produced, or that any morbid process can ensue, similar to that which constitutes the open cancerous sore? This the author attempts to explain in the ninth chapter; in which he traces the progress of the complaint from the first feeling of uneasiness to the hardened glandular tumour, then to the more active inflammation of that tumour, and lastly to its actual suppuration. We think, however, that the links which compose this chain of reasoning are feebly connected together; and that, were we to advance beyond the existence of the inflamed tumour, and even to admit the possibility of ulceration being formed, we still meet with no explanation of the peculiar character which the ulceration in this case assumes. The ensuing paragraph exhibts a very loose mode of reasoning on the subject:

It is in such a situation as this that the temper is often soured, and that the want of hope produces a want of steadiness in the mind. And if the mamma was easily disordered by cold, &c, before, when the induration and the vascular irritability were the only troublesome causes of complaint, it increases more than ever, now, in the susceptibility for disordering influence, while there is less vigour of mind in the patient to correct any errors of judgment. Thence the edges of the ulcer begin to appear in a swelled and ins flamed state, by which they ultimately harden, They become ragged and unequal; painful, and reversed in contrary ways; when risings and excavations may be seen on the surface of the sore, unless a very careful and rational mode of conduct and treatment be pursued.'

Agreeably to the doctrine which forms the peculiar trait of this work, the cure of even this form of cancer is supposed to depend much on the state of the patient's mind; all irritating applications are deemed injurious; and it is inferred that recovery is not beyond the natural powers of the constitution,

We shall conclude our review of Dr. Rodman's work with recommending it to the attentive perusal of the members of the medical profession. Without assenting to all his opinions, and certainly without carrying them nearly to the length to which he has extended them, we apprehend that they contain valuable matter for reflection. It is much in favour of the doctrines inculcated by him, that they tend to produce present comfort; that they are all on the soothing plan; and that they are adverse to the performance of painful operations, the success of which is at least dubious, and which are seldom followed by any good effect commensurate to the suffering and misery that are their necessary attendants.

ART. IX. Elements of Political Science. By John Craig, Esq. 3 Vols. 8vo. pp. 1200. Il. 11s. 6d. Boards. Cadell and · Davies.

FEW kinds of writing are less calculated to flatter an author

with the prospect of popularity than philosophical disquisitions. The major part of such publications in the present day belong, we apprehend, to that ill-fated class which, according to the evidence of an eminent bookseller, given nearly two years ago before the Copy-right Committee, is not destined to the honour of second editions. Still, however, writers are to be found, both on this and on the other side of the Tweed, sufficiently confident in their powers to enter into that field which others have attempted with so little success; and we have, in the author of the volumes now before us, the example of one who has not scrupled to devote a considerable time to this difficult and uninviting species of composition. His work is very elaborate, and may be arranged under the following heads.

Vol. I. On the Principles of Moral Approbation, and on the Degree of Approbation bestowed on the several Virtues, personal and social; Rights of Government; Distribution of Political Power; Administration of Justice.

Vol. II. Of National Defence; of the Direction of Capital and Industy; of the Corn-Laws; Distribution of Wealth; Poor-Laws; Public Seminaries for Education; Religious Establishments.

Vol. III. Taxes; -viz. direct-on Land; on the Interest of Money; on the Transfer of Property; on Houses; on Law Proceedings; - Indirect Taxes; On the Necessaries of Life; on Luxuries; on Licences; the Funding System.

Before we proceed to make comments on the execution of the book, we shall lay before our readers an extract of some length, and shall make choice of a passage expressive of the writer's opinion on the subject of the poor-laws. Having mentioned that the severe punishments denounced in England in former ages against mendicants had been found ineffectual, and that government had felt the necessity of providing for the poor at the expence of the community, he adds:

The right, however, of government to levy taxes, for the support of the poor, is inadmissible except under great limitations. Charity, though a moral duty incumbent on all, belongs to that class of duties which cannot justly be enforced. The refusal to alleviate the sufferings of our fellow-creatures properly subjects us to general contempt and detestation; but as the rights of others are not infringed by our hardness of heart, as their condition is rendered in no respect more intolerable, our refusal cannot subject

us to punishment; and of that, of which the omission cannot be punished, it is obvious that the performance cannot be compelled. Here law has no province. It must be left to the feelings and conscience of each individual, how far he may choose to deprive himself of part of his luxuries, in order to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. It is equally unjust to compel him to do so by penalties, and to take away his property for this purpose without his own consent. A tax, levied avowedly, not for the benefit of the contributor, but of others possessing no claim over his property, seems repugnant to the first principles of just government; and it is probably from some obscure perception of this injustice, that poor's rates, even to a moderate extent, as those levied in some parts of Scotland confessedly are, excite more dissatisfaction, than the heaviest taxes for the service of the state.

