graces of his Spirit. What additional assistance can man, as a free agent, and a reasonable being, require of the mercy of his Maker?' The Vindication of Paradise Lost' is written in a very able and powerful manner, in answer to some positions of Harroviensis, and to Lord Byron's exculpation of himself. The general impression produced by the perusal of "Paradise Lost" certainly is totally different from that which is produced by the perusal of "Cain." From Milton, no particular passages can be selected that are so obnoxious to misconstruction (to use the most favorable term,) as some in the "Mystery;" and, in the latter, conceptions are indulged by Cain which outrage all the feelings of nature, while in Milton even the Evil Spirit has touches of humanity. Having thus concisely indicated the nature and merits of the several pamphlets before us, we do not wish to prolong the discussion. MONTHLY CATALOGUE, FOR JUNE, 1822. POETRY. Art. 14. The Pleasures of Fancy. A Poem. In Two Parts. 8vo. pp. 71. Rivingtons. 1822. 6 We think that we trace in these Pleasures of Fancy' the hand of a young and inexperienced writer, new to his task, but full of warm and poetic feelings, poured out without much study and selection, yet not wanting some degree of originality and power. They do not, however, display any wide range or play of imagination, though in parts sufficiently fanciful, and sufficiently interesting to beguile the attention of the reader. We ought not, indeed, to require much novelty on the subject: but we suspect that little of what is most original in the author is really new to any person but himself. Nor does this arise so much from weakness or poverty of genius, as from inexperience, and a partial acquaintance with the great works of his predecessors. When the writer asserts of the subject of his Muse, Neglected power! whence do thy hand-maids shine Why deathless praise may Hope and Memory claim, he seems to overlook the offerings which other votaries of Fancy have presented at her shrine. Though Fancy and Imagination may be in some measure distinct from each other, he ought not, after Akenside's noble poem, to call the theme neglected; nor should should he attribute so much to a fine subject, when every thing that is poetical depends wholly on the execution. Without genius, the most heroic theme becomes cold and feeble; while the very lowliest flower may be rendered poetical, and bloom for ever, at the inspired voice of a ploughboy. We do not mean to ase sert that no proofs of talent and poetical powers are given in the production before us, or that the writer has executed his task badly: but the qualities of his poetry are not of that strong and vigorous kind which will enable him to mount on lofty pinions, and sustain a wide and well-directed flight. Yet some pleasing and even beautiful passages occur, which will repay the attention of the reader. POLITICS. Art. 15. An Exposition of the real Causes and effective Remedies of the Agricultural Distress. By an impartial Looker-on. 8vo. pp. 42. Sherwood and Co. 1822. Art. 16. Thoughts on the Expediency of a Relaxation of the Corn" Laws, as the most effectual Remedy for Agricultural Distress? with critical Remarks on some prevalent Opinions relative to the Influence of Taxes and Money on the Prices of Commodities. 8vo. pp. 59. 2s. Smith and Elder. 1822. : Never, surely, was a greater discrepancy of opinion really and conscientiously entertained on any subject, by political writers and debaters, than at the present moment respecting the nature and causes of the general distress which pervades the country; and, consequently, respecting the remedies that will restore its forfeited prosperity. On many questions, it may be predicated of our par liamentary polemics, long before the debate begins, what line of argument they will take, and on what side they will vote at the division but to do the "honorable gentlemen" justice, it must be confessed that no man, whether Whig or Tory, Radical, Ultra, or Legitimate, knows on which side of the House he is to look for his friend when any one of the subjects (to take them alphabet, ically) of agriculture, corn-laws, currency, manufactures, poorrates, revenue, or the remission of particular taxes is discussed. The bias of peculiar and personal interests may, indeed, be occasionally discerned: but the bias of political party is thrown aside; and the divisions on these questions have presented a pie-bald ap pearance, confirming the old observation that misery brings a man into very strange company. While other writers attribute our distress to the restoration of a depreciated [currency to its antient value, the Impartial Looker-on' traces the mischief entirely to the Corn-bill of 1815 a ruinous boon conceded to the land-owners, the object of which was to restore the price of wheat to 80 shillings per quarter, and thus to perpetuate, in time of peace, the extravagant rate to which their rents had been raised during