to a great extent, but it is its great plan to invite other nations to come in and join in this league against us, offering them great advantages over us. It thus has learned a lesson out of the book of our aristocratic corn-law legislators, and, setting up Buonaparte's continental system in a peaceful, but far more dangerous shape, fights us with our own weapons of exclusion. Belgium has this year acceded to the league, with a preference for its iron of 30 per cent. over ours, which will henceforth go for all the enormous extent of German railroads instead of ours. Our iron, our engineers, have been employed hitherto for all their railroads and chain-bridges. This traffic will now stop; these men may return home, and the effect will not be long before it be disastrously felt, not only in the iron districts, but in Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Paisley, and all our great manufacturing towns. But this is but a small part of the mischief. Hamburg and Holland, closely importuned to join the German league, have hitherto resisted; but this accession of Belgium, the chef d'œuvre of the league, will compel them to come in. Hamburg and Rotterdam are equally jealous of Antwerp and Ostend. These ports, once in the hands of the league, will enable the German confederation to carry out their great scheme of a mercantile fleet, in rivalry of Hamburg and Holland. To prevent this catastrophe, these states will come in. France will find that here she too can touch us in the tenderest place; and Austria is already on the move. If our aristocracy, therefore, persist in holding fast the corn-laws, a few years will see the whole continent bound against us in a war of tariffs. Nay, Germany already extends her views far wider. With a fleet, or with the ports of Hamburg, Antwerp, and Rotterdam in her possession, she will wrest, if possible, the remaining trade of North America and the Brazils from us. She is already in treaty with both these countries for this purpose; nay, the Brazilian envoy, charged with reciprocation of this very proposal, is already in Germany.

Such are the fruits of aristocratic government, aristocratic taxation and exclusion, which, having sucked the very marrow of the British people's industry, threatens, in its blind and obdurate selfishness, to break the very bones of its commerce. And what is already the condition of the agricultural labourer under the effects of this very system which is boasted to be for his protection against foreign competition? The farmer, with all his artificial price of corn, is so devoured with the still higher artificial rent, that he is compelled to save all that he can out of labour. Hence, the dreadful situation of the agricultural labourers, as it has of late been revealed; a condition more lamentable

and demoralising than that of any slavery which ever roused the indignation of British philanthropists. Hence, around the rural palaces of the aristocracy, where every luxury and splendour exists, and where the gay carriage conveys the joyous group from one such palace to another, to rich dinners and nocturnal fêtes, lie the hovels of a more than Helot peasantry-hovels worse than stys, where decency, purity, or comfort have no provision, and where, as described by themselves, the fathers and mothers of craving children have “the trembles” from constant hunger and half nakedness.

Young England, an aristocratic sect, has lately proclaimed much sympathy with the condition of the poor, and a common desire to amend that condition. When they raise their voices against this monstrous pile and system of taxation, for the abolition of the corn-laws, and for free trade-the sole hope of the country and the coming generation, we will believe them sincere. In the mean time, we have only too amply proved that the aristocracy is in possession of the whole mass of taxation. The next step will show them equally possessed of

THE ARMY AND NAVY.

To husband our space, we shall not go into details on this head. Let any one get the Army and Navy Lists, and see who they find there as officers. Are they not the aristocracy again, and their sons and dependants? In the army aristocratic wealth can purchase what aristocratic influence fails to gain. I do not mean to say that a Nelson may not occasionally rise in the navy, or a Clive in the army, from a poor parson's son to the top of the profession, by the mighty power of genius, or that many a meritorious officer may not advance himself by skill and bravery; but what is the general fact? Who are at the head of army and navy? Who preside omnipotently at the War Office and the Admiralty! The aristocracy and to such an extent do aristocratic patronage prevail and aristocratic besieging prevail, that the one great complaint in army and navy is that of men of rank and connexion being promoted over the heads of the poor and the friendless. How many thousands of poor lieutenants are starving on half-pay after a quarter of a century of services, while they see-and their hearts burn at the sight-troops of featherbed and fashionable heroes living in the luxurious splendour of admiralships, commanderships, governorships of nice, easy, well-paid stations, of generalships, colonelcies, and holiday rank, with full and plenteous pay! How many of those poor lieutenants are obliged to live abroad in order to keep soul and body together, and give their children

..

any education at all; and still, when they come home and seek some humble commission or post for their sons, find the doors of the Admiralty, War Office, and every government office crowded with aristocratic applicants, that impatiently shoulder them aside, and laugh in their meagre and woe-begone faces?

