I AM much obliged to you for your favour of the 5th inſtant. I pay ſuch de⯑ference to your opinion, that I entirely lay aſide all thoughts of troubling your honourable Houſe with the affair of repealing the act of exemp⯑tion of Mail Coaches from the payment of tolls. I would avoid every adventure which does not promiſe ſucceſs, and ſhould be much mortified to be unhorſed and laid ſprawling on the arena of St. Stephen's.

Yet I ſhall be extremely ſorry that any mem⯑ber of your Houſe ſhould, through any quick⯑neſs of miſapprehenſion, wilful or natural, ima⯑gine me to be ſo wild as to think of an attempt that was not founded on reaſonable and honeſt principles.

[2]I am ſenſible that the exemption of the Mails from the payment of tolls commenced very early: I think, firſt by an act of William and Mary, which was afterwards repeated in ſeveral others, till it was oppreſſively confirmed by that of the 25th Geo. III.

The moſt ſecond-ſighted of your Houſe could never have foreſeen that the uſage of the ſingle horſe and poſt-boy, afterwards in many parts converted into the light mail-cart drawn by one horſe, would be ſuperſeded by a royal car⯑riage drawn by four horſes, and filled by paſ⯑ſengers, who before rode in the common ſtages, and contributed to ſupport the roads which they paſſed over. This unfortunate change proceeded from an extent of prerogative, repined at only, when perverted to the injury of the ſubject; as this moſt inconteſtably muſt be allowed to have done.

Under the ſanction of the firſt act, turnpike gates were erected, and immenſe ſums of money lent on the national faith. For a long time the ſecurity was eſteemed good; and in Wales, where [3]five per cent. was given, people at firſt were happy to place their money on mortgages they imagined ſo ſafe. The transfer was then eaſy, and the public reſted perfectly content. The commiſſioners did their duty fully: they laid out the money to the beſt advantage; nor did they deſiſt till the lowering of the tolls, by the fatal change of the mode of conveyance, had taken place.

I will exemplify the hardſhips only in the country I live. Other places equally remote from the capital muſt come in for their ſhare of the grievance: but they will fall under the com⯑mon deſcription.

Before the inſtitution of mail-coaches, two ſtage-coaches ran through the county of Flint. And, were it not for an evaſion, the change of horſes between gate and gate in the Moſtyn diſtrict, one of the diſtricts principally aggrieved, each would have paid forty pounds a year. This unhappily was left unguarded in the act. By the help of that evaſion both together only paid that ſum: and even that ſum, had we not been [4]deprived of it, would have enabled us to take up 800l. more; and given us the power of re⯑pairing every part of the road which was not unexceptionably good.

Many parts may have been allowed to have been indifferent; but they were adequate to the uſes of the country, not only for the uſe of the farmers and the carriers, but alſo for the luxury of carriages.

In this ſtate they were found at the introduc⯑tion of mail-coaches. Theſe ſoon occaſioned the ſuppreſſion of the common ſtages, and deprived us at once of forty pounds of annual income. In the year 1789, a perſon was ſent from the General Poſt Office to ſurvey the roads. From his report, and by the orders of the Poſt-Office, indictments were preferred at the great ſeſſions at Mold, againſt the whole extent of road in the narrow but long county of Flint. In ſome in⯑ſtances, I fear the grand jury made a ſtrain of their conſciences in finding the bills; for ſome [5]of the indicted places were in moſt admirable re⯑pair. But we were unwilling to obſtruct any thing that tended to promote the public good.

Fines to the amount of 1200l. were impoſed on the ſeveral townſhips, many of which were very ſmall, and the inhabitants compoſed of ſmall farmers, and labourers, poor and diſtreſſed to the higheſt degree.

Two of theſe townſhips had a great extent of road, and only a few labourers, and a few miſer⯑able teams, to perform their ſtatute duty. One of theſe townſhips, terrified with the proſpect of ruin, by the execution of the ſummum jus, per⯑formed twenty-two days duty upon the road. The other townſhip had only a ſingle farmer living in it, who performed a duty of twenty-eight days.

The vaſt expences which the commiſſioners had been at in the repairs of the roads, had almoſt exhauſted the credit, in ſome totally; ſo that at preſent 50l. cannot be obtained for 400l. worth of our parchment ſecurities.