the war. It is very com mon to talk about an identity of interests existing in all classes of the community but this, like many general principles of which the truth is acknowleged, is rarely put in practice when the P 2 period period for its application arrives. The landed interest is undoubtedly a very powerful party in the state; and country-gentlemen supported Ministers in their immeasurable extravagance throughout the war, because an augmented demand was created for the productions of agriculture, the value of which, being enormously raised, enabled their tenantry to pay very high rents. A retrograde movement took place at the peace. The period was now arrived for returning to a more moderate system; and for things to resume their more natural standard. Accordingly, the price of labour was reduced; the exorbitant interest, or rent of money, which had been received during the war, could be no longer obtained; the sources of employment for capital were contracted; the productions of our manufactories, of commerce, and of agriculture, were diminished in value; the merchant, the manufacturer, the ship-owner, the tradesman― dealers and speculators all had to sustain heavy losses upon their stores and investments. The effects of the depreciation reached, likewise, the West India planter, and the English cultivator - corn, cattle, and wool; rum, sugar, and cotton, were among the articles subjected to the general reduction. The price of land was also about to take its level in the market, by falling in a due proportion with the agricultural productions. This, alone, was required to restore the equipoise: the reduction of taxes, tythes, and poor-rates must, of necessity, have followed to complete the regenerated system; and thus the common evil would have been only transitory: its universality would have been its remedy: it would have been subdued by mutual interchange, and mutual interest: things would have soon found their natural level; and the nation would, again, have become prosperous in peace, as it had been glorious in war! • But, instead of yielding to the current of events, instead of submitting to the altered circumstances, which the return to a state of peace demanded, instead of prudently lowering their rents in proportion to the reduced price of produce, the land-owners sought to elude the general depreciation, by appealing to Parliament for an exclusive protection.' The land-owners, however, could not possibly have lowered their rents in proportion to the reduced price of produce; and, if they had gradually increased their abatements till they had given up every shilling, their tenants still could scarcely have made both ends meet. Land has yielded no rent for these two or three years, for the value of its produce has not exceeded the cost of production, and at the present moment is at least five-and-twenty per cent. below it. We are not advocates for high protecting duties, as they are erroneously called: for they do the agriculturist no good, and they do harm to every body else. Other countries may enjoy softer climates, more certain seasons, and more fertile soils: but where are to be found united the skill, the capital, and the persevering industry of Great Britain? Lower the cost of production, let us but stand on level ground, and we shrink not from competition with Poland and Russia. The sin of the land owners owners was in their heaping up a debt as huge as Pelion upon Ossa, to be borne, as they thought, by other shoulders than their own. To them it was, indeed, a buoyant body, a balloon; they attached themselves to the car of the gilded, gas-inflated canvas, and sailed through the lofty air with majesty unrivalled : but dreadful has been the shock of their descent! That the land-owners have brought very much of the mischief on their own backs which they are now suffering, and in which the yeomanry of the kingdom is so grievously involved, we are inclined to believe; in fact, they now seem to be conscious of it themselves; and the altered tone of several members of a certain honorable House give us hopes of a much more efficient reduction of the public expenditure than any which has hitherto been extorted. Indeed, the cupidity of the land-owners has defeated itself: for it has certainly been the means of an improvident extension of tillage to lands which cannot defray the expences of it. Much good sense and sound reasoning are displayed in the second of the two pamphlets which head this article; and although there are two subjects, the operation of which in aggravating the present agricultural distress the author of Thoughts on the Expediency of a Relaxation of the Corn Laws' seems to undervalue, we concur with him in most of his observations. These two subjects are taxation, and the restoration of the currency. With regard to the effect of taxation, he observes that, up to the year 1813, capital employed in farming yielded more than the ordinary rate of profit; and