"Oh! how I long to see America and the East Indies revolted,
totally and finally--the revenue reduced to half--public credit
fully discredited by bankruptcy--the third of London in ruins, and
the rascally mob subdued! I think I am not too old to despair of
being witness to all these blessings.
"I am delighted to see the daily and hourly progress of madness and
folly and wickedness in England. The consummation of these
qualities are the true ingredients for making a fine narrative in
history, especially if followed by some signal and ruinous
convulsion--as I hope will soon be the case with that pernicious
people!"
Even from the secure haven of James's Court, the maledictions continue
to pour forth:--
"Nothing but a rebellion and bloodshed will open the eyes of that
deluded people; though were they alone concerned, I think it is no
matter what becomes of them.... Our government has become a
chimera, and is too perfect, in point of liberty, for so rude a
beast as an Englishman; who is a man, a bad animal too, corrupted
by above a century of licentiousness. The misfortune is that this
liberty can scarcely be retrenched without danger of being entirely
lost; at least the fatal effects of licentiousness must first be
made palpable by some extreme mischief resulting from it. I may
wish that the catastrophe should rather fall on our posterity, but
it hastens on with such large strides as to leave little room for
hope.
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