wisdom, firmness, and moderation, brought to a felicitous conclusion à treaty attended with such numerous and complicated difficulties. But there are those who seem reluctant to allow the present ministers their just merit in making the peace, because they rank amongst the original friends and advocates of the war. They are invidiously iden tified with the late ministry, and reproached with gross and palpable inconsistency. It may not be improper to say a few words on this head. That the war was in its origin unjust, because unnecessary, and because all the usual means of averting it were not put in practice, has ever been the fixed opinion of the writer of these remarks. On this head the reasonings of that illustrious and prophetic statesman Mr. Fox always appeared to him absolutely irrefragable. "Justum bellum," says the Roman historian, "quibus necessarium, et pia arma quibus nulla nisi in armis relinquitur spes." Liv. 1. ii.-But it is impossible to deny that great numbers of persons, the most respectable for talents and virtues, were of a very different and opposite opinion and it would be the height both of arrogance and injustice to attach the idea of political culpability to their characters for entertaining this opinion. The constitution wisely and properly annexes responsibility to the immediate ministers and advisers of the crown, and to them alone. In them great and continued errors can scarcely be separated from actual delinquency; and, though it may be admitted as a valid excuse for others, it is no adequate apology for them, if the nation has essentially suffered from their ignorance or presump tion, to say THEY have been MISTAKEN.' Perhaps there is too much severity in this concluding remark. To mere errors of judgment, in any situation, we would extend pardon. However, without attempting to ascertain the degree of blame which belongs to the late ministers, it is a consolation to think that the war in which we were continued by their crimes or their errors is ended; and that we retire from it in full strength, again to fight our own battles on our own element, if occasion should arise to render it necessary. Art. 40. A Letter (interesting to every Lottery Department, and particularly to the Lottery Adventurers) addressed to the Right Hon. Henry Addington; containing a critical Examination of the Plan, Scheme, &c. of the New Lottery System. By R. Houlton, A. M. 8vo. 28. Stewart. In a moral view, lotteries are to be severely reprobated: but in the department of finance they are found so convenient to a minister, that we cannot flatter ourselves with the hope of their annihilation; and the application of palliatives to the disease is all that the nation must expect. In stating the lottery scheme, the Minister generally assures the House that he has taken great pains to prevent its mischicvous operation: but, when the principle itself is radically vicious, it is impossible to obviate all the evil consequences. One plan, how.. ever, may still be more objectionable than another; and Mr. Houlton gives his reasons for thinking that the New Lottery system, proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is, if possible, worse than the old one, in consequence of misinformation received on the subject. The project is very defective as a plan for preventing low in Y-4 surance; surance; while the scheme militates, in an uncommon degree, against the interest of the adventurers, and will tend, if adopted, ultimately to crush the lottery system itself. In the first part of the pamphlet, the author makes an unsuccessful attempt at wit, which has unnecessarily increased its bulk but he has suggested some very useful hints for the consideration of the Minister, and of the Lottery Adventurers, who are proved to have embarked in a very losing speculation. Tickets in the present lottery come to market, he remarks, at more than ninety per cent. above their real value. He moreover shews that, by shortening the time of drawing, the poor are not precluded from the practice of insurance. Art. 41. A brief Address to the Electors of Great Britain on the ap proaching General Election. By an Elector. 8vo. 94. Longman and Rees. With a most laudable design, this Elector addresses his fellow. electors: but, as he admits that these are "shabby times," can he expect much success from exhortations to public virtue? He may have gratified himself by bearing his testimony against innovation and corruption, and by sighing over the decay of Liberty; and so far it is well: but we question whether his pamphlet made any impression at the late General Election. Electors may be exhorted to determine to have a Parliament composed of the Friends of the People, and to resist the base inducements of intoxication and party colours:' but the state of the representation must be amended, and the morals of the people improved, before such good advice can produce corresponding effect. Art. 42. The Duties of Electors: with Answers to Reviewers. By the Author of the "Impolicy of returning Bankers to Parliament." 