On the National Debt
ON THE NATIONAL DEBT T the æra of the Revolution no national debt existed ; i. e. no debt debtA borrowed on Parliamentary security, for discharging the interest of which, national taxes were imposed and mortgaged. It is one of the most astonishing facts in all the records of history, that in the century which has elapsed since that memorable event, a debt has been contracted by the Government of this country, which cannot be estimated at less than two hundred and fifty millions sterling ; a sum so vast, that it probably exceeds the whole aggregate value of the precious metals actually in circulation throughout all the kingdoms of the globe. A political phenomenon so extraordinary could not fail to excite the attention, and employ the sagacity, of the ablest statesmen and philosophers, closely connected as it is with considerations of the utmost importance to the welfare, and even the exigence of the state. In opposition, however, to the most confident predictions, and indeed contrary to every apparently reasonable ground of expectation, we find by experience, that the kingdom is not only capable of sustaining the pressure of this immense load, but that it exhibits plain indications of internal vigour, and even of increasing wealth and prosperity. That there is a point, however, beyond which the accumulation of the public debt must prove destructive and fatal, cannot be doubted ; and to this general conviction we owe the late institution of a permanent fund for its gradual redemption. It is well known, that in the year 1716, Sir Robert Walpole established a fund, distinguished by the appellation of the Sinking Fund, which was appropriated, under the authority of Parliament, to the sole purpose of redeeming the national debt, at that time amounting to about fifty millions.
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