[6]At this period I was moved with compaſſion at the complaint and diſtreſſes of the poor. This induced me to write my Circular Letter to the ſeveral grand juries of England and Wales, in order to induce them to unite in a common cauſe. I bluſh at my want of ſucceſs, reſulting from either ignorance of, or indifference to, the firſt principles of ſecurity of property. I was ſimple enough to think that the juſtice of the cauſe would have inſured an approbation of my plan. Inſtead of that, I am told, that in ſome places it was even treated with rudeneſs and contempt. I ventured even to write to two gentlemen with whom I was not perſonally ac⯑quainted: they never paid the leſt attention to my letter: they forgot my character, and they forgot their own.

I took the liberty of getting my Circular Letter conveyed to a third gentleman high in office, with whom I was acquainted. It was returned with (writ⯑ten on a corner of it) "Mr. Pennant is in the wrong, and I will have no concern in the affair." [7]The gentleman may be politically right; but I am confident that Mr. Pennant is not morally wrong.

There has certainly been a ſtrong miſappre⯑henſion of my meaning. I did not intend the abolition of mail-coaches: they have their ob⯑jections; whether we conſider the barbarity with which the poor horſes are treated, or the very frequent deſtruction of the paſſengers—our old Jehus may have ſlain their thouſands; our mo⯑dern, their tens of thouſands. I only wiſhed that they might not prove oppreſſive to many of our counties, by cauſes I have before mentioned. True it is, that, in my firſt Circular Letter, I did moſt raſhly and unadviſedly hint, that they might, without injury, be converted into the mail-cart. The gentlemen of Somerſetſhire, who, I muſt confeſs, did admit that ſomething ſhould be done for us, very juſtly fired on the idea of ſending their Theſpis again into his cart. A worthy friend of mine of that county warmly but kindly expoſtulated with me on the ſubject: but I hope this my declaration of repentance will be admitted, and atone for my error.

[8]The grand juries of Cheſhire, Berkſhire, Mon⯑mouthſhire, and thoſe of North Wales, united in the ſupport of my deſign. The reſt of the counties proved to me the truth of the remark of Swift, ‘That he never knew any perſon who did not bear the misfortunes of another per⯑fectly like a Chriſtian!’

Far the majority of the roads in England have great revenues, ariſing from the multitude of ſtage-coaches that keep their ground in defiance of mails. Our ſtages are obliged to deſiſt from travelling and give the former a moſt unjuſt, and oppreſſive monopoly. The counties intereſted in them feel not our unhappineſs, and want ge⯑neroſity to contribute to the alleviation of the diſtreſſes we ſuffer.

We ſhould have made a claim on the juſtice of the Houſe, had we had the moſt diſtant pro⯑ſpect of ſucceſs. We are now in the caſe of creditors defrauded by the ſuperior cunning of an artful debtor. Had an individual re⯑ceived an adequate mortgage on his eſtate, and [9]had afterwards the dexterity to leſſen the income, what name would he have deſerved? The higheſt term of reproach; but ſuch a one that could never be applied the moſt remotely to any mem⯑ber of your honourable Houſe.

This affair has never yet been ſeriouſly con⯑ſidered. Good men, I truſt, will now awake as from a ſleep; and ſtand amazed and confuſed at the ſad deluſion they diſcovered that they had laboured under. Favourite ſyſtems run away with mankind, and totally annihilate all attention to the inconveniences they occaſion. The act was obtained late in the ſeſſions, hurried through a very thin houſe, and with the ſlighteſt oppoſi⯑tion. The legiſlature obliges a certain time of notice to be given before the introduction of a common turnpike bill. Let me aſk, ſhould not at leſt the interval of a ſeſſion have been given for the diſcuſſion of ſo ſtrange and unequal a taxa⯑tion?

What, may I aſk, could make the individual liable to cenſure; and the actions of the collec⯑tive body be paſſed over without blame? Either the numbers defend, or ſome daemon, like the [10]ghoſtly father of Charles I. has whiſpered in your ears, Have a double conſcience! one that is to make you conſult the plain dictates of honeſty: the other telling you to ſupport ſome fancied public good, at the expence of a certain number of perſons, who, in times not very remote, had truſted their money to the ſecurity of the public faith.

