but circumstances far more powerful than the author's elucidation imperiously force such subjects on the public mind; and we cannot say that his elucidation, though he is a sensible writer, is sufficiently perspicuous to afford any very material assistance towards our better comprehension of them.

Art. 35. The Family-Tale: or the Story of Pitt, Fox, and O'Connor. 8vo. IS. Hatchard. 1798.

Could the admirable writer of the History of John Bull revisit this sublunary world, we believe that he would find ample materials for the employment of his exquisite talents for pleasant and familiar narrative of great events: but, till his return, or till the appearance of some kin.. dred genius of the old legitimate stock, it were well if his humble imitators would forbear to obtrude on the public their inadequate efforts in this peculiar walk of humour. The merit of the present story of the rivalship of " Pitman" and " Foxton," and their struggle for the management of 'Squire GEORGE's estate and concerns, consists alone in the laudable zeal of the story-teller, the loyalty of his design, and his hatred of Jacobins.

Art. 36. A timely Appeal to the Conmmon Sense of the People of Great Britain in general, and of the Inhabitants of Buckinghamshire in particular, on the present State of Affairs; with Reference to the Opinions of most of the British and French Philosophers of the present Century. By J. Penn, Esq. Sheriff of Buckinghamshire. 8vo. pp. 120. 2s. 6d. Hatchard. 1798.

The object of this pamphlet is to examine the causes of popular discontents under the following heads: 1. The Restraints of Religion and Morality. 2. The unequal Distribution of Wealth. 3. Inequality of Rank. 4. The Severity of our Penal Code. 5. Disregard of the Good-will expressed for us by the French. 6. Religious Establishments. 7. Partial Representation. 8. Imperfect Diffusion of Knowlege; with Ministerial Influence, Distresses of the Poor, and a long list of &c. The subject is important, and the author's intentions we suppose to be good: but the obscurity of the composition has baffled our utmost exertions to ascertain, in every instance, his meaning. The following sentences afford a specimen of the work:

• The moralist, thus relying more on sympathy and common sense, than an accurate knowledge of moral theories, or even an incautious and undiscriminating originality of remark, would require being favoured in his views by continued perseverance in loyal conduct; which would permit our envied constitution to operate the desired change uninterruptedly; without undoing, at intervals, by popular commotions, what had taken years of peace and industry to effect. This loyal conduct, I think, at this time, would be encouraged by nothing more than having decent habits of life always protected by the clergy from the imputation of Pharisaic hypocrisy.'

We give the following citation, as apposite to the circumstances both of the author and of ourselves :

• Censure directed against the spirit of censure, is laudable, for the same reason that at other times it deserves disapprobation. It is then a negation of the merit of that which is a negation of merit; and tends to destroy its force; yet if it perpetually appeals to reason, instead of declaiming with the pomp of moral self-sufficiency, even though its warmth betrays indignation at absurdity, it will appear momentary, and not of that habitual sort which characterizes modern philanthropy. The contemplation of the gloomy objects of censure, at such times, will resemble the view of an unwholesome and unsightly swamp, half veiled with mists, and overshadowed with clouds; which, while something passes there interesting to us, we have no objection to look upon; but when that is over, we immediately turn, and afterwards constantly keep our eyes in preference upon a part of the country where it has cleared up, and which banishes discontent and suspicion by an enchanting combination of all the fair varieties of nature. My censure, however, has chiefly had censure in view. I do not say, its similar object has always been alike objectionable. Those whose business it is to blame, or praise, are obliged to express their real sentiments.'

Art. 37. The Tocsin; or, an Appeal to good Sense. By the Rev. L. Dutens, Historiographer to his Majesty, Rector of Elsdon in Northumberland, and F. R. S. Translated from the French by the Rev. Thomas Falconer. 8vo. pp. 59. 1s. 6d. Cadell jun. and Davies. 1798.

This alarm-bell appears to have been rung with a very good intention. Men of probity and virtue can never be the friends of confusion and anarchy; and when principles are disseminated which lead to weaken or destroy the power of religious truth, and the morality which it produces and supports, it is very requisite to have recourse to those arguments and reasons which may fortify the mind against their baneful efficacy. This task many writers have applied themselves to perform, and have done it very seasonably and to great advantage; and such is the design of the present publication. It guards the reader against atheists, or materialists, for the latter are here thus improperly classed; against theists, or those who admit the existence of a Supreme Being, but allow him neither creation nor providence; and lastly against those who plead for what is called natural religion alone, and will proceed no farther. Rousseau and Voltaire, especially the latter, are immediate objects of censure.

