of oppression. - “The nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty; nor can any individual , or any body of men , be entitled to any authority which is not expressly
In these principles, there is nothing to throw a nation into confusion by inflaming ambition. They are calculated to call forth wisdom and abilities, and to exercise them for the public good, and not for the emolument or aggrandisement of particular descriptions of men or families. Monarchical sovereignty, the enemy of mankind, and the source of misery, is abolished; and the sovereignty itself is restored to its natural and original place, the nation. Were this the case throughout Europe, the cause of wars would be taken away.
It is attributed to Henry the Fourth of France, a man of enlarged and benevolent heart, that he proposed, about the year 1610 , a plan for abolishing war in Europe. The plan consisted in constituting a European Congress, or as the French authors style it, a Pacific Republic; by appointing delegates from the several nations who were to act as a court of arbitration in any disputes that might arise between nation and nation.
Had such a plan been adopted at the time it was proposed, the taxes of England and France, as two of the parties, would have been at least ten millions sterling annually to each nation less than they were at the commencement of the French Revolution.
To conceive a cause why such a plan has not been adopted (and that instead of a Congress for the purpose of preventing war, it has been called only to terminate a war, after a fruitless expense of several years) it will be necessary to consider the interest of Governments as a distinct interest to that of nations.
Whatever is the cause of taxes to a nation, becomes also the means of revenue to Government. Every war terminates with an addition of taxes,