ible. For this reason, Mr. Malthus contends, that, if the fertility of all the lands in the world were to be diminished one half, a great part of the population and wealth of the world would be destroyed, and with it, a great part of the effective demand for necessaries.' The consequence of this would be, he adds, that the largest portion of the lands in most countries would be thrown completely out of cultivation; and wages, profits, and rents, particularly the latter, would be greatly diiminished on all the rest. One can hardly forbear smiling at the magnificent extravagance of such a supposition, which is brought in for the purpose, apparently, of establishing a truism. Mr. Malthus's intention, however, is to controvert Mr. Ricardo's statement, that a diminution of fertility of one tenth would increase rents by pushing capital upon less fertile land. And certainly, one might rationally imagine, that, before a great part of the population quietly resigned themselves to destruction, less fertile land would be taken into cultivation.

I think, on the contrary,' says Mr. M., that in any well-cultivated country it could not fail to lower rents, by occasioning the withdrawing of capital from the poorest soils. If the last land before in use would do but little more than pay the necessary labour and a profit of 10 per cent. upon the capital employed, a diminution of a tenth part of the gross produce would certainly render many poor soils no longer worth cultivating. And, on Mr. Ricardo's supposition, where, I would ask, is the increased demand and increased price to come from, when, from the greater quantity of labour and capital necessary for the land, the means of obtaining the precious metals, or any other commodities, to exchange for corn, would be greatly reduced?'

In a well cultivated,' that is, a highly taxed country, where taxation has the effect of virtually diminishing the fertility of the soil, the withdrawment of capital from the poorer soils, will, of course, be consequent on a fall of agricultural profits-whether occasioned by an increase in the cost of production, (the case supposed,) or a fall in the exchangeable value of the produce from other causes. But it seems to us, that a general diminution of the fertility of the soil, must of necessity raise the exchangeable value of the produce, so as to justify Mr. Ricardo's view of the case; and that so far from its leading to a withdrawment of capital from land, it would lead eventually to a rise of wages and a fall of profits in other branches of productive industry, which would occasion, au augmentation of agricultural capital.

The remaining sections of this chapter treat of the necessary separation of the rent of land from profits and wages; of the causes which tend to raise rents in the ordinary progress of society; and of the causes which tend to lower them; of the dependence of the actual quantity of produce obtained from the

land, upon the existing rents and the existing prices; of the connexion between great comparative wealth and a high comparative price of raw produce; of the causes which may mislead the landlord in letting his lands, to the injury of both himself and his country; of the strict and necessary connexion of the interests of the landlord and of the State in a country which supports its own population; of the connexion of these interests in countries importing corn; and, in conclusion, are given some general remarks on the surplus portion of the land. In these sections, Mr. Malthus enters the lists with Mr. Ricardo, and disputes the ground he has taken on the subject almost inch by inch; maintaining that the interest of no class is so nearly connected with 'the interests of the State as that of the landlord.' By the interests of the State, however, Mr. Malthus seems to understand the interests of the few, in opposition to those of the manythe State in opposition to the population; for he admits that, while it is eminently the interest of those who live upon the rents of land, that capital and population should increase, to those who live upon the profits of stock and the wages of labour, an increase of capital and population is, to say the least of it, a much more doubtful benefit.' It may be most safely 'asserted,' he says, that the interest of no other class in the State is so nearly and necessarily connected with its wealth and power, as the interest of the landlord;' but, that the wealth and power of a State are generally in an inverse proportion to the happiness of the community, may be gathered from his very panegyric upon Rent. We scarcely know how to understand the following passage-whether as sober seriousness or profound irony.

Among the inestimable advantages which belong to that quality in the land, which enables it to yield a considerable rent, it is not one of the least, that, in the progress of society, it affords the main security to man that nearly his whole time, or the time of nearly the whole society, shall not be employed in procuring mere necessaries. According to Mr. Ricardo, not only will each individual capital in the progress of society yield a continually diminishing revenue, but the whole amount of the revenue derived from profits will be diminished; and there is no doubt that the labourer will be obliged to employ a greater quantity of labour to procure that portion of his wages which must be spent in necessaries. Both these great classes of society, therefore, may be expected to have less power of giving leisure to themselves, or of commanding the labour of those who administer to the enjoyments of society, as contra-distinguished from those who administer to its necessary wants. But, fortunately for mankind, the neat rents of the land, under a system of private property, can never be diminished by the progress of cultivation. Whatever proportion they may bear to the whole produce, the actual amount must always go on increasing,

and will always afford a fund for the enjoyments and leisure of the society, sufficient to leaven and animate the whole mass.

If the only condition on which we could obtain lands yielding rent, were, that they should remain with the immediate descendants of the first possessors, though the benefits to be derived from the present would no doubt be very greatly diminished, yet, from its general and unavoidable effects on society, it would be unwise to refuse it as of little or no value. But, happily, the benefit is attached to the soil, not to any particular proprietors. Rents are the reward of present valour and wisdom, as well as of past strength and cunning. Every day lands are purchased with the fruits of industry and talents. They afford the great prize, the "otium cum dignitate," to every species of laudable exertion; and in the progress of society, there is every reason to believe, that, as they become more valuable from the increase of capital and population, and the improvements in agriculture, the benefits which they yield may be divided among a much greater number of persons.

In every point of view, then, in which the subject can be considered, that quality of land which, by the laws of our being, must terminate in rent, appears to be a boon most important to the happiness of mankind; and I am persuaded that its value can only be underrated by those who still labour under some mistake as to its nature and its effects on society.' pp. 237-9.

6

A more gloomy, a more distressing view of the consequences of the progress of society,' could not, in our opinion, be presented. If it does not go the whole length of substantiating Mr. Ricardo's assertion, that the interest of the landlord is always opposed to that of the consumer and the manufacturer,' (that is, remarks Mr. Malthus in animadverting upon it, to all the other orders in the State,') it at least represents that interest as the all-absorbing one which, in the progress of society, swallows up every other. It is true, that this is stated to be brought about as the necessary effect of an excessive augmentation of capital. The capitalist, therefore, is to be considered as the great nuisance. It is capital that presses down profits and wages; capital that stimulates the population to excess; capital that compels the labourer to double his exertions in order to obtain the necessaries of life, leaving to three fourths of the community less and less power of giving leisure to themselves, or of commanding the labour of others. But then, happily,' for the remaining fourth of society comes in Rent-undiminished Rent-for the wise and the valiant, and the sons of the wise and the valiant, this blessed boon of Rent, the spoil, literally the spoil, of those great classes' whom the progress of society has thrown further and further back from the otium cum dignitate, the leisure necessary, not only for comfort, but for moral improvement!! And is this all the consolation which Political Economy has to offer us?

Star-lighted science, hast thou wandered there,
To waft us back the message of despair?'

Were this indeed a true picture, none need' admire

That riches grow in Hell; that soil may best

Deserve the precious bane.'

But, whether it be more philosophical or not, it strikes us as far more rational, to believe with M. Sismondi, that the social 'system is always wrong somewhere, when the greater part of the community are in a state of suffering.' The attempt to refer it to necessary circumstances and the laws of our being,' how specious soever, carries on its face the characters of an almost impious fallacy. To Mr. Malthus, for whose talents it would be quite superfluous for us to express that high respect which they universally command, we are far from imputing either sophistry or a want of benevolence. We consider his writings as the unimpassioned calculations of the closet philosopher, to whom mathematics and political science are alike matters of pure abstract reasoning. He is himself, as he good-humouredly remarks, neither a receiver, nor in the expectation of becoming a receiver of rents; he writes, therefore, under no bias of selfinterest. Yet, we cannot, for all this, bring our minds to dwell with the least complacency on some of the doctrines he has pounded. We believe his view of the natural progress of so. ciety to be essentially erroneous; and this we shall endeavour to shew in resuming the general subject in reference more particularly to the disputes respecting the nature of demand and the necessity of consumption. For the present we must take leave

of him.

pro

Appended to Mr. Malthus's volume is a very complete and valuable summary of its contents, occupying seventy pages, as well as a full index. This is an admirable plan in a work of such a description. Both the pamphlets mentioned at the head of this article, are deserving of perusal. Of the "Observations," which is by far the most lively performance of the two, we have freely availed ourselves; and have only to wish that they had been a little less desultory. The Author is a literary sharpshooter. The Inquirer' must learn to shorten his sentences, and contrive to get his notes into the text. Thirty-six notes to ninety pages is out of all proportion. His thoughts are sound, but want fining.

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Art. VII. The aged Minister's Encouragement to his younger Brethren. Two Sermons occasioned by the Death of the Rev. Thomas Scott, late Rector of Aston Sandford, Bucks. By Daniel Wilson, A.M. &c. 8vo. pp. 90. London. 1821.

TH

HESE Sermons will be read with a very lively interest. They comprise a biographical sketch of the public labours and latest days of the venerable and eminent individual to whom they relate, whose praise may with truth be said to be in all the churches. His invaluable commentary on the Scriptures, would of itself entitle him to rank at the head of modern Theologians as at once the most laborious and the most useful writer of his day. This immense undertaking had undergone his repeated revision; and the numerous alterations and additions which the latest editions received from his unwearied diligence, rendered the task equal to that of re-writing the work. The first edition, consisting of 5000 copies, was begun in 1788; a second edition of 2000 copies, appeared in 1805; a third, of the same number, in 1810; and a fourth, of 3000, in 1812. At the time of his death, he was superintending a stereotype edition, which is now passing through the press, and had finished the revision of it to nearly the end of the second Epistle of Timothy. Besides these, eight other editions, consisting altogether of 25,250 copies, have been printed in America. The local and temporary prejudices always attaching to a living writer,' having less force there, Mr. Wilson remarks, its value seems to have been at once acknowledged.' Its more extensive sale in the United States is, however, to be otherwise accounted for, by the greater cheapness of the work, and the open competition which takes place where the law of copy-right has no operation. The sale of the work in England since 1805, considering its bulk and price, must be allowed to be almost unprecedented, especially taking into calculation the almost numberless editions of Henry's Bible, Brown's Bible, and other standard works, together with more recent Family Bibles' by Fawcett, S. Burder, Mant and D'Oyley, &c. which have during the same period been offered to the public. We can easily imagine that there is a class in this country, to whom the venerable name of the Apologist for Calvinism would be offensive; but we much doubt if they are, in general, persons among whom the work itself, by whatever author, would be in much request. Among evangelical Christians of every denomination, Mr. Scott's labours have always been held in respectful and affectionate estimation.

'It is difficult,' remarks Mr. Wilson,' to form a just estimate of a work which cost its author the labour of thirty-three years. Its capital ex

The Boston edition, 1815, was advertised to sell at 18 dollars.