ART. 30. Suggestions for rendering the Enclosure of Common Fields and Wafie Lands a Source of Population and Riches. By Thomas Stone. 8vo. Is. 6d. Robinfons. London. 1787.

The author's avowed defign in thefe fuggeftions is to inquire ftrictly into the causes of the ill fuccefs which, for a series of years, has attended the encloture of common fields and wafte lands and to point out the most effectual means of preventing them in future. In performing this task he first delivers an account of the general state and. management of common fields; and afterwards, a brief defcription of the management of enclosures. Thefe are followed by a comment on the arguments frequently ufed against the enclosure of common fields and waste lands; in which the author, in our opinion, fatisfactorily vindicates that practice from many of the objections which have been urged by those who confider it as injurious. Whether it is really hurtful to population, as has been fuggested by the Rev. Mr. Howlett, appears to be still problematical. Mr. Stone fufpects that the mode of inveftigation which this gentleman has adopted may involve the question farther in error. For inftance, if it should be proved that the foils of the refpective parishes, from which his returns of population, fince their enclosures, were made, are not properly cultivated, or applied to the purposes for which they are beft adapted.

Against another important objection, namely, that enclosures are fre quent caufes of emigration, Mr. Stone obferves, that whoever draws a general conclufion that the enclosure of common fields in any parish is the caufe of the emigration of its inhabitants, from the miscarriage of a few enclosures within their knowledge, or even from the ill fuccefs with which too many of the enclosures that have taken place within the laft fixty years have been attended, is over hafty in his conclufion. Such perfons, he fays, fhould confider that the enclosure of common fields will be proved to be attended with good or bad confequences to the community, in proportion to the good or bad management which is adopted.

In proportion as the knowledge of agriculture is diffused over the country, these and other important questions in rural economy will be fully a certained. In the mean time, the public is greatly indebted to those writers who contribute, by their judicious remarks and fuggeftions, to accelerate that longed-for epoch, fo aufpicious to the aggrandifement and general happiness of the nation.

ART. 31. A Rope's-End for Hempen Monopolifts; or, a Dialogue between. a bruker, a Rope-Maker, and the Ghost of Jonas Hanway, Efq. in which are reprefented the pernicious Effects of the Rife in the Price of Hemp. 8vo. 3s. 6d. Sewell. London, 1787,

A late transaction refpecting the monopoly of hemp is the subject of this dialogue, which is conducted with tolerable ingenuity. The author has made lefs ufe of fatire than of argument; but he reprobates the behaviour of the perfons concerned with warm and just indignation.

ART.

ART. 32, The Elements of English Grammar, methodically arranged for the Affiftance of young Perfons who ftudy the English Language grammatically. To which is added, a concife Treatife of Rhetoric. Defigned particularly for the Ufe of Ladies' Boarding Schools. By G. Neville Usher. The Second Edition. 12mo. 1s. 6d. Gloucester printed.

Evans, London. 1786.

The author of these Elements has taken a middle courfe between the large fyftems of fome grammarians, and the fhort abridgments of others. He gives a concife, but comprehenfive view of his fubject, and in a manner judiciously adapted to the capacity of learners, and those who are unacquainted with the ancient languages. Knowing that rules and precepts, however en inculcated, make but a flight impreffion on the minds of youth, and are foon forgotten, he has formed at the end of the grammar a collection of faulty expreffions, printed as fuch, and accompanied with references to the rules, so that the learner may easily correct them, and thus improve in the knowledge of the language both by exercife and precept. These Elements, therefore, are a useful manual for youth; and, from what Mr. Ufsher informs us in the preface, relative to his method of teaching, he appears to be no lefs a good practical master than he is a fyftematical grammarian.

For the ENGLISH REVIEW.

NATIONAL

AFFAIRS.

THE

HE Houfe of Commons, by their vote of addrefs to the King, have now given their general implied fanction and approbation to the Treaty of Commerce between Great-Britain and France. A commercial arrangement that produces a complete revolution in the fyftem of policy adopted by England for feveral ages, and has alarmed the vigilance, and roufed the fpirit of the nation. The politi cal and commercial map of Europe has been examined; and the annals of paft ages explored to enlighten the prefent. Raifed to the obfervation of the world, English genius has tranfcended itself; and the prefent feffions of parliament have produced examples of eloquence equal, if not fuperior, to the happieft models of Greece and Rome. The clear comprehenfion of a general fubject, which involves a variety of feparate parts; that lucid arrangement, which, by happily

grouping

grouping particulars, fixes them on the retina of the intellect; that copioufnefs of diction, elegant as becomes a minifter, but not too much adorned for a man of business, which diftinguishes Mr. Pitt in the Houfe of Commons; were never difplayed to greater advantage than in the debates on the commercial treaty. On no former occafion did Mr. Fox difcover, and in a ftronger degree to the astonishment or impreffion of his audience, his profound acquaintance with the fyftem of European politics in paft and prefent times; the great national views which fuggeft themfelves only to a great and ambitious mind; the rapid glance of argument, and the electric flash of decifion. Animated with the breath of better times, Mr. Burke rose to his former luftre, and delivered thofe claffical effufions of a luminous intellect, and an elegant imagination, which have been fo often heard with admiration and delight in the Houfe of Commons. The fpeech of Mr. Grey was one of the most promifing primitia that was ever offered at St. Stephen's Chapel; marked with the lumen purpureum juventa, and at the fame time announcing the maturity of manhood. Characters of this kind, that rife to celebrity without forfaking their station, awaken the expectation of the public. The nation places Ittle confidence in advertizing patriots, orators imported from foreign parts, who, like lefs refpećtable articles of commerce, are introduced only to fupply the demands of the market. But an enlightened, ardent, and independent English gentleman, who has wifdom to difcern the interefts, and fpirit to affert the rights, of the people, forms a character of the first luftre, and, without the whisper of kings, or the huzza of faction, will command the veneration of his country. In that defcription of men are deposited the hopes of the present and of future generations.

