ART. I. Memoirs and Correspondence of Francis Horner, M.P. Edited by his Brother, Leonard Horner, F.R.S. II. 1. The Laws of Harmonious Colouring, adapted to In- terior Decorations, Manufactures, and other Useful III. Memoiren von Karl Heinrich, Ritter von Lang: Skizzen aus meinem Leben und Wirken, meinen Reisen und meiner Zeit. (Memoirs of Charles Henry, Knight of IV. 1. Biographia Britannica Literaria; or, the Biography of Literary Characters of Great Britain and Ireland, arranged in Chronological Order. Anglo-Saxon Pe- V. The Past and Present State of Dramatic Art and Lite- M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., Hon. Mem. R.I.A., Savilian 2. Correspondence of Scientific Men of the Seventeenth Century, including Letters of Barrow, Flamstead, Wallis, and Newton. Printed from the Originals in ART. VII. 1. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. 2. Rambles in Yucatan; or, Notes of Travel through the Peninsula, including a visit to the remarkable VIII. Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham. Including Autobiogra- phical Conversations and Correspondence. By John THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, JULY, 1843. No. CLVII. ART. I.-1. The Budget: A Series of Letters on Financial, Commercial, and Colonial Policy. By a Member of the Political Economy Club. Nos. i to 6. 8vo. London : 1841. 2. A Letter to the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel on the Condition of England, and the Means of removing the Causes of Distress. By R. TORRENS, Esq., F.R.S. 8vo. London: 1843. 3. Postscript to the above Letter. By R. TORRENS, Esq. London: 1843. ΟΝ NE of the great obstacles to the progress of the Moral Sciences is the tendency of doctrines, supposed to have been refuted, to reappear. In the Pure and in the Physical Sciences, each generation inherits the conquests made by its predecessors. No mathematician has to redemonstrate the problems of Euclid; no physiologist has to sustain a controversy as to the circulation of the blood; no astronomer is met by a denial of the principle of gravitation. But in the Moral Sciences the ground seems never to be incontestably won; and this is peculiarly the case with respect to the sciences which are subsidiary to the arts of administration and legislation. Opinions prevail and are acted on. The evils which appear to result from their practical application lead to enquiry. Their erroneousness is proved by philosophers, is acknowledged by the educated public, and at VOL. LXXVIII. NO. CLVII. A length is admitted even by statesmen. The policy founded on the refuted error is relaxed, and the evils which it inflicted, so far as they are capable of remedy, are removed or mitigated. After a time new theorists arise, who are seduced or impelled by some moral or intellectual defect or error to reassert the exploded doctrine. They have become entangled by some logical fallacy, or deceived by some inaccurate or incomplete assumption of facts, or think that they see the means of acquiring reputation, or of promoting their interests, or of gratifying their political or their private resentments, by attacking the altered policy. All popular errors are plausible; indeed, if they were not so they would not be popular. The plausibility to which the revived doctrine owed its original currency, makes it acceptable to those to whom the subject is new; and even among those to whom it is familiar, probably ninety-nine out of every hundred are accustomed to take their opinions on such matters on trust. They hear with surprise that what they supposed to be settled is questioned, and often avoid the trouble of enquiring, by endeavouring to believe that the truth is not to be ascertained. And thus the cause has again to be pleaded before judges, some of whom are prejudiced, and others will not readily attend to reasoning founded on premises which they think unsusceptible of proof. About three hundred years ago, men believed in the existence of an infallible Church, possessing a right to require assent to her doctrines, and the aid of the civil magistrate to silence opposition. The corruptions and the persecutions which followed this opinion, led a few strong-minded men to doubt, and ultimately to deny its accuracy. The right of private judgment, the duty of free enquiry, and at length that of toleration, were established in every Protestant country. But scarcely has the victory been apparently gained, when the conflict has recommenced. Catholie Emancipation and the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, the crowning triumphs over bigotry and intolerance, were the signals for the appearance, among our southern neighbours, of a sect, now rapidly increasing, whose doctrines reproduce those of Hildebrand and Dominic. We are again told, that our belief ought to be the result of obedience, not of enquiry; or, if of enquiry, of enquiry not as to what is proved by evidence, but as to what is asserted by the Church. We are again told of the duty of acquiescence, and of the danger and presumptuousness of investigation, and the civil governor is again urged to repress the crimes of schism and heresy. Again, fifty years ago it was believed that the State could supply the want of charity among the rich, and of diligence and |