Vou. IV.) Retrofped of Domeftic Literature.—Topograghy. 
fays Sir George Staunton, *“ to ftimulate 
to good, and deter from evil a€tions, by 
the reward of praife, as well as by the 
dread of fhame. A public regifter, called 
Zhe Book of Merit, is kept for ‘the pur- 
pofe of recording every inftance of merito- 
rious conduét; and, in the enumeration 
of a man’s titles, the number of timesthar 
his name had been fo inferted is parti-— 
cujarly mentioned ; for faults, on the other 
hand, he is ufually degraded ; and it isnot 
deemed fufficient only that he fhould 
affume his reduced title, but he muft like- 
wife add to his name the fat of his de-" 
gradation. —Refpe&ting the population, 
revenues, and extent of China, the /r/, 
taken in round numbers from the ftate- 
ments of Chow-ta-zhin, is 333,000,000 
fouls, within the great wall: as to the 
fecond, the {quare miles are 1,297,999, and 
the number of acres 830,710,360: con- 
cerning the shird, the revenues receiv- 
ed into the imperial treafury amount to 
36,548,000 takels, or ounces of filver, and 
4,245,000 meafures of rice or other grain, 
The following eftimate will fhow the taxes 
to be extremely moderate: fuppofing 
filver to reprefent property, and bear the 
fame proportion to the confumable com- 
modities among the Chinefe which it 
does among Europcaus in general; if the 
whole revenue of the former were réduc- 
ed to acapitation, it would not amount to 
more than five fhillings a head on the popu- 
lation of theempire. The people of Ireland, 
on a fimilar computation, pay to govern- 
ment ¢ight fhillings a head; thofe of 
France, previoufly to the revolution, /x- 
teen; and each individual of Great Bri- 
tain at leaft thirty-four!” Acheap edition 
has been publifhed of Sir George Staun- 
ton’s entertaining work.—A lively and 
good-humoured traveller has publifhed his 
*< Sketches: and Obfervations made on a 
Tour through various Parts of Europe.” 
The rapidity of this gentleman’s move- 
ments reminds us of poor Lenora and 
William, in that {weet ballad of Biirger, 
which has of late been fo often tranflated: 
*S And hurry-fkurry forth they go, . 
Unbeeding wet or dry 5 
sind horfe and rider fnort and blow, 
Aud fparkling pebbles fly.” 
His pen and his horfes are alike rapid, and 
alike fprightly. A neat and well-written 
tranflation, by Mr. Wright, has appeared 
of the manufcript of ‘* Baronde Wimp- 
fen’s Voyage to St. Domingo.” The 
baron refided in this colony during the 
years 1788, 1789, and 1790. Many ge- 
nerous and humane reflections occur on 
the fubje€t of flavery by this gentleman, 
2 
* 
_mercilefs. grafp. 
“ment. 
5°9 
who is certainly weil qualified to make 
them, and who relates feveral facts, of 
which he was an eye-witnefs, corrobore- 
tive of the cruclty, which fome perfons 
affeét to dilbelieve, is commonly exercifed 
by flave-holders on thofe unfortunate fel< 
low-creatures who have fallen into their 
“« [ muft obferve,” fays 
the baron, ‘+ to the eternal fhame of the 
Europeans, that if the law which debafes 
the Mulattoes, by devoting their pofterity 
to flavery, is obferved with the moft rigor- 
ous exactnefs, it is not fo with another, 
which exprefsly ordains, that every matter 
fhall give each of his flaves two pounds 
and a half of falt-meat every week.’* In 
a {mall volume of ‘* Travels in North 
America,” by M.Crefpel, that gendeman 
has given a very affecting narrative of the 
hardthips which he fuffered in a fhipwreck 
off the too famous ifland of Anticofti, at 
the entrance of the river St. Lawrence. 
M.Crefpel firft publifhedthis narrative in 
French; and the defcription of the ifland 
is written by Mr. Wright, who paffed a 
winter there, and furveyed it by order of 
government. Mr.Southey,fo well known as 
apoet, has written ‘¢ Letters during a fhort 
Refidence in Spainand Portugal :” thefe 
letters are intermingled with an account of 
Spanifh and Portuguete poetry : the author 
has transfufed the fpirit of his originals 
with the utmoft felicity into his tranfla- 
tions. He has analyfed acurious Portu- 
guefe epic poem, written on the marriage 
of Charles the!Second of England with 
the princefs Catharine of Pertugal. Mr. 
outhey'’s fiyle of writing, as would be 
expected, is lively, elegant, and entertain- 
ing. In an ‘“ Hiftorical Effay on the Am- 
bition and Conquefis of France,” the 
author traces, to a very early date, the 
origin of that hatred which fubfifted on 
the part of France againft Great Britain 
and the Houfe of Auftria. We by no 
means agree with the politics of this author, 
in general, but are happy to hear from a’ 
gentleman of his opinions an acknowledg- 
ment, that the ferocious difpofition which 
the French people has difplayed was gene- 
rated by the defpotifm of their govern- 
A founder argument againft def- 
poti{m has never yet been urged. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 
Mr. Hutchinfon has publifhed the con- 
cluding volume of his ‘ Hiftory of the 
County of Cumberland,” &c. Ic contains 
a fund of interefting matter on the vari-— 
ous fubjeéts of botany, mineralogy, anti- 
quities, arts, agriculture, 8c. The map of 
the county is beautiful, and appears to be 
accurate. The defcriptive portion of this. 
' work, 
