But

ufeful hints we have met with, relates to the formation of agricultural focieties, general and fubordinate, in every county. P. 26. here we must fuggeft, that fuch focieties ought to confift of thofe perfons only, who occupy chiefly their own lands. Mere tenants, and particularly tenants at will, are likely to contribute fuch information as would tend rather to promote their own temporary benefit, than any real and lafting improvements in agriculture.

ART. 35.

An Account of the Culture of Potatoes in Ireland. 8vo, 28 pp. 15. Shepperton. 1796.

The author of this useful little tract, having briefly noticed the methods of raifing very early crops of potatoes, proceeds to inftruct us in the culture of them, "not in the kitchen-garden, nor other fmail fpots, but as a great article of field-tillage, productive of profit to the farmer, and of an abundant fupply of food, fuch as it is, for the pooreft claffes of the people, through every feafon of the year.” P. 4. Four circumftances are infifted upon, as neceffary to the production of an excellent crop of potatoes; namely, "good feed;" (by which I hufbandmen mean, not feed, but cuttings, p. 5) manure; fuitable land; and proper cultivation." Each of thefe topics is handled with much practical knowledge of the fubject; and the ftyle and method of the work are diftinguished by great plainness and perfpicuity, which will render it acceptable to mere hufbandmen; and, at the fame time, by a fort of elegance, which will not diminish its value in the estimation of other readers.

"rich

ART. 36. On the Expediency of altering and amending the Regulations recommended by Parliament for reducing the high Price of Corn; and of extending the Bounty on the Importation of Wheat to other Articles of Provifion. By the Reverend Henry Gabell. Second Edition, with Alterations and Additions. 8vo. 56 pp. 15. Cadell. 1796.

Mr. G. contends, that " a failure in the crop of wheat not only may, but neceffarily muft, if confiderable in any degree, occafion a fcarcity, and confequent dearnefs of all forts of provision; and that the actual failure of the last year's crop was fufficiently great to produce, and has actually produced, fuch confequences." He cenfures the refolutions of the members of both Houses of Parliament, to diminifh the confumption of wheat in their refpective families, as feeble, and, in fome cafes, nugatory: and he thinks that the evil might beft have been remedied in fome or all of thefe ways:-by reducing the luxuries of the table, or even circumfcribing our phyfical wants; by converting into human food fubftances not usually applied to that purpofe; by encouraging the capture and importation of fea-fifh, if not by a bounty, yet by protecting fishermen from the prefs; but, principally, by bounties on the importation, not only of wheat, but of oats, barley, beans, peas, and every other nutrimental fubftance of large confumption." We have endeavoured to give, within a fmall compafs, the leading ideas of a tract, which prefents many ufeful hints, but which is not diftinguished by brevity or lucid order.

ART

ART. 37. A Reply to the Inftructions given by the Common-Council of Oxford, to F. Burton and A. Annelley, Efqs. their Reprefentatives in Parliament, on the prefent Scarcity of Provifions; concluding with a few Words to the Board of Agriculture. By an Oxfordshire Farmer 8vo. 25 PP: 15. Ridgway. 1796.

If the copy here given of the "Inftructions" be correct, they furely do but little credit to the fagacity of the common-council of Oxford; who affign, as the chief caufes of the high prices of provifions in November, 1795, the confolidation of farms, jobbers, and the felling by fample. The Reply contains fome fhrewd remarks; among which the following is important and ufeful :-" If we look after the tumultuous, in the prefent difaftrous times, where fhall we find them? Not, I believe, in the village, or rural cot; but in manufacturing and large places, where the labourer earns double the wages to thofe employed in husbandry." P. 7. But the language of this tract is fo violent, in fome inftances fo fcurrilous (as at p. 8) and fo unneceffarily hottile to the Board of Agriculture, and to thofe who now direct the affairs of this country," p, 25; that we think it much more likely to have proceeded from a London garreteer, than from an Oxford hire farmer,

POLITICS.

ART. 38. Letter to Citizen Alquier, one of the Reprefentatives of the French Nation. From Samuel Petrie, Efq. 8vo. 26 pp. Cadell and Davies. 1795.

IS.