We cannot speak of this little work as producing what is new: but the writer's manner is somewhat peculiar; the fervor and affection with which it is written may recommend it; and its brevity may promote its circulation and increase its utility: it also offers those arguments which have never been refuted. - We learn that this tract has been frequently printed at Turin, Paris, and London: but we apprehend that it has not before appeared in the English language.

Art. 38. Our good old Castle on the Rock; or, Union the one Thing needful. 12m0. 3d. Wright. 1798.

Since this well-disposed tract was written, to recommend the union of all parties against an invading foe, our great naval victories have happily dispelled all our fears on that subject. The author's exertions, however, are equally worthy of praise.

Art

:

Art. 39. Thoughts upon a new Coinage of Silver, more especially as it relates to an Alteration in the Division of the Pound Troy. By a Banker. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Sewell, &c. 1798. Saavedra *, in his LXth emblem, enumerates, among the causes of revolutions in states, the badness of the coinage; and certain it is that great convulsions have frequently succeeded an adulteration of the specie. Almost the last measure of the unmixed monarchy of France was a debasement of the current money, undertaken by M. de Calonne. Yet it would be preposterous to suppose that the Constitution wears out with its shillings, or that a new representation of our bank-notes must bring on a new representation of the people. The fact is that subsitutions of a worse money for a better are not causes but symptoms of a government being in difficulty, which then hesitates little to to unhinge the settled distribution of property, if it can more easily obtain a supply for the year. They do not exactly produce the eventual confusion, but they reveal a stage of disease which is tending to that termination. Such, no doubt, were the considerations which impressed the very rational author of the pamphlet before us; who deprecates the cutting, in future, a pound Troy of silver into 65 or 66 shillings, instead of 62 shillings, with a solemnity of alarm which an attentive examination of the subject will, we apprehend, but too well justify.

Beccaria, in his Trattato delle Monete, has proved it to be for the interest of all states, that the pound of gold and the pound of silver, when coined, should preserve the same relative and positive value as in commerce; levying at most a seigniorage equivalent to the cost and trouble of weighing and assaying. To this opinion, our author tends, or accedes; and he has divided his dissertation into four parts, which contain,

I. A brief Account of the State of the Coins during some preceding Reigns. II. The Ways in which the Standard may be altered, with the Consequences that arise from a Debasement of it. III. The Alteration of the Standard of Silver, considered as operating gene. rally on all Coin. IV. A Conclusion, deprecating Change.

In addition to the arguments urged by our author in his third and most interesting section, we would observe that the pound sterling, being only a nominal coin, is necessarily measured by the shilling, which is a real one. If, therefore, twenty of the new shillings are to contain one-twentieth less of pure silver than before, the pound sterling must in fact suffer a depreciation of 5 per cent. All con tracts, therefore, for pounds sterling will become payable with a twen tieth less of pure silver than before: while produce, necessaries, and all values not resulting from legal contract, will retain their original price. That which was sold for twenty old shillings will cost twenty-one new shillings.

The whole mass of land-owners will consequently find their expence increased, or their rents abridged, one twentieth part, which is equivalent to the confiscation of one twentieth part of the whole landed property in the kingdom; and this is done in the case of a

* Royal Politician,
Ii 4

vitiated vitiated re-coinage, not to supply the wants of the state, but to en rich the farmer at the expence of his landlord. -The owners of capi tal lent on mortgage, or on bond, will in like manner find their income to have diminished one twentieth in its exchangeable value; which is equivalent to the confiscation of one twentieth part of the whole monied property in the kingdom; and this is done not to supply the wants of the state, but to better the condition of the debtor at the expence of the creditor; of the extravagant at the expence of the frugal man. The merchants, to whom money is due 'on accounts kept in pounds sterling with foreign countries, will find five per cent. struck off their claims universally and irreparably; which is equivalent to the confiscation of a twentieth part of all the millions due to the commerce of Great Britain, from Boston to Canton; and this is done not to supply the wants of the state, but to force a dishonest donative on foreigners. The whole mass of stock-holders, again, will find a real abridgment of one twentieth of their incomes, which is equivalent to the confiscation of one twentieth of their funded property, or to the discharge of about twenty millions of the national debt. This is no doubt the grand † temptation with ministers to entertain the project; which will have the further effect of diminishing, in reality, by one twentieth, all the salaries of office, and will thus be an indirect as well as a direct profit to the treasury. Is it, however, for these ends, worth while to realize a levelling dishonest confiscatory scheme, which every where sacrifices the lender to the borrower, the opulent to the needy, and the foreigner to the native ?