'But there is another view in which a moderate provision for the poor will appear less exceptionable. The preservation of our own existence, and that of our helpless offspring, is so strongly recommended to our care by nature, that neither a sense of duty, nor the fear of punishment, can deter him, who is perishing by want, from invading the possessions of his neighbour. Human laws, for obvious reasons, have made no exceptions on account of this irresistible temptation, but there never has been an instance of the infliction of punishment where the existence of such extreme poverty was satisfactorily proved. It requires little observation to be convinced, that, almost in every mind, the idea of right will yield to the assaults of absolute want, and little philosophy to conclude, that what, in the particular circumstances, is almost unavoidable, is no proper object of chastisement. If the poor, then, be not supported, theft and robbery must often be left unpunished. -In order to repress crimes, punishment must be regular and certain; and, that in every case we may have a right to inflict punishment, the irresistible temptation of extreme want must be removed. If voluntary contribution cannot afford that assurance of support which may prevent self-preservation from being arrayed against the dictates of morals and the ordinances of law, this is strictly one of the cases, in which public regulations are requisite for the benefit and safety of all the citizens. Poor's rates, therefore, may be levied, not for the purpose of enforcing the duty of charity, but as the only effectual mode of protecting property. This argument, it may be remarked, justifies no public provision for the poor beyond a bare subsistence; a restriction which sound views of policy would equally suggest.

It has indeed been argued, that all certainty of the poor being sheltered from absolute want is inexpedient, as it may relax the industry and economy of the labouring classes. Hold out to a labourer, it has been said, the certainty of maintenance in his old age, and he will neglect to make provision for himself during his youth; show to the idle and dissolute that, when sick or out of employment, they will be supported by the state, and they will instantly devise means to exempt themselves from labour; provide for the support and education of the children of the poor, and marriages

U 3

will

will be contracted without even the expectation of the offspring being reared by their parents. The more you increase your funds, the more will you increase the number of those who look to them, not to their own exertions, for support; and without diminishing in any degree the sum of human misery, all that the public re gulations can do is to throw the burden of maintaining the idle and profligate on the industrious and deserving..

In this representation, if applied to poor's rates as they exist in England, there is probably little exaggeration; but the abuses of that particular system are not justly chargeable against every public provision for the poor.'-

Overseers, annually elected by the inhabitants of each parish, should determine at stated meetings held once a week, on all petitions for assistance; they should appoint an inspector, with a moderate salary, and removable at pleasure, to report to them the condition of each applicant; and from this report, the testimony of the neighbours, and, when necessary, a personal examination of the state of the family, they ought to decide on the nature and amount of the relief to be granted. There probably ought to be a small establishment, supported in the most frugal manner, for such old people as have no near relations with whom they could reside: but the parish assistance should, in general, be issued partly in money, and partly in provisions; and the overseers should be sworn to administer only such relief as, in conjunction with each pauper's earnings, would, in their opinion, maintain him in less affluence than a common labourer. The overseers ought to be enjoined to keep a register of all who receive charity, specifying their age, their state of health, the number of their family, their usual earnings, and the amount and nature of the assistance afforded them. They ought also to keep a list of all applications that had been refused, with the reasons of their rejection. These lists ought, for a certain number of days each year, to lie open for the inspection of the inhabitants; and at the end of that time, they should be submitted to a meeting of superintendents of the poor (also elected by the inhabitants), who might give the overseers such directions as they judged requisite, and who should, at the same time, fix the amount of the annual assessment. By some such plan as this, it is probable that abuses would be at least as effectually checked, as by any trustees appointed to distribute the produce of a voluntary contribution; nor will the example of Scotland, where the affairs of the poor are gratuitously adminis tered by the vestries, and in some of the larger towns by delegates from the several corporate bodies, allow us to doubt, if the utility of the system were evident, of the ease with which overseers and superintendents would be found among the respectable classes of the inhabitants.'

An outline of the plan of the work is given at the end of Vol. III. in an Analytical Table of Contents,' which occupies nearly 30 pages, and forms a very useful clue to a train of reasoning that in itself can hardly be called attractive. From the

short

short statement given at the outset of this article, our readers will perceive that a very small part of the publication is allotted to the Principles of Morals.' Under the next head, viz. that of Government,' Mr. Craig has exhibited only a general view of the respective rights of the governors and governed, avoiding all examination of particular consti tutions; and he has been guided by a similar rule of restriction in the succeeding division, which treats of the Duties of Government.' On coming to his second volume, however, or what may properly be called the Politico-economical De partment, he has chosen to be much more minute; con templating his subject under a variety of relations, and never scrupling to give scope to his talent for reasoning, at the hazard of prolixity.

It would be difficult to meet with a more impartial reasoner than Mr. Craig: but the title which he has assigned to his performance is vague; and the subjects introduced in it, although sufficiently connected in the eye of the philosopher, will appear disjointed to the man of intercourse and business. The latter will consider observations on the principles of morals, and even on the principles of government, as foreign to the politico-economical branch; and he may likewise object to the insertion of a disquisition on National Defence,' in a work of which the main part is occupied by observations on the direction of capital and the distribution of wealth. He may farther allege that the principles of taxation, being an object of study only to a small number of the community, should not have been treated at such length in a production of which a considerable portion addresses itself to the consideration of the whole mercantile body. In support of such animadversions, it may be remarked that, by this unlucky admixture, the more useful part is in a manner hidden from observation. Thus, though Mr. Craig advocates with great propriety (Vol. ii. p. 33.) the cause of education among the lower orders, and explains (p. 347.) with equal judgement the limitation with which classical studies ought to be pursued at our Universities, his arguments may be said to be removed from the access of those whom they would interest, by being mixed up with so miscellaneous and un-inviting an assemblage.

Such will probably be the objections to the plan of the present work; we are next to advert to the merits of its execution. Mr. C. deserves the praise of thinking deliberately and even judiciously on most subjects: but his remarks are seldom either new or striking. He who attempts to attract attention to philosophic writing should make a point of conU 4

fining