Journals of Two Expeditions beyond the Blue Mountains, and into the Interior of New South Wales; undertaken by Order of Government, in the Years 1817, 1818. By John Oxley, Esq. Maps and Plates. 4to. 27. 10s. Sketches, descriptive of Italy, in 1817 and 1818; with a brief Account of Travels in various Parts of France and Switzerland, in the same Years. 4 vols. small 8vo. 17. 12s. A Geological Map of England, coloured; accompanied by a Memoir. By J. B. Greenough, Esq. F. R. S. F. L. S. President of the Geological Society. On six Sheets. 61. 6s. Journal of a Tour through part of the Snowy Range of the Himālā Mountains, and to the Sources of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges. By James Baillie Fraser, Esq. 4to. 31. 3s. Â Visit to the Province of Upper Canada, in 1819. By James Strachan. 8vo. 6s. 6d. A Voyage to Africa, with an Account of the Customs, &c. of the Dahomian People. By J. M'Leod, late of the Alceste. Foolscap 8vo. 5s. 6d. A Tour through a Part of the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland, in 1817. Containing a variety of Incidents, with the Author's Reflections, serious and lively. By Thomas Heger. 8vo. 8s. Collections for a Topographical and Historical Account of Boston, and the Hundred of Skirbeck, in the County of Lincoln. With 26 Engravings. By Pishey Thompson. Royal 4to. 2. 10s. Royal 8vo. 17. 1s. Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia, from the earliest Ages to the present Times. By Hugh Murray, F. R. S. E. 3 vols. 8vo. Maps. 21. 2s. Letters from Germany and Holland, during the Years 1813 and 1814. Containing a detailed Account of the two Operations of the British Army in those Countries, and of the Attacks upon Antwerp and Bergen-op-Zoom. 8vo. Post Popular Voyages and Travels in Europe and Asia. By Mrs. Jamieson 2 vols. 12mo. 18s. A Journal of two successive Tours upon the Continent, in the Years 1816, 1817, and 1818. By James Wilson, Esq. 3 vols. 8vo. 1/. 16s. The History and Antiquities of Kensington. 8vo. 1l. 8s. By Thomas Faulkner. Three Months passed in the Mountains East of Rome, during the Year 1819, with Plates. By Maria Graham. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Classical Excursions from Rome to Arpino. By Charles Kelsall. 8vo. 12s. A New and Improved Map of India, compiled from the latest Documents. By John Walker. 16s. The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Stoke Newington. By Wm. Robinson. 8vo. 1. 1s. Italy and its Inhabitants, in 1816 and 1817. By J. A. Galiffe. 2 vols. 8vo. 11. 6s. Voyages round the World, from Magellan to Crusenstein, collected by Captain Prior. 12mo. 10s. 6d. CONTENTS ΟΙ The Diary of an Invalid; being the Journal of a Tour, in Pur- suit of Health; in Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, and France, in the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. By Henry Matthews, AM. 265 XIII. A Catechism of the Evidences of Christianity: which may be used as a Sequel to the Catechism of the Church of England; XIV. History of the Indian Archipelago; containing an Account of the The Twelfth Report of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews; with an Appendix containing extracts of Correspondence, and a List of Subscribers and Benefactors to March 31, 1820; to which is prefixed a Sermon preached before the Society on May 5, 1820, at the Parish Church of St. Paul, Covent Garden, by the Hon. and Rev. Gerard T. Noel, MA. Vicar of Rainham, Kent, and Minister XVI. ON THE PRESENT STATE OF AGRICULTUre. 1. Holkam, its Agriculture, &c. By Edward Rigby, Esq. MD. 2. Framingham, its Agriculture, &c., including the Economy of a small Farm. By Edward Rigby, Esq. MD. 3. Report from the Select Committee appointed to inquire into the Corn Trade of the United Kingdom. Ordered by the 4. Report from the Select Committee on Petitions relating to the Corn Laws of this King: together with the Minutes of Evidence and an Appendix of Accounts. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 26th July, 1814. 5. Report from the Select Committee on Petitions complaining XVII. Journals of two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales, undertaken by Order of the British Government, in the Years 1817-18. By John Oxley, Surveyor General of the Some Account of the Life of Rachael Wriothesley, Lady Russell, by the Editor of Madame du Deffand's Letters, followed by a Series of Letters from Lady Russell to her Husband, William Lord Russell; from 1672 to 1682; together with some Mis- cellaneous Letters to and from Lady Russell, &c. Published from the Originals in the Possession of his Grace the Duke of Voyage Historique et Politique au Monténégro, contenant l'Ori- gine des Monténégrins, Peuple autochthone ou aborigine, et très peu connu; la Description topographique, pittoresque, et statistique du Pays; les Moeurs de cette Nation, ses Usages, Coutumes, Prejugés; son Gouvernement, sa Legislation, ses Relations Politiques, sa Religion, &c. &c. Par M. le Colonel L. C. Vialla de Sommières, Commandant de Castel-Nuovo, THE BRITISH REVIEW, AND LONDON CRITICAL JOURNAL. DECEMBER, 1820. ART. XI.