3 'i 8 Danger of augmenting the PUBLIC DEBT, 
the public To far as they are the creditors in queftion. Fare- 
well. I am yours, ^jfc. 
LETTER XXII. 
To the fame . 
Madam, 
Y O U muft be fenfible, that notwithftanding the great 
riches of this nation, the debt we labor under is a pon- 
drous burden. Tho’ the principal has been a little reduced 
flnce the late war, by means of the reduction of intereft, yet 
the laft dill devours near one third part of our revenues ; and 
if we do not conduct ourfelves with great fkill and circumfpec- 
tion, fuch a charge on us muft circumfcribe our meafures, with 
regard to war, blaft our blooming glories, and rob us of the 
means of obtaining a fecure and honorable peace. 
It has been a general received notion amongft political arith- 
meticians, that we may increafe our national debt to one hun- 
dred millions ; but they acknowledge that it muft then ceafe 
by the debtor becoming bankrupt. It is obvious, to the meaneft 
obferver, that the more the debt is increafed, the greater the 
difficulty will be in paying off the leaft part of it. And I be- 
lieve there is no conflderate man who does not forefee, as clearly 
as any thing of this nature can be forefeen, that the debt muft 
fink at laft, if we go on mortgaging our pofteffions. If the 
objedt mortgaged could fall into the hands of the mortgagee, 
the mortgager would exert himfelf to pay off the debt : but the 
man of land eftate flatters himfelf that he is under no greater 
obligation than he who has no land eftate, or indeed than him 
who 
