curious and amusing information (collected from very wide reading, and admirably digested) on a most interesting and important subject-the history of the tenure and occupancy of land, in various periods and countries-than can elsewhere be found, and which is therefore to be strongly recommended, even to those who have no particular taste for political economy. But the reason for congratulation which Mr. Jones's appointment affords is, that he will rescue the science which he professes from the bad hands into which it has often fallen, and the bad character under which it has in consequence laboured. Instead of setting out with declaring certain principles, founded on very narrow observation, to be universally true, and then building up mighty and monstrous theories upon them, he bids the student search, examine, and take comprehensive views of the facts, in order to get at principles, which are truly comprehensive. The class whom Mr. Jones very happily describes as closet philosophers, who peep out of their little windows, and fashion a world of their own, after the pattern of what they see thence, will not only be sadly mistaken, and remain extremely ignorant, as he truly observes, but, if they have talents, or the name of talents, will draw followers after them, and draw those followers into doing irreparable mischief, as far as their power extends. Mr. Jones sends the student to study carefully the history and statistics of past times, and the details of the present condition of the nations of the earth. From such a survey alone can they collect sufficient data for guiding their practical measures. They will have seen there the effects produced on the education, habits, and character of one generation, by the economical structure of the preceding one; and they will have marked the slow and difficult steps by which nations have struggled up from a worse to a better condition. They will, in addition to the treasures of knowledge which they will have collected on the road, have learnt that all schemes of changing the character of a nation rapidly are wild and vain;-they will have marked how the lowest classes of society have by degrees, as the source and modes of gaining their subsistence altered, been qualified to partake of the advantages and privileges of those above them, wherever moral and intellectual improvement have accompanied their other increased capacities. The political economist too, who, by tracing changes in the modes of producing and distributing wealth, observes, step by step, the alterations which takes place in the connexions, mutual dependence, and all the cementing influences that hold together those human materials of which states are composed," has the strongest evidence that there is "an inseparable connexion between increased freedom and increased responsibilities, that freedom, in short, is a blessing which, "from the very constitution of man and of society, none can long enjoy who do not deserve it;"-" which, as it escapes the weak, will not long remain the heritage of the violent and bad." They who give such lessons as these, and point out a line of preparation and study so fruitful, both directly and indirectly, in good, may well hope to restore Political Economy to favour with those who now regard it with distrust. And they who feel the enormous advantage of sound views like these, put forward with such powers as Mr. Jones's,-powers which must compel attention even from those who dislike the truths taught, will want no farther explanation why his appointment is deemed to be a ground of congratulation.

"

Extracts from the Information received by His Majesty's Commissioners as to the administration and operation of the Poor Laws. Published by authority. London: Fellows. 1833.

EVERY one interested in the better administration of the Poor Laws, will feel exceedingly glad to have the latest information which is in existence on a subject becoming every day of more serious importance. But they must use all information on so wide a subject with some caution, and especially extracts VOL. III.-May, 1833. 4 D

from evidence collected by personal inquiry. The gentlemen who furnish the information were many of them barristers residing in London, who were sent to make inquiries as to the state of things. And gentlemen of sense and respectability so sent, could not fail to gather much curious and valuable information. But still, in a matter where so much depends on details, no persons so circumstanced, can always see what are the points requiring minute investigation so well as those constantly versed in them, and daily administering the laws on which they depend. Such points of detail do not enter into the general views taken by persons inquiring into the matter as students, while very much depends on them. This is one point worth notice; and the next is, in using this book, viz. they who will make deductions for themselves from the information which it contains, must of course, (without fault on any side,) get for themselves information which it does not contain. Being the work of different individuals, each returns what is before his eyes, but, of course, cannot be expected to compare things in one county and another. For example, in speaking of Horsham, Sussex, it is stated very correctly, that the average expence of each pauper in the poor-house, is 28. 84d. per week. In speaking of one of the great hundred houses in Suffolk, a very much cheaper county, (for Sussex, at least that part where Horsham is, is as dear as any part of England, and Suffolk is cheaper than a great many parts of it,) it is stated, as correctly, that the expence of maintenance is 2s. 11d. while the expences of the establishment, (i. e. salaries of governor, warden, &c. with other matters perhaps, not connected with the house,) advance it to 4s. Od. It is surely remarkable that a single work-house, in a very dear county, should maintain its inmates, (and well too) cheaper than a very large establishment in a much cheaper county; and the explanation would require a good deal of research. Mr. Stuart's report from Suffolk is a very intelligent and interesting one. But there are many details as to the management of parishes by the incorporation into hundreds, which require to be supplied. The fact is unquestionable, that a well managed hundred has its rates comparatively very low. But the reason is, that neighbouring hundreds are not incorporated, or are ill managed. In short, good management is a system of warfare on the neighbourhood, and often on the poor too. One great business, for example, of a well managed hundred, is to make what must be called fraudulent settlements of children by apprenticeship, on parishes out of the hundred. This has gone to such a length, that the magistrates of Essex have lately resisted it very properly, and have got a decision in their favour from the King's Bench. But it is obvious that this, and things like this, could not happen at all, except from the defenceless state of the neighbourhood. This requires notice in judging of the benefits of incorporation. Again, even in cases which require relief, (for example a widow left with a young family,) as the managers know that the poor abhor the hundred-house, which is away from their own home, they make use of this abhorrence, (very properly in the case of the able-bodied and worthless, but improperly in cases deserving relief,) to drive the poor of this sort, with the smallest allowance possible, to subsist on charity, or on the work they can pick up, in small or large towns near. The incorporated hundreds are a positive pest to the towns near them, as the charities and minor work (gardening, washing, nursing, &c.) which would naturally fall to the town poor, are divided amongst others, and thus the rates fearfully increased. What does the reader think of a place with 3500 people, of which near 500 (a whole parish by itself,) are persons driven into it from surrounding hundreds, which very judiciously pull down their cottages, and get rid of their poor in this way? Again, it is stated that medical relief is furnished by the incorporation but in other hundreds this is not so; but the thing is done on the most economical scale, no doubt, the poor surgeon being paid 71. or 81. per parish. Incorporated parishes know that they have the surgeon in their hands, because he would be afraid of having another person brought into the neighbourhood, and thus submits to the terms dictated.

