240 DUTY. 



pensation or employment from those who 

 were about to supersede me and my calling, 

 I drew up a petition to the House of Com- 

 mons, and had it engrossed. It was 

 presented by my kind friend, the late 

 Lord Jocelyn, than whom a more amiable 

 nobleman did not exist; but, like many 

 other petitions of greater or less import- 

 ance, it was ordered to lay on the table. 

 To the petition, which is annexed to this 

 volume, I must refer my readers as to 

 the propriety, as well as the safety and 

 justice, of considering travelling by rail 

 a fair and legitimate object of taxation. 

 Mr. Pitt rose the stage-coach duty (if 

 he did not originate it) from Id. to 6J. 

 per mile, and it then furnished a consi- 

 derable item of the revenue ; and now, 

 when travelling has multiplied more than 

 a hundred fold, it contributes a mere trifle 

 to the exigencies of the State. As it 

 partakes of the nature both of a poll 

 and a property tax, it comes recom- 



