficient to turn any miniſter's brain, he imagines he is in character of the king's huntſman, head over the hounds, hunting deer inſtead of his Majeſty's people.

What ſentiments do miniſters imbibe by attending a king's throne? Is the life of a Briton to be put in competition with a three-penny, ſix-penny, or a one ſhilling ſtamp? Britons! there was a time you were not held ſo cheap; but now, if no ſtamp at hand no medicine, or perhaps the needy ſhopkeeper may have a ſtamp which may be turned to money, ſells an old decayed medicine, which buys a loaf to feed a famiſhed child, whilſt the parent of a worthy family falls a ſacrifice to the degenerate humanity of miniſters, who enjoined a medicine to be embalmed in red ſtripes, true emblem of the mercileſs act.

Wherewithal ſhall a miniſter find a charm to faſcinate a king to ſign an act, which inadvertently may coſt hundreds of his ſubjects their lives? — Of what materials do miniſters ſuppoſe our Sovereign is compoſed of? — Has not his Majeſty amiable fair daughters? — Are they not women? — Are they not princely flowers nurſed with peculiar ſtate? — Yet all the care Art and Nature can beſtow, ſometimes thoſe pretty plants will droop, nay die. — If pain attacks them does their royal birth fortify them to be indifferent as to the effects or conſequences? — They are attended in ſtately forms, phyſic arrayed in pomp; do the courts of princes make the power of phyſicians equal to the deſires and the neceſſities of their royal patients? ſuppoſe they do; what are the thouſands of females who reſide in the inferior walk of life to do, who cannot afford to charm the diſpenſer of health to viſit them? — Reaſon and experience hint a cheap remedy, which may ſhorten their pains and reſtore them to health. How horrid the idea, ye ſervants of the crown, to take advantage of the frailties of the ſemale ſex, not brought on by choice, by accident, or by remiſſneſs, to raiſe a revenue? Is it not ſporting with the great Creator who ordained theſe cauſes for moſt important [7]ends, which none but fools would mention but with ſolemnity? But to raiſe money under pretence of ſupporting the honor of a King, and the dignity of the nation, by ſuch means, who would ſuggeſt and countenance?

To apologize for ſuch a noxious act, ſpecious reaſons will not be wanted; money may be the miniſter's plea for ſuch an unprecedented ſtep; it may bring in thouſands of pounds to the Treaſury; let it bring in more gold than all the nation's worth, not all the gold which earth can produce can wipe away the ſtain — Great Britain bartering Honour and Humanity for Gold.

Let miniſters uſe all the art they are maſters of to harmoniſe the canibal deed, which muzzles the noble ſcience of phyſic, and proclaims in tyrannical accents to the ſick, "you ſhall ſwallow our ſtamps, or linger under your diſeaſe;" I truſt this unexampled mode of taxation will not find patrons in the Houſe of Lords.

The Right Hon. Mr. Pitt may plead, he only corrects the medicine act, firſt formed by Lord John Cavendiſh, againſt the five patent medicines, but now extends it to all medicines, pharmaceutical ones excepted. Is this juſtice? why tax one medicine more than another, becauſe the one has gone through an expenſive trial, before it has gained univerſal approbation to ſtamp its credit as the beſt remedy we can aſcertain, for ſuch and ſuch complaints, or for a better reaſon, becauſe ye know the afflicted will as regularly turn to the advertiſed medicine for redreſs as the cattle go to the river to quench their thirſt, when the uſual fountain ceaſes to relieve their wants. Is that Mr. Pitt's excuſe, let him enjoy it. Let him turn his thoughts to that ſtately monument in Weſtminſter Abbey reared by national gratitude, to the Earl of Chatham, whereon is inſcribed, "Under whoſe adminiſtration Divine Providence exalted Great Britain to an height of proſperity and glory unknown to any former age;" and let this queſtion be aſked him "if it would be agreeable to his feelings as a Miniſter, to the love he bears his country, to his zeal for the King's honour to let the ſculptor add:" The ſon of this illuſtrious nobleman, who was Prime Miniſter, propoſed to his ſovereign, 1785, to raiſe a ſubſidy under the tenor of a medicine act, from the inhabitants of Great Britain, who were afflicted with the ITCH, STONE, GOUT, LEPROSY, ULCERS, WEAK EYES, SORE THROATS, DISEASED CATTLE, and other complaints, of a nature too bad to deſcribe in this ſanctuary: This ſecond inſcription, which points to the lamentable changes of State Maxims and Affairs, is a memento of the ſudden tranſition of worldly GRANDEUR."