Or may you not hold the ſame doctrine as the nuns in Triſtram Shandy; that the diviſibility of ſin may enable you to fritter it away into almoſt nothing?—You certainly have the advan⯑tage. The nuns were but two, you are five hundred and fifty-two to bear the feather-weight of the wrong deciſion, you had moſt unwarily been induced to make.

Let me now aſk, are there no inſtances of re⯑peal of acts on far leſs important occaſions? I well recollect two. The firſt is the Jew Act, which had in fact no conſequences to be feared, religious or political. The other was the cyder tax, eſteemed like ours a partial grievance; and [11]yet its overthrow was eaſily effected. I reflect on theſe two acts repealed without cauſe, and on our oppreſſions continued in defiance of every principle of juſtice.

Since your honourable Houſe was determined to weaken our ſecurities, ought it not to have firſt paid off every turnpike mortgage? and then you might have had full liberty of doing what you pleaſed with the income of the gates.

I beg leave to lay before you a caſe in which your Houſe once ſhewed a moſt ſcrupulous atten⯑tion to the rights of creditors. That was by the repeal of a clauſe in the Kingſland turnpike act. Part of it leads from Shoreditch to Ware, and this part was croſſed by the Newmarket Road, and tolls were taken by the commiſſioners of the Ware Road, from all travellers to and from that ſeminary of virtue, merely for croſſing the road. On the renewing of the Kingſland turnpike act, the Newmarket people inſiſted that they ſhould paſs free of tolls. A clauſe was inſerted in the new act for that purpoſe, and the croſs-gates [12]were pulled down. The creditors of the Kingſ⯑land turnpike petitioned to the Houſe of Com⯑mons for redreſs; they ſucceeded, and the croſs⯑gates were again erected, and the tolls taken till the whole of the creditors were paid.

I imagine that there is not a member of the Houſe who has not acted as a commiſſioner of the turnpikes. Let me requeſt him to call to mind, whether he has not in that character, or in the character of a magiſtrate, treated with a harſh ſeverity the delinquent who through poverty has defrauded the gate of nine-pence. What [13]plea of conſcience has the commiſſioner urged for maintaining the intereſts of the gates, and diſcharging his truſt like a man of honour? Is there not a Lethean atmoſphere in the chapel of St. Stephen, ſo ſuddenly to efface all memory of tranſactions in the common air of the world? I truſt that there is: otherwiſe the individual who in one place and in one character had been ſo ſtrenuous to ſave a poor nine-pence, ſhould in another place and in another character vote as a perquiſite to the Comptroller General of the Poſt-Office, an exemption of the mails from toll, a ſum amounting to not leſs than 90,000l. a year, on which he has a moſt conſiderable poundage, beſides ſome very good pickings from other ar⯑ticles. This I am aſſured of by a worthy member of your Houſe. I think his ſalary is but 1500l. per ann. What a monſtrous quan⯑tity of ſack is allowed to his halfpennyworth of bread!

So liberally ſupplied as the Comptroller has [14]been with the means, cannot ſomething be de⯑ducted to relieve our complaint? If the honour⯑able Houſe does not chooſe this mode, a ſmall, a very ſmall tax on the paſſengers, and on the im⯑menſe ſums got by the carriage of parcels, would compenſate for the loſs of exemption of tolls. The rich Engliſh diſtricts would be above taking ad⯑vantage of this diminution of revenue to the Comptroller General. It is only for the poor Welch diſtricts, and a few others like circum⯑ſtanced, for which it is humbly aſked.

I have a reſpect for the plan of the mail⯑coaches, and for the inventor; but I never could think of applying to him as the nizam al muluc, the regulator of the poſting-empire. There ought not to be in our conſtitution ſuch a monſter as a comptroller uncontrollable by his legiſlature, or his ſuperiors in office: legiſlature muſt now ſee its imprudence in permitting a la⯑titude of ſo dangerous a nature. I, an indivi⯑dual, never could bear the thought: I looked [15]for redreſs to the Poſt-maſter General, or to the three eſtates of the kingdom.