Mr. Petrie was accidentally in Holland, when that country was overrun by the French, in January, 1795. With the confidence of a man who knew himself not fubject to reftraint, by any laws of equity or cuftom, he applied perionally to the French reprefentatives for a paffport. The unparalleled infolence and brutality with which his application was rejected by Alquier, are ftrongly depicted in the introduction to this letter. The remainder is a declamation of fome force, against the Jacobin fyftem, and in favour of the English monarchy; with a few concluding reflections on the Dutch, and on the farce of planting the Tree of Liberty in their captive towns.

ART. 39. Thoughts on the Profpe of a Gregicide War, in a Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. 8vo. 19 pp. 6d. Smeeton. 1796.

The author of this tract is by no means a furious defender of regi cide, as the title might fuggeft, but a very humble and pious remonftrator, on the fubject of peace, and "national repair, leaving foundations firm." Nor is he an anfwerer of Mr. Burke; his pamphlet preceded; and was intended, as he fays, " to combat only the shadow talking before, but marking fo portentous a fubftance to follow."

The utmost purity of good intention feems to pervade these nineteen pages.

ART. 40. Free Thoughts on a general Reform, addresed to every inde pendent Man. The Truth equally diftant from the flimfy Machinery of Mers. Burke, Reeves, and Co., as from the grofs Ribaldry of Thomas Paine and his Party. By SS——, M. A. of the University of Oxford. 8vo. 90 pp. 25. Dilly. 1796.

That evils of ferious magnitude should gain upon a state in its zeith of political ftrength and commercial profperity, is a circumstance which will occafion, in thofe who have ftudied mankind, more regret han furprife. It has been the condition of every nation, whose memorials hiftory has preserved; and it is the forrowful, yet genuine condition, of human nature, under all its improvements. The general pofitions, therefore, of this writer, can scarcely be controverted, or even palliated; and as he appears to look, with equal attention, upon the virtues and vices of the nation, we fee no reafon for dif. puting his claim to impartiality or fincerity. We have not, however, difcovered in his remarks any thing that will particularly arreft the attention of the public. His apology for the fporting dress in the clergy, might, in our judgment, have been fpared; and the general tenor of his pamphlet affumes a ftrain of jocular raillery, which, if executed with more talent, would, on a fubject of fo much gravity, be wholly mifplaced.

ART. 41. Sacred Politics, or an impartial Enquiry into the Doctrine of the facred Scriptures, and especially of the New Teftament, respecting civil Government. By a Lover of Truth. 8vo. 30 pp. 1 Chapman. 1796.

Truth is a term of fuch ambiguous import, when used in an onqualified fenfe, that a reader, who expects to meet with the accurate delineation of its features from the pen of every pretender, will frequently find that it is but a veil to hide the impudence, and a vehicle to circulate the poifon of falfhood. The Bible is, in this pamphlet, recurred to, in order to determine two queftions.-1. Whether the Sacred Scripture does, or does not, prefcribe any particular form of civil government ?

Having reafoned us out of the Jewifh Theocracy, and proved, by very able arguments, that the government of the Ifraelites was a federal republic, refembling the United States of America, the author concludes, that no particular form of government is prescribed by the Old or New Teftament. The next question is, to what kind of government the Scriptures incline? To this the writer thinks himfelf entitled, by a review of the Scripture principles, to reply in a manuer very fatisfactory to his own withes, that the Scriptures incline ftrongly in favour of a well-ordered democracy." We will not infult the good fenfe of our readers, by bringing any objections in array againft this infolent libel upon Scripture and truth; nor will we gratify the impious withes of its defigning author, by giving circulation, from extracts we might make, to those reasonings which prove the

Goffel

Gofpel in alliance with treafon, and Chrift himself the patron of fedition.

ART. 42. The Speech of Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, in the Honfe of Reprefentatives of the United States of America, on the Subject of the Reduction of the public Debt, December, 1794. 8vo. 22 pp. Debrett. 1795.

IS.

Mr. Smith recommends the prolongation of fome expiring taxes, to conftitute a fund for buying up the continental 6 per cents, and to pay the intereft, and reduce the deferred ftock, when it shall have intereft payable thereon, which will not take place until the end of the year 1800. It appears, by his fpeech, that, at the end of 1794, the intereft of the debt difcharged to that period, amounted only to 173611. 18s. fterling.