-An Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance. By John Foster. 8vo. pp. 304. Holdsworth. London, 1820. We have met Mr. Foster before, though not upon the same platform on which he now presents himself to us; and we have had good reason to think highly of his powers of disquisition. The work now before us corresponds with our high estimate of his talents for moral investigation, and further recommends him to our respect for the enlightened and fervid interest which its general tenor shews the author to feel, in all that belongs to the happiness and elevation of his fellow-beings. While with some of his views we are a little at variance, we cordially subscribe to the principles and spirit by which they appear throughout to be governed. Mr. Foster has characterised with great force and precision, the various classes of thinkers who differ from him in his views of this great question; but though our own opinions are certainly much less strong than his, on his favourite topic, we shall not perhaps deserve to be ranked with any of the classes, the mistakes of which he has particularly exposed. We are conscious that, in our speculations on general education, we are more bounded, and, it may be, less liberal than the writer of this treatise, but as yet we can see no reason to induce us to surrender a single position maintained by us in a former elaborate article on this momentous subject.* The Essay under consideration is one continued discourse, * Vol. xii., On the Means of National Improvement. VOL. XVI. NO. XXXII. S pursuing the subject without the interruption of chapters or divisions, till it results in the grand conclusion on which the author's mind is devotedly bent,-that the benefits of general education and indefinite mental culture should be placed as far as possible within the reach of all, without regard to difference of station; and that as the period is fast approaching, when the barriers which divide the higher from the lower classes of society are to be thrown open, and the multitude who have been so long curtailed of their natural rights, will, with irresistible force, assert their equal claims; it is the obvious part of prudence as well as justice, so to meliorate and soften by education the assailants in this mighty aggression, that the revolutionary process may be attended with as little as may be, of convulsion and calamity. We should be doing, however, great injustice to Mr. Foster, were we to represent his arguments as resting principally on motives of fear or self-interest: he urges it upon those who have the means and opportunities of promoting universal education and intellectual improvement, as a duty to the last degree imperative upon their consciences. Mind, he contends, being the highest and most valuable part of man's nature, to cultivate this portion, so precious and important, is the primary duty which we owe to each other: it is due to man's nature, and it is the imprescriptible privilege of his being, to be placed, as far as it can be done, in a situation favourable to the exercise and developement of his rational faculties. Man holds this right by a general law applicable to him under all circumstances of society, and independent of all the accidental and artificial conditions of life. The claims of this spiritual and immortal nature are never forfeited. As long as he has a soul, that soul is the essence and perfection of his being, and to carry it out towards its emancipation from the corrupting and debasing tendencies of his nature, is the highest interchangeable obligation of justice and charity. It may be the infelicity of an individual to be practically denied, by his situation, the opportunity of acquiring all the mental improvement desirable for the perfection of his intelligent nature; but by the law of that nature, it is not the less essential to the right constitution of his being, that his mind should receive its best possible cultivation and refinement. Now we suspect that there is too much abstraction in all this reasoning, taken in its full extent. We venture to think, not only that there is no supposeable state of society in which such a system or theory can be broadly acted upon, but that the tendency of an endeavour to reduce it to universal practice would be to impede and embarrass the moral |