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tured in Russia, instead of that which had previously been imported from England. In France, too, we find the adoption of a similar system recommended; and the government is preparing to lay a heavy duty upon all cotton stuffs imported; which, say the supporters of the measure," it will be in vain attempting to prohibit, as, from the perfection of their machinery, the extent of their capital, and the num ber of skilful hands they can employ, the English can manufacture these goods so cheap as, for the present, to prevent us entering into any thing like a competition with them." To give every advantage to their own manufactures, it is recommended to the parliament not to lay a heavy duty upon the raw material; though, even thus early, they do not insist on its being liable to none. And so anxious are the French politicians to encourage the consumption of their own produce, that some of them have gravely recommended brandy as a more wholesome patriotic beverage than tea. This singular taste may, perhaps, create a smile on the countenances of some old ladies; but it ought, nevertheless, to impress upon the minds of us all the necessity of adopting that sound national policy on the utility of which our neighbours have, for some time, been reading us a lesson.

How far it might, on the whole, be wise to license the exportation of English sheep and wool, we are not fully prepared to state. That such license would be advantageous to the farmer, nobody can long doubt. But the manufacturer would, as usual, be sadly alarmed, and parliament would be petitioned; yet, if this were all, the general good ought and would be consulted-were the subject once seriously taken up.

In a quarterly journal of the day, in which Mr. Brougham's influence is decidedly greater than that of Mr. Western, there is an Essay on the Distresses of the Country, (written with far less party spleen than that journal usually exhibits,) one of the great objects of which is, to recommend the cultivation of tobacco in these islands. The essayist reminds us of the primary reason for prohibiting the cultivation of that article in this country, namely, a wish to give all possible encouragement to the American provinces; and he points out the absurdity of continuing that prohibition, now that the American tobacco plantations are in foreign hands. This subject cannot be unworthy the attention of parliament. We owe nothing to the partiality of the good folks of Virginia and Maryland: and we may venture to predict,

that the legislators of the United States will not soon be found incommoding their own farmers and manufacturers, for the sake of benefiting ours.

On the subject of TITHES, we have already given it as our opinion, that the law, as it relates to them, is supported by the practice of so many ages, and is founded on the precepts of a code of so much higher authority than that to which any human system can lay claim, that no material alteration should be attempted, but with the greatest caution. We cannot therefore be otherwise than pleased to find, that most of the members of parliament who have taken part in the discussions of this subject, have fully admitted that the holder of tithes, be he a clerical or a lay impropriator, bas as complete an interest in his property as any land proprietor whatever. An interest so vested cannot be taken from him without his consent, any more than can an interest in the hereditary or the purchased estates of those who complain of the grievance of being compelled to pay the clergy their dues. Nay, we have the authority of an honourable and learned gentleman, not remarkable for either the readiness of his admissions or the veneration in which he holds the priestly office, for asserting, that, notwithstanding the rigour which they are sometimes charged with employing, the clergy do not, in reality, receive a fourth part of the proportion of produce which they might justly claim. Let us beware, then, how we diminish that fourth-especially as it is of the nature of that revenue which was set apart for spiritual purposes nearly five thousand years ago. Let us not forget, that the first blow struck by the authors of the French Revolution, was against the revenues of the church. It must not however be supposed that, because we deprecate any inconsiderate measure for the commutation of tithes, we are hostile to all attempts at rendering the mode of collecting them more agreeable to those who pay them. We approve of the recommendation of the committee of the House of Commons to give to the proprietors of tithes, the power of letting them on lease, for a certain term of years, to the occupiers of the land. This would be an equitable provision; and guarded as it is proposed that it should be against the possibility of injury to future incumbents-by giving the ordinary, and the patron, a voice in all contracts-we are convinced that its adoption would prove beneficial and acceptable to all parties. The bishop would, in such a case, have to appoint a surveyor, to certify on oath, that

the rent reserved by the lease was a fair and just equivalent for the tithes ;-and it is very properly suggested that no other consideration should be taken, than annual rent duly certified and approved.

