The Revenues of the Government are derived largely from the dealers in the great _Marts_, and it is immediately interested in the upholding of the _Credit_ of the innumerable paper-promises of all kinds made by these and by the Betting Houses. It is, in fact, the chief supporter of the _whole sham_--it cannot be otherwise, for the English State rests upon it. The promises of the Government to pay gold can never be kept, and it forces an acceptance of a mere _fraction_, from time to time, as a _sufficient_ redemption of its promises made generations ago! Other sums are derived from taxes upon the tea, sugar, and other things largely consumed by the lower castes; whilst rich silks, laces, and costly things used by the High-Castes are not taxed. But then the taxes are levied by the High-Castes! A great revenue is collected from the _excise_, a tax upon the beer, drunk in enormous quantities by the lowest Caste. To stimulate the consumption of this article and increase the revenue, _Beer-shops_ are to be seen on every hand, and the drinkers everywhere. Drunkenness, wretchedness, riot, disorder--these flourish as the _Beer-shops_ increase; these are the associates of those places! Yet in vain do good Englishmen try to remove these _evil dens_. What are the efforts of these few in the midst of a general debasement--a debasement which takes, without shame, a share in a traffic so vile! I have spoken freely of the dishonesty of the Barbarian trade and business--a dishonesty to be expected when one broadly views the whole ground of their Society. Still, natural equity and its _instinct_, especially when the mind is more or less cultured, will always prevent absolute dissolution--thieving and roguery will be restrained in tolerable bounds. A man of genuine integrity finds traffic no good moralist in the best of circumstances. He needs the support of the State, or he will fight an unequal battle, and be forced by dishonesty to retire. The Barbarians are not yet sufficiently enlightened to raise the _measure_ of honesty. The Government and the people are one in this. They do not perceive that the evils under which their industry, their peaceful pursuits, and all their interests suffer, are those inseparable from a bad superstition and false principles--these extend everywhere and into everything. Misleading in Statesmanship [Lan-ta-soa], in dealings with distant peoples, in due ordering and educating the people at home--stimulating wild speculation and extended confidence (credit) at one time, only to be followed by disastrous collapse, excessive distrust, and wretchedness, soon after! Giving, in fine, to Barbarian society that aspect of restlessness, that apparent but often vicious activity, that indescribable hurry and confusion, that unhealthy excitement, unknown to an orderly and industrious people, whose order and industry are grounded upon the simple and direct rules of reason and truth. CHAPTER VII.