tuated them in the discharge of their duty. They sought the happiness of the people, the preservation and improvement of our constitution, on its proper basis, and with the due distribution of its powers. They supported the monarchy, the strength of which, the ministers of that monarchy pointed against them: they supported the aristocracy, with all its influence preponderating to depress them; they supported the democracy, against the prejudices of a deluded people: such treatment would, in other men, have turned their minds into the most determined hostility against the different parties of this combination; and indeed reasoning on the natural effects of moral causes, we might allow some grounds for such an insinuation; but in contemplating such exalted purity, as we have witnessed during these critical transactions, we must discard our ordinary knowledge of human nature, and apply the result of our observations on mankind, to other personages in a very different situation.’ Art. 40. The Correspondence of the Rev. C. Wyvill with the Right Honourable William Pitt. Part II. Published by Mr. Wyvill. 8vo. 6d. Johnson. 1796. For an account of the first part of this important correspondence, we refer our readers to the Appendix to vol. x. N. S. p. 580. Mr. Wyvill's right to publish papers, communicated to him by the Minister on a subject so interesting to the community, appears unquestionable. That the publication may be of infinite benefit to the state, we are fully persuaded; and the manner in which this benefit is to be obtained is so well represented by the worthy editor, in the advertisement prefixed to this publication, that we think it our duty to lay his observations at full length before our readers. That some correction of political abuses is become necessary, seems now to be generally acknowledged; corruption, as a principle of Government, is more deeply execrated than it ever was; and the extinction of it is more earnestly pursued, by more numerous bodies of men, conducted by more powerful leaders than before. It is of much importance to the Public therefore, that what was proposed by the Minister in 1785, with a view to that necessary correction, should be made known, not indistinctly, through the medium of a Summary Explanation by another person, but from the exhibition of the Plan itself, in the very words of Mr. Pitt. It would indeed be a vain and fallacious hope, that the Plan sketched in the first Paper, if it were strictly and literally adhered to, would either be sufficiently extensive, or sufficiently prompt in execution, to meet the exigency of this crisis. By the immense expenditure of the War with France, the power of the Crown, in a corresponding degree, has been augmented; by their extreme sufferings, the minds of the People have been soured, and thence they have been taught to look for a more efficient and less dilatory Reformation than that which Mr. Pitt proposed in 1785; and with which, at that time, they certainly would have been well satisfied. But the principles then laid down, and the measures then proposed by that able Politician, were calculated at once to secure the just authority of the Crown, and to restore the Constitutional Rights of the People. These were H 2 the the salutary ends to which his Plan was directed; and it was for tunately capable also, by a more extensive application of its principles, to form a fit compromise for times, when a more effectual Reform has come to be expected. In the Papers now laid before the Public, it will be found, that Mr. Pitt proposed to extinguish a certain number of the little venal and dependent Boroughs, to reinforce the Representation of the Counties and the Metropolis of England by the transfer of the Right of Representation from the extinguished Boroughs to them; and to augment the Constituent Body by imparting the Right of voting to Copyholders, to certain Leaseholders, and to Householders paying taxes in certain Cities and Towns. If public spirit has not ceased to animate the Body of the Nation, if all regard to Prudence is not abandoned by the great majority of the Peerage, it will neither be difficult nor dangerous to extend these measures somewhat farther, and yet not beyond the bounds of a fair and moderate compromise. Let the Representation of the Counties and the Metropolis in each of the united Kingdoms be reinforced; let the Right of voting be imparted to Copyholders, certain Leaseholders and Householders paying taxes throughout Great-Britain; and let these important improvements be effected, not in the slow and dilatory way proposed by Mr. Pitt, but by the prompt and speedy execution of them as measures, judged by the Legislature, on due deliberation, to be fit without delay for these times, and necessary for the general weal. To fortify these improvements, the subsidiary measures which were intended by Mr. Pitt, and which are nearly as important as the Reform in the Representation, ought to be adopted at the same time; viz. the triennial Election of Parliaments should be restored, better modes of Election of Parliaments should be established, and the Counties, &c. where necessary, should be subdivided into Districts; it would also be expedient, to renew the ancient rule