Excerpt from Present Discontents This state of things is the more extraordinary, because the great parties which formerly divided and agitated the kingdom are known to be in a manner entirely dissolved. No great 20 external calamity has visited the nation, no pestilence or famine. We do not labor at present under any scheme of taxation new or Oppressive m the quantity or in the mode. Nor are we engaged in unsuccessful war, in which our mis fortunes might easily pervert our judgment, and our minds, 25 sore from the loss of national glory, might feel every blow of fortune as a crime in government. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.