Behold! the Gallic fleet that rode, Art. 31. Bardomachia, Poema Macaronico-Latinum. 4to. 1s. Johnson. This macaronic Bardomachia may not give a very correct account of the manner in which the ultima ratio blackguardorum was conducted by the high contending parties; nor would we be so very fastidious as to require a rigid attention to dull matter of fact, from its witty satirical author. His latinity evinces an intimate acquaintance with the classics; and if we had any thing to object to him, it would be on the score of his not being sufficiently macaronic. His English manifests equal talents and playfulness. Without undertaking to decide how far he has adhered to facts, we shall give the moral of his tale (which remains unaffected by variations in the statements) as a specien of his manner: Fabellam audistis. Fabellæ philosophema Quid valeant humeri-Non omnia possumus omnes. 6 Præcipuè, libeat Satyrâ si pingere mores,. Sint chartæ nullo tinctæ livore maligno: Plectatur vitium, parcatur sed vitioso: Quam minime valeant convicia, fædaque verba, Certant-Quid sequitur? Sunt both ludibria turbæ! Quis pitye lacrumam, audito certamine, fundit; From personal abuse what evils rise, This pat example sets before our eyes. Who never brandish'd a malignant pen Who never stain'd the candour of their paper Y And And given a consequential air of state Whereas, through mutual envy, mutual rage, And in loud laughter join the vulgar throng.' We suspect that these effusions proceed from the pen of a learned gentleman, who has formerly amused the public with macaronic poems, and who is celebrated for works in the highest department of biblical criticism. BOLITICS, POLICE, &c. Art. 33. Authentic Copies of the Papers relative to the Commencement of Negociations for Peace with France, as laid before both Houses of Parliament, 13th November, 1800. 8vo. 2s. Wright. This correspondence sufficiently developes the object of the Chief Consul, and may be generally thought to justify our Government in rejecting the proposed naval armistice, as a previous condition of negociation. Perhaps the fear of our influence in the scale may have induced Bonaparte to ask high and extravagant terms; intending that, by our rejection of them, we should be excluded from taking a part in the Congress at Luneville. Art. 34. The celebrated Speech of the Hon. C. J. Fox, with the Proceedings of the Meeting at the Shakespeare Tavern, October 10, 1800, being the Anniversary of his first Election for Westminster, &c. &c. 8vo. Is. Jordan.. With a strong and penetrating mind, Mr. Fox here reviews the circumstances of the war; makes an open and undisguised avowal of his political principles; and declares that, in his opinion, the war is. the principal cause of the high price of provisions. Art. 35. Anti-Revolutionary Thoughts of a Revolutionary Writer: from the "Secret History of the Revolution of France," by Monsieur François Pagès. 8vo. 38. Wright. 1800. OfM. Pagès's history we gave a long account in M. R. vol. xxiv. p. 290; and our critique would shew that it furnished abundant matter for such a compilation as that which is now before us. It is observed by M. Pagès, that the revolution of France is attended with this particular circumstance; that it has been directed by several rival factions, all of them equally eager to destroy each other other, and bent alike on raising the public opinion in their favour, by every species of illusion that could tend to inveigle and mislead the people.' Hence different sentiments have been disseminated at different times; and it may be added that writers, when the violent paroxysms and exacerbations of revolution are over; will venture on the condemnation of opinions and measures which, during the feverish state of the public mind, they may deem it both useless and unsafe harshly to censure. M. Pages availed himself of the first opportunity of speaking with freedom; and many of his thoughts are certainly of an anti-revolutionary complexion. Indeed, so full of error, crime, and horror, has the French refolution been, that no republican of sense and feeling can contemplate it without expressions of disapprobation and grief. To the revolutions, counter-revolutions, insurrections, conspira cies, assassinations, murders, massacres, usurpations, and tyrannies noticed by M. Pagès, the compiler of this pamphlet supposes that Bonaparte is preparing an Appendix. Art. 36. Observations on the Objections mode to the Export of Wool from Great Britain to Ireland. By John Lord Sheffield. 8vo. 2s. Debrett. 1800. In this sensible pamphlet, the noble author endeavours to quiet the minds of our woollen manufacturers respecting a clause in the Act of Union, which allows the exportation of British wool to Ireland. He contends that the permission to import wool from this country into Ireland may prevent its becoming a drug (as it sometimes has been); that it may prevent also its deterioration; and, moreover, that no more can go to Ireland than what our manufactures do not want.' He maintains, in opposition to some late assertions, that the growth of wool is greatly increased in England,' (for how else, he asks, could there have been such an extraordinary increase of the manufacture *?) and that it is more than sufficient to supply our own manufactures: observing also, that Ir.and has a considerable manufacture of woollens and mixtures of wool, and will continue to have it whether wool shall be permitted to go thither from England or not.' Lord Sheffield offers other important considerations on this subject; and, as a friend to the union, he speaks in the highest terms of the policy of this great measure, Art. 37. State of the Nation, with respect to its Funded Debt, Revenue, and Disbursements; comprized in the Reports of the Select Committee appointed by the House of Commons: With an Appendix to each Report. Also, to enquire into the Receipts and Disbursements of the different Public Offices, &c. Vol. III. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Symonds. 