64 Literary and Critical Proimium. 



firmness, with which the people bear up 



against their oppressive burdens, as for the 

 boasted retrenchments which have, it is 

 notorious, been in almo-it every instance 

 forced upon the servants of the crown, 

 after every effort had been made to evade 

 them. On that head, we apprehend, go- 

 vernment will shortly hear very plain lan- 

 guage. The hopes of the nation, which, 

 under a truly constitutional representation, 

 ought to be founded on the independence 

 and integrity of its representatives, may 

 possibly, for once, be realized by their ne- 

 cessities and their fears. We are not, 

 however, disposed to deny the truth of 

 many of the autlior's statements, and we 

 perfectly coincide with him in the causes 

 to which he attributes the general depres- 

 sion of prices : — " A vast amount (during 

 the war) of public expenditure, very great 

 in each year, and still further aggravated 

 in eveiy successive year by the addition 

 of a new mass to the former ; and, secondly, 

 an immense demand, a large waste, and, in 

 many articles of supply, the possession of 

 a monopoly and a closed market. In the 

 twenty-three years of the war, 800,nOO,000 

 of money, and all this extraordinary ex- 

 penditure, had been poured into tlie gene- 

 ral market of the community ;and had, of 

 course, nursed and supplied with means a 

 vast stock of consumers ; enabling so many 

 more to consume, and all to consume more 

 largely." The reasons here assigned for 

 the fall of prices arc, we think, quite 

 satisfactory; and llie writer succeeds in 

 shewing, that the decline is to be attri- 

 buted in a very slight degree to the dimi- 

 nution of the quantity of tlie currency. In 

 treating of our foreign relations, a task yet 

 more difficult awaits this ortan of miiiis- 

 lerial opinions. His account of the nature 

 and purposes of the congress of sovereigns 

 it is impossible lo peruse with gravity. 

 Upon the face of it, it is what the learned 

 gentleman may best apprehend under the 

 title of a sham plea. ''To say all in a 

 word, it is a merely friendly conference, 

 and in no degree a diet or confederacy." 

 A gentlemanly meeting, no doubt, of two 

 emperors and as many kings, to shake 

 bauds together, and talk over something 

 for the good of the human race. He speaks 

 more to the point, when he confesses that 

 the object of the congress is lo keep down 

 the spirit of French jacobinism ; and still 

 more so, when he has the assurance to de- 

 clare, that all the characteristic distinctions 

 of that spirit are manifest upon the face of 

 the Spani.sli revolution, which stands unri- 

 valled in the temper, humanity, and for- 

 bearance, with which it has been, from the 

 first, conducted. But this question it is 

 needless to argue. No man believes that 

 the safety of Spain lies elsewhere than in 

 her own strength, or that an army of 

 foreign slaves would not now have polluted 

 her plains, if their courage had seconded 



[Feb. 1, 



their will. The benevolent characters 

 above referred lo have yet much to learn ; 

 and we feel happy in the confidence, that, 

 by declaring war against Spain, they will 

 have the benefit of compressing a great 

 deal of experience into a short but severe 

 lesson. On the questions of our policy to- 

 wards Greece, and the new American 

 republics, the writer is equally inelBcient; 

 and endeavours in vain to conceal, under 

 the pomp of ofKcial language, that weak- 

 ness, or something worse than weakness, 

 with which, in both these instances, Great 

 Britain has betrayed her own interests and 

 those of the himian race. With respect to 

 the literary qualifications of the author, we 

 are not induced to form any high opinion 

 of his merits. Nothing at all approaching 

 to eloqnrnce is discoverable in his pages ; 

 his style is neither easy nor elegant, and is 

 remarkable for a kind of oracular tdne, 

 which gives it an air rather of conceit than 

 of dignity. We have great doubts whether, 

 in assuming the character of a politician 

 and a man of letters, he has not improvi- 

 dcutly emerged from his proper clement. 



There are few of our readers wbo have 

 not heard the name of Mrs. Catharine 

 Cappe, whose miwearied exertions in the 

 cause of charity and benevolence only 

 ceased with her life. Wc noticed with 

 pleasure the r.nnouuccmcnt of her Memoirs, 

 tmllenbij herself; but, highly as we always 

 esteemed her character and useful talents, 

 wc did not expect so interesting and valu- 

 able a book a.s on perusal we find this to 

 be. The amiable writer has narrated, in 

 the most simple and engaging manner, all 

 the history of a long life, which was very 

 far from being barren in curious and in- 

 structive incidents. Very early in life she 

 separated from the established church, and 

 became one of the most intimate friends ot 

 the late Mr. Lindsey, whose life has been 

 given to the world by the Hev. Thomas 

 Belshani. She likewise reckoned in the 

 number of her friends many other of the 

 celebrated men of her day. Nothing 

 could surpass the energy and activity of 

 this excellent woman, when friends hip or 

 benevolence made a call upon her exer- 

 tions; and the many useful works ■.vhich 

 she published on the subject of charitable 

 institutions, bear testimony at once to the 

 soundness of her judgment and the excel- 

 lence of her heart. We cannot too strongly 

 recommend the perusal of this work to our 

 readers ; and, we can assure them, that im- 

 proving and instructive as it is, if is even 

 still more entei taining. 



We have been much pleased with a small 

 volume that has fallen into our hands, 

 comprising an Ode on the Death of Na- 

 poleon, and oilier Poems We arc informed 

 that it is from the pen of Mr. Bulmer, a 

 young, and in our opinion a very pro- 

 mising, candidate for poetic fame With a 

 cultivated taste, formed upon the best 



model 



