I am indebted to the late Mr. Rose for this detail, and for other financial state ments which I have introduced in the course of this work. Mr. Rose's information upon these subjects, and his attachment to Mr. Pitt, are equally well known.

The whole system was indeed so intricate and involved, that a merchant, if he could have spared time to make the different computations, and to attend at the different departments of the custom-house, could scarcely, from his own knowledge, have been able to ascertain the amount of all the duties which he had to pay. He was therefore driven to the necessity of ap plying for, and relying upon, the direction and assistance of the officers of the customs, who from their situation were more con versant with the business, and by daily experience had acquired a greater facility in making the proper calculations and who had moreover the means, in various ways, of expediting or re tarding these complicated proceedings. Thus, the merchants were in some respects left at the mercy of the custom-house officers; and the latter, who were intended to be a check upon the fortner, in fact, and almost unavoidably, became their agents; a practice repugnant to every principle of reason and policy, and which must obviously be attended with consequences detrimental to the revenue.

The revenue also suffered materially, by the mode of collecting the duties payable according to the value of the articles, which was, in many cases, estimated in a manner very liable to error and fraud.

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