of paying wages to the Representatives; and after these changes had been accomplished, some pecuniary compensation might be granted to persons who could substantiate any just ground of complaint from the operation of these acts; a sufficient fund for which expence might be found in the sale of that part of the Crown Lands, from which the Royal Family derives little income, and neither use, pleasure, nor security in any degree. Let such a mild and yet effectual Reform as this be granted, or let that similar and perhaps better Plan be adopted by Parliament, which Mr. Grey lately offered, and which was supported by a band of generous men, to whom we are indebted for the defence of the Constitution on its just and genuine principles; and it may be pronounced certain, that the dangers which surround us will then be averted, that the fear of anarchy and arbitrary power will then vanish away, and that a firm and insuperable barrier will be then opposed to the alarming inroads of Despotism and Licentiousness. It is but too evident that the fortress of our Constitution is in a dilapidated state, and ready to overwhelm us beneath its ruins. It behoves us to repair with speed the venerable pile; to labour in this work of Love with unwearied assiduity; and with the wise counsel and assistance of those Master Builders in political architecture, to whom whom we are already so deeply indebted, to fortify and complete the spacious Tower of the Constitution, in which we and our Posterity may then rest securely protected against every foe, and safe from those storms and tempests, which, in the course of ages, may assail us. The outline only of the Plan here alluded to has yet been given to the Public; when that outline is filled up, it may be justly hoped it will be found to contain every mild regulation, every wellweighed improvement, which the most cautious prudence can suggest, and which, without impairing its superior efficacy, may give it the greatest probability of a quiet and peaceful execution. Under this impression, the Editor wishes to see the work of Reformation committed to the hands of men like Mr. Grey and his coadjutors, many of whom are men rich in talents and virtues as in fame, and deeply interested, by their immense possessions, in the preservation of order and tranquillity.' Suggestions so temperate, and so strongly marked with the character of political wisdom, will not surely, at the present moment, fail to excite a more than common degree of public attention. Art. 41. The Speech of a Patriot King to his Parliament. 8vo. 6d. Debrett. I am one of those beings (says the author of this speech) who, not having it in my power to do much real good, am happy to do all the imaginary good I can to mankind; and being of a very romantic turn, I cannot easily disenchant the fairy scene I conjure round me. Thus I go on conferring happiness on ideal friends, forgiving ideal enemies, rewarding and encouraging humble merit; and, as my fortune (being ideal) is inexhaustible, I set no limits to my bounty. In short, if happiness be scated in the mind, I am certainly one of the happiest men existing. Sometimes I own that "the baseless fabrics of a vision," like the brilliant palace of Armida, are suddenly destroyed; but I soon rebuild them, and am as blest as ever. If Castles in the Air could be sold or mortgaged handsomely on earth, my real fortune might cope with my ideal. I went the other day to the House of Peers, to hear our Gracious Monarch deliver his Last Speech to his Faithful Parliament, From my sanguine and visionary disposition, I could not, after having gone to bed and fallen asleep, divest myself of the ideas of Royalty.' I fancied myself once more in the House of Lords, even upon the Throne, "every inch a King,"-and I made a Speech to my Parliament, which was so much impressed upon my memory, that I found myself able, next morning after I got up, to set it down verbatim in writing.' It is this speech which the author here presents to us. In his visionary character, he observes to his visionary Parliament that he will withdraw his confidence from all parties, and for once appeal to reason, experience, and his own understanding:' he assures them that he has been grossly deceived;' that our motives for entering into the war with France were impolitic and unjust;' and in short that, all our pretexts were as flimsy as our puny efforts have been unsuccessful.' 6 After such acknowlegements as these, the reader will not be sur prise that the patriotic monarch insists on the necessity of univer sal suffrage and frequent elections, and recommends the suppression of useless pensions and places, the reduction of enormous salaries, the complete abolition of all monopolies, chartered companies and reli gious establishments-in a word a grand and admirable revolu tion.' Art. 42. A Short Argument on the Administration of Oaths, endeavour. ing to shew that it is an essential and unalienable Prerogative of the Sovereignty. 8vo. 6d. Beckett. 