evils. The poor people of Munster lived in a more abject state of poverty than human nature could be supposed able to bear; their miseries were intolerable. But the legislature could not stand by, and see them take the redress into their own hands." Some strong circumstances respecting the wretched manner in which the police was managed are disclosed in this discussion, and fully prove an opinion which we have long held, that it is to this abominable management that a great part of the late mischief is to be attributed. "One circumstance," the Attorney General said, "which had contributed to spread the commotions was the insufficiency, and criminal neglect of magistrates; that if they had done their duty the commotions would not have existed for a month.” Mr. Curran said, that the supineness of the magistrates and the low state of the commissions of the peace throughout the kingdom ought to be rectified. A system of vile jobbing was one of the misfortunes of that country; it extended even to commissions of the peace. How else could the report of the four and twenty commissions of the peace, sent down to the county of Clare in one post be accounted for? Even the appointment of sheriffs was notoriously in the hands of government; and through jobbing, sheriffs themselves could not be trusted: two sheriff's ran away last year with executions in their pockets, and the late high sheriff of the county of Dublin had absconded." With respect to this bill, the patriots contended that the laws in existence were perfectly sufficient for maintaining the peace of the country, wanting only to be executed as they ought; and that the bill introduced by the ministers was unconstitutional, and detrimental to the liberties of the people. Mr. Plowden gives a full account of the debates, but no account of the leading provisions of the bill. The History of the Reign of George III. to the Termination of the late War. To which is prefixed a View of the progressive Improvement of England, in Prosperity and Strength, to the Accession of His Majesty. By Robert Bissett, LL. D. Author of the "Life of Burke," &c. &c. 6 vols. 8vo. Longman and Recs. When Sir Walter Raleigh had compleated the second volume of his Universal History, while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London, a riot and murder took place just under his window, of every circumstance of which he was an eye-witness; immediately afterwards a friend came to see him on whose veracity and accuracy of observation he could depend, and who was also an eye-witness in the street of what had passed, who gave an account of it very different from what he himself had observed, on which he said, "if this is the case with what passes in our sight, what an accumulation of lies have I been arranging here!" and immediately threw the book into the fire. It may seem paradoxical to say that probably more falsehoods and misrepresentations were contained in the volume he burned, than in the volume he had published; but it does appear that the nearer events are to his own time, the less accurately has the Historian been able to relate them; and if the history of very remote times is incorrect from a want of documents, the history of our own times is equally so from a superabundance of them, with the disadvantage of these documents being often contradictory and always selected with partiality. Indeed the objects of history seem something analogous with those of vision; when too remote their boundaries are undefined and much is left to be supplied by the imagination; when brought too near, particular parts press so closely on our observation, that we are not able to take a comprehensive view of the whole. The oppression sustained by the people from the exaction of tythes was brought forward by Mr. GratHow far this remark affects the work before us will tan, and occasioned several animated debates. Tu-be seen as we proceed in our review of it. Our first multuous rencounters, and even battles between the attention will be directed to the introduction, which protestants and catholics in the county of Armagh, comprehends, though in a short space, a summary, under the titles of Peep-of-day-boys, and Defenders, but by no means imperfect, view of the progressive now began to attract attention. improvement of this country, from the earliest accounts of it to the commencement of the seven years war, during which his present Majesty ascended the throne. At this time the important question of the regency occurred. A very full account is given by Mr. Plowden of the parliamentary proceedings both in England and Ireland. The different, and somewhat alarming result of these proceedings is well known. While the parliament of England voted the Prince of Wales regent with very limited powers, that of Ireland voted him regent with unlimited powers. From this time to the period when the ideas suggested by the French revolution began to mingle with the old sentiments of the Irish, nothing of great importance occurs. The history of the rebellion properly commences from this period; and that together with the history of the Union, we intend to reserve for the last part of our review. The importance of the subject, and the real value of the documents collected in this work, have appeared to us to deserve the pains we have taken to elucidate the train of events. And we trust our readers will find compensation for the space occupied by this performance in our Journal. (To be concluded in our next.) M. The annals of this country, till the foundation of the monarchy by Egbert, affording little room for the remarks of the historian, are but slightly noticed; but Dr. Bisset draws with a masterly hand the outline of the advantages which our navigation, and, in consequence, our commerce, derived, even under the earlier Saxon kings, from the necessity of meeting and repelling the predatory incursions of the Danes, and afterwards from the communication opened with the Continent by the accession of William the First; as well as the advantages which our constitution gained, (and which it still retains) from the amalgamation of the feudal system introduced by the Norman Princes, with the general spirit of liberty which pervaded every part of the Saxon government, which was not