I fear too great a veneration has been paid to this new-created office, and mode of conveying the mail. I always wiſh to pay every individual and every office a due reſpect; but in this caſe I muſt preſerve the independent and uſeful man, and endeavour to correct every abuſe that falls within my ſphere as a provincial magiſtrate. What I am going to ſay may be deemed foreign to a legiſlative friend; yet as it may prove uſe⯑ful to many who behold theſe new vehicles with a kind of veneration, I ſhall mention an affair which happened in our county in the laſt au⯑tumn. Let me premiſe, that thoſe protectors of the mail, the guards, relying on the name of royalty, had in the courſe of the Iriſh road through North Wales, committed great exceſſes. One, on a trifling quarrel, ſhot dead a poor old gate-keeper: a coroner's jury was huddled up; and, in defiance of the tears of the widow, no judicial notice has been taken of the affair to [16]this very day. In Angleſey, another of theſe guards diſcharged his piſtol wantonly in the face of a chaiſe horſe, drawing his maſter, the Rev. John Bulkely, who was flung out, and died either on the ſpot or ſoon after. I think that his wife, who was with him, ſurvived but a very ſhort time. Theſe guards ſhoot at dogs, hogs, ſheep and poultry, as they paſs the road, and even in towns, to the great terror and danger of the inhabitants. I determined to put a ſtop to theſe exceſſes, and ſoon had an opportunity.

A neighbouring gate-keeper laid before me a complaint, that one of the guards had threat⯑ened to blow his brains out; and had actually ſhot a dog that had offended him by his bark⯑ing. I iſſued out my warrant, had the guard ſeized, and brought before me. He was a man who, for his great beauty and elegant perſon, was called the Prince of Wales. I did not heſitate to play the Judge Gaſcoigne; but from the goodneſs of his appearace, and the propriety of his beha⯑vour, I did not go quite the length that famous magiſtrate did. I took bail for his appearance [17]at our quarter ſeſſions. He appeared before us, when, by the permiſſion of the chairman, I took the lead in ſpeaking. I repreſented to the audi⯑ence, that the guards were intruſted with arms merely for the protection of the mail and the paſſengers, not for the terror of his Majeſty's ſubjects; that a mail-coach was no ſanctuary; that the bailiff might drag the debtor out of it. The conſtable, the felon, the exciſeman might rummage it for contraband goods, and that with as little ceremony as if it had been a hig⯑gler's cart. I farther added, had the driver been the offender, as the guard was, he ſhould have been taken into cuſtody, and the poſt-maſter of the diſtrict left to provide another to convey the mail to the next ſtage. The behaviour of the delinquent was ſo becoming his ſituation, that by the leave of the court I diſmiſſed the offend⯑er with ſuch a reprimand as became the high ſtation of a Britiſh juſtice of the peace: an of⯑fice in dignity and conſtitutional utility inferior to none in the land. Young men of the age, early initiate yourſelves into that great character!

[18]I beg pardon for detaining you ſo long, but ſo much I thought was due to myſelf and to the public. A few papers I have ſubjoined will fling ſome farther light on the ſubject, as well as on my proceedings from the beginning. I re⯑main, with much regard,

Letter to Thomas Williams, Eſq. of Llanidan, Member for the Borough of Marlow.

I AM much indebted to you for your late fa⯑vour, with an official letter incloſed. I have no kind of doubt but that the Comptroller Ge⯑neral will, on cool re-conſideration of his deſign of altering the courſe of the Iriſh mail, be in⯑duced to lay it totally aſide. He will admit the importance of the county of Cheſter in its an⯑cient ſtaple of the cheeſe, on which our fleets and armies ſo greatly depend. The city itſelf (if I may judge by the frequent advertiſements) is about to enter deeply on the fuſtian manufac⯑ture. We have the comfort of ſeeing Mancheſ⯑ter burning itſelf to aſhes: ſo that we ſhall have all the manufacture to ourſelves. The great re⯑mittances [20]of taxes from the county, and from great part of North Wales, and the remittances to and from Ireland, and thoſe occaſioned by the great biennial linen fairs, muſt be flung into the ſcale.

The port of Park-Gate has of late years riſen into much conſequence. It at preſent maintains four ſtout pacquets, which uninterruptedly ply between that port and Dublin. The correſpon⯑dencies of the numbers of paſſengers embarking or diſembarking, and the great remittances through this channel, are of no ſmall moment, and of great general concern.

