} 
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Retrofpect of Domeftic Literature... Law. 
the conquered countries, however in the 
firtt, the caufe of liberty has been vio- 
Jared, and in the latter national inde- 
pendence deftroyed, and in both the for- 
tunes of the opulent injured, yet that 
the great bulk of the people, particularly 
the farming intereft, have been greatly 
benefited by the revolution., If Mirs. 
Starke be correct in her ftatement of the 
refpeétive forces of the oppofed powers 
in Italy, at the commencement of the 
campaign of 1796, we fhall have a higher 
opinion than ever of the tranfcendent mi- 
litary talents of Buonaparte. The Auf- 
trians, Sardinians, and Neapolitans, are 
faid, by her, to have amounted to 200,000, 
while the French were barely 56,000, of 
whom many were worn down by dif- 
eafe, and finking under every fpecies of 
privation. We can hardly credit the ac- 
cufation made againft the duke of Braf- 
chi, the pope’s nephew, of having, ‘ for 
the lucre of gain, engaged to feed and 
clothe the French army.’” We _ learn 
‘from Mrs. Starke a new fact refpecting 
Buonaparte, that his courage, like that of 
the Turks, depends on his belief in pre- 
deftination. After the. various accounts 
we have feen in the newfpapers ‘of the 
exceffes of the French foldiery, we are 
not a little furprifed to learn from Mrs. 
Starke, an eye witnefs and not at all in- 
clined to favour. them, that ** their be- 
haviour was fo orderly, that their ap- 
proach foon ceafed in the eyes of Italy to 
- be an objeét of dread.”” When Coni, an 
impregnable. fortreis and the key of 
Turin, was, through unaccountable. in- 
fatuation, given up to the French, Buona- 
parte had not three rounds of powder re- 
maining in his’camp, nor any artillery 
proper for. carrying on a regular fiege : 
this fortrefs, as well as the others which 
were ceded at the fame time, contained 
fuch an abundance of ftores and ammuni- 
tion, as fupplied the French with ample 
means to preferve their conquefts. After 
a rapid detail of the military events which 
occurred during her ftay in Italy, Mrs. 
Starke proceeds to give an account of the 
reliques of antiquity and the mafter- 
pieces of art which adorn this intereft- 
ing country. Phat part of the work 
which contains initruétions for the ufe of 
invalids and families who yifit Italy, and 
‘may not be inclined to incur the expence 
attendant upon travelling with a courier, 
is very ufeful. 
Law. 
“A Treatife on the Laws of 
Hyxchange, Checks on Bankers, 
JoserpH Cuitty, Efq.. of the 
Monrury Mas. LIV. 
Bills of 
&c. by 
Middle 
1049 
Temple,” is a work notat all inferior to 
the many others which have preceded it 
on the fame fubjeét. But why add to 
their number, unlefs any thing new can 
be faid ? 
‘©The Lord Thanet’s Cafe confider- 
ed,”” by WILLIAM FIRTH, of Lincoln’s 
Inn, Efq. Barrifter at Law. It is well 
known that a dovot having arifen, whe- 
ther the judgment in the cafe of this no- 
bleman was {pecific or dependent on the 
will of the courr, and this doubt having 
‘produced a difference of opinion among 
the great law’ officers, the chief juttice 
requefted publicly the afiiftance of the 
bar, to aid him in determining the quef- 
tion: m confequence of this call, Mr. 
Firth, a young barrifter, has laudably 
employed much induftry in fearching for 
precedents, and has given the refult in 
the prefent publication, together with 
much clofe and logical reafoning, to prove 
that the judgment of the court was dif- 
cretionary. Mr. Firth has a very in- 
genious argument to eftablifh this point, 
namely, that the omiffion of the word 
Jirtke in the indiétment, though it con- 
tains beat, bruife, wound, and i/l-treat, 
apparently {ynonymous, but not having 
precifely the fame meaning with the 
former word, was fufficient to exempt 
Lord Thanet from the fevere corporal 
punithment which the crime of ftriking 
—coram domino nofiro rege, incurs. 
This is one of the nicef%t diftinétions we 
ever recolleét to haye feen made: a man 
of common knowledge of language can- 
not wellconceive how one can beat another 
without ftriking him; but the framers of 
indiétments ought to have an uncommon 
knowledge of language. This pamphlet 
is written with great good fenfe, and is 
fingularly precife and clear. 
Dr. RoBinson has publithed a “ Re- 
port of the Judgment of the High Court 
of Admiralty on the Swedith Convoy.’’ 
Jucgment in this caufe, fo interefting to 
the commercial world, was pronounced by 
Sir William Scott the rith of laft June. 
‘It is not eafy to beftow too much praife on 
the judge for the able and fatisfaétory rea- 
fons which he gave as the foundation of 
his judgment. It is with pleafure we 
learn that Dr. Robinfon means to con- 
tinue, thefe reports. 
A fecond volume has appeared of 
« Juridical Arguments and Colleétions,” 
by Francis HarGRAVE, Efq.; it is 
needlefs to fpeak of the merits of ‘any 
thing that comes from the pen of this 
great lawyer. The prefent volume con- 
tains three arguinents, delivered in the 
6:F Court 