We shall now glance at two important alterations in the laws, which have been proposed as means of benefiting alike the commercial and the agricultural interest. We allude to the repeal of the usury laws, and the act for the relief of insolvent debtors. The former measure seems to be a great favourite with certain members of the House of Commons; and we are fully aware that it has the sanction of a writer whose opinions are entitled to high respect: But great as is the esteem in which we hold the talents of Mr. Jeremiah Bentham, we must be excused if, both as a political economist and a lawyer, we pronounced him a mere theorist, though decidedly the first of the class in which he has taken his station. We shall point out a few of the practical inconveniences which will inevitably result from leaving the rate of interest to find its own level, as those gentlemen term it. We admit that there are seasons at which a speculating merchant could well afford to give fifty per cent. for the loan of money. But if the law allow him to borrow at this rate to day without risk to the lender, the law-makers must bear in mind, that, for the sake of driving a capital bargain, or of saving his credit, he may to-morrow borrow at cent. per cent., and eventually ruin himself and half his honest creditors. Usurers, as they term men who lend money at the highest interest they can obtain, will have good security for their advances; and, in many cases, will get the merchant's goods in pledge, and thus have a lien on them, which will secure their full debt with interest, whilst it leaves the other claimants on the estate with a dividend of perhaps a few pence in the pound, if indeed it amount to any thing. In the case of mortgages, if they may be granted on any terms, the principal object of entails upon landed estates will be defeated; and extravagant heirs, and all those who, in fact, are but tenants for life, will encumber them with such an exorbitant interest, that they never can be redeemed. A very little experience in our courts of law will be sufficient to satisfy any one, that, whilst such securities can be offered for advances of money at any rate of interest, few people will be content to take the poor five per cent. which the public funds hold out.- -Instead of giving any relief to the landed interest, a measure of this sort must add to its

depression; for, admitting that money may be readily had at ten per cent. instead of five, the land which is purchased and cultivated at the higher rate, will be worth only about half what it would have been worth had the old standard been preserved.

The repeal of the Insolvent Debtors' Act is a measure of a different character. This humane experiment, for it never was considered in any other light, has now had a fair trial, and has completely failed. It has been tried just long enough to confound the honest debtor with the unprincipled sharper; and to teach the latter how to defraud his creditors to the greatest amount, and then to laugh at them with the greatest impunity. We have no doubt of its being speedily repealed; and we hope that it is the last attempt that will be made to introduce the cessio bonorum of the Roman law, into the code of a nation differing as much in character, habits, and pursuits, from the uncommercial people for whom it was framed, as light does from darkness.

To conclude, the distress which so many who do not complain feel, and which many who lament incessantly have never felt, must, in reason, be expected to prevail, more or less, for years to come. For how many years we know not; for we cannot adopt the conclusions of those idle statesmen who declaim so often, and, no doubt, for the exclusive benefit and prosperity of the nation. A sagacious proprietor of land, or an experienced merchant, assuming that the peace will be durable, might form a plausible conjecture as to the period when matters will once more go well with him: But if all be well with the landbolder, nothing will be wrong with the farmer; if the merchant be profitably employed, the manufactories will be full of business, the retail shops full of customers. As for mere helpless paupers, such are the benevolent institutions formed and every day forming throughout the country, that no description of persons have the prospect of such early and comparatively effectual relief as they have. And with regard to that second class of persons, who have little money, but are both able and willing to labour, the lot which awaits them seems far from being of an unfavourable kind, being, wherever it shall appear much wanted and well deserved, pecuniary aid till employment become abundant; when employment does become abundant, ample wages for as much work as they can perform; and, in due time, through means of the saving banks, even a property in the stock of the Bank of England.

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ART. II.-Travels of Ali Bey, in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey; between the Years 1803 and 1807. Written by Himself, and illustrated by Maps and numerous Plates. Two vols. 4to. Longman and Co. 1816.

WE are somewhat surprised that the publishers of this work, fully convinced as they would have us believe them to be of its authenticity and intrinsic value, should have taken the trouble to enter into so laborious, and, as it should seem, so unnecessary an assurance to the public, that the performance they lay before it is the genuine production of a real entity called Ali Bey. It is true there are sceptics who have an awkward habit of asking blunt plain questions; and they may be disposed in the present instance to put a few embarrassing interrogations.-Who was Ali Bey-Whence came he?-What was the real object of his travels? There certainly are circumstances attendant upon this soi-disant Ali Bey, which may reasonably justify them, if they avow their suspicions that the chief part of his scientific and descriptive remarks, like M. D'Amberger's Travels through Africa from the Cape of Good Hope, were framed a considerable time after the actual fruit of his wanderings was safely transmitted to his private employers. A man of Ali Bey's pretended acquirements would be such a phenomenon in the country of which he states himself to be a native, that he could not have left it without being greatly missed. The publication of his travels under a feigned name could not hide him from his countrymen, granting that it was from them he wished to conceal himself; and why should he adopt any disguise against enlightened Europeans, unless it be from the consciousness of his being engaged in an undertaking in which the sciences have very little share? It is not uncharitable to the author to suppose that he is only acting a part, as that may be some apology for the vanity and self-sufficiency which he continually displays; though in proportion as this supposition shall gain ground, the most interesting parts of his narrative will decrease in value, until his account of the temples at Mecca and at Jerusalem, with all the ceremonics of sweeping the Cahaba, at last scarcely excite a warmer interest in the reader than what was inspired by the ingenious George Psalmanazar's NO.XVII.-VOL.III.-Aug. Rev.

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