The county of Flint (little as it is of itſelf), thanks to you and other companies, ſettling among us, is now riſing into an amazing ſtate of opulence: few perhaps can rival it. Our ancient lead trade was always conſiderable; but by the introduction of the copper and cotton buſineſs, Holywell, its environs, and their depen⯑dancies, [21]may boaſt of commercial property, pro⯑bably to the amount of a million ſterling.

I have always conſidered Mr. Palmer's plan as uſeful to his country, and an honour to him⯑ſelf, except in one article. I can never ſuppoſe that he will perſiſt in deviating from the utility of his ſcheme, by diverting the mail from ſuch a country as I have deſcribed. Shrewſbury has already its mail; after Oſweſtry is paſt, the greateſt part of the road to Conwy is mountain⯑ous, poor, and half depopulated.

It gives me concern to find our intereſts claſh with thoſe of the county of Salop. I muſt allow the excellency of the great ſtaples of its capital, brawn and rich cakes; but ſtill we have the balance in our favour; for on the moſt exact and impartial calculation, I do not find that at preſent the annual conſumption (of both together) can poſſibly exceed the ſum of 152341l. 163. 9¾d.

[22]The exceptionable article I allude to is the exemption of the mail-coaches from tolls. This falls heavy on the leſſer diſtricts: poſſibly we might have endured even that, had we not been inſulted with indictments, and compelled to re⯑pairs beyond the real wants of the country. That is now over; we only wiſh the reſtoration of our loſt tolls, to enable us to ſupport the roads in the preſent ſtate, and to take away all future grounds of complaint from every quarter. This will induce me to perſiſt in my deſign of apply⯑ing to Parliament for redreſs of the grievance that affects the gates from Cheſter to Conwy, let the rich Engliſh diſtricts take what ſhare they pleaſe in their own concerns. There is one diffi⯑culty in Flintſhire in reſpect to the road itſelf— I mean Rhiallt Hill; the alteration is beyond the power of the poor pariſh it lies in, and beyond the power of the poor Moſtyn diſtrict to effect. Poſſibly the improvement may coſt from 300l. to 400l. I wiſh a ſmall ſum might begot from Parliament, for that and the relief of a few other poor townſhips. I cannot bear to drive over [23]roads ſmoothed by the bread of the poor pea⯑ſantry. If the mail will be permanent, I will cheerfully ſubſcribe fifty guineas towards that improvement ^*. I ſhall conclude with ſaying that a ſmall addition to the fare of paſſen⯑gers between Cheſter and Conwy, will indemnify the coach from the loſs by toll. Let Mr. Pal⯑mer, who cannot but be fertile in expedients, conſider of the matter. My earneſt wiſh is to have harmony reſtored, and the ſtrongeſt mu⯑tual efforts made for the general good.

A Letter to the worſhipful Peter Broſton, Eſq. Mayor of Cheſter.

ON Thurſday two letters were laid by Mr. Smalley before the commiſſioners of the Flint, Holywell, and Moſtyn diſtricts, ſigned D. Smith, and G. Boulton; in which our atten⯑tion was requeſted to the repair of the roads which lay in our county in the courſe of the mail. It falls to my lot to deſire you to com⯑municate to your reſpectable corporation, what the commiſſioners have done, and what they in⯑tend to do of their own proper motions, not from the fear of any of the very unbecoming menaces ſent forth.

On the road from Holywell to the extremity of the diſtrict (which is called the Flint), has been [25]laid out, within two years, 9531. in the ſpace of five miles: great part of which, long before the indictments, was in moſt admirable repair.

The Moſtyn diſtrict begins at the weſtern end of the Flint: much of it is in very good order: part is very indifferent, owing to the impo⯑veriſhed ſtate of the Moſtyn diſtrict, and to the inability of the poor inhabitants of the townſhip in which Rhiallt-hill lies, to repair that part which is bad by nature. I propoſe a ſubſcrip⯑tion: you ſee my offer in the incloſed. We look up to the city of Cheſter, as both are en⯑gaged in a common cauſe.

The Holywell diſtrict is, excepting near Halkin, in excellent repair. The part complained of will be attended to at the next meeting at Holywell, at eleven o'clock on Wedneſday the 8th of Fe⯑bruary. We ſhall be happy to ſee any gentle⯑men on the part of your city.