1799. In our 26th vol. N. S. p. 351. we gave a brief account of the nature and importance of this valuable compilement. The present volume contains the Reports concerning the Barrack and Ordnance Offices, the Exchequer, Public Revenue and Expenditure, Privy In 1782 it was estimated at 14,000,000l.; in 1791 at 19,000,000l. Y z Council Council and Privy Seal Offices, and Courts of Justice; with the names of the principal officers, their revenues, fees, duties, &c. Art. 38. State of the Nation, comprized in the Reports of the Select Committee appointed by the House of Commons to examine and state the total Amount of the Public Debts and of the Interest and Charges attending the same, viz. Police, Stationary Office, Civil Government of Scotland, Admiralty, Dock-yards, and Transports, Victualling Office, Sick and Wounded Seamen, Chatham Chest, and Greenwich and Chelsea Hospitals: with the Names of the principal Officers, their Salaries, Fees, Duties, and Attendance; with what other Places, Pensions, or Employments they hold, paid by the Public. Vol. IV. Svo. Symonds. 1800. 7s. Boards. We are glad to see this undertaking so successfully continued The historian and the politician will, doubtless, consider it as a valuable storehouse, or magazine, of important and authentic informa tion. Art. 39 An Address to the good Sense and Candour of the People, in behalf of the Dealers in Corn: with some few Observations on a late Trial for Regrating. By a Country Gentleman. Pp. 178. 3s. 6d. Egerton, &c. 1800. 8vo. To combat those prejudices and misconceptions, however and wherever they originate, which have a tendency to awaken the mob to undertake the redress of grievances, is to act at once patriotically and loyally. When the dearness of corn instigates the populace, with a mistaken rage against farmers and corn-dealers, to destroy barns, ricks, granaries, and mills, it may be in vain perhaps to call out to them Vestras spes uritis:" but it may be of great use to invite the sober and reflecting among the middle classes of society, to a temperate and calm inquiry into the real cause of the evil; for, as the motto to this pamphle says, "Clamour is not reason-assertion fact-nor accusation guilt." The gentleman who here boldly steps forwards, we learn from the advertisement of a second edition of his pamphlet, is Sir Thomas Turton; and, even in opposition to a high legal opinion, he pleads the cause of the whole description of corn-dealers, and pronounces the clamours against them to be senseless.' He contends that monopoly is not the cause of the high price of bread; and that to encourage such an idea, in these times, is extremely dangerous. He combats Lord Kenyon's opinion on the subject of regrating, and perhaps the arguments which he has employed may not be disregarded even by his Lordship. case of the farmer-the miller and mealman-the flour-factor-the Sir Thomas considers the baker-the merchant-the importer-the lighterman and warehouseman-the jobber or middle man-and the corn-chandler. He particularly comments on the late trial and decision in the case of Mr. John Rusby, and concludes with this general doctrine: That the commercial prosperity of a great nation will be in proportion to the protection and encouragement which every man in it receives, to employ his talents, his industry, and his property, in that line most con formable to his views or inclinations." This This we believe to be sound argument, which the operation of no temporary circumstance should be supposed to invalidate. Art. 40. It is the object of this writer to establish an assertion which the Minister has roundly denied, viz. that the War is the mastermischief from which the high price of provisions originates. For this purpose, Mr. D. does not content himself with bare assertions, but adduces facts, and argues on them with temper. After having made what he conceives to be a fair deduction from a statement which he thinks himself justified in considering as tolerably correct, he says that there remain two hundred and ninety-three thousand unproductive members of society, to be provided for, more than in time of peace;' and to prove how the care of Government in feeding this vast military force operates in augmenting the price of the necessaries of life, he observes that, when every one caters for himself, he provides no more than he can consume: but when provision is made for collected numbers, waste must inevitably ensue.' Again, Even if the same quantity of food was consumed by the same body of men when maintaining themselves, (which has been shewn not to be the case,) there is a material difference between the silent and imperceptible operation of supplying the wants of 200,000 individuals, catering each for himself, when and where he can best be supplied; and that of satisfying the imperious necessities of the same number collected into large bodies.' The author ridicules the idea of monopoly* among the farmers, and concludes with energetically exhorting the people to petition the Throne for an immediate PEACE, as the only means of saving the country. Art. 41. Strictures on the true Cause of the present alarming Scarcity of Grain and other Provisions; and a Plan for permanent Reliet: Humbly submitted to Public Consideration. By Alexander Annesley. With an historical Deduction of the Prices of Provisions, interspersed with various Matters connected with the Commerce and Navigation of Great Britain. Together with a Chronological Account of the several Statutes, Proclamations, and Parliamentary Regulations, for controuling the Markets, and preventing Monopoly, Engrossing, &c. &c. from the Norman Conquest to the present Era. 8vo. 25. Murray and Co. This pamphlet has a complexion and a tendency very different from those which mark the Observations of Mr. Duthy, mentioned in the preceding article. It is prefaced by a dedication to Mr. Pitt, who is compared to the angel which, by divine command, "Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm;" and here we read of famine in the midst of plenty! scarcity at a time of unequalled exuberance! and factitious dearth, in spite of superior fecundity! Yet, though Mr. A. is lavish of his encomiums on the *If monopoly exists any where, he contends it is with the Minister, who has so many thousands constantly to feed. Y 3 Minister, |