An

The chief fymptom of wildom which nations can difcover, is to accommodate themselves to their fituation. Plunged as we are in public debts, and loaded with taxes to an extent that never was experienced by any people upon the earth, the wifeft meafures that we can adopt are fuch as tend to augment our revenue, to improve our industry, and give a wider circulation to trade and commerce. intercourfe with France prefents the faireft and most inviting field for this purpofe. The vicinity of fituation; the frequent returns of profit; and a country that brings twenty millions of inhabitants within the fphere of our industry; form a commercial profpect, which, confidering the inveterate and deep-rooted prejudices between the two kingdoms, a political philofopher would rather wifh for than

expect

1

expect to fee fulfilled. From the fuperior induftry, ingenuity, and capital, which England poffeffes, and which gives her an afcendant in every foreign market, the immediate advantages to England in this treaty are obvious; nor are the future contingent. One line of policy and industry purfued for twelve years will give a ftability to the councils and exertions of a government which hath fuffered in the eyes of Europe from its uncertainty and fluctuation. Speculation, which has often been fo pernicious to commercial adventurers, will be prevented; while illicit trade is checked, a fair intercourfe between two neighbouring kingdoms, no longer enemies, will be encouraged; and while the revenues of the king will increafe, the industry and the capital of the kingdom will be augmented.

In former times, when Great-Britain held the balance of Europe, and was the guardian and the umpire among contending nations, her feelings, as well as her politics, might prompt her to adopt the Roman maxim, to oppose the ftrong, and protect the feeble,

Parcere fubjectis, et debellare fuperbos.

From thefe views, and this fpirit, fhe withstood the Spanifh power, when an empire, on which the fun never fet, awakened the jealoufy, and threatened the liberties, of the neighbouring nations. From a more generous and a more provident policy, the refifted the efforts, and broke the arm of French defpotifm which, in the reign of Lewis the Fourteenth, menaced the fubjugation of Europe. But the maxims of kings, and the manners of nations, have changed. To military ambition an humbler, but more beneficial, object fucceeds; a rivalfhip in commerce is established, and the prize is to be won, not by tactics, fortification, and gunnery, but the mechanic, manufacturing, and mercantile

arts.

An objection of a different kind, that refers to the moral fpirit of nations, may be ftarted to this treaty." When the love of glory is gone," fays Mr. Burke, all is over with "man; he becomes an animal, and confiders only what "will fatten him." This objection has been long fince removed. Heroic nature exifts no more. The enthusiasm for martial conquefts and military glory, which, when it pervades a nation, may lift individuals to diftinction and renown, has ceased to operate on the minds of men. We prefer the olive to the laurel; and feek for diftinction by arts rather than by arms. Intereft and pleasure have be

come

come the favourite pursuits of men; but though in every age a golden apple may tempt an Hippomanes, or a Dalilah fubdue a giant, many efcape the general contagion, and become as eminent in the humble vale of pacific life as the warrior and the hero in the ftormy periods of former ages. Enthufiafm, the great fpring of all intellectual and moral excellence, is not a ftranger to the refined and even declining periods of fociety. If the benevolence of Howard had embraced a greater object than the paltry one of letting a little fresh air into purgatory, he would have merited and obtained a reward more valuable than ftatues, the filent approbation of the wife and good in every age. Who knows but that, in the lapfe of a few centuries, another race of Romans may arife in New Holland; the Fabricii, the Brutuffes, and the Scipios of Botany Bay, who, carried on the tide of conqueft or adventure, may infufe a new principle of health into the battered conftitution of the mother country; and, by their atchievements and renown, furnish an edifying fupplement to "Plutarch's Lives?"

RUSSIA.

The journey of the Emprefs of Ruffia to Cherfon, where that enterprizing and magnificent princefs is to be crowned in the prefence of her new fubjects, has attracted the attention of Europe. This forms a glorious epoch in the history of Catherine II. and will tranfmit her name to pofterity as the foundrefs of a new Greek empire. This long-revolved project, announced for three years paft in the foreign gazettes, is now brought to maturity. From emiffaries that The had fent into the countries bordering on the Black Sea, she had received repeated information that the Greek families, wandering and oppreffed in Curdistan, Armenia, Circaffia, Mingrelia, bore the Mahometan tyranny with impatience, and only waited a signal to throw off the yoke. According to her well concerted and magnificent plan, they are to be affembled at Tauris, and, uniting with her Tartar fubjects, will form a numerous population in these her new dominions. Advantages of the moft folid and most brilliant kind present themselves to Ruffia from this extent of empire. The lucrative fishing on the Black Sea, which the Ruffians will take from the Dutch; the poffeffion of the ports of Bakalawa, Cherfon, Cavan, and the Ifle of Taman, which will give them the empire of thefe feas; the quantity of wood for the conftruction of fhips, of iron, and all the materials for a marine, which they will draw from the fertile

territory