154 On the Corn Laws. 



then would have been our state, had we depended, at that time, upon 

 those countries for bread ? 



27. That the Roman history furnishes ample proof, of the danger of 

 depending, even on a distant part of the same empire for food : That 

 when Vespasian aspired to the throne, he hastened to Alexandria, with 

 a view to distress Rome by famine, since from Egypt chiefly, the city 

 was supplied with corn. But when he was proclaimed Emperor, in- 

 stead of distressing the city with famine, he dispatched thither, a great 

 number of vessels laden with corn, which arrived very seasonably, for 

 Tacitus informs us, " that fifteen days' subsistence was the most that 

 " Rome had then in store. The winter providentially was mild, and 

 " favourable to navigation ; distress and misery must otherwise have 

 " been the consequence. In former times the case was very different. 

 " Italy was the granary that supplied foreign markets. Even at this 

 " hour, the prolific vigour of the soil is not worn out ; but to depend 

 " on Egypt and Africa is the prevailing system. The lives of the 

 " people are by choice committed to the caprice of winds and waves *." 



28. That any individual who peruses the above extract from the 

 first of ancient historians, and who wishes to render Great Britain de- 

 pendent on the caprice of the winds and the waves, for the food of its 

 inhabitants, must have little of the feelings of a British patriot, and is 

 unworthy of that name : That for Rome, read London, for Egypt and 

 Africa, read Poland and Prussia ; and what Tacitus wrote eighteen 

 hundred years ago, is exactly applicable to our state at present. 



How the million and a half of inhabitants in London, and its neigh- 

 bourhood, and the thousands who reside in Liverpool, Manchester, and 

 the other towns and villages in Lancashire, are not alarmed with the 

 idea, of depending for their food, on the caprice of the winds and the. 

 waves, and more especially on importations from so boisterous a sea 

 as the Baltic, (which is likewise shut up from navigation by ice during 

 the winter season), is perfectly unaccountable. 



29. That, on the following grounds, a dependence on foreign sup- 

 plies, is in the highest degree dangerous to any country, whether it 

 is weak or powerful. 



1. The country on which we principally depend for food may have 

 a deficient harvest. 



2. There may be difficulties in carrying on an intercourse, more 

 especially in the winter season. 



3. Foreign powers may impose heavy taxes on the grain they suffer 

 to be exported, both for the sake of revenue, and to prevent high 

 prices at home. 



4. There may be a war between Great Britain and that country, 

 or with other nations, by whom our navigation may be interrupted. 



5. The countries whence supplies must be obtained, may be afflict- 

 ed with contagious disorders : And 



6. Foreign nations may refuse to take any other mode of payment, 

 for the grain we must purchase from them, than specie, any great ex- 



* The Annals of Tacitus, vol. i, p. 386, book 12, chap. 45. 