These things are mentioned merely as examples of the necessity of asking for more information. Perhaps another volume would supply many lacunæ. In the mean time, one must judge with caution from the evidence supplied; as, however acute and intelligent observers may be, it is one thing to pass through a county, or spend three or four months in it, and another to be for many years becoming daily acquainted with the people, habits, and details which affect those habits enormously, but which are so trifling in themselves, that they must escape a passing observer. It is matter of regret to observe that the tone of the volume is not to state the advantages of a good magistracy, but entirely to depreciate, or rather to hold up to contempt, the services of the existing magistracy. Unquestionably, bad magistrates are very bad things; and, unquestionably, there are such. But, if gentlemen of property, having the best education which the country affords, being brought up in the country, and having the deepest interest in the well-being of their respective localities, are unfit to manage the poor, who are fit? Would the thing be mended by sending paid magistrates, who have no better education, no better sense, (speaking of a body,) and who, however desirous to do their duty, cannot have the same interest in the wellbeing of a place where they are merely sojourners, as they to whom the property belongs? At Quarter Sessions, or in difficult cases, the paid magistrates would be of great use, and this deserves consideration, as they would be far better informed on points of law, and far better qualified to hear the arguments of counsel on such matters. But speaking of the body of magistrates at large, it must be a hopeless thing to find fit magistrates, if the most wealthy and best edu cated land-owners, i. e. the principal people of the land, are either so idle, so ignorant, or so corrupt, as to be unfit. The country would be hopelessly ruined in that case.

The Index to this volume requires much revision in a second edition. People judge by an index so full as this, in order to save themselves the trouble of reading. Take one example : "Allotments of land." The last item in the index is as follows: "Ultimate consequence to the parishes shown, in an enormous increase of Poor Rate, page 131." On turning, however, to page 131, there is no such thing at all, nor anything like it; but this,-"that in a place where a waste supplied fuel, and the lords of the manor allowed cottages to be built, the farmers chose to let their land for a very high rent, to be dug for potatoes, very many settlements were made.” What has this to do with cottage allotments, where small pieces of ground in a parish are let to persons of that parish? Out of sixteen items in the index, under the head of " Magistrates," fifteen contain the most serious charges against them, for ignorance, cowardice, support of persons of vicious habits, &c. Is this just, or fair to the gentlemen of the country? Again, there is a most excellent statement of Mr. Powers', (one of the best reports,) that magistrates make as loud complaints against overseers, as overseers against magistrates, and probably with as much justice; but no reference to this is made in the index. Why was this omission? The fact is, that although "Magistrates" may often favour the poor improperly, and their interference is rarely wanted in large parishes where many persons attend the vestry, and there is a good system, they are imperatively required to interfere in small places, where the poor would otherwise be constantly ground to powder by an ignorant, stupid, and cruel person, who unites all parish power and functions in himself. But it would seem that some of the travelling Commissioners have gone to the overseers only, and carefully noted every charge made against the magistrates by them, without hearing the other side. One or two of the reports are indeed singular specimens of party statements, delivered in the temper of partizans. The tendency of the whole work is to recommend that government should take parochial management into their own hands. Whether some beneficial modification of the present system might not take place, it would certainly be right to inquire; but to take the

management of funds from those who supply them, and the management of the country from those who have the deepest interest in it, is a fearful step. Legislation might do much to check, and even cure evils of detail, without this. A well-considered schedule presenting a method of keeping all parish accounts, in parishes where there is not a select vestry, would save much money, and enable all persons to judge how things were going on, and there are many other beneficial measures, as to details, of the same kind. One or two more observations must be made. Some of the Commissioners have introduced remarks on private persons and their conduct, and shewn a disposition to give their opinion on matters with which they had no concern, which requires strong remonstrance. And others should remember, that if they chuse to speak of things not belonging to them, they should speak fully. For example: Mr. M'Lean says, (of a parish in a terrible state,) Shipley, there is no resident Clergyman. If he chose to state this, he should have added, Nor could there be ; for there is no house, and (the tithes belonging to lay owners,) the perpetual curacy is about 100l. a-year, and so no house could be built. The writer was applied to by the present parish curate, when presented to the benefice, (if it may be called so,) to find him any house in, or near the parish, which he could afford to take, and which would hold his family. But the parishes round being all merely country parishes, and containing no houses to be let, nothing nearer than six miles miles could be found, and the curacy would not maintain a horse. The clergyman, therefore, was necessarily non-resident.

