were all dispersed by the favourable announcements by Mr. Dilke, of the Athenæum, and the editors of other literary journals, from which it will be seen that the subjoined notices are but very brief extracts.

It may not be improper also here to remark, that for all the Royal copies subscribed for above, the Hon. C. A. Murray was ordered to remit me double the amount of the price of the work; and that, on a subsequent occasion, when my dear wife and myself were guests at the dinner table of John Murray, he said to his old friend Thomas Moore, who was by our side, 'That wild man by the side of you there, Mr. Catlin, who has spent enough of his life amongst the wild Indians (sleeping on the ground and eating raw buffalo meat) to make you and I as grey as badgers, and who has not yet a grey hair in his head, applied to me about a year ago to publish his Notes.' I was then-for the first time in my life-too honest for my own interest, as well as that of an author; and I advised him to publish it himself, as the surest way of making something out of it. My wife here will tell you that I have read every word of it through, heavy as it is, and she knows it is the only book that I have read quite through in the last five years. And I tell Mr. Catlin now, in your presence, that I shall regret as long as I live that I did not publish that work for him; for as sincerely as I advised him, I could have promoted his interest by so doing, and would have done so, had I known what was in the work when he proposed it to me.'-vol. i. pp. 50—52.

Mr. Catlin is an artist, and has told his own story most agreeably, in a brief record of his artistic labours.

'As a painter,' says he, often works at his easel with a double thought, one upon the subject he is creating upon the canvas, and the other upon the world that is about him, I kept constantly at work, and pleasantly divided my extra thoughts upon the amusing little tricks that were being played around me, and the contemplation of scenes and events of my life gone by. I ran over its table of contents in this way: My native valley of Wyoming-the days and recollections of my earliest boyhood in it-my ten years in the valley of the Oc-qua-go, where I held alternately the plough, my rifle, and fishing-tackle-my five years at the classics-my siege with Blackstone and Coke upon Littleton-my three years' practice of the law in the Courts of Pennsylvaniathe five years' practice of my art of portrait-painting in Philadelphia-my eight years spent amongst the Indian tribes of the prairies and Rocky Mountains-and since that, my eight years spent in the light of the refined and civilized world, where I have been admitted to Palaces, and into the society of Kings, Queens, and Princes-and now at my easel, in my studio, with my dear little babes around me, thanking Him who has blessed me with them, and courage and health, through all the vicissitudes of my chequered life, and now with strength to stand by and support and protect them."'-vol. ii. pp. 317, 318.

360

ART. X.-1. View of the Progress of Political Economy in Europe since the Sixteenth Century. A Course of Lectures delivered before the University of Oxford, in Michaelmas Term, 1846, and Lent Term, 1847. By Travers Twiss, D.C.L., F.R.S., Professor of Political Economy, and Fellow of University College, Oxford. London : Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. 1847.

2. Principles of Political Economy, with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy. By John Stuart Mill. London: John W. Parker. 1848.

THESE works are very different from one another, but we place them together to indicate the progress of political economy. The former is a concise history of the chief theories and discoveries that brought the science to its present condition, the latter is a complete development of the science as it is now known, with a considerable extension of its boundaries. The former making no pretensions either to discover truth or apply it as a rule of conduct, being a history rather of errors which time has exploded, than of principles at present applicable, requires but a brief notice; the latter more ambitiously aspires to correct and extend existing knowledge, to teach on several points an improved policy, and deserves a more detailed criticism. They throw light on each other. Dr. Twiss's history of the successive errors of statesmen, now encouraging, like Sully, agriculture, and crushing the industry of towns, then encouraging, like Colbert, the industry of towns, at the expense of agriculture, strengthens the doubt as to Mr. Mill's wisdom in becoming a staunch advocate of one particular species of industry; and Mr. Mill's discussions explain some dark points in Dr. Twiss's last lectures on population, and on the industrial revolution of England. Each deserves the praise of being the most complete of its class, and both, in respect to method, style, and careful thought, confer honour on the politico-economical literature of England.

The work of Dr. Twiss consists of nine lectures, exhibiting the germs of political economy in Italy; its progress, from observing the effects of Sully's policy, and from the natural growth of trade to the end of the reigns of the Stuarts, with the theories that at that period came into vogue; its extension, from the successive systems of policy subsequently adopted in France and England, which impressed on mankind the refutation of many plausible errors; the rise of the systems of the French economists, and the

natural system of Smith; the history of the modern theory of population; the doctrines of free trade, especially connected with the name of Say,-the French having been taught, by an almost complete absence of free trade, more effectually than the English, at least in theory, its importance; and finally, exhibiting the doctrines of the currency, as they have been practically applied for the last sixty years. All these subjects, Dr. Twiss treats more in principle than in detail, selecting and confining himself to those broad divergencies of thought which have formed, for a considerable period, the basis of systems, and dictated a policy to nations. He does not encumber his pages with trifling differences of opinion, growing from mere controversy, and having no lasting influence; nor does he notice many writers, though much talked of in their day, who tried to retard, but only contributed, by their opposition to the progress of scientific truth. In this respect his work is far more a valuable dissertation on the science at different periods, than a catalogue raisonné of authors. Some perhaps important principles, yet tossed on the troubled sea of controversy, he passes over, and will wait till they get firmly anchored in the public mind, or are known only by the wreck of that policy they have set afloat, before he deems them,-though latterly, some of them have had great influence on society,worthy of being recorded. As a concise history of the prevalent errors of former times, of the best established principles of the science, and of the writers and circumstances which have contributed to its progress, the work of Dr. Twiss is complete. It is the work of a careful artist. A copious synopsis at the head of each lecture, and the copious index at the end of the book, make it extremely valuable as a work of reference for opinions, facts, and authors. Taking no account of Dr. Twiss's own opinions, and regarding his work as a history of the science, it is a great enrichment of our literature.

