on the labouring classes of society, and what proportion of their incomes all the active, industrious middle orders of the state, as well as the higher orders, must pay in assessed taxes, and the various articles of the customs and excise, the pressure will appear to be absolutely intolerable. Nor would even the ad valorem taxes afford any real relief. The annual forty millions must at all events be paid; and if some taxes fail, others must be imposed that will be more productive. < These are considerations sufficient to alarm even the stockholders themselves. Indeed, if the measure of value were really to fall, as we have supposed, there is great reason to fear that the country would be absolutely unable to continue the payment of the present interest of the national debt.' I own it appears to me that the necessary effect of a change in the measure of value on the weight of a large national debt is alone sufficient to make the question fundamentally different from that of a simple question about a free or restricted trade; and, that to consider it merely in this light, and to draw our conclusions accordingly, is to expect the same results from premises which have essentially changed their nature.

From this review of the manner in which the different classes of society will be effected by the opening of our ports, I think it appears clearly, that very much the largest mass of the people, and particularly of the industrious orders of the state, will be more injured than benefited by the measure.'

Art. 16. Observations on the Effects that would be produced by the proposed Corn-Laws, on the Agriculture, Commerce, and Population of the United Kingdom. By William Chapman, M.R.I.A. 8vo. PP. 37. 28. Richardson. 1815.

In what a very different light are the restrictions on the importation of foreign corn viewed by this writer! He contends, on the generally received principles of political economy, that 'low relative price is the sine qua non of the existence or continuance of foreign export, and that we can only continue a high degree of population by keeping down as far as possible the ultimate costs of our fabrics. One fact is considered by Mr. C., which seems to be too much overlooked by writers on this subject, viz. the proportion of agriculturists to the other members of the community. He refers to a table deduced from the last census made in 1811, to shew that, taking England at large, the manufacturing and commercial part of the population is 459 out of a thousand; and that, if their interests be disregarded, or their prosperity checked, we shall soon be precipitated into a dreadful gulph. Art. 17. Considerations on the Protection required by British Agriculture, and on the Influence of the Price of Corn on exportable Productions. By William Jacob, Esq., F.R.S. 8vo. pp. 195. 6s. 6d. Boards. Johnson and Co. 1814.

As derived from an extensive knowlege of trade and commerce, the opinion of Mr. Jacob merits regard. By no means does he subscribe to the laissez nous faire system, but roundly maintains that our prosperity in most points has been promoted by legislative restricTo substantiate this fact, he quotes various evidence; and he strongly inclines to the opinion of those who contend that, in order

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order to sustain our agriculture at a pitch which our increased population requires, we must keep up the price of its produce, and not sacrifice our agricultural interests for the supposed encouragement of our manufactures. He calculates the annual consumption, in Great Britain, of Wheat, Oats, Barley, Beans, Pulse, and Rye, at 49,975,459 quarters; and he shews from the amount of the tonnage of our shipping, and the agricultural condition of other countries, the disastrous state to which we should be reduced, were we under the necessity of depending for food on foreign growth. The recent losses of the farmer by the fall of grain, and the agricultural calamity which promises to ensue, are sources of much lamentation with Mr. J.; since he is persuaded that the welfare of the community is concerned in a spirited cultivation of the soil, which cannot take place if our farmers are not remunerated.

It is the duty of government to afford protection to the property of its own country; and the landed and agricultural interests, though the greatest in number, the largest in value, and the principal contributors to the exigencies of the state, ought only to require that no foreigners shall, in this country, be allowed a competition with them, whilst the price of corn is lower than will afford them a moderate profit. Whenever it is below that price, all foreign competition ought to be rigidly prohibited, and that not solely for the sake of the growers, though their condition ought to have considerable weight, but for that of the whole community, who must severely suffer from any discouragement given to cultivation.'

So energetically does this writer plead for the advancement of our own agriculture, that he combats the position of Mr. Malthus, in his Observations on the Corn-Laws, "that in the present state of things we must give up the idea of creating a large average surplus of corn:" but we think that Mr. Jacob is too sanguine in his calculations of the extent to which farming improvements may be pushed; and surely he is mistaken when he tells us that a higher rate of labour, occasioned by the price of food, will not affect the foreign sale of our manufactures. Adopting the maxim that "England is England's best customer," Mr. J. is not alarmed at the threats of the emigration of our manufacturers, or the under-selling of our manufac tures. At all events, the prosperity of the agriculturist, according to him, must be upheld.