that, since that time, its amount, particularly as applicable to the landed interest, has been greatly reduced. The repeal of the property-tax was a most important relief, and the direct taxes, he goes on to say, form so small a proportion of the farmer's general out-goings, that, if the whole were taken off, his situation would not be materially improved. On this point we would remark that the direct taxes, which a farmer pays, constitute a very small portion of the actual amount of taxation which he sustains; it is the indirect, the invisible taxation, which cannot be warded off, that presses the most heavily on him. A tax on those articles which are indispensable to the existence or comfort of the labouring classes, viz. malt, beer, soap, salt, leather, candles, &c., is in fact a tax on wages; which, while it diminishes the profits of stock, depresses the condition of the labourer, and through him of his employer. It depresses the labourer, because in the purchase of these necessaries a part of his hard earnings is taken from his family, and transferred to the Exchequer; and it depresses his employer, because it impoverishes all his customers. Let us observe, too, that the articles in which the farmer deals are not articles of luxury and fashion, which change with the taste of the times, and may be sought to-day and rejected to-morrow: they are commodities which are never rejected or out of fashion, except through necessity. All these articles, essential not merely to the bare existence of man but to his comfort and well-being, are either the products of the earth elicited by the labour of the husbandman, or of the animals which graze on its surface, bred, pro P 3 tected, tected, and nourished by his care. How can it be said that the amount of taxation has been reduced, when the restoration of the value of the currency was not only unaccompanied by a corresponding reduction of national expenditure, but, on the contrary, was accompanied by the imposition of three millions of new taxes? The diminution of bank-notes has been from 19 millions to fourteen, a decrease of one-fourth or one-fifth: but the fall of prices has been much greater; - the fact is indisputable, however diffi. cult it may be to account for it. Still, as facts are stubborn things, and will not always conform to our theories, it is our business, however mortifying, to make our theories conform to them. This remark brings us to a passage in which the author of Thoughts,' &c. considers the operation of Mr. Peel's Bill. Is the distress produced by a return to cash-payments and a contraction of the currency? The affirmative is very generally maintained; and nothing is clearer than that the prices of commodities must, to a certain extent, be depressed by any increase in the value of the currency in which they are computed. If we estimate the value of an article in crowns, the numerical amount will be four times greater than if it were estimated in pounds; and just so, if we express the value of an article in pounds depreciated, for instance, to 15 shillings, the nominal amount, as compared with the expression of the same value in pounds of an undepreciated currency, must be increased in the proportion of 20 to 15, or 331 per cent. It follows, therefore, that if by the resumption of cashpayments, the value of the pound sterling has been raised onenineteenth, or from 19 to 20 shillings, the actual money-price of commodities must have been diminished in the proportion of 20 to 19, or five per cent. Any such diminution, however, in the prices of commodities is very small, comparatively with what has really taken place. It is necessary, therefore, to inquire in what degree prices may have been influenced by a contraction of the currency. Let us suppose gold to be the only currency in this country, and the amount of it 10 millions; and let us also suppose the whole amount of commodities to be 200 millions; the amount of the currency would then, in proportion to the amount of commodities, be as 1 to 20. Suppose, now, gold to the amount of 5 millions exported in exchange for goods to the same amount: we should then have in the country gold to the amount of 5 millions, and commodities to the amount of 205 millions, making the proportion betwen money and commodities as 1 to 41, while the prices of commodities remained as before. I say the prices of commodities would necessarily remain the same as before; if not, let us suppose them to decline, and then I submit that commodities would be reexported, and gold brought back, till the equilibrium was restored. A permanent decline in prices merely in consequence of a contraction of the currency (that currency consisting of specie, or paper convertible into specie,) is therefore impossible; and Mr. Peel's Bill can have had no other effect that that of depressing the prices of commodities in the same degree it reduced the price of gold, which was from about 82 shillings per ounce, to its standard |