Such is and must be the case so long as we continue to possess an aristocratic incubus instead of a real, popular, efficient government, whose object and interest it is to seek out and reward industry and merit. Yet there should be enough to pay any meritorious officer very well, for the total charge of our army is :

For half-pays, pensions, superannuations, &c.

For the effective troops, those paid by the India Company

£2,278,208

For Yeoman Cavalry

deducted

For the Ordnance department

Total

4,016,043

2,084,549

82,369

£8,461,169

With this pretty round sum for army and navy expenses for a nation that Providence has separated and defended from the whole world, but which must exist for aristocratic support, we will pause, and commence a new chapter.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CHURCH; CROWN LANDS; PUBLIC CHARITIES, &C.; ALSO THE

PROPERTY OF THE ARISTOCRACY,

Tithe,

That tribute paid indeed to Antichrist,

Though meant for God; whereby the arch-enemy
Compact, most serpent-subtle and malign,
Gives over to the parson his base pelf,

And takes for his own share the peace, and love,
And charity that should have blessed mankind.

ERNEST.

In the commencement of this work we said that Howitt in his History of Priestcraft had only laid bare one section of the subject, in that the Church was but one section of the usurpations of the aristocracy of England. That is the fact. The Church of England is aristocratic property, wholly aristocratic property, and yet but a single section of this usurped property in this patient nation. But though only a section, it is one of the richest, and most valuable of all. The pension list only produces 890,000l. a-year; the army and navy produce 16,000,000l., but then a good lot of ships, beef and biscuits, gunpowder and ball, have to be paid for out of that; the Church robbed as it has been, constantly" in danger as it has been, (from its own clergy, who have alienated and wasted a vast mass of its property,) yet produces its fair 10,000,000l. a-year, and scarcely anything to take out of it. The army and navy are not to be carried on, if our government returns be correct, without more than 250,000

common men :

وو

Thus, allowing 25,000 for officers of all sorts, the aristocracy have 250,000 men to support out of their gross booty of 16,000,000l.

But the Church! in all England, Wales, and Ireland, some 16,000 parishes, requires only so many clergy, of all sorts; and so easy the duty, for it requires no faculty, acquirement, or accomplishment, but that of the simple art of reading, and a few bought sermons to read, that very few poor lieutenants are required. There is no need of marching, no foreign service. There is no taking the field against the enemy. The old enemy, the serpent, is the only enemy that has dared for these eight hundred years to invade the soil of England: and so well are all his ways and tricks, and modes of attack known, that the clergy scorn to take the field against him. The country has built a fort for them in every parish, called a church, and into that the people can run if they like. There the clergyman is commander, soldier, artilleryman, sentinel, and everything; and all the arms that he wants are the Bible and Common Prayer Book, which are his great guns; a few lithographed sermons, at a few shillings the dozen, for small arms and ammunition! Neither the duty nor the expense is worth mentioning. Nay so light is the service, and in such contempt do our valiant commanders of the forts of the church militant hold the enemy, that many of them will undertake to hold out and defend half-a-dozen of them, and others will wander through all the lands on the face of the earth, and leave their charge to a poor lieutenant, or in other words, a curate, without the slightest fear of the old dragon devouring the people in their absence, as he attempted to devour St. Michael.

The church then may be termed the richest, the most profitable and snug of all the aristocratic possessions in this favoured land. No marching expense; no wear and tear of field equipments; little need of fighting men, scarcely any of ammunition, and ten millions a-year to divide! Nay, what is more; change of ministry makes no change to them. They are not swept out of their offices. Once in, they are in for life. The world may go round, or may stand still, if it please; there may be ins and outs of administrations; tories may ascend and whigs descend, or vice versa, armies may be raised or disbanded; ships of war built, wrecked, blown up, or only laid up, and paid off; What matters it? They are all snug and at home with ten millions to divide !

Lucky, but ungrateful fellows! for they are always abusing their best friend. Other warriors laud their enemy, for by so doing they enhance their own prowess, but the clergy!—they are for ever and unmercifully abusing their enemy-the devil! And yet, where were their trade without him? What need of them? There once came a rumour that the devil was dead, and all the clergy sunk aghast into their elbow chairs! Oh,