Art. 18. The Objections against the Corn-Bill refuted; and the Necessity of this Measure to the vital Interests of every Class of the Community, demonstrated. By William Spence, Esq., F.L.S. President of the Holderness Agricultural Society. 2d Edition. 8vo. pp. 46. Longman and Co. 1815.

We need scarcely observe that Mr. Spence takes the same side of the question with Mr. Jacob. Seriatim, he undertakes to answer all objections to the deprecated measure of the Corn-Bill; and he enters on his task with great zeal and energy, under an impression, (we trust, ill founded,) that one wide wasting ruin is extending over the farming world in every direction.' We cannot follow him in all his arguments, but shall content ourselves with copying a part of his reply to the first objection urged against the Corn-Bill, viz. "that it

is contrary to every sound principle of political economy; that it is one of the first axioms, that the greatest freedom of exportation and importation must be to the interest of every country.”

That this is true in the abstract,' says Mr. S., few I believe pretend to deny; I certainly not for one; but I must tell those who urge this objection that every one of the first principles of political economy, and this amongst the rest, in particular circumstances admit of exceptions; and that restrictions and prohibitions which would be in the highest degree injudicious in the case of an infant community, may be indispensable to the interest and even existence of a nation, whose whole system is accompanied by such restrictions and prohibitions, and built upon a foundation altogether artificial.'

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In fact, our prices, and the whole of our internal system, are intimately and inseparably interwoven with our national debt, and altogether artificial; and so long as the moving principle of our machinery remains the same, and every wheel is kept in repair, and preserves that relative situation in which we know, by experience, it is capable of contributing to the equable and effective motion of the whole, we shall go on prosperously and happily, whether our foreign trade is diminished or increased; but if we once begin to try experiments, and while we cast off our fly-wheels and regulators, introduce a new and unmanageable power, the whole machinery will be blown to atoms, and the senseless operators buried in the ruins.' Art. 19. An Argument and Constitutional Advice for the Petitioners against the Corn-Bill. By John Prince Smith, Esq., Barrister at Law, &c., Author of the " Elements of the Science of Money," &c. 8vo. pp. 44. 38. Sherwood and Co. 1815.

Against the current of the opinions of several political economists, this writer maintains that no act of the legislature can, with out great oppression, really give aid to the agriculturist; and so adverse is he to the Corn-Bill, that he recommends a petition to the Prince Regent in case it should pass the House of Lords, which event has taken place since he wrote. We cannot enter on an exami. nation of the several parts of his Argument:' but its sum and substance may be collected from the following passage:

If corn rises, labour must rise, or the labourer must starve; other commodities also must rise, or manufacturers cannot live. Now the parliament may enact that corn shall not be imported under Sos. a quarter from a given day; but can it, on the same day, alter the value of money, restore the bankrupt traders to full credit, erect anew the fallen manufactories, give labour to the hungry artisans, and bring back the system of discounting and accommodation-bills, and all the artifices of credit by which high prices were formerly sustained? All this is a work of time, and until all this is effected, the act is either nugatory or an oppression upon the consumer, to favour the manufacturer of corn, for such in truth is the farmer: the landlord, the tax-gatherer, and the tythe-collector being, in effect, the three sleeping partners in his firm.'

Mr. Smith's remedy for existing evils is a reduction of taxes; and, in order to prepare for this reduction, he would annihilate all the stock, with its interest, which has been redeemed by the sinking-fund.

This, perhaps, the Minister would have proposed, had he not unfortunately speculated on a new war.

Thus it appears that the mass of the writers at present under review are in favour of the corn-restrictions: but it must not be forgotten that the most strenuous advocates for this unpopular measure appeal, in its justification, to the peculiarity of our present circumstances; and in course the Corn-Bill must be considered as a matter of mere temporary expedience.

Other tracts have appeared on this subject, which we have not yet had time to peruse.

EDUCATION.

