That, if this expectation be entirely taken away; if the Excise laws, instead of being repealed, are extended to other species of merchandizes not yet excised, and a door opened for extending them to all; your petitioners cannot, in justice to themselves, to the merchants, tradesmen, and manufacturers of the whole kingdom, and to the general interest of their country, conceal their apprehensions, that the most fatal blow which ever was given, will be given on this occasion to the trade and navigation of Great Britain; that great spring, from which the wealth and prosperity of the public flow, will be obstructed; the mercantile part of the nation will become not only less able to trade to advantage, but unwilling to trade at all; for no person, who can enjoy all the privileges of a British subject out of trade, even with a small fortune, will voluntarily renounce some of the most valuable of those privileges, by subjecting himself to the laws of excise. That your petitioners are able to shew, that these their apprehensions are founded both on experience and reason; and therefore your petitioners most humbly pray, That this Honourable House will be pleased to hear them by their Counsel against the said bill. LONDON STREETS (1741). We have abundant evidence from many sources as to the deplorable condition of the streets of London down to comparatively recent times. It is somewhat surprising that this neglect should continue, while the danger was thoroughly understood. In the days of the Plague, John Evelyn was fully aware of the horrible conditions, and strongly inveighed against the nuisances of smoke and dirt. It was recognised that the existence of these filthy conditions had contributed to the spread of the Plague, and that there was an ever-present danger so long as these conditions remained; and yet, in spite of this knowledge, we find it possible for an indictment such as this to be made as late as 1741: =Source.=—Speech by Lord Tyrconnel, January 27, 1741, quoted by Maitland, vol. i., p. 593.