as they prefent themselves in the beginning of his book. Mr. Haftings fays, "The letter from which the extracts he had quoted were taken, is figned by the two chairs and eleven directors." The author of The Obfervations thinks he difproves this, by telling us how many directors were for the different refolutions tranfmitted in the company's general letter; unluckily forgetting that a letter, and a refolution are very different things; fo very different, that a letter (as the one in queion really did) may contain five refolations, at leaft. For the first of thefe refelations there were twenty-two directors; for the second, fifteen.—Now if the author bad added all the twenty-two's and all the fifteen's together, he might have been able to tack three or four score of directors names to the tail of the letter. It is aftonishing that this fhould have efcaped his ingenuity and penetration. Now comes there another mighty inconfiftency in the conduct and character of Mr. Haftings. The prefident and council of Bengal, in a letter to the court of di restors, dated Dec. 24, 1770, fay, "Cheyt Sing is now fully invefted with the government, to the entire fatisfaction of every ne, and is confidered by the vizier as holding that country on the fame terms as revenues his father, the difference in the rev excepted."-This difference was two lacks and a half of rupees, by which Cheyt Sing had engaged to increase his annual tribute to the vizier. "This event, the author fagely remarks, happened more than twelve months before Mr. Haftings fucceeded to the office of prefident and governor of Bengal; yet he has afferted in his printed narrative,' "'" That Cheyt Sing obtained from our influence, exerted by my felf, the firft legal title that his family ever poffelled of property in the land of which he, till then, was only the Aumil, and of which he became the acknowledged Zemindar, by a funnud granted to him by the Nabob, Sujah Dowiah, at my inftance, in the month of September, 1773." No body denies that the event happened juft at the time which the author mentions. But what is that to the purpofe? that is not the event to which Mr. Haftings alludes. That is the event by which Cheyt Sing obtained the title of Aumil, not of the Zemindar: it procured him the government of the country, not a legal title to any property in its lands. It is not worth while to follow the author through any more of his reafonings. We fhall take our leave of him, with obferving, that he who embarks in a bad caufe will always be liable to reproach. The Effects to be expected from the Eaft India Bill, upon the Conftitution of Great Britain, if paffed into a Law. By William Pulteney, Efq. Stockdale, 1783. MR R. Pulteney informs us, in an advertisement prefixed to his performance, that the contents of it were intended to have been delivered by him in parlament, while the late India Bill was depending but never finding an opportunity to fpeak, he was forced to referve has thoughts; which his regard for the intee of the flate has now prompted him to fubmit to the confideration of the public. Having entered pretty fully into the views that were most likely to occur to men of different political fentiments, Mr. Pulteney proceeds to inveftigate the inten tions of thofe who were to introduce it; and the effects it would, moft probably, produce on the conftitution of our government. He next flates, with much accuracy, the power which the bill was to give to the feven directors. Having reafoned very clearly on this fubject, he goes on to fhow the ruinous ef fects, which fuch an innovation would produce on the British government, and on the profperity of Britifh fubjects. Onthis laft topic his obfervations are friking, and well calculated to fet men a thinking. Hiftory of the Dispute with America, from its Origin in 1754, written in the Year 1774. By John Adams, Efq. Stockdale, 1784. THE object of this performance, feems to have been, to roufe the minds of the American to a fenfe of their danger, and to a fenfe of their juft title to liberty; and to point out the circumstances, by which it was probable, that perfeverence and vigour in aflerting their rights, would really put them in poffeffion of thefe rights. Whether Mr. Adams now publifhes this tract, for it cannot be called a hiftory, in order to convince the world of the political fentiments he then entertained; or whether it be only to acquire fame as an author, and zealous fupporter of his country's rights, we cannot determine. The predictions that this gentleman made G9 in in 1774, are for the most part now fully verified. He is a fenfible and a well in formed writer. It appears, from this little work, that in the year 1774, the Americans contended not for total independence on Great-Britain; they only wilhed for a redrefs of their grievances, and a cordial reconciliation. Towards the conclufion of the pamphlet, we find fome in genious refletions, and obfervations on the importance of a free communication of fentiments, among the people, to civil liberty. The Americans, of future ages, will, perhaps, look upon this little book as one of their most valuable monuments of curiofity. An Argument to prove, that it is the indifpenfible Duty of the Creditors of the Public, to infift that Government do forthwith bring forward the Confideration of the State of the Nation, and firengthen the public Credit, and reflore public Con. fidence. By John Earl of Stair. Stockdale. HE noble author of this pamphlet This judicious writer makes feveral Tdeferves all the praife that is due to ftrictures on the conduct of the Shelburne indufiry, in procuring information on his fubject; to exactnefs of calculation, and a fincere regard for the welfare of his Countrymen. He has delivered his ideas in a manner that does him credit as a writer; having rejected that turgidity, and unmeaning pompoufuefs, which characterize the ftyle of fo many writers. He difcovers, however, fome negligencies. The prefs too, has added a few errors. We fhall here fubjoin fome of his Lordfhip's ftatements of the revenue; in all of which we think he is very accurate. 1783 Total unfunded debt £30,625,244. 1774 The total expenditure of the civil lift eftablishment was £4,147,757, 1784 The expenditure of civil lift efiablifhment will be £5,517,549. The total annual peace expenditure will be £16,747,549 Towards the conclufion of this ingenious little work, his lordfhip thinks it idle, "To imagine that we can anfwer all the deficiencies that now prefs upon us, from the gleaning and refufe of taxable fubjects that now remain." He proposes a plan by which confiderable duties may be raifed, without oppreffion, on wine and tobacco. ministry. He fays, it was wrong in them to fuperadd the load of penfions, which the flate muft now make good to the American loyalifts, to its former burthens. He commends the peace however; and says, that there was no need of any other proof to fhew, how highly acceptable it was to the prefent miniftry, then the extreme anxiety with which they waited for the definitive treaty, and the eagerness with which they announced it. The over free beftowing of penfions, he blames both in the miniftry of Lord Shelburne's day, and that of the Marquis of Rockingham. He fays, it is commendable in no miniftry to ain at too much economy in the civil lift establishment: every father in the kingdoin muft, from his own feelings, condemn fuch a meafure. The remains of the Rockingham party, he fays, are by no means guilty of this crime; though the nation had much caufe to fear, from the rigidly economical fyftem they promifed to adopt. Of them, his lordfip remarks, that their practice uniformly runs counter to their profeffions. The late alarming fall in the funds, was not owing to the artful conduct of an obfcure Jew broker, but to the declining flate of public credit. Addreffed to his Grace the Duke of Portland, A Memorial concerning the Woollen Manufactury, and the Exportation of Wool unmanufactured, to foreign Countries. To which is added, a Plan to prevent so destructive a Commerce, by Peter Peterfon. Hookham, 1783. TH HE memorialit feems to be well acacquainted with the manufacturing of wool. He illuftrates its importance to Great Britain, very judiciously; and de livers feveral ideas, which, if properly attended to, would go a great way to improve that branch of commerce. Eleventh Report from the Select Committee, appointed to take into Confideration the State of the Administration of Juflice in the Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Oriffa. Debrett. ΤΗ HE committee in the courfe of their by the company's fervants, to the orders 'inquiry into the obedience yielded of the court of directors, could not over look look the circumflance of their accepting, gifts and prefents." This object is the fubject of the eleventh report, which exceeds all former reports in peevifhnels of style, and prejudice, and ill-nature againft the Governor of Bengal. The members of the committee feem to have quite overlooked the motives which induced Governor Haflings to accept of thofe fums, which he afterwards difburfed for the company's emolument. Had he been an avaricious man, he might now have been in poffefSon of a fortune far exceeding the most fplendid one poffeffed by the most affluent fabject of Great-Britain. But this is not the cafe. After enjoying every opportunity of acquiring wealth, his fortune is but moderate: a clear proof that his ru ling paffion is one of a nobler kind than that which governs men of ordinary views. The framers of the eleventh report feem not to have proceeded with that coolness, and difpaffionatenefs which became their rank and office. They feem to have proceeded with all the eagerness and severity of barrifters, whofe fole object is, not the elucidation of truth, but the imputation of guilt. Nor is their impartiality, and prejudice, covered with the cloak of fmooth language, and plaufible arguments, as in the ninth report: it appears in a rough and uncouth garb; from which circumftance we are inclined to think, that it is not the production of Mr. Burke, but that of General Richard Smith. A Collection of the Letters which have been addreffed to the Volunteers of Ireland, on the Subject of a Parliamentary Reform, by the Earl of Effingham, Doctor Price, Major Cartwright, Doctor Jebb, and Mr. Wyvill. Stockdale, 2s. 6d. TH HIS collection commences with the proceedings of the Yorkshire Committee. The Rev. C. Wyvill, chairman of the faid committee, tranfmits the determinations of the committee, and his own fentiments, to the different focieties and private perfons, with whom they wifhed to establish a political correfpondence, with all the earneitnefs, fpirit and zeal, which the consciousness of a good caufe could poffibly infpire. The particular tation which he filled, gave him an opportunity of diffufing his ideas very widely; for the York faire Committee was not only a refpectable and numerous committee, but the earlien formed of any in England, and that which purfued the measures it approved, with the greatest warmth and vigour. Mr. Wyvill difplays a very confiderable fhare of political knowledge; many of his thoughts are new, and all of them are cloathed in that decent and fubftantial fort of garb, which indicates the richness of an author's treasure. The Earl of Effingham's opinions are liberal and juft. The Irifh Gentlemen difcover the greateft vehemence and fire. Their ideas of political freedom, and of wealth and grandeur, are the obvious fources of thefe characteristical features in their flyle. Dr. Jebb and Mr. Cartwright fupport their principles eloquently. Dr. Price writes, it is true, with his ufual foli. dity and judgment; but he seems to join with the Irish fo heartily, and unbecomingly, in triumphing for their boafted emancipation, that a generous Briton is apt to look upon him in the unamiable light of a party-man, who will facrifice any confideration to the pleasure of a patron, or the acquirement of a little unfubflantial reputation. To thole who are interefted in the fub. ject of parliamentary reform, this collec tion must be very acceptable. They will find in it, a catalogue of the chief defects in our prefent mode of representation; and the hints that have been thrown out for removing thefe defects, and for rendering the fyftem eomplete and found. An authentic Account of the Debates in the Houfe of Lords, on Tuesday, Decemher 9; Monday, December 15; and Wednesday, December 17, 1783, on the Bill" For eftablishing certain Regulations for the better Management of the Territories, Revenues, and Commerce of this Kingdom, in the East Indies." To which is added, an accurate Lift of the Divifions both on Monday and Wednesday. London, Debrett, 1783. E are told in a preface to this col an account as poffible; and his conviction WE are told in a prefacere fent to of the great deficiency of the newlpapers." the prefs by a Gentleman who was prefent; and his reafons for doing the public fo great a favour were, "His anxiety to fee the public furnished with as accurate The grounds of the gentleman's anxiety fill remain: for the public is by no means furnished with " as accurate an account as poffible," of thefe important debates. With With regard to the great deficiency of the new papers, it is a pity that his conviction of that deficiency did not enable him to fapply it. We fhall mention only one omiffion; but that one is great; and by it the gentleman's account of the proceedings of the noble lords, goes forth into the world deftitute of what would have been its chief ornament, Earl Fitzwilliam, in his fpeech of the 17th, proved, with much beauty of language, and much ingenuity of argument, "That all charters, all monopolies, and all exclufive privileges whatever, are infringements of the juft and natural rights of the people; and by confequence, that the bill then pending in parliament, was fo far from being the crue! and tyrannical bill it had been reprefented to be, that its manifeft tendency was to refore to the people thofe indifputable rights of which a blind and unwife policy had robbed them." This thought properly spread out, and properly dreffed, would have made a good figure in the collection before us. The omiffion of it gives us reafon to fufpe&t, that the gettleman who fent the fpeeches to the prefs, did nothing but detail the ideas which the newfpapers had already made publit. A flort Commercial and Political Letter from Mr. Jofeph Price, to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox, one of his Majefly's principal Secretaries of State, on the Subject of his Abatic Bills now pending in Parliament. Stockdale, 1783. M R. Price informs Mr. Fox in the beginning of his letter, that he thinks the manifeft tendency of his India bill is, to enflave all the Englishmen in that country. At the fame time, he bids him be cautious, left they ferve this nation as the Americans have done-fend over all its fubjects to their native country. He recommends to Mr. Fox, to talk more boldly to his enemies, and lefs delu fively to his fellow-fubje&ts." "Where fuch power, as the India Bill would confer, will lead, is the duty of every Englishman to confider," and that the nation may have an opportunity of confidering the thing fully and fairly: Mr. Price thinks the cafe fhould be referred to a diffolution of parliament. Such a measure he thinks, would be, at once, constitutional, expedient, and popular. In this pamphlet Mr. Price writes with his ufual good fenfe and drollery. An Addrefs to the Right Hon. the Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty, upon the diffatisfied State of the British Navy. By a Sailor. Stockdale. TH The diffatisfied ftate of our navy the author imputes to the hafly and undue promotion of the fons of great families to the important offices of lieutenants and poft cagains, and to the palpable neglect that is often fhewn to humble but well attefted merit. He feems to be well acquainted with the fentiments of British tars; and, in confequence of his knowledge, he affirms, that no very young commander will ever be chearfully obeyed; men will do their duty under him, only because they cannot avoid doing it; whereas they would refpect, and honour, and obey an officer arrived at a decent period of life; who had gone regularly through the diffe rent gradations of rank, and given proof of his courage in battle, and his kill in directing the conduct and manœuvres of his fhip. The author mentions the vast attention paid by the cabinet of Versailles to the ftate of the French navy, as a firong inotive for thefe in power among us to eff blish the navy of England on a formidable and permanent footing. He thinks Britain ought at all times to have 120 line of battle fhips ready to be manned, and put to fea. To commiffioners of the admiralty, and to profeffional gentlemen, and indeed to all who wish to be inftructed in fome of the principal topics of naval fcience, we recommend what the writer of this book bas bas faid, on the management of ships after being paid off; on the caulking of fhips; (to the unfkilful practice of which he imputes the lofs of the Centaur, and feveral other fhips that have foundered at fea) on the keeping up of a refpectable body of the regulation of dock marines; on ya.ds, &c. An Effay on Mifanthropy. By Fercival Stockdale. Law, 1783. 1s. T is the object of this little pamphlet, accurately to diffinguifh between acrimonious declamation, and philofophical decifion on the fubject of mifanthropy. There are, as our author obferves, two kinds of mifanthropy; the one the foe to our dignity, and the bane of our happi nefs: the other the genuine effects of our digent fpeculations. This laft will keep us calm and ferene amidst the tumults of life. It will fecure us efteem, refpect, content, and fatisfaction. And however paradoxical the affertion may feem, he afErms it will tend to make us good Chriftians. The author goes on to evince the truth of thefe propofitions. The word milanthropy, he juflly obferves, in its natural and fimple meaning, undoubtedly fignifies a hatred of mankind. But often a word departs, on its tranfition into a foreign or later language from its primitive figuification; and accordingly, there is a milanthrope who is not more acute and fe The Minifterialift, by Junius, HE name of Junius is well known vere in his obfervations, than he is gentle London, Stockdale, 1783. "To Tto the world. The quickness of his dig we are not able, and to beg we are difcernment, and the keennefs of his fare, had long fince diftinguifhed him. In the prefent little work, he fully fupports his character as a writer; being, througheut, fpirited, acute, and witty; but very ironical and farcaflic. His aim is, to direct the reader's obfervation to the conduct of the Whig part of the prefent miniftry: in order to difcover "Whether they have gratified in office, the expectations they raifed in oppofition." To attain this end, there are two things which he uses as the ground-work of bis reafonings, their profeffious, and their actions: and thefe he makes to tally in a manner that reflects on them no great degree of honour. The coalition is the first object of his ridicule. He holds out Mr. Fox to the contempt of the world; and he does fo with much propriety and juftice, ufing his proteflations recorded in the Parliamentary Regifler of 1782, as an authority for what he alledges. But in this infance, Lord North comes in for a fhare of the obloquy. The author obferves, that they could afhamed." What remained then for them but "To make friends with the mammon of unrighteoufnefs." In fhewing the right honourable Secretary's inconfiilency of conduct, he favs, "Infiances were lemiliar to him, where deviations from the ftriét rule of right were jullified by the greatness of the flake: in this iuftace the hazard was great, and the game he played deep" he might have quoted his own fpeech, and added, that the hazard was nothing lefs than kingdom, bedes the two little circumstances of lofing "his own honow," and running the ifk " cf being called the moll infamous of mankind." a The fplendid talents of the Duke of Portland, the valourous conduct of my Lord Keppel, Lord Northington's abili ties and wealth, and Mr. Sheriden's noble thirft after the glory of a newspaper reputation, are all duly noticed in the courte of this work: but Mr. Burke is dillinguifhed by an extraordinary degree of attention, and were it not for the great variety of Mr. Fox's charatter, he would be the hero of the piece. 3 Mr. |