8vo. 6d. Jordan. ་ Reprobating the practice of lending paper on a profit, and using it as money,' and considering the country as poisoned by the quac kery of paper banks, the author of this pamphlet calls aloud (in CAPITAL LETTERS) on the Electors of Great Britain to give no man his vote who will not pledge himself to propose, or see proposed in the First Session after the Election, and to prosecute to effect, An Inquiry into the Nature, Extent, and Tendency of Accommodation Paper in the United Kingdoms.' We have not heard whether this pamphlet has produced any effect on the Electors, and we must wait till the first session of the New Parliament, to see whether it will operate on the Elected. The writer is aware of the fatal consequences which may attend Accommodation Paper; and we are persuaded that he sounds the alarm from patriotic motives: but well-intentioned efforts are not always crowned with Art 43 Substance of the Speech of the Hon. C. J. Fox on moving a Pew Writ for the Borough of Tavistock, March 16, 1802. Printed by authority. Svo. 6d. Debrett. In noticing a former edition of this singular and pathetic speech, we expressed a wish that it might be published by authority. The title of the pamphlet before us announces the gratification of this de sire: but it is not accompanied by any preface or other introductory. matter, stating its origin, or announcing that any errors existed in the former impression which are now corrected. MISCELLANEOUS. Art. 44. Letters on the present State of the Jewish Poor, in the Metropolis; with Propositions for ameliorating their Condition, by improving the Morals of the Youth of both Sexes, by rendering their Labour useful and productive in a greater Degree to themselves and to the Nation. 8vo. pp. 36. Richardson. 1802. We have here a plan for an important, and, in our immediate apprehension, a benevolent design; the grand object of which is thus summarily expressed by the author in his seventeenth page ;-where he states that it is highly necessary to endeavour bettering the con dition of the Jewish Poor, by relieving the helpless, instructing the children, and diffusing among them the knowlege of handicraft trades, without any infringement of their established religions customs.' For the means by which it is proposed that this most desirable work may be accomplished, we refer to the pamphlet at large; only adding, for the farther information of our readers, that a bill is to be brought into Parliament, to sanction and enforce this undertaking. This publication appears to have taken its rise from the author's correspondence with Mr. Colquhoun, whose cordial approbation of the plan is given to the public, at length, in his own beneficent and truly patriotic words. Mr. V. foresees objections to his humane and laudable propositions, from various quarters, but he does not seem to consider them as insurmountable. As to the expediency and probable consequences of his proposed methods of ameliorating the wretched condition of the Jewish poor, we must confess that our situation in the world, as men of letters, has not fully qualified us for decidedly judging in a case so very peculiar, and of so much exigency. Art. 45. A Letter to Abraham Goldsmid, Esq., containing Strictures on Mr. Joshua Vanoven's Letters on the present State of the Jewish Poor. Pointing out the Impracticability of ameliorating their Condition, through the Medium of Taxation and Coercion. With a plan for erecting a Jewish College, or Seminary, &c. By Philo Judzis. 8vo. IS. Black and Co. Strongly as we were led, by the first impressions of benevolence, to express our approbation of Mr. Vanoven's Plan, &c. (as noticed in the preceding article,) we now find ourselves not less interested in the Strictures before us, on the Letters of a public spirited Hebrew: for such we deem that writer to be. This anonymous opposer of Mr. V.'s well-meant design offers a very different plan: but on which of the two, if on either, the choice of the public will fall, we pretend not to predict. Mr. Joshua Vanoven, of Bury-street, St. Mary Axe. On the whole, however, we are very glad to see so great an object; so benignant a purpose, brought forwards for public discussion:May happiness be the result-" to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." Art. 46. Answer to Mr. Joshua Vanoven's Letters on the present State of the Jewish Poor in London; in which some of his hasty Mistakes are rectified; with a Word to R. Colquhoun, Esq. on the Subject of the Jews as treated in his Police of the Metropolis, with an Introductory Letter, setting in a conspicuous View some of the Jewish By-laws as observed at present, and an exact Copy of the Bill now before Parliament for bettering the State of the indigent Jews. By L. Alexander. 