Retrofpec?, of Domeftre Literature.—Pobtical Economy, 
pofe the dictates of nature, and forbid 
the contract of a marriage between 
two perfons of full age? Certainly 
not, (fays Mr. Malthus) ; but let not 
the contract of marriages between per- 
fons who have no other proipe& of 
providing for their offspring than by 
throwing them ona parifh, be, as it js 
now, encouraged by law. 
615 
from the date of the law, and no ilie- 
gitimate child born two years from’the 
fame date, fhould be intitled to parifh- 
affiffance. This, he remarks, would 
operate as a fair, diftinct, and precife, 
notice, which no man could miftake ; 
and without preffing hard on any par- 
ticular individual, would at once 
One of the. throw. off the rifing generation from 
effects of the poor-laws is to encourage that miferable and helplefs dependence 
marriage between perfons of this de- 
{cription, who well know thatgag they 
cannot provide for their own children, 
the parifh muft take them off their 
hands. Thefe laws create much more 
mendicity than they ‘relieve; they 
create mouths, but are perfectly in- 
competent to procure food for them. 
Inftead of raifing the real price of la- 
bour, by increafing the demand for Ja- 
bourers, they tend to overftock the 
market, to reduce the demand, and di- 
minifh the value. | ‘They raife the price 
of provilions by increafing the demand 
for them, and by fupplying the paro- 
chial penfioners with the means of ob- 
taining them. In confequence of this, 
that clafs of induftrious Jabourers who 
have too generous a pride to folicit af- 
fiftance, are oftentimes funk in the 
{cale of mifery much lower than others 
‘who have thrown off all fenfe of thame 
and all the honett feelings of indepen- 
dence. ‘Taken in a moral as’ well as 
in a’ political view, thefe laws are equal- 
ly bad: the parifti tells.a hufband, he 
may forfake a wife with impunity— 
tells a mother, that, if fhe deferts her 
children, they will be taken care of in 
her abfence: to ufe the words of Mr, 
Malthus, we take ail poflibie pains to 
weaken and render null the ties of na- 
ture, and then fay that men are unna- 
tural: the faét is, that the fociety it- 
feif, inits body politic, is the unnatu- 
yal charaéter for framing laws that 
thus counteract the Jaws of nature; and 
give premiums to the violation of the 
beft and molt honourabie feelings of 
the human heart. Mr. Malthus, how- 
ever, is too wife and humane to propote 
that a fyftem fhould immediately and 
abruptly be abolifhed, the abolition of 
which, however beneficial it! would 
eventually prove, muit be attended 
with much, prefent diitréfs. He has, 
therefere, propofed a plan for the gra- 
dual abolition of thefe laws, which, to 
us at leaft, does not lie open to any fe- 
rious objection. He propofes that no 
‘child born from any marriage taking 
place after the expiration of a year 
4 
upomeene Government and the rich, the 
moral as well as the phyfical confe- 
quences of which are almoft incalcu- 
Pe AR lal | 
We had noted down. a few general 
remarks on the gloom which, this fyf 
tem of Mr. Malthus throws over every 
profpect of ameliorating the condition 
‘of man ; but on cafting our eye back 
on the number of columns ‘we have 
written, it is-with regret that we {ub- 
mit to the neceflity of clofing this inte- 
refting fubject. ' 
*° Remarks on Currency and Commerce. 
By J. WueaTLey, Eg.” co 
‘In thefe remarks there is difplayed 
great deal of found fenfe, judgment, 
and information. Some of the doc- 
trines laid down differ materially from 
thofe which are generally received; but 
Wheatley is not rath in his theories ; 
he ftates his cafe with fairnefs, and ar- 
gues it with acutenefs and accuracy.-~ 
In fix fucceflive chapters are difcufled 
the utility of money, the balance of 
trade, commerce, the depreciation of 
money, the reformation of the paper- 
currency of this country, and the re- 
duction of the national debt by the de- 
preffion of money. Invthe firft chap- 
ter we find an ingenious and well-il- 
luftrated diftinétion between capital 
and currency, which are ufually confi- 
dered as fynonymous: here, however, 
it is very clearly fhown, that an in- 
creafe of the national ftock of {pecie is 
an increafe of currency, and not of capi- 
tal ; thatan increafe of currency is not 
an increafe of wealth; and that no one 
nation can poffefs a greater relative cur- 
rency than another, or accumulate a 
greater ftock of {pecie than that pro- 
portion which is adequate to circulate 
its produce. In another chapter we 
find the theory otf the balance of trade 
attacked with great vigour. A mer- 
chant calculates his gains not on the 
exce{fs of his exports, but on that of his 
imports. Mr. Wheatley contends, 
that the ftatement of the excefs of ex- 
ports above imports, difplayed with 
fuch fatisfagtion as indicative of an an- 
nual 