If the Right Hon. Mr. Pitt is not the propoſer, chief patron and engineer—who raiſes on this occaſion this unnatural barrier in the afflicted's road, who wiſh to gain a little eaſe, a ſmall reſpite, before they are numbered with the dead—I do moſt reſpectfully beg his pardon for introducing any idea that may appear perſonal. — The reviewers have ſaid, I am warm on the occaſion. Happy ſhould I be, could I find a friend to prove the medicine act, bowed only to reaſon and good policy, not ſwayed by lucre. At firſt, the plea was, the dart was levied at Quacks, a ſuppoſed nefarious unprincipled ſet of beings. Was that the caſe, how poor, how abject, a Miniſter would render his Monarch to perſuade him to become their patron, a nominal ſharer of the ſpoil. Is not this to a witneſs, a god kiſſing carrion? To heaven I appeal, I had rather ſee all Quackery, or what you pleaſe to call it, baniſhed from the land, than live to ſee a Britiſh State, dependent on ſuch vile proſtitution to ſupport its exiſtence as a kingdom.

May Heaven preſerve our King in health, although his Majeſty ſhould be conſtrained by looking through falſe mediums, to extort a tax from an unfortunate yet loyal ſubject, becauſe through accident he may be bit by a mad dog, or infected with ſome dangerous loathſome diſeaſe.

Francis Spilſbury.

POSTSCRIPT.

[8]

THE propoſed medicine act, I have read; perhaps it may now lay before that venerable, truly honourable Houſe of Lords, for their conſideration, either to countenance or reject.

Cool and diſpaſſionate, as if now before their Lordſhips, I ſolemnly declare in my humble opinion, the medicine act as now engroſſed, cannot with propriety be complied with; it requires moral impoſſibilities, and has many abſurdities; let it be tried by the penetration of wiſdom; it is an impolitic propoſal, it militates powerfully againſt the intereſt of government, and the life of the ſubject. Unhappy conſequences will prove its baneful effects; nor ſhall I wonder when a woman's mind is agitated with the cries of her infant, ſhe ſeeks the uſual remedy on theſe occaſions, and is told the King demands a tax for a ſtamp, or no medicine; your child may periſh. In aſtoniſhment ſhe forgets the mother, when ſhe hears the monarch has forgot he is a father — drops her child inſenſibly, and marks the earth with BLOOD. Is there juſtice in the act?—No;—juſtice is violated, the poor ſick man is the glorious prize which this act drags in triumph. — Will Benevolence patronize the deed?—No; — cruelty ſtands confeſſed. Mark the eſſence of the words, the very criterion of the act. To tax all medicinal noſtrums which are uſed either to heal the human body by internal or external application, when diſeaſed. Heavens!!! what a crime it is now deemed to endeavour to reſtore health, the fountain of ſtrength and beauty to the ſons and daughters of the land; rather ſay, what a heart that man muſt have, if man you can call him, who could dictate theſe inimical wiſhes, with a view to ſtamp them into a law. Let the proſecuted wretch who ſteals for bread, plead this illuſtrious example of depravity in a higher power; then let government put to death the victim, and be ſatisfied he ſuffered juſtly; in the ſight of his Maker, reaſon and equity will declare him murdered. Will Chriſtianity adopt this maxim of taxation for one of her precepts?—No,—nor no other religion in the world; nor can there be even a faint trace of any ſtate, nation, or human being ſo unhappily diveſted of the feelings of humanity ſince the world began, as the authors of this uncharitable mode of taxation. What is this but engrafting the tenets of an inquiſition on a Britiſh ſtock? Exact money, or let a perſon remain in torture; define it otherwiſe candor, if you can. Inquiſitors of Spain would abhor the idea of adding diſtreſs to the afflicted for the ſake of gain, they would abjure ſuch a doctrine as the one now propoſed by the Miniſter of Great Britain; not to let a ſick or lame, or diſeaſed perſon have a medicine to remedy his pain, his complaint, and render himſelf once more a uſeful member to ſociety, without paying a tribute; what a language does this refined ſyſtem of taxation diſplay in this land, boaſting of a ſuperlative degree of piety towards God? It is an awful circumſtance, and a new phenomenon, to behold the hand writing of a king, acting partially to his innocent ſubjects, firſt cut off from the general ſociety of the world by illneſs, now made the propoſed objects of ſingular chaſtiſement of their Sovereign. Let Britain talk no more of virtue, honour, valour, humanity, charity, or whatever enobles man, exalts a ſtate or dignifies a king, that ſcrawl indented on the parchment, that hoſtile declaration againſt all diſeaſed ſubjects, or whatſoever preſerves the human body from decay, if enforced, cancels all pretenſions to greatneſs, or whatſoever is praiſe-worthy.

If the arguments of ſenſibility intimately connected with the diſtreſſes of mankind, cannot prevail againſt the only ſtrong irreſiſtable plea a miniſter's ſalvo—the treaſury wants food,—then ye ſick and diſeaſed victims of power be compoſed, ye ſhall on this occaſion be honourably embalmed and moſt royally entombed.

FINIS.
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TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 5571 The power of gold displayed in the humane proposal of the Right Hon William Pitt Chancellor of the Exchequer to bring forward an act to put His Majesty into the disagreeable situation of signing a. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5FDA-5