Art. 40.

Observations on the Taxation of Property. 8vo. Is. 6d.
Carpenter, No. 12, Fleet-street, &c.

These observations first appeared in a newspaper, and are now collected and published in a pamphlet. The writer is an advocate for a direct tax on property. All other taxes, especially on expenditure, he observes, are in fact penalties on certain modes of enjoying property. He inveighs against taxing particular classes of men, which he compares to hunting game.

In this pamphlet, we find good morality and many good arguments. As it is necessary, the writer says, 'to the existence of society that the laws should be obeyed, so it is the part of every good citizen to use his utmost endeavours to prevent any measure from passing into a law, which by the severity of its operation may endanger the infraction of so essential a principle.'

As a specimen of the author's moral reasoning, we insert the following short extract:

• All moral evil owes its origin to delusive and insatiate self-love. Men of superior talents may be considered as the pilots of life: but if, instead of being faithful pilots, they are debating whether by the crafty destruction of the vessel they may obtain advantage to them

* The operation of adulterating money on foreign exchange was considered in our Review, Vol. xxiii. N. S. p. 231.

† A second temptation is the profit of 5 per cent. on re-coining 30 millions of circulating coin.

7

selves,

selves, they are at the same time the most abandoned and the most deluded. For who that has a moment's thought can avoid feeling - the observance of God to his secret views; and when at the end of his labor his voyage of an instant!-he claims the reward of his machinations his eternal establishment! - what answer shall he make when he is thus interrogated?" Thou wouldst now receive at my hands that felicity which I only can bestow-when thou wert on thy terrestrial journey, I gave thee the means of aiding thy fellow-travellers of promoting their happiness of keeping them in the paths of peace; of mutual comfort. Hast thou done this?" Fool! where is that magnanimity which alone could fit thee for the society of be-ings whose ceaseless joys spring from each other's bappiness!"

In a postscript, he condemns the plan of maling income the basis of taxation; a freehold, he remarks, being worth 25 or 30 years' purchase, and a life interest, on an average, not above 12. Certainly, to a person having to provide for a family, the difference must be very great between an income being freehold, and its being only for life; and there cannot be equal ability, in both cases, to pay the same quantum of taxes.

EDUCATION.

Art. 41. Minor Morals, interspersed with Sketches of Natural History, historical Anecdotes, and original Stories. By Charlotte. Smith. 12mo. 2 Vols. 4s. Low. 1798.

The productions of this lady are well known: as a writer on education, her Rural Walks *, and Ferther Rambles †, have met with a good reception in the world; and So, probably, will the present publication. It tends to the same valuable purposes with the former, it presents useful information to the young mind, directs its attention to the works of nature, and exhibits lessons of wisdom and virtue; all amid a variety of scenery and circumstances, with interspersed narratives, which altogether are likely to engage the attention of the reader, and to fix more deeply the instruction which is conveyed.-Some objections might be made. When Mrs. Belmour expresses a just displeasure with her niece for having read and ridiculed, instead of immediately returning, a letter belonging to one of the servants, it seems hardly consistent that she should have permitted its being read to herself: yet this opens the way to some very pertinent and useful remarks. It may also, perhaps, be suggested that the language is often too stiff, and that the words are not always well chosen and accommodated; but, all this notwithstanding, the work is well fitted for information and improvement. Should it meet with encouragement, we are led to expect some additional volumes.

Art. 42. Leçons pour des Enfans, de l'Age de deux jusqu'à cing Ans. Ouvrage en deux Parties. Traduit de l'Anglois de Madame BARBAULD, par M. Pasquier. 12mo. Small Size. 2 Vols. Darton and Co. 1798.

28.

Some years have passed since we recommended Mrs. B.'s little voLumes to those who conduct the outset of the literary education of

* See M. Rev. N, S, vol, xvii. p. 349. † Do. vol. xxi. p. 458.