It is true, that the operations of this republic upon the debt, have been interrupted by the Indian war; and an attempt of the anarchists*, to effect a new revolution. But all allowance being made for difference of ability, it appears that the efforts of the republic of America to reduce its debt, in the years of peace it had already enjoyed, bear no proportion to thofe of the monarchy of England, during the first peace, fhort as it was, after the public debt commenced.

It appears further, that if we concede to the partizans of stocks at high intereft, all they contend for, the money lenders will have the dexterity to defeat the confequences of the rapid difcharge of the debt, which these calculators expect from them; as the creditors will, in their contracts, limit the finking fund, which fhall be applied to discharge their capitals. Those of America have ftipulated, that the initial fund fhall not exceed one-fiftieth of the capital.

ART. 43. A general Reply to the feveral Anfwerers, &c. of a Letter written to a Noble Lord by the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. - Third Edition. 8vo. Allen and West. 1796.

28. 79 PP.

The author of this reply is by no means deftitute of the resources neceffary for political difputation. He unités, to much zeal for the object of his defence, a contiderable fhare of eloquence and vigour. The queftion of the penfion, the original fubject of this altercation, engages but a little of the author's attention, the greater part of whole remarks are directed to topics of political difference between Mr. Burke and his affailants. In this, however, the writer has only imitated the conduct pursued by the affailants the nfelves, many of whofe obfervations (particularly thofe of Meffrs. Miles, Wakefield, and Thelwall) may be fairly confidered as having fet the example. The ftrictures of this writer are delivered in very fpirited language, and merit the attention of those who have perused the different pamphlets to which they refer. We cannot, however, leave unremarked the paltry artifice in the conftruction of the title-page, which is fo ma

Prefident Washington's Proclamation, Sept. 25, 1794.

naged

naged as to fuggeft to a careless reader that this is a general reply by Mr. Burke himself.

ART. 44. A Letter to the Right Honourable William Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on his Conduct with refpe&t to the Loan concluded on the 25th of November last, and the fufpicious Circumstances attending that Tranfaction, as reported to the House of Commons by the Committee appointed to inquire into the fame. 8vo. 45 PP. 18. Debrett.

1796.

The most exact faith is certainly to be preferred with the advancers of money to the ftate: and, on the fame principles, no obstruction is to be, by any act of government, caft in the way of their difpofing of their stock to the beft advantage. If there remain in the market, part of the fcrip of the preceding loan, to throw the whole of the fecond into it reduces its value, is an act of that defcription, and was, at that time, an unprecedented diminution of it, Hence part of the fubfcribers to the first loan of 1795, loft an advantage in felling the fcrip, eftablished by conftant precedent. On this Mr. Boyd rightly formed his claim for them to be in fome fhape indemnified: and, unless a just indemnification had been granted by government to the lenders, the whole clafs of them would, in their fubfequent treaties, have demanded and obtained an infurance against fuch lofs in future; the rate of which, in future negotiations of loans, would greatly have exceeded the true measure of the hazard, according to the notion of all contracts for fuch infurances. On this ground the minifter ultimately acceded to the propofition of Mr. Boyd; his party were indemnified, by having the contract for the next loan; it being left to the minister to fix the terms on which they fhould take it.

It is upon thefe principles, we think, that the merits and demerits of the tranfaction between Mr. Boyd and the minifter chiefly reft. These are kept out of fight in this tract, which, however, is far from wanting acutenefs; but it is that acutenefs which exercises itself with the anxioufnefs of folicitude, in difcovering every thing which may be urged, or every thing which may be fuppofed, against the perfons whom the writer attacks.

ART. 45. A Retrofpe&t, illuftrating the Neceffity of an immediate Peace with the Republic of France. 8vo. 28 pp. 28 pp. 18. Crosby. 1796.

We have feldom glanced our eyes upon a more miferable attempt at writing a pamphlet. A jumble of frange and incoherent fentences, without grammar to give them concord, or fenfe to give them meaning, is offered to the reader for the fum of one fhilling. If this fhould ap pear an exorbitant charge, the reader has but to exercise a small share of patience; and the transfer (for which we will vouch) from the book feller to the grocer, will bring them more conveniently within his reach.

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