1797. This author maintains the opinion asserted in his title-page thus ; As an oath, in general, is the strongest obligation that can be laid upon the agency of man and as every particular oath directs that agency to a particular end; so the end, to which that agency is in each particular instance directed, is prescribed by him who ADMINISTERS the oath. Whence it is an universal principle, that all oaths are sworn, in animum imponentis; or according to the mind of the persons administering them. He, therefore, who administers an oath, lays upon another the strongest obligation by which man, as an agent, can be bound and as he prescribes the rule by which that agency shall act, ("the animus imponentis being the rule of the juror's duty,") it follows, that the administrator of an oath binds, in the strictest tie, ligamen, or allegiance, the person who takes the oath; and becomes, the supreme disposer of the conduct and actions of that person, in the respect in which he is so bound; that is to say, that he acquires and exercises, in that sicular, a perfect, proper, and essential power of sovereignty." par He then asserts that this power has been usurped, and that the rigorous interposition of the legislature is therefore uccessary: but he has omitted to make a distinction, very material in this argument, between administering those oaths that have a lawful and those that have an unlawful purpose. Whoever administers the latter is evidently hostile to the state, and desirous of seducing others from their allegiance to its laws:-but this cannot be said of him who administers an oath, the object of which is to bind another to the performance of any laudable or even indifferent action. In contracts of certain descriptions, and in some laudable associations, it may often be con venient to avail ourselves of the obligation of an oath, The right of giving or requiring a solemn promise or asseveration, in which God is called to witness, is not among those that it is necessary to relinquish on entering society. Who has ever imagined that they who solemnize marriage, and who therefore administer oaths, in countries in which marriage is not a subject of legislative regulation, are guilty of treason in so doing? Is the Turk a traitor to the Grand Signior, for requiring the Christian merchant to swear that he will not defraud him in his merchandize? Would an Englishman or an Irishman be guilty of an act of treason, in administering an oath to bind another to promote improvement in the constitution, obedience to the laws, and harmony and affection between his countrymen of every religious religious and political persuasion? Circumstances, indeed, may render it necessary to forbid the administration of oaths, except by those whom the legislature may authorise for that purpose: but we do not think that the author has proved that the administration of oaths belongs in all cases, essentially and inalienably, to the Sovereign. Art. 43. The British Crisis; or, the Disorder of the State at ita Height. With prognostic Signs of Recovery or Dissolution. By no Royal Physician. 8vo. Is. Jordan, &c. A coarse and vulgar attack on the ministry, and on all who sup port their system. NOVEL. Art. 44. The History of Vanillo Gonzales, surnamed the Merry Ba-. chelor. From the French of Alain-René le Sage, Author of the celebrated Novels of Gil Blas, and the Devil on Crutches. 2 Vols. gs. sewed. Robinsons. 1797. 12mc. The well-known Le Sage was born at Ruys in Bretany in 1677, and died at the age of 70. His literary career began by a translation from the Greek, but was principally illustrated by his comic operas, and by his novels, which are chiefly imitations from the Spanish. Guzman of Alfarache, the Bachelor of Salamanca, the New Adventures of Don Quixote, and Estevanille, have hitherto been little read in comparison with his Gil Blas and his Limping Devil, strangely called by English writers the Devil upon two Sticks. Old versions exist of at least three of these forgotten novels: but we have been unable to procure even the Estevanille, to compare with the present publica tion. In the general turn of character and business, this novel very strongly resembles Gil Blas; and it too frequently throws the interest on the side of roguery, fraud, and debauch, to be very favourable to mo rality but it is full of incident, and of entertaining adventures, and seems to be not ill translated. MISCELLANEOUS. Art. 45. The probable Progress and Issue of the Commotions which have agitated Europe since the French Revolution, argued from the Aspect of Things, and the Writings of the Prophets. By J. Bicheno. 8vo. pp. 94. 2s. Johnson, 1797. We Perhaps there is no kind of discussion, in which it is more easy to write plausibly without producing satisfactory conviction, than that which investigates the meaning, and attempts to ascertain the accomplishment, of the prophecies in the book of Revelation: make this remark as an apology for the cursory manner in which it is our custom to pass over tracts on this subject, and particularly for the small portion of room that we have allotted to the ingenious productions of Mr. Bicheno's pen; which have all, if we rightly recollect, been directed towards this single object. We do not, however, class this intelligent writer with modern enthusiastic pretenders to prophetic powers: we perceive that he pursues his inquiries with cool deliberation and diligent research: and we give him credit, not only H 4 for |