With what contempt may we look down on vice, whose paths indeed are smooth, level, and inviting, on the first approach; but, as the thoughtless and misguided traveller, along the devious and deceitful track, continues his unwary steps, brambles and mire, at length, obstruct the way, and terminate his mad career!-Arrived at the height of his ill-conceived enjoyments, and unable to pursue another course, he finds himself in a desolate and barren wilderness; so embarrassed and perplexed, as to render retreat impracticable.-Past enormities stare him in the face, and future prospects appear like a troubled ocean in his mind, without hopes of termination!-Forlorn must be the fate of such a wretch !-Unable to extricate himself from the horrors of a disturbed conscience, or "flee from the wrath to come."-How different is such a state from that of VIRTUE?-where we may gather the rose, without the thorn; and from whence we may descry every object which can possibly contribute to our real and permanent interests in this life, and secure to us an eternal happiness !”

This is very good advice, and well suited to a sermon on the importance of religious education, or of apprizing youth of the snares aad dangers of the world: but it is entirely out of its place in its present situation.-If, as we suspect, these discourses are the production of a juvenile writer, we may hope that practice and experience will enable him to improve: but, to this end, he must receive advice and correction with a determination to profit by them, and must strenuously assist them by his own efforts.

We find only seven sermons in this volume; the first 137 pages being occupied by a preface addressed to the candidates for orders, and the younger clergy. Here are some good hints, though not original, on the verbal inaccuracies of the common prayer, on the importance of endeavouring to read it well, on the propriety of explaining, in the sermon, such parts of the lessons as may require comments, &c.: but we do not apprehend that Mr. H.'s divine right of tithes will be admired in the present day;-of his reasoning on this subject, the following paragraph will afford an idea:

However unfashionable the idea, I confess I am one of those, who believe that "THE ALL WISE" and bountiful, "DONOR of EVERY GOOD and PFRFECT GIFT," is, and ought ever to be considered as the most proper Judge to whom, and for what purpose, those gifts are to be applied; and that any endeavour, or attempt, to counteract the designs of Providence, by disposing of them, in any other manner, is little, if any thing, short of sacrilege!'

At p. cxxx. Mr. Henvill inadvertently deifies Nature, and speaks of her as a goddess: she is extremely capricious " which is not correct in a Christian divine.

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ART. VI. Some Account of the Shrewsbury House of Industry. Ite. Establishment, Regulations, and Bye-Laws: with Hints to those who may have similar Institutions in View. Fifth Edition. To which is now added, A large Introduction, containing General Observations on the present State of the Poor, and the defective System of the Poors' Laws. By I. Wood. 8vo. PP. 224.

3s. 6d. sewed. Longman and Rees. 1800.

WHEN the first edition of Mr. Wood's account of the Shrewsbury House of Industry was published, we briefly expressed our opinion both of the institution and of the reporter. (See M. Rev. N. S. vol. v. p. 112.) Since that time, this work has passed through several editions; and it is now presented to us with an introduction prefixed, in which the difficult and perplexing subjects of the state of the poor, and the system which professes to be for their relief, are discussed. Such a discussion ought to be generally encouraged. Is it because we cannot or that we do not choose to see the truth, that our laws respecting the poor are so extremely defective; and that they are defective must be evident; since, though the amount of the legal provision is enormous (exceeding three millions a year), and still increasing, the wretchedness of the poor is not diminished, but seems to grow with the tax levied on their behalf. It is time to attempt to find out where the error lies, and to apply an adequate remedy.

The complete abolition of the present establishment no one would recommend: but when it is confessed that it would not be adviseable to institute a similar national provision in a country in which none such before existed, it is an acknowlegement that we have outstepped in it the dictates of wisdom. Do we not, (as we lately remarked,) by the present system, take the poor too much out of their own hands; and, by not adjusting the price of labour to the necessaries of life, do we not force them to receive in the form of charity, that to which they are întitled on the principles of equity? If justice were done to them in this respect, would not much trouble be saved? If they were rendered humbly independent, would they not take care of themselves; and feed and clothe themselves at much less expence than will be necessary to feed and clothe them in any other way? We speak of the poor in general.

No doubt, a distinction must be made between the cottage or country poor, and those who come under the description of

At p. 72 of the introduction, Mr. Wood admits that, if that independent spirit of the poor, which prevents them from trusting to parochial aid, be broken and subdued by their being forced into a general receptacle of poverty, and compelled to class among common paupers, this inestimable principle will presently disappear.

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poor in cities and large towns. In these receptacles of vice and profligacy, their condition is often deplorable. Both in body and mind, they are objects of extreme commiseration; and the first idea that occurs to the philanthropist is, Let them be taken where both can be purified. The erection of Houses of Industry is a thought which then presents itself, and in every district it may be advisable to have such an institution, provided that its regulations be proper, and that the strictest superintendance be exercised: but enormous establishments of this kind, placed every where throughout the kingdom, are by no means either necessary or prudent. Annual overseers, according to the present system, are inadequate to regulate and manage them; and though gentlemen, may at first submit to the toil and trouble, it is to be feared that before long they will grow tired, and that the House of Industry will become a house of idleness and profligacy. Were justice done to the poor when they are young, by then restraining all idleness and vice among them; were they encouraged, as they advance in years, in habits of sobriety and religion; were many of our pot houses and dram-drinking places suppressed as nuisances both in towns and villages; and were the poor, after having received a fair price for their labour, instructed and assisted in the prudent expenditure of their earnings; parishes would be soon exonerated from a great proportion of their burdens, the poor in general would be more satisfied, and no large houses would be necessary for their reception.