8vo. Is. 6d. Printed for and by the Author*, and sold also by Jordan, Fleet-street. Mr. Alexander introduces himself to our acquaintance as an Israelite by nation, a printer by profession, and also as at once an author and a bookseller; all which circumstances are manifested by the evidence of the publication now before us. We perceive, by the same means of information, that he is a man of good sense, and of abilities suf ficient for a plain investigation of the subject which has fallen under his notice. He has started a variety of cogent objections to the plan and proposals so earnestly maintained by Mr. Vanoven; and some of his animadversions seem to carry with them so much weight, that we cannot but recommend them to the serious attention of those bene. volent persons who are inclined to promote this public-spirited and surely well intended undertaking, but who may not have had the same means of information relative to the circumstances and situation of the Jewish inhabitants (of all ranks) in this country.-A copy of the Bill, depending in Parliament, is here ap, ended, as well as in the pamphlet noticed in the preceding article. Art. 47. A Treatise on Brewing; wherein is exhibited the whole Frocess of brewing the various Sorts of Malt Liquors; with practical Examples upon each Species: together with the Manner of using the Thermometer and Saccharometer, rendered easy to any Capacity, in brewing London Porter, Brown Stout, Reading Beer, Amber, Hock, London Ale, Windsor Ale, Table Beer, &c. By Alexander Morice, Common Brewer. .8vo. 10s. 6d. Boards. Symonds. 1802. The business of a common brewer,' or brewer for the public, is a subject with which we have no very intimate acquaintance: but, as far as we can venture to speak, on the present occasion, the author of this book appears to be really master of his business. It gives particular directions, practical and scientific, for managing every kind of brewery of ale and beer, known in this country. In doing this, we are rather surprized to find him, under every head, or division of his treatise, stating the proportion of the drugs, bitters, sweets, &c. as constantly and in course used with the Malt.and Hops; while the principal London brewers (we believe) disclaim the use of such White-Chapel Road. ingredients. What shall we, what can we say to this?-We whò understand no part of the subject, except the concluding operation, when the liquor is set before us in the sparkling glass!-Mystery apart, the author, it must be acknowleged, writes like an honest as well as an intelligent brewer; and we have no doubt that his book will prove useful to those readers for whom it is calculated. An Index and Glossary accompany the work: to which, also, is prefixed a brief History of the London Brewery, from the earliest accounts of this truly important manufactory in our country. Art. 43. Canterbury Tales. Vol. IV. By Harriet Lee. 8vo. Under this title, a string of romances and novels may be spun out ad libitum. We know not when this lady and her sister propose to stop, nor to what extent their imagination will supply them with materials. Of the general merit of the Canterbury Tales, we have spoken on former occasions; and nothing more remains for us at present, than to notice the contents of the volume before us. It includes only two narratives; the German's Tale, and the Scotsman's Tale. The former, which occupies almost the whole volume, is constructed on ideas which the modern German writers have so abundantly supplied. Though not destitute of merit, it exhibits little else than a gloomy, horrid, and unnatural picture; and in some parts the story drags on with as much heaviness as a German stage waggon in a bad road. It would have produced more effect, had it been less dilated. The Scotsman's Tale is more pleasant and congenial to com mon feelings; and it uniformly sustains the interest which it excites. The history of two lovers, from the first moment of mutual attach ment to their union in the vulgar bands of wedlock, is rapidly sketched, with some of those difficulties and perturbations which often intervene between hope and fruition. We are not, however, kept long in suspense; and, before the curtain drops, the Scotsman and his Claudina are rendered affluent and happy. Miss Lee's reflections are in general judicious and amiable. Of the latter kind, is the remark which is made on the return of Claudina's brother, who was a French emigré, to his native country: How sincerely did we all lament that the tide of human affairs should separate beings united by every principle of affection or intellect! Surely it is for the liberal-minded and humane of every nation to encounter the destructive influence of general prejudice, by extending and strengthening, in their private habits, those social feelings which bid man acknowledge his fellow-creature in every quar ter of the globe.'· To the style of this work we cannot uniformly extend our approbation. Provincialisms and colloquialisms appear; such as motion Mr. Morice, however, speaks of most of them as wholesome: but the Coculus Indicus berry he describes very differently: ac. knowleging it to be a hurtful narcotic, by no means advisable to be used, independently of the penalty, &c. |