18 24. J Canonical and Moral 



freedom, wealth, happiness, morality, 

 and intelligence, than is possessed by 

 any other nation under iieaven. 



Since writing tlie above. I have liad 

 the opportunity of examining the curi- 

 ous, useful, and instructive. Tables, con- 

 tained in your Supplement. Derived as 

 part of them are from the documents so 

 frequently adverted to in ray letter, 

 whatever imperfections I may have 

 proved to exist in the latter accounts, 

 will of course be found also in the for- 

 mer; and some of the inferences de- 

 duced from them will be equally erro- 

 neous witii those which I have l)efore 

 been endeavouring to expose. I may 

 err, perhaps, in conjecturing that they 

 were compiled by the author of the 

 Exposition ; but, as they seem to me to 

 be directed to the same object, I will 

 just call the aitcntion of your readers to 

 one very important document among 

 them, which greatly strengthens my 

 previous arguments, and goes far to- 

 wards overthrowing the assumption 

 upon which the whole of that Exposition 

 is founded. The Table marked G con- 

 tains a statement of the value of our 

 imports from 1814 to 1822, showing also 

 what portion of these iniports has been 

 again exported, and what retained for 

 home consumplion. The totals thus 

 retained during the last seven years are 

 as follow : — 



1816 ^11,306,934 



1817 17,704,476 



1818 23,019,773 



1819 18,309,006 



1820 19,110,398 



1821 17,357,047 



1822 19,240,429 



From this account, then, it appears 

 that colonial and foreign produce, to the 

 value (jf 19,240,429/. has been con- 

 sumcfl in this country in 1822, while 

 only the value of 11,306,934/. was so 

 disposed of in 181G. What then, I 

 would ask, does this rapidly increasing 

 power of consumiition denote? A de- 

 teriorated condition of the great mass 

 of consumers, the middling and lower 

 classes, produced by the ruinous specu- 

 lations, blind foUji, and insane ohs(i)uicij, 

 of our merchants? or a greater com- 

 man<l, possessed by those classes, over 

 the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries 

 of lifi', arising from that activity which 

 pervadci all the principal branches of 

 our national industry, and which is daily 

 acquiring strength from fiesh accessions 

 of caidtal, and, itu necessary conse- 

 quence, increased demand for labour ? 



Books of the Chinese. 



221 



If the last be (as I think no one can 

 doubt) the true cause, what becomes 

 of your correspondent's Exposition? 

 That a nation can be sustaining a loss 

 of about twenty millions yearly by its 

 commerce, (vide Table H,) while its 

 actual consumption of foreign produce 

 is nearly doubled within seven years, 

 (vide Table G,) is one of the most ex- 

 traordinary suppositions that ever en- 

 tered into the mind of man. Compared 

 with this, indeed, the visionary projects 

 of 3Ir. Owen might justly demand atten- 

 tion ; the wildest dreams of Joanna 

 Southcott would appear almost rational ; 

 and the desperate absurdities of the 

 Spencean philanthropists exhibit some 

 faint indications of common sense, and 

 seem calculated to improve the social 

 condition of mankind. S. Roper. 



Grove-street, Hackney ; 

 Feb. 10, 1824. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 

 SIR, 



YOUR Magazine has been the vehi- 

 cle of much literary and scientific 

 information ; I am therefore in hopes of 

 being informed, by some of your enlight- 

 ened correspondents, whether there is 

 any painting or engraved portrait extant 

 of that celebrated and eccentric genius 

 Richard Savage, whose poem of " the 

 Bastard'' is the epitome of genuine 

 poetical talent, and runs in a stream of 

 rich mental splendor almost unequalled 

 by any other bardie composition. I 

 should likewise be glad to know if there 

 is any portrait of the talented and unfor- 

 tunate William Collins, whom I have 

 always considered as the most superior 

 lyric writer this or any other nation ever 

 produced, A. B. 



For the Monthly Magazine. 

 SECOND PART of the NOTICE relative to 

 the KING', or the canonical and 



MORAL BOOKS of the CHINESE. 



OF nine Canonical Books of the 

 second order, called 'The Little 

 King,' five only, either in respect to 

 their authenticity, or the importance 

 and interest attached to their contents, 

 are entitled to particular notice. These 

 are the ' Tahio,' or the grand science ; 

 the ' Tchong-yong,' or the just me- 

 dium ; the ' Lun-yuu,' or book of sen- 

 tences ; the ' Meng-tsec,' so named 

 from its author, Meng-ts^e, or Mencius, 

 the most celebrated of all the disciples of 

 Confucius, standing in the same relation 

 as Plato did to Socrates; and the ' i liao- 

 King,' or book of filial piety. 



T li 