Mendicity should not be tolerated; drunkenness should not go unpunished; nor should idleness, under the semblance and dress of misery, be allowed to impose on credulous charity. So far a House of Industry will be of use, as it will annihilate all plea for idleness; and if the poor who can work must work, either for themselves or the public, we know which they will prefer.

We cannot, however, adopt all Mr. Wood's sentiments in favour of these receptacles. Certainly the poor may be more comfortable in them, than they can be in crouded and miserable dwellings of their own: but then, may it not be asked, would not the sum expended on the large house build a number of cottages which should not be miserable; and would not the subsequent trouble and expence be less?

Mr. Wood very ably replies to several objections which have been urged against houses of industry, and we recommend his remarks to the serious attention of the public: but we rather incline to that system which preserves to the poor their little independence and individuality, and which shall interest them in the maintenance of order. In this view, Friendly Societies REV. SEPT. 1800. may

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may be preferable to houses of industry; and if they could be universally established, so as to include both rich and poor, and if every parish according to its population were divided into a certain number of these societies, under wise regulations, the poor would probably be better assisted than at present; the sum paid by the rich members would be less than the amount of the poor's rates; the rich would be more acquainted with the state of the poor; and the poor would be more regular through the superintendance of the rich.

Something, it is evident, ought farther to be done in behalf of the poor, and to ease the parochial burdens. According to Mr. Wood, Houses of Industry in populous districts may be attended with a saving to the public, and at the same time administer to the moral improvement and comfort of the poor. Under the exertions of so intelligent and public-spirited a man as himself, his doctrine can scarcely fail of being verified: but, when the superintendants and governors of these institutions are so repeatedly told that a constant unremitting attention will ever remain necessary, we despair of hearing, in general, of those happy consequences which he so energetically describes.

ART. VII. Selections from the Correspondence of General Washington and James Anderson, LL. D. F. R.S. F. A.S. E. &c. &c. In which the Causes of the present Searcity are fully investigated. 8vo. pp. 88. 2s. 6d. Cumming, Holborn Hill. 1800.

N a correspondence with the late General Washington, who would look for a discussion connected with the subject of the recent scarcity in Great Britain? Yet here do we find one, more able than any which it has yet been our good fortune to peruse. We deem it of such importance, and we think that so much attention is due to the experience and reputation of Dr. Anderson, that we shall make copious extracts from it; imagining that we render service to our country by contributing, as far as we have power, to its publicity.-We find only one letter from General Washington; and the last and longest from Dr. A. never reached the justly celebrated American, of whose lamented death the Doctor received intelligence, when on the point of transmitting it.

In a letter from Dr. Anderson, containing very original observations on the present contest between Great Britain and France, the following reflections occur; which, though not designed for that purpose, form a very apt introduction to the subjects canvassed in the principal letter on the scarcity.

To such persons as believe that the stability of states, and the happiness of a people, are to be measured exactly by the amount of

their wealth, and the extent of their foreign trade and manufactures, facts which prove the prosperity of Great Britain in this respect will be deemed of the most soothing nature; but to me they convey not any such idea. Nations, like individuals, have not their happiness augmented in proportion to the increase of their riches. They generally act with much more propriety when they are in moderate circumstances, than when superabounding in wealth. Power engenders pride, haughtiness, and a most intolerable self-sufficiency; this disgusts those with whom they must have dealings, and encourages rivals. It creates enemies at the same time; enemies, whose ill-will is only displayed at the first in secret; but by and by they become open and declared as such. Wars of course follow, and many evils which it would be painful to enumerate. These evils will be, to you, very obvious, and might have been (or rather may be) foreseen by our rulers, whose duty it should have been to counteract their influ ence. This, I am sorry to say, has not been done. Owing to the greater profits that are to be made in trade or manufactures than in agriculture, at the same time that such persons are more independent of others, and at greater liberty to act as occasion may require, young men of spirit and enterprise naturally prefer the first, and neglect the last. Fiscal regulations might easily be adopted to counteract in some measure this evil; but this has not been attended to. Some late taxes, particularly the salt tax and the income tax, have a direct contrary effect; for they press much more heavily on country gentlemen and farmers, than on those who are engaged in trade and manufactures: bad is thus made worse, and a spirit of turbulence and insubordination is disseminated among the lower orders of society, which must break out on the first check that business, in their particular line, experiences; and this must give rise to a system of coercive government that is only productive of general misery, and individual distress; not to mention the discontents that are the neverfailing attendants on the occasional recurrence of years of scarcity, which are inevitable where this system of economy is adhered to.

• None of these effects would have been experienced if the less brilliant but more steady operations of agriculture had been duly cherished and encouraged. There would have been no difficulty in finding other sources of productive taxes here, had they been sought for; but it too often happens in financial arrangements, that men overlook the only certain means of augmenting the revenue, viz. that of adopting measures to promote the health of the body politic in all its members; and, instead of supplying the goose with plenty of nourishing food to make her with certainty lay abundance of golden eggs for many years to come, in their eagerness to get all the eggs at once, they kill the goose herself, and thus cut off the source of that future supply which would have been certain.'

From respect for a valuable and venerable body; from a cordial admission of its sacred claims, founded on its great services to society, and of its rights guaranteed by the public faith; and from personal regard for numerous individuals who belong to it; we should be the first to protest against schemes

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which