immediate relief received in that way will 

 sooner or later lead to aggravated misery *. 



It appears, on the whole, then, that the ope- 

 ration of distilleries is to lead to an augmenta- 

 tion of produce, beyond the amount which they 

 consume ; and that they should never be sus- 

 pended, except in extreme necessity, which 

 does not at present exist, nor is likely to exist, 

 (from deficient home produce,) in this country. 



The above doctrines seem to be just, with re- 

 gard to a country which produces the full sup- 

 ply of its inhabitants. But some persons con- 

 ceive, that the circumstance of our importing 

 a part of our subsistence from abroad, together 

 with the present strange and gloomy aspect of 

 our foreign relations, alters the application of 

 the above principles, and justifies a departure 

 from them now, which, at other times, might 

 be wrong. This leads me to the second branch 

 of my inquiry, in which I shall endeavour to 

 shew, that our peculiar situation, as an import- 

 ing country, makes no exception to the prin- 

 ciples above laid down, but rather lends them 

 additional weight. 



* There is not a more irrational sentiment than one which we 

 often see entertained, of indignation at the profits of farmers and 

 corn-dealers. There is no class of the community in \vhosehands 

 *-he accumulation of capital tends so directly to the public good, 



D 