Art. 20. Introduction to Arithmetic, on a System never before published, the Principles of which are calculated to facilitate the Improvement of the Pupil, and to lessen the Labour of the Teacher; by George Gregory, of the Free Grammar School, Repton. 12mo. 4s. Bound. Longman and Co.

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We have here one of the best arranged and best executed of the numerous treatises of arithmetic which have lately fallen under our observation. It contains very little, if any, of that pedantry which so commonly disfigures works of this kind; while the examples are natural, and the rules well expressed and illustrated, at least with very few exceptions, of which one of the most striking is in the rule of proportion, or rule of three. The author teaches in his first part only the rule of three direct; in fractions, he has the rule of three direct and inverse, condensed into one; and in decimals, the rule of three without any conditions of its being direct or inverse, but evidently by the examples intended to include both. Now we should

be glad to know why the rule of three inversed was not introduced in its proper place after the direct rule; or rather why both were not incorporated into one in the first part as well as in the second. The author appears in general to have had in view the condensation of his rules, both as to number and as to quantity; and it is therefore the more singular that he should have deviated from his own principles in this particular. We wish also to advise him, in any future edition, to change the order of his terms in the above rules; and not to form his ratios with incongruous quantities. That "Ratio is the relation which one magnitude bears to another magnitude of the same kind with respect to quantity" is a well known definition; and yet most of our arithmeticians will place that term, which is like the answer, in the middle, and thus force a comparison between things which have no sort of connection or relation. With these and one or two additional alterations, we should have no hesitation in classing this among the best of our compendious treatises on arithmetic.

One other peculiarity marks this performance, on which the author relies for its obtaining a preference in schools; the numbers in all the questions throughout being so arranged, that the sum of the digits of the answers is some multiple of 9: so that, by merely adding these together, the tutor will judge of the correctness of the answer. This may in some cases be a convenience to the master: but, if he investigates the solutions no farther, he may be subject to impo

sition from some artful pupils, who will not long remain ignorant of that peculiarity, and who will always find the means of making the solution agree with the required conditions, however erroneous the operation may be. In order to guard against such imposition, the page containing an explanation of this contrivance is not to be bound up with the rest of the work, but is delivered separately with each copy; by which means, it is (vainly) expected, the secret may be kept from the pupils.

Art. 21. A Key to Gregory's Arithmetic, adapted to the First, and a prepared Second Edition of that Work; containing Answers to the Questions, with the Stating to each Example in which Proportion is concerned; and the work at length to those Examples which are long, or in the least tedious: to which is affixed a Compendium of Logarithmic Arithmetic, by the same Author. 12mo. 48. Bound. Longman and Co.

Notwithstanding the plan of the preceding treatise of arithmetic, the author has thought that a key to it, which should contain the solution at length of every example, (or nearly all of them,) would be useful to teachers in large schools; and he has, therefore, with considerable patience and labour, compiled the present set of solutions. We are, however, inclined to think that, if every teacher were as industrious as this author, his key would become rusty for want of employment. No one ought to attempt to teach unless he be perfectly master of all that is contained in the arithmetic; and, if he be master of it, he has little occasion for a key. The Compendium of Logarithmic Arithmetic,' which forms a part of this work, should have been given in continuation of the Arithmetic; an arrangement which we would advise the author to adopt in the second edition which he states that he is preparing.

Art. 22. A New System of teaching the Art of Writing, comprehending Essays on the Subject, extracted from Lectures delivered at different Periods by the Author; also, Hints relative to teaching Writing by Analysis, &c. To which is added, a Plan of acquiring Improvement in Business-Hand-writing, by a peculiar Movement of the Pen; containing a curious Classification of the Letters, and combining the Excellences and uniform Neatness of English Manuscript. By J. Carstairs. 8vo. 12s. Boards. Author, No. 18. Newcastle-street, Strand. 1814.

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We We may recommend this curious book on penmanship to the managers of Lancasterian schools and similar establishments. suggests a division of written letters into seventeen elementary strokes, or flourishes, (engraved in the copper-plate B.) out of which they are all formed; and it proposes to exercise the incipient writer on these seventeen models only. He is afterward to learn the art of joining these loose characters into the several letters. Other novel methods occur; such as exercising the children to write their letters one below the other diagonally, which is supposed to bestow command of hand. All these proposals for innovation are stated to grow out of persevering personal observation.

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