Mr. Mill, inheriting the searching analytical spirit of his father, with a more urbane temperament, and a more polished and fluent style, is undoubtedly one of the first writers of the day, on the severer parts of the moral sciences. Criticism of the fine arts on sound principles is a specimen of the lighter moral sciences. Political economy, logic, and metaphysics are specimens of the severer moral sciences, and in these Mr. Mill is a foremost man. He has inherited, perhaps, some of the materials of his book, as well as the spirit for ordering, enlarging, and adorning them, from the writings and discussions of his father. He belongs to a great political party, has wide literary connections, and neither great talents in producing his work, nor favourable means for bringing it into notice, will be

wanting to ensure for it a durable popularity. Aware of the many claims it has on public respect, we shall consider it with some deference, but with the utmost impartiality, doing our homage rather to truth and science, than to Mill and reputa

tion.

In his preface, Mr. Mill tells us that many new ideas and new applications of ideas,' suggest that the field of political economy should be resurveyed in its whole extent.' Butto supply the deficiencies in former treatises is not his sole, or even his principal object.' Then praising the Wealth of Nations' 'for associating principles with their applications,' he says 'the idea he has had before him, is to combine Smith's practical mode of treating his subject with the increased knowledge since acquired of the theory of the science.' His especial object then is to make a practical application of the science, which he implies other writers have neglected. In the present condition of society, when men are every where crying out for means of salvation on earth, which are to be found, if any where, in the application of the principles of political economy, as it ought to be studied, to the purposes of life, Mr. Mill's design, properly carried out, must, just now, be of singular importance. Keeping his object in view, we shall direct our remarks chiefly to shew how far he has attained it, and how far society may look to political economy for help in these times of trouble and confusion.

Mr. Mill divides his work into five books, '1. Production. 2. Distribution. 3. Exchange. 4. Influence of the Progress of Society on Production and Distribution; and, 5. Of the Influence of Government.' The first book contains thirteen chapters; the second, sixteen; the third, twenty-six; the fourth, seven; the fifth, eleven; in all, therefore, seventy-three chapters. Every chapter is subdivided into several sections, there is a preliminary discourse and an appendix, being a republication of some letters which appeared in the Morning Chronicle, on the division of land in France. We will quote the titles of the chapters of the first book, 'Production;' and the sections of one chapter, to shew the care with which the whole subject is treated. The titles are these, 'Of the Requisites of Production.' 'Of Labour as an Agent of Production.' 'Of Unproductive Labour.' 'Of Capital.' Fundamental Proposition respecting Capital.' 'Of Circulating and Fixed Capital.' 'On what Depends the Degree of Productiveness of Productive Agents.' 'Of Co-operation or the Combination of Labour.' 'Of Production on a Large, and Production on a Small Scale.' 'Of the Law of the Increase of Labour.' 'Of the Law of the Increase of Capital.' 'Of the Law of the Increase of Production from

Land.' 'Consequences of the foregoing Laws.' As a specimen of the contents of the chapters, we will take Chapter X. book 2. Means of Abolishing Cottier Tenancy.' It is divided into eight sections,' Mode of Disposing of a Cottier Population, the Vital Question for Ireland.' 'To convert them into Hired Labourers, not Desirable, nor Practicable.' 'Limitation of Rent by Law or Custom, Indispensable.' Fixity of Tenure Consi. dered.' Tenant Right.' 'Location of Peasant Proprietors on the Waste Lands.' Resources Supplementary to the Waste Lands.' 'Probable Consequences of the Measures Recommended.' In the same manner, every subject is broken down into its minutest parts, each of which is carefully examined and treated.

It will instantly strike every one conversant with the subject, that Mr. Mill discards all consideration of consumption, which has hitherto been considered one branch of the science, and takes in the influence of the Progress of Society and of Government as branches of the science, which before have been only incidentally mentioned. He has, too, a book, devoted to Exchange, which has heretofore been considered as one of the elements of distribution. The novelties of his arrangement deserve notice. Of Consumption it has been said :—

Those to whom much is distributed, or who have the power of appropriating much, will consume or use much; or they may give it to others to consume, with a view to subsequent profit, or for the pleasure of giving. The particular manner in which they dispose of what they receive, may ultimately affect production; but their consumption or use will be co-equal with what they receive. Landlords and opulent capitalists will fare sumptuously every day themselves; they will keep a number of servants to minister to their luxuries, or they will set labourers to work for the sake of obtaining a profit on their labour. On the contrary, those who receive or cwn little, cannot consume much. Labourers have a bare subsistence. The mode in which wealth is distributed, has a vast influence on subsequent production; but for all practical and scientific purposes, distribution and consumption are precisely the same. In consuming wealth, the object is to support life, or give a zest to existence; and the most agreeable methods of consumption, must be settled by the taste of each individual. If they be in any respect the subject of scientific consideration, they do not fall in the department of the economist, but in that of the cook, the physician, the moral philosopher. Consumption may, therefore, be discarded from political economy.'-' Popular Political Economy,' p. 5.

That was published upwards of twenty years ago, yet Mr. M'Culloch continues, in the last edition of his 'Principles of Political Economy,' published in 1843, an unmeaning chapter on Consumption. Mr. Mill wisely follows the author we have