Excuſe me if I remind the city of Cheſter, the county, and alſo the county of Flint, that our [26]importance is ſuch, that our demand of a mail is a matter of right; not a petition for favour. How ſuperior is the juſtice of our claim to that of Salop, which had long ſince its independent mail!

In reſpect to my particular actings, I never will perſiſt in any thing that is wrong; nor deſiſt from any thing that is right. Our claim for aboliſhing the exemption from tolls is founded on common honeſty. My ſeizing on the guard was the act of an attentive magiſtrate, to prevent future murders. Two, if not three, had been committed: one near Conwy; another in Angleſey: beſides the terror ſpread along the whole road by the wanton conduct of the profligate guards. I brought the affair before our quarter-ſeſſion; more to ſet it in the true light than to puniſh the offender. I was aſperſed in your city; but the examination wiped away the dirty paragraph.

To the Printer of the SHREWSBURY CHRONICLE.

I REQUEST you to lay before the public the following advertiſement, addreſſed by the com⯑miſſioners of the Moſtyn turnpike diſtrict, in order to avert in future the hardſhips ſeveral of the townſhips of the county of Flint labour un⯑der in the repairs of the roads. The advertiſe⯑ment itſelf relates to the greater part of the griev⯑ances. It was ſent to the paper too late to in⯑form the Engliſh circuits, but has been approved by the grand juries of Cheſhire, Denbighſhire, and Flintſhire, at the Spring aſſizes, and by that of Berkſhire and Monmouthſhire, being the firſt of the Autumn aſſizes. Let me here inform you, that, by indictments from the General Poſt-Office, fines to the amount of 1200l. have been laid on the ſeveral townſhips lying in the courſe of the poſt-roads in the little county of Flint, many of which are very [28]ſmall, and labour under the greateſt poverty. One in particular has a vaſt extent of road to repair, and only a few labourers, and four miſer⯑able teams to perform their ſtatute labour. Un⯑der thoſe circumſtances, terrified with the pro⯑ſpect of ruin, they performed twenty-two days ſtatute duty. The French corvées, now ſo rea⯑ſonably aboliſhed, were introduced on Britiſh ground, yet in vain; for a fine of 82l.10s. was impoſed on the poor people. So little intereſted were they, and numbers of others of the Welſh townſhips, in the paſſage of the mail-coach, that poſſibly they do not receive a letter in a year; yet theſe townſhips muſt ſuffer equally with the moſt opulent and commercial towns. Many of the roads were unexceptionably repaired; the reſt were in ſufficient repair for the uſes of the farmer, for the uſes of the gentlemen's carriages, and for the uſes of the mail, before the late un⯑guarded innovations. We are like the Iſraelites, required to make brick without ſtraw. The means of repair are taken from us, and we are fined for not performing impoſſibilities. A poſt-road is a [29]national concern; that to a neighbouring king⯑dom doubly ſo: and certainly that conſideration ſhould induce legiſlature to afford an aid in ſuch caſes in which it is found neceſſary; and if a road muſt be finiſhed with finical perfection, the ex⯑pence ought never to fall on thoſe who are to⯑tally unintereſted in it. Juſtice can never require that the poor ſhould keep pace with the innova⯑tions made for the benefit of commerce or luxury. Much of the road-laws calls loudly for a reform: in all laws there ſhould be a point of limitation. The attention of the grand juries is requeſted at the enſuing aſſizes. It is hoped that they will direct their repreſentatives to make the mail⯑coaches liable to tolls. We mean no injury to Mr. Palmer: let him, before the meeting of parliament, ſuggeſt any remedy for the evil, and we ſhall reſt content. They will certainly do away the great parliamentary opprobrium of the act paſſed by their predeceſſors; which leſſens a ſecurity granted on the faith of parliament. And much more may be ſaid on this ſubject; but the detail is reſerved for another occaſion; you may [30]be again troubled with my complaints, as well as ſome account of a townſhip grievance, brought on it by thoſe whoſe peculiar office it was to have guarded againſt the deceptions which impoſed on their judgment, and brought on a moſt erroneous and diſgraceful adjudication.