A Treatise on the Modern System of Governing Gaols, Penitentiaries, and Houses of Correction, &c. By Major Palmer, one of the Inspectors-General of Prisons in Ireland. Dublin: Holden. 1833. pp. 99.

Report from the Select Committee on Secondary Punishments, with Notes and an Appendix. By the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline. London: Arch. 1833. pp. 78.

MAJOR PALMER has had twelve years' experience, and he is decidedly a friend to making prison discipline a means of reformation, and is as decidedly of opinion that this is very practicable. His judgment and opinion are, from his long and wide experience, very valuable, and it would be very desirable that all persons likely to have influence on the matter should read his suggestions, as being those of a practical man. His book is written with great temperance and good sense, and is free from extravagant views and outrageous proposals. If he had kept to the resolution exprest in his Preface, and abstained from all general reflexions, he would have done still better. As it is, the writer would counsel all readers to pass over the first page or two of each chapter, and Major P. ought to think the suggestion a friendly one.

The second book here named deserves full attention likewise, especially for the curious details as to the number of offences committed in the last seven years, and other particulars of a similar nature. The writer feels that there is more value in such details, than in the report of a Committee, which is often a statement of the opinions of persons whose opinions were already known. In this report, however, many facts worth attention are stated. It is very annoying to be obliged to treat a subject of such importance so cursorily.

The Christian's Manual, or the Bible its own Interpreter; with a Brief Account of the Books and Writers of the Old and New Testament, from the best authorities. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. 1833. 12mo. pp. 311.

THE plan of this work seems to be to select the most important words and matters occurring in Scripture, and to cite at full length the passages of Scripture where such words do occur, or such matters are treated. The size of the

volume precludes it from executing this purpose fully, but it is convenient as far as it goes. Better passages might be selected occasionally to illustrate the matters treated of, and some articles might be replaced by others with advantage. Under Miracles is given a full history of each miracle. This is not to be expected in such a work, but rather passages showing the aim and use of miracles. The account of the writers and books of the Bible is convenient for those who have not access to larger works.

Messiah's Kingdom. A Poem, in twelve books. By Agnes Bulmer. London: Rivingtons. 1833. pp. 486.

THIS is a volume of very harmonious versification, very pleasing feeling, and of sound and right views. The plan of the poem embraces a review of all that large portion of the Bible History (i. e., all its leading features,) which refer to the Messiah; and it is only justice to the authoress to observe, that she has both read and thought a great deal on these matters. Whether such a subject is well chosen, or could be worthily treated by any poet, is a matter which cannot be treated of in these brief limits.

Selections from the Choric Poetry of the Greek Dramatic Writers Translated into English Verse. By J. Anstice, Professor of Classical Literature in King's College, London. London: Fellowes. 1832. pp. 236.

It is a matter of considerable doubt whether any modern translation can give any full idea of classical poetry; but admitting this, there is no reason why the beautiful ideas of the ancients should not be presented to the moderns in an attractive form. Mr. Anstice deserves warm thanks for having done this to a very considerable extent. His volume shews classical taste, command of versification and language, and wide acquaintance with our own old poets, and the best modern poetry of foreign nations. The volume, too, contains more than it promises, for there are notes, with translations, from other than the Choric Poetry of the ancients, as well as from moderns. Mr. A. has, by the way, taken unnecessary trouble in translating the exquisite address of Electra to her brother's supposed ashes. His translation is very good, but this exquisite piece of poetry was as well translated as possible in Bland's delightful Anthology.

The Book of Psalms, in English Blank Verse. By the Rev. George Musgrave, M.A., B. N. C., Oxon. London: Rivingtons. 1833. 8vo, pp. 506. MR. MUSGRAVE thinks that this mode of presenting the Psalms enables him to offer in an acceptable form explanations of the difficult passages of the Psalms. It may be so; but they who are not contented with the Psalms as they stand in the English, will, it is conceived, seek satisfaction in a form more adapted for critical enquiry. Mr. Musgrave's versification is extremely easy and pleasant, but perhaps a little monotonous, from want of variation in his pauses. At the same time, it cannot be denied that if a single Psalm were read at a time, every reader will think very highly of the author's flow of verse.*

Within the last few days there has been circulated (but not published) a translation of a very few psalms, executed by a gentleman of the very highest literary attainments. These translations are in a very singular style; but are, in two instances especially-the 45th and 68th Psalms-done with a power and grandeur and command of verse which have few parallels.