quite extinguished under William and his Sons; and was again revived on the re-accession of the Saxon dynasty in the person of Henry II. 141 Bissett's History of the Reign of George the Third.. In taking a view of our history from this period to the reign of Elizabeth, Dr. Bisset has shewn more many much more diffusive writers, the clearly than advantages our commerce both external and internal derived from the necessity, imposed on us by our insular situation, of turning our attention to maritime affairs, and from the diffusion of wealth among all the orders of society, both from our foreign and our domestic wars; for while by the latter, that race of opulent and turbulent nobles who at the same time oppressed the people, and insulted the prince, was either destroyed or greatly depressed, the expence incurred by the king and the nobility from the permanent armies which were necessary to carry on the former, obliged the king to have recourse to other means of supply than could be furnished by the feudal tenures, while the great feudal tenants were obliged to alienate part of their possessions to furnish their proportion of that extraordinary supply, as well as to enable them to perform the necessary personal service to which they were equally impelled by the feudal system, and the warlike spirit arising from it; and the expence of which was greatly increased by the length to which a campaign in a comparatively distant country must be protracted. glorious reign of Elizabeth. Considered as a rational being, This is the criterion by which the actions of princes. are to be tried at the bar of history, and every reader,, animated with sincere regard for the honour and interest of his country, should turn with disgust from those pages, which enervating the manly character of the historian, with the affected sensibility of the novelwriter, pass over the splendid abilities and virtues of the Queen, to dwell on the foibles of the woman, and bring forth with malignity and exaggeration, one act, quence was the saving this country and its religion which whatever was its cause, its probable conse from another female reign of persecution. From the reign of Elizabeth to the revolution, the traced with the same precision; but this being more progress of our commerce and our constitution is obvious to general observation, affords less opportunity for novelty of investigation. From that period, or rather from the death of king William to the acThe following character of the reign of Elizabeth, cession of the present King, where the enlarged his is too excellent to be abridged:tory epitome, the strong effects of the prevalence of “In her government, Elizabeth, like all the princes of tory commences, and which concludes this introduc A spirit of what is commonly called the Whig party, and the the house of Tudor, was extremely absolute. system of funding are accurately and boldly-deliliberty, however, had begun to rise, which, though fostered by the wise and beneficial conduct of Elizabeth, was certainly not intended by her to be cherished. The in-neated, as well as the increase of ministerial influThe latter we give in the historian's own words :— dustry and enterprise which she encouraged and promoted, ence, from the elevation of the House of Hanover.. 66 It is certain, that ministerial influence in this reign, diffused property among the commons; that property nourished independence, and joined with advancing reason and whether from the long continuance of parliament, or other became much greater than at any former tine.. knowledge in disseminating a spirit of freedom. The government, however, of the queen, though imperious, yet generally lenient, did not irritate this new spirit by particu-Corruption had been carried to a considerable length by the lar acts of oppression, tyranny, or cruelty. Her conduct, whigs, in the time of Queen Anne, on particular occasions: steadily and wisely directed to the interests of her people, but it was reserved for Walpole to establish it as a metho rendered her extremely popular. Her manners, engaging dical aud regular engine of government; and to bribe in a and insinuating, increased the attachment of her people. dextrous and circuitous manner, which might not only From her character and situation, the greater number of her escape detection, but in some degree even impose on the receiver, and which might make him suppose that to be the subjects considered her welfare as identified with their own. The most strenuous votaries of liberty were the most ini- reward of merit from his country, which was really the mical to popery, against the approaches of which they wages of service to a minister. Closely connected with considered Elizabeth as the strongest bulwark. From at- stock-jobbers, and other adventurers, in projects for the actachment to a sovereign in whom they experienced so many quisition of money, Walpole found, through loans and si-excellencies, and also from awe of so very resolute and in-milar government transactions, various opportunities of be-trepid a character, they yielded a submission to the authority of Elizabeth, which they by no means thought due to the mandates of kingly power. causes, stowing indirect donatives. Nor was he sparing in direct presents. He appears to have been the first minister who thoroughly understood the mode of managing parliaments, "The literature which Elizabeth encouraged, tended and making law-givers willing tools in the hands of the The writers of court. He first completely succeeded in identifying, acalso to promote the spirit of freedom. cording to the apprehension of the majority, complianceGreece and Rome, inculcating so strongly and impressively George's reign is an epoch. the principles and sentiments of liberty, were now very with ministers, and patriotism; opposition to ministers, and generally read among the higher and middling ranks. disaffection to the constitution. Genius, no longer fettered by priestly enactments, soared in parliamentary history, as, since that time, whether mialoft; and though not immediately directed to politicalnisters have been able or weak, wise or foolish, they have discussion, yet by enlightening and invigorating men's minds, prepared them for just notions respecting their rights, and bold and manly conduct in asserting their liberties. The reign of Elizabeth, though, like her father's, manifestly arbitrary, has in its ultimate tendency and effects, proved favourable to freedom. Thus, in the various constituents of internal prosperity and happiness, and in estimation and importance among foreign powers, England never made such advances as under the very long but much more rarely failed to have the co-operation of parliament in their projects, whether useful or hurtful. The influence of the crown was established on the most solid basis by the whig party, and the whig leader, Sir Robert Walpole." * This is the light in which the expanded mind of Hume con-siders our illustrious queen; disregarding such foibles, as though they might mark a part of her character, did not interfere with her administration of affairs, powerful, constant, and successful promotion of the public good. There is however one circumstance which attended but I will be viceroy over you." Even the late Lord the accession of the House of Hanover, which seems Orford, bred up in the school, nay in the bosom of to have escaped the particular notice of all our histo- this self-named whigism, objected to this expression, rians and political writers, but which is of all others as is mentioned in a note on the second chapter of the the most essential to be strongly noticed in an abridge- History which we shall cite here, though it does not ment of our general constitutional history, written properly come under this part of our Review. "A professedly as an introduction to the particular history little word escaped Mr. Pitt, which never entered into of the present reign, as the turbulence of popular his former declarations; nay nor into Cromwell's, nor faction which disturbed so violently and so dange-Hugh Capet's, nor Julius Cæsar's, nor any reformer's rously the early part of it, was chiefly, if not solely of ancient or modern times; he has happened to say derived from it. he will guide." And yet by all the whig party of that time the language was contended for as constitutional. The full consequences of what we have just hinted must be left to the consideration of the future historian; but no writer can faithfully detail or fairly account for several of the most considerable political events and opinions during great part of the present reign, without bearing it in his mind. We shall here conclude our account of the Introduction in which we have been much more diffuse in proportion to its bulk, than we can be on the work itself; of that, however, we shall neither present a slight nor a desultory view, but give it all the attention that it merits both from the weight of the subject and the manner in which it is executed. E. The circumstance we allude to is so striking, the effect of it on the actual form of our constitution so obvious, that it seems wonderful it should have escaped the marked notice of those who have written on the laws, the government, or the revolutions of Britain; since it is nothing less than the suspension of the kingly office for nearly half a century. This however must be imputed to the extreme difficulty of investigating so very delicate a subject by a contemporary writer; an additional proof of the disadvantages that must attend the historian of his own times. We by no means intend to enter into this investigation ourselves; it is still farther from our intention to cast the smallest reflection on the two first Princes of the House of Hanover, who "bore their faculties so meekly" as to be entitled to the grateful remembrance of their subjects; but being totally unacquainted with the character and manners of the people they governed; having no partialities, no friendships, no means of acquiring good or bad opinions of any of their subjects, no human wisdom could enable them to do otherwise than they did, to place their sole confidence in that party which was chiefly instrumental in placing them on the throne; and it became the business of that party to persuade them that every person either in or out of parliament who opposed their measures, was an enemy to the monarch, and an adherent to the exiled family. The power of parliament however, and especially that of the House of Commons, was fully efficient, and as the existence of a minister entirely depended on having a majority there, no means were unemployed to gain that majority, while that maxim of our constitution which to ensure the inviolability of the person of our sovereign, declares he can do no wrong, laying, by that means, all criminal responsibility on his ministers, was construed into placing him in the absolute state of an infant who could have no power or opinion of his own, and it was thence inferred, that any interference of the King in the choice of his ministers was unconstitutional. How strongly this opinion was rooted in the minds of men at the beginning of the present reign, is obvious from the celebrated declaration of Mr. Pitt when he resigned, that he would not be responsible for measures which he was not permitted to guide. Of Mr. Pitt's transcendant abilities as a minister, there can be but one opinion, we may say of him in the words of the poet : "Nil ortum tale, nil oriturum." but such a declaration was openly reducing the King to a cypher, it was applying to him the words of Mustapha in Dryden's Tempest, "You may be king, (To be continued.) The History and Antiquities of Pleshy, in the County conquest. After a topographical description of this spot, Mr. G. enquires into the history of its illustrious tenants, until the time of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, the particulars of whose life occupy the principal part of this volume, and are interwoven with the history of the reign of Richard II. his nephew, whose character and conduct are presented in a new and probably true light from a variety of authorities to which preceding historians have not had recourse. As it is impossible to present our readers with any detached passage as a specimen of this work, we can only say that in minuteness of research, accuracy and impartiality of judgment, we have seldom met with an historical disquisition that deserves more to be relied upon. As the author had no hