own refources. Without one or other of these advantages, they are generally the dullest and most infigniticant of publications; for what can lefs deferve a reader's attention than the ufual appendages to borough or conventual hiftory-deeds, grants, and charters of the commoneft kinds, lifts of municipal and ecclefiaftical officers, minute details of local customs, epitaphs, tables of benefactions to the poor, and a long &c. of fimilar trifles ?

The work before us cannot be faid to have much claim to distinction above the ordinary productions of its kind. The town of Leominfter has not made itfelf remarkable either in antient or modern hiftory; and the rural plenty for which it is moft celebrated affords little matter for defcription. Mr. P. has, however, taken pains to annex to its history as many as poffible of the public events which have occurred in its neighbourhood; among which, the wars with the Welsh, particularly under Owen Glendour, and the attempts in favour of Lady Jane Grey, make the most confpicuous figure, and feem to be related with fufficient exactnefs. In fpeaking of the title of nobility which this town confers, we think that the writer has fallen into a mistake refpecting Thomas Stuckley, an adventurer in the reign of Elizabeth. This perfon, having engaged in the fervice of Spain, on an intended expedition against Ireland, ftyled bimfelf Baron of Rofs, Viscount Murrough, Earl of Wexford, and Marquiffe of Lemfter, which laft Mr. P. fuppofes to refer to this town: but as the reft are all Irish titles, we cannot doubt that Leinster was the place intended by Stuckley.

The modern account of the town is lefs fatisfactory in fome refpects than those given by Leland and Stukeley, for not a word is faid of its trade; and the statement of its houfes and population, making the former 400 and the latter 3 or 4000, is evidently erroneous. How was it poffible to write an 8vo. volume on fuch a place, and yet omit what was most important to be generally known about it? The accounts, however, of the ftate of navigation at Leominster, and of the general productions of the country, contain fome valuable information; the latter taken chiefly from Mr. Marshall and the Rev. Mr. Lodge.

POLITICAL.

Art. 21. A Plan for the Periodical Abolition of all Taxes raised by Means of Collectors: for the full Accomplishment of it feven Parts of the Nation out of eight contribute nothing; and the other Part its very moderate and proportionate Contribution, for one Time only, would, in the End, give to the Succeffors of the Contributors from 60 to 100 per Cent. for ever, by the Extinction of all the Taxes. Second Edition. 8vo. 15. Crosby. 1795.

The author of this plan, Signor Graglia, being a native of Piedmont, the inaccuracies of expreffion with which this tract abounds are very pardonable. The ground of his plan is a fuppofition that the property of the nation amounts to 5000 millions fterling: that by will, inheritance, or otherwife, the whole of it pafies into the hands of new owners at least once in 50 years; and that on an average 100 millions, the 50th part of 5000 millions, thus change hands every year. Building on thefe data, he propofes that an act of parliament REV. DEC. 1795.

Hh

fhould

fhould pafs, obliging every heir to contribute, according to the amount of his property fo tranfmitted to him, to the formation of a capital or finking fund for periodically fuppreffing all the taxes now raifed by means of collectors. The grand feature of the plan is that the heir or poffeffor fhould never be required to contribute to this fund more than once in his life; and that the money arifing from it fhould be paid into the treafury without the intervention of tax-gatherers Our author exempts from this contribution the proprietors of warehouses, manufactories, or fhops, not poffeffing flock in trade to the amount of £1000: but thofe who are proprietors of more than the value of that fum are to contribute according to a rate, always bearing a proportion to their property, up to a particular extent. The whole amount of this rate he estimates at one million fterling per annum, which, by a tax on lodgers, playhoufes, and other places of public relort for amufement, and on bankers' checks, he increases to £500,000, clear of all expences. This annual income of £1,500,000 he propofes to put out to intereft at 5 per cent. and the whole to accumulate for five years; fo that, by the end of 1801, it would form a capital of £.10,202,394, the annual produce of which would be .511,000. At the end of the five years, he would have fome of the exifting taxes to that amount repealed, and the deficiency occafioned by the repeal made good out of the above fum of £.511,000. a fimilar procefs to take place at the expiration of every 5th year. The first tax which he would have repealed is that levied under the name of poor's rates; and he thinks that the fund would be fufficient, at the end of the first five years, to releafe from the payment of poor's rates all housekeepers hitherto rated at lefs than 40 fhillings a year to that tax. He would also, as foon as poffible, free the people from the tax which they now pay for a fupply of water; the proprietors of the water-works to be paid no longer by the housekeepers, but by the managers of this finking fund.

Signor Graglia obferves that, according to this plan, the produce of the capital to be formed on it would, in the courfe of 70 years, amount to seven millions a year. The great difference between the fund propofed by him, and the finking fund already established by law, is that the latter arifes out of taxes paid every year by the fame individuals, the former out of a tax never to be paid more than once in his whole life by the fame perfon. This, however, is true only with refpect to the tax on property. The advantages of the plan are thus ftated:

If Titus leave to his fon a property of cool. his contribution at per cent. would be 91. 7 s. 6d. for once in all his life-time; and if he fhould enjoy fifty years his property, he would have paid 9s. 94. a year contribution, including the intereft of the fame; on the contrary, fuppofing he fhould only have 10l. a year taxes to pay, at the end of fifty years he would be out of pocket of 500l. paid for taxes. This is not all add to the taxes an intereft only of 6 per cent. in trade, you will fee, if you take the pen and ink as I have done, and multiply the annual tax with the intereft, at the end of 50 years he would be out of pocket more than 2000l. therefore it is evident that Titus, with his contribution of 91. 75. 64. purchafes an annuity of

:

tol. a year for his fucceffor, which gives him more than 80 per cent. by the extinction of the taxes, exclufive of the intereft; this confideration alone would be fufficient to remove every oppofition on the part of the contributors.'

He illuftrates his fubject by another calculation on a larger fcale. After fome previous flatements of the property of a fuppofed individual ftill called Titus, he thus goes on:

By this example it appears, that Titus inherits 180,000l. property, befides an annuity of 4000l. and his contribution amounts to no more than 14067. to be paid one time only in all the courfe of his life. It is to be obferved, that this property of 180,000l. as I have faid, must be clear of all penfions, legacies, annuities, expences, and claims upon it.

Now I fhall make a fhort obfervation to the reader. This contribution of Titus, of 14061. at the intereft of 5 per cent. would produce 70l. a year; but if, by this little facrifice, Titus delivers his fucceffors or pofterity of an annual tax of 300l. a year and perhaps more, upon his landed property only, they would reap a benefit of 2301. a year for ever, befide the chance of the periodical benefit attended by the reduction of taxes in his life-time.'

Having given the outline of the author's plan, we now leave it to fpeak for itself. For our part, we are much afraid that he has confiderably over-rated the property of the country, which forms the bafis of his whole fcheme; and that he is no lefs out of measure in his eftimate of the produce of the propofed tax on lodgers. Should he be wrong on these two points, particularly the former, his building would inevitably fall to the ground. There is one objection to the plan which our author himself forefees and labours to remove, but, we think, not fuccefsfully. Lodgers certainly do not pay directly the taxes with which housekeepers are charged, but they pay their share of them indirectly; for the owners of the lodgings let them according to the amount of their own rent and taxes. Signor Graglia falls into an unpardonable error when he fays that lodgers do not feel the weight of any tax.

We have extended our account of this fmall tract to an unusual length, but the importance of the subject will plead our excufe. Art. 22. Thoughts on the English Government. Addreffed to the quiet Good Senfe of the People of England. In a Series of Letters. Letter I. 8vo. 2s. Owen. 1795.

The proceedings of the Houfe of Commons relative to this pamphlet, of which the well-known Mr. Reeves is the reputed author, and which they have pronounced to be a libel on our conftitution, have fufficiently acquainted the public with its nature and tendency. While, however, we record this decifion of parliament, we think it proper to lay before our readers thofe paffages which were particularized in the Houfe, with fome others that ftrongly mark the principles which the author wishes to inculcate.

The following extract includes the fentences quoted by Mr. Sturt in the House, when he made the first motion on the subject:

With the exception of the advice and confent of the two Houses of Parliament, and the interpofition of Juries; the Government, and

the administration of it in all its parts, may be faid to rest wholly and folely on the King, and thofe appointed by him. Those two adjuncts of Parliament and Furies are fubfidiary and OCCASIONAL; but the King's Power is a fubftantive one, always vifible and active. By his Officers, and in his name, every thing. is tranfacted that relates to the peace of the Realm and the protection of the Subject. The Subject feels this, and acknowledges with thankfulnefs a fuperintending fovereignty, which alone is congenial with the fentiments and temper of Englishmen. In fine the Government of England is a Monarchy; the Monarch is the antient flock from which have fprung those goodly branches of the Legiflature, the Lords and Commons, that at the fame time give ornament to the Tree, and afford fhelter to thofe who feek protection under it. But thefe are fill only branches, and derive their origin and their nutriment from their common parent; they may be lopped off, and the Tree is a Tree ftill; fhorn indeed of its honours, but not, like them, caft into the fire. The Kingly Government may go on, in all its functions, without Lords or Commons: it has heretofore done fo for years together, and in our times it does fo during every recefs of Parliament; but without the King his Parliament is no more. The King, therefore, alone it is who neceffarily fubfifts without change or diminution; and from him alone we unceasingly derive the protection of Law and Government.' Having characterized, or caricaturized, thofe who raise questions on the merits of our government, the author adds, Such are those men, who, contrary to the genius of Englishmen, hate peace and quiet, and - instead of repofing themselves confidently on the GOVERNMENT OF THE KING, earneftly feek to have a fhare in it themselves.'

Adverting to the affairs of France, the writer makes the following unqualified affertion :

What a counterfeit of Liberty has been played off upon the poor people of that country! and what a degenerate down-trodden race muft they be, who have not difcovered the impofition: or, discovering it, have not refifted it, and done themfelves juftice! This could not be, if there was any honesty, any fortitude, or any manly fentiment in the country; but thefe are not qualities to be found in France, and Liberty feems defined never to make her abode there.'

Speaking of thofe great events in our annals, known by the names of the Reformation and the Revolution, the author thus ftrangely afferts that no alteration of the antient government took place at thofe periods:

Those memorable tranfactions were conducted in a way that was truly English; the actors in them proceeded with their remedy as far as the disease reached, and no further; and they never fuffered themselves to lofe fight of this main rule, that what they did was to preferve the antient government, and not to destroy OR ALTER it.'

Every man who truly deferves the noble appellation of a PATRIOT, a word fo facred in its meaning, though now generally scoffed at by unprincipled witlings, is thus included in a general fneer:

Suppofe, for a moment, that fome Patriot fhould, among the eftates that he has not yet been obliged to fell, poffefs one that came to his ancestor from the favour of the Crown (which is no obstacle to the

defcendants

defcendants being Patriots,) and that this eftate had come to the Crown, as perhaps it may again, by forfeiture for high treafon,' &c. Having, at the onfet, afferted that the government of this country refides in the King, and that the laws are made and executed by him, the author afterwards fays:

In fhort-the Government we know-and the Laws we knowbut the Constitution we know not.-It is an unknown region, that has never been visited but by dreamers, and men who fee vifions; and the reports they make are fo contradictory, that no one relies upon them. Yet we can manage to spell out of them, that there is refident there a great deal of faction and fedition; envy and ambition; and fomething that looks like eternal warfare of partv. But the English Government is real and fubftantial; we fee and feel it; we can take its height and its depth; and we know its movements, because they are regulated by established and known laws. This is the only Conftitution ever fuppofed or named by men of fober minds and found understanding; that is, the Conflitution of our Government, or the ConAtitution established by Lasw.

How are we to understand this paffage? The writer first fays, that we know not the Conflitution,' and then proceeds to tell us what the Conftitution is. What difference are we to fuppofe he fees between the Conftitution, as mentioned in the abstract by the generality of perfons, and his Conftitution of our Government, or the Conftitution established by Law? What, but that the Conflitution confifts in the government and the laws, and that these refide wholly in the King? According to this reasoning, our government is-and the writer no doubt wifhes it to be an abjolute monarchy.

It was truly obferved, however, in the Houfe of Commons, by Mr. Pitt, that there were inconfitencies in this pamphlet. Thus, as we have already ftated, the author alerts that the King is our fole governor, the fole maker and executor of our laws, and yet he acknowleges that his Majefty can ena no law without the advice and confent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and of the Commons in Parliament affembled; and that he can execute no law without the intervention of the judges, and of grand or petty juries. All these adjuncts, however, be it obferved, are faid to be fubfidiary and occafional,' and may be lopped off without detriment to the state.

After having made fome juft obfervations on the degree of credit to be given to any party in a nation, in general, merely as a party, the writer speaks of the prefent ftate of parties in this country with a judgment which will not, we think, be deemed equally well-founded:

There are now no divifions in the nation, but that of the Friends to the Conftitution as eftabiiined by Law, and that of the Republicans, who are laying [lying] by for an opportunity to level every thing to the equality of a French Democracy; and there are no political opinions by which men are distinguished, but thofe that are in favour of the Conftitution as eftablished by Law, and thofe who are against it.'

The author's reverence for one of his occafional and subsidiary' parts of the Government, as he chufes to ftyle the Conftitution, will be Seen from the following paragraph; in which he prefumes to reverse,