perseverance in justifying the conduct of their children upon all occasions is a fault; but it arises from the most amiable of human weaknesses; and though it may, and often is, injurious in its effects, it is the least censurable of all the frailties of the heart. "If I have here, as I am sure I have, given the true character of the English labourer, as a parent and a husband, what must that state of things be, which has rendered the _desertion of family_ so frequent an offence as to call forth a hand-bill and _placard_ such as that which I have quoted above? And, in a state of things like this, are men to be called _promoters of sedition_, because they endeavour to point out the real cause of this horrible evil, and also endeavour to point out the remedy? Aye, but in doing this we point at the same time, to the _weight of taxes_; and we cite Mr. Preston in support of our doctrine, who says, that every poor man, who earns _eighteen pounds_ in a year, pays away _ten pounds of it in taxes._ Mr. Preston's words are these:--'Every family, even of the poorest labourer, consisting of five persons, may be considered as paying, in _indirect taxes,_ at least _ten pounds a-year,_ or more than half his wages at seven shillings a week?' And, in another place he says: 'It should _always be remembered,_ that every _eighteen pounds_ a-year paid to any _placeman_ or _pensioner,_ withdraws from the public the means of giving active employment to one individual at the head of a family; _thus depriving five persons_ of the means of sustenance from the fruits of _honest industry_ and active labour, and rendering them paupers!