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ance was perfectly unreserved and complaisant.

But, from this digression, which we hope may be forgiven, we return to Ma „„dame de Genlis's Belisarius. In praising her intentions we have conscientiously allowed her all the merit she is fairly enti tled to. As a literary production, this work is hardly worth notice; now and then, some brilliant passages remind us of the author's known talents; but the whole bears evident marks of haste and negli-gence. It is a wanton abuse of her facility in the knack of writing. The characters are faintly drawn; the situations are indicated rather than expressed, and the natural consequence is, a total deficiency of interest, although a very good novel might certainly be made on the plan suggested --by Madame de Genlis.

Gonzalve de Cordoue, ou Grenade Reconquise. Précédé du Précis Historique sur les Maures. Par Florian. Nouvelle Edition, augmentée de Notes Historiques et Géographiques, par M. Gros. Gonsalvez of Cordova, or Grenada Reconquered, &c. &c. 12mo. pp. 456, price 6s. Dulau et Co. London, 1808.

Tuz principal merit of this new edition consists in its being comprised in one volume, and in the geographical and bistorical notes which have been added by Mr. Gros; it is enriched with a chronological table of the Arabian and Moorish Sovereigns who reigned in Spain.-The work is of established reputation, and is, in the present state of affairs, very interesting. We cannot better submit an opinion of this work than by quoting the character given of it by M. de la

We shall say nothing on the merit or demerit of historical novels in general. We leave this grand question to the learn-high "ed frivolity of our neighbours; convinced, Harpe : that provided a production of this kind be harmless in its moral tendency, it matters but little, whether fictitious adventures are attributed to imaginary heroes, or to historical personages; keeping, however, in mind, the precept of Horace, notandi sunt tibi mores. Yet, when the real manners, sentiaïents, and actions of the persons introduced are correctly represented, "and the opinions of their age and country are also set before us, truly, we are of opinion that this attention to costume and character enhances the consideration at all times due to the labours of genius. As to the events of real history, to seek them in works of imagination is illusory, and generally dangerous.

We shall conclude this article by a curious observation of Madame de Genlis; after remarking that the cruel punishment of Belisarius is by no means an authenticated fact, she thinks, that the only authority which sanctions the popular notion of his blindness, is a beautiful picture by Vandyck, now in the possession of the duke of Devonshire. at Chiswick. In this picture the Grecian hero is represented sitting, while the boy who serves him as a guide tends the casque of the warrior 'to receive the alms of a soldier heartstruck by the misery of his general :

Pictoribus atque poetis Quidlibet audendi semper fuit æqua potestas.

larly conceived; and the action is gradually The plan of Gonzalve de Cordoue is reguconducted, the hero is interesting under every idea, whether warrior, friend, or lover; the other personages are so disposed as to strengthen the general effect; the episodes are well arranged with the action, which they occasionally suspend, without retarding it too much; the dangers of Gonzalve and his misreader to the end of the history; the style is tress Zulema are so contrived as to satisfy the elegant and noble. These qualifications are certainly sufficient to convince every one that the work is estimable, considered with regard to the principles which the author followed, and the efforts to which he was restricted.It is preceded by an excellent historical sketch of the Moors, wherein we discover method, choice, and judgement; wherein the author ciently to shew that he perfectly understood has known how to expand or contract, suffithe style of history, in writing, narrating, and reflecting. This sketch makes us better acquainted with the Moors than any other book written on that interesting nation, and

* It is divided into four epochs; the first extends from the conquest of the Arabs to the establishment of the Ommiades at Cordova; the second contains the reigns of these kalifs of the west; the third relates all that could be collected of the small kingdoms raised on the ruins of the kalifs of Cordova; and the fourth comprehends the history of the sovereigns of Grenada until the entire expulsion of the Mussulmans.

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Agriculture the Source of the Wealth of Britain; a Reply to the Objections urged by Mr. Mills, the Edinburgh Reviewers, and others, against the Doctrines of the Pamphlet, entitled "Britain independent of Commerce." By William Spence, F. L. S, pp. 110. Price 3s. Cadell and Davies, London, 1808.

It is interspersed with some of those poetical romances, pastorals, and legendary tales, for the simplicity of which Florian has been so justly admired. The following is extracted as a specimen; its subject is a fact well remembered in the province where it happened. The rock from whence the two lovers precipitated MR. SPENCE has seen cause, since themselves still bears the name of la Pena the first edition of his " Britain indepen de los Enamorados, and is in the neigh-dent of Commerce" was published, to bourhood of Archidona, a small town in the fertile province of Andalusia, about twelve leagues south of Cordova.

LE ROCHER DES DEUX AMANS.
Romance.

Le beau Fernand, prisonnier d'un roi Maure,
Osoit aimer la fille du vainqueur;
La belle Elzire est celle qu'il adore ;
Elzire sent pour lui la même ardeur :
Filles de roi n'ont-elles pas un cœur?

Tous deux long-temps ont gardé le silence;
Mais

is en amour un regard est compris.
Ceux de Fernand promettoient la constance,
Et ceux d'Elzire en promettoient le prix :
Sans se rien dire, ils s'étoient tout appris.

Un jour, hélas! ce coup'e trop sensible
S'étoit rendu sur d'arides côteaux,
Sous un rocher, près d'un abi'ne horrible
Où deux torrens précipitent leurs eaux
Poes rdn amans tous les déserts sont beaux.

Ils s'y juroient une amour éternelle,
Quand le roi Maurè, en secret informé,
Accourt, suivi d'une troupe cruelle;'
Par ses soldats tout chemin est fermé;
Point de pardon, ce roi n'a point aimé.
Vers le sommet de la roche effrayants
Les deux amans ont déjà pris l'essor;
Le roi les suit: Elzire palpitante
Vole au torrent, se place sur le bord:
Coeur bien épris n'a jamais craint la mort.

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“ Arrête, arrête, ou je suis ta victime,"
Dit elle au roi, "si tu fais un seul pas,
"Au même instant je tombe en cet abîme
Avec l'époux queje tiens dans mes bras;
"Mourir ensemble est un si doux trépas!
Le roi se trouble, il s'arrête, il balance;
Mais un barbare, un soldat furieux,
Court vers Elzire,....Q ciel! elle s'élance
I'onde engloutit ces amans malheureux :
Las! ils sont morts en s'embrassant tous deux.
VoL. V. [Lit. Pan. Dec. 1808.]

qualify some of those expressions which were probably the effect of haste in composition. We feel more inclined to agree with his main principles, as now guarded and limited, than as they stood formerly. Certainly his mode of illustrating and enforcing them, did not present them in the form most likely to procure them friends.

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Mr. S. insists, that man derives all his real wealth from the soil. Had this affirmation been offered in a theological sense, with an exhortation to admire and adore the bounty of Providence, we must have admitted it as an undeniable truth had it been offered in a philosophical sense, we could not have denied that Nature had made abundant provision for the support of her children; but, so many considerations intermingle themselves with political inquiries, which imply a departure from the state or provisions of nature, that we hesitate as politicians in admitting as unquestionable, principles, which, as naturalists, we acknowledge without re

serve.

:

The fact is, that the real wants of man are supplied by the earth which he inhabits but the desires of man, arising from an artificial state of society, are conformable to the exigencies of that state, and things become necessary that have no natural claim to such a character. Even the paper on which we write is a necessary, unless literature should be banished from the world. But, ere it assumed the form of paper, it has undergone various processes of manufacture, and from these it has acquired a fitness for the purposes to which it is applied, that could be, little expected by whoever beheld it growing in the field, in the form of a vegetable: yet from this fitness arises its value. Nature then presented this substance; for, as man creates

nothing, unless it had been presented by nature, he could not have obtained it; but convention, ingenuity, and the state of society, fix a relative price on it in return for labour exerted, in preparing it for use.

The same may be said of the gold with which it is purchased: should mankind be suddenly disposed to disregard this metal, a lump of clay would be of greater value, than an ingot of gold.

principles, and submitting further explanations to the public. After this verdict, we shall avail ourselves of some of the information which sets our author's diligence and ability in a favourable point of view. So often have the following sentiments been repeated, that we have been half persuaded to believe them but we have waited so long without seeing them realized, that we have become unbelievers again. The proper" improvement" of them, as divines speak, has appeared in the Panorama repeatedly, in the shape of exhortations to our workmen to integrity, diligence and skill.

:

If, instead of hypothetical inferences, Mr. S. had presented us with the actual state of a people, a tribe, or a village, wholly dependent on the earth for supplies, he would have furnished a fair opBecause our trade has increased for the last portunity for the question, whether the 20 years, we fancy that it must continue to State of that people, or the present state increase: but in this we shall probably find of Britain, be most desirable for our ourselves mistaken. The constant scenes of island? His supposition of the product warfare which the Continent has exhibited of the land (corn) being divided by in- since the French revolution, have destroyed termediate stages among the proprietor its manufactures, and given us the monopoly of the soil, the builder, the tailor, the nearly, both of its market, and the Ameri can market. But now the ascendancy of physician, &c. is realized in India; and he Buonaparte promises to the manufactures of might have found, in Dr. Buchanan's the rest of Europe, the continuance of tranTravels in Mysore," several accounts quillity for many years to come, we cannot of the proportions legally allotted to vari- doubt that they will speedily regain their for ous handicrafts:-to the smith, for renier eminence and if we compare the price pairs of iron implements used in husban- of labour among them, with its price in this dry; to the washerman for the luxury country, we shall see grounds for believing, of clean clothes: to the barber for value that their rivalship will, before long, materialreceived in care and attention bestowed only diminish our trade. It is a vulgar error to the smug and attractive decoration of the That those people may be as happy as Britons, we do not deny; neither do we suppose that their morals, or real worth would improve or increase in proportion to an influx of wealth That some advantages might be otained by means of a greater portion of metallic riches, we think ourselves justified in affirming, and whoever could show mankind the way of deriving only advantages from such a medium, would go far to reconcile us to the worship

countenance, &c.

of Plutus.

But we cannot enlarge on this subject. Mr. Spence supposed himself to be misunderstood by Mr. Mills, who wrote against his former work, and by the Edinburgh Reviewer, who answered, instead of reviewing it. He adds some severe remarks on the account of his pamphlet, which appeared in the Monthly Review, the origin and cause of which we must hope, for the honour of the corps, he has not justly traced.

Mr. S. has done right in vindicating his

imagine that we can manufacture the principal articles of our export so much cheaper than the continental manufacturers can. Whan Mr. Adams was in Silesia in 1800, he tells us that at that time, in the town of Grünberg, 25,000 pieces of broad cloth were annually made, the finest equal to English broad cloth, and 50 per cent cheaper; and that they were accustomed to send cloth to Poland, Russia, Hamburgh, and Berlin. If, then, the Silesians could, in 1800, sell broad when the present tranquil state of the Concloth 50 per cent, cheaper than we could, tinent, and the monopoly of that market which Buonaparte has now conferred upon

them, shall have reinstated their manufactures in their former prosperity, what should hinder them, in a very few years, from attracting a large portion of the demand of America for woollens? So with respect to the other main articles of our export. The manufacturers of the Continent can obtain the raw materials of hardware, cotton, leather, pottery, as cheap as we: they can and do adopt all our improved machinery: they will soon acquire capital; and they will not have to pay above half the wages of labour that we pay. It seems impossible, then, but that the Continent, in the lapse of no protracted period, will become a

The following notes speak for them

selves:

very formidable rival to us, in many of our, for 40 millions in France are equal to 80 milmost important branches of trade. lions in Britain. The cost of keeping up naval and military establishments being there We beg leave to think that the Conti- only half as much as in this country, 40 mil nent will not "soon acquire capital," lions in France are equal to 80 millions here. while military ideas pervade it: and na-There is one view of the effect which the ture would rather justify the considering augmentation in the price of every thing in of Britain as a rival to the Continent, this country has had, which, though it is than vice versa. but distantly connected with this subject, deserves to be pointed out. I mean; That this augmentation of price has virtually extinguished a large portion of the national debt. Thus, for the 100 millions of that debt contracted in the American war, we now really pay only half as much interest as was agreed to be paid when it was borrowed; which is the same thing as if 50 millions of the debt were wiped off. That this is true, must be allowed, if we leave a circulating medium out of question. The holder of £10,000 stock, bought during the American war, could at that time have pur chased twice as much with the interest of it, as he now can. He has virtually, therefore,

An historical fact is worthy the attention of those who talk of the unexampled amount of our taxes. William the Conqueror, 700 years ago, when scarcely a manufacture, much less commerce existed, from his 1200 manors, and other internal sources, derived a revenue of £1060 a day; which, as the pound sterling then contained thrice as much silver as it now does, and was besides at least twenty times more valuable, makes his annual revénue amount to upwards of £25,000,000 of the present day. (See Masere's Hist. Anglic. Selecta Monumenta, p. 258). Now if Eng-lost half of his capital; and the nation in land, 700 years ago, with a population of reality only pays him half the sum it agreed two or three millions, using a wretched mode to pay. This view of the national debt, of agriculture, and without manufactures and which, as far as I know, is new, will enable commerce, could afford to the government a us to concieve how such a debt may be in Tévenue of £25,000,000; in what respect is creased to a vast extent without inducing nait so very marvellous that Great Britain, with tional ruin, or even absorbing all the revenue a population of eleven millions, and under a of the land proprietors. By increasing the system of agriculture the most productive in price of commodities in proportion as it inthe world, should now be able to supply the creases, (for to this cause principally, I am state with £60,000,000 yearly; which, in persuaded, should be attributed our rise of proportion, is not half so much as was then prices, and not, as the Edinburgh Reviewer paid? And what need is there to give to her has contended, to any influx of the precious commerce and manufactures any share of metals or augmentation of paper money), it the merit of bearing this burthen, when the virtually in a great measure extinguishes itself ability of her agriculture alone, to bear a in its progress. If the original lenders to the much a greater load, has been proved? state had had the wisdom to stipulate for a corn interest, the nation would be burthened with the payment of an interest to them, nearly twice as great as it now pays.

The mode of estimating our taxes-not by the nominal money amount, but by the commodities which they will purchase, and the men they will subsist-would help us to avoid the very common error of supposing that our real wealth has doubled within these 20 years, because we can now pay 60 millions in taxes, with as much ease as we could then pay 30 millions. The fact is, that within the last 20 years, the price of every thing has more than doubled. When, therefore, we pay 60 millions in taxes at present, we do not really pay more than 30 millions would have been 20 years ago; and we can now as easily pay the former sum, as we could then have paid the latter. This consideration, too, will shew us the error of estimating the relative power of the continental states and our own, by the nominal amount of the revenues of each. Thus, some would suppose that France, with a revenue equal to 40 millions sterling, is much poorer than Britain with one of 60 millions. But, in truth, she is inuch richer;

In our opinion 40 millions in France are not equal to 80 millions here: the cost of her naval establishment, supposing the magnitude equal, probably equals the British. About 20 years ago, a French writer in a Treatise "on the Mechanism of Society:" explained the effect of the rise of the prices of commodities, as a diminution of the interest paid by the na tion for its debt: Mr. S.'s thought therefore is not new; but it does not follow, that it is not original in him, as he cèrtainly has not seen that treatise. The want of capital equal to extensive establishments, or of a briskly moving medium of payment, is much greater on the Continent than Mr. S. has formed any conception of.

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Some Account of the Ancient and Present
State of Shrewsbury. pp. 557. Price 7s.
Shrewsbury, Sandford, 1808.

THE first thing we looked for, on
epening this volume, was a plan of the
town; we could find none:-nor any
general view of the town, nor of the
principal churches, nor of the town hall.
To be sure, it is not the first time we have
looked into a book for what it ought to
contain, without finding it; but such dis-
appointments, be it known, add very little
to the good humour of a corps of review-
We found indeed, a plate or two of
seals, and with these ended our findings,
in the illustrative department.
Nevertheless, this volume is creditable
to the diligence and perseverance of its
author. That we could have willingly
exchanged some parts of it, which we
think rather long, for information on
others which are little more than men-

ers.

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if

tioned by the writer, is true: but
he could not obtain satisfactory accounts
of these, he has incurred no blame by his

conciseness.

numbers, congregations, &c. That which he calls " a Moravian meeting held in Cole Hall," is a society of Sandemanian baptists: and he has omitted a small chapel in Hill's Lane, occupied by Welsh methodists: it was originally in the Wesleyan

interest.

Shrewsbury is supposed to be the oldest in The baptist congregation in the kingdom: the principals of that persuasion believe that it was established in the reign of Elizabeth. The first mirister is supposed to have been a Mr. Penry, who died for his principles in 1578. A in 1628 they built their meeting-house in Mr. Thompson was their minister in 1618; Golden Cross Street.

We return to the work before us. Shrewsbury was by the Saxons called Scrobbesbyrig, or Scrobbesbyri, and by nearly the same; the Britons Pen-gwerne; both signify knell,] of the Alder Groves." The Bri"the head [-land, or tons built here a city, which became the capital of that division of Wales called occupied by St. Chad's church. The SaxPowis; the palace stood on the spot lately Ethelred kept his Christmas here, in 1006. ons after their conquest, changed its name. In the time of Edward the Confessor it During the length of time which this contained 252 houses: a mint had been work has been in the press (as the author established by Edward the Elder: it was himself acknowledges) Shrewsbury has under the direction of three officers, who rapidly increased in population; and notwithstanding the war, in commerce, also.ings at the end of fifteen days, while the were obliged to pay the king twenty shilWe learn, that there are at this time many more applicants, for houses, than can be accommodated: and that the committee of inhabitants. are so conscious of the present defective state of the pavement, lighting, watching, &c. of their town, that they intend applying to parliament for an act to authorise intended improvements. The same protraction at the press, we presume, accounts for the omission of several commercial concerns: as that of the cotton manufactory in Coleham, by Messrs. Hulberts, in 1803: the very extensive linen manufactory of Messrs. Benyons and Bage, who separated from Mr. Marshall in 1805; and the Salopian brewery of Sir John Heathcote and Co. in 1806.

Our author is a churchman; his account of the dissenting places of worship is contained in a few lines, for each: he does not mention the names of the present ministers; nor hint at any eminent men known among them, whether protestant, or catholic; he forms no estimate of their

money was current. The fortune of
Shrewsbury followed the vicissitudes
of war or peace,
neighbours, till the union of the princi
with the Welsh its
pality to the English crown. In p. 35.
a point of English history. The greater
we moet with a very proper correction of
part of our writers make Salisbury the
scene of the Duke of Buckingham's exe-
cution by order of Richard H. The
Duke was taken in the neighbourhood of
Shrewsbury; Richard was at Coventry:
Shrewsbury therefore was the place of the
Duke's punishment: since there was but
a week between his apprehension and
death."

is highly prepossessing its interior is a
The external appearance of Shrewsbury
specimen of an ancient English town:
the streets are narrow, irregular, badly
paved, the gable ends of the houses turned
toward the street; and "the close wooden-
built alley, called "
branching off] in the provincial dialect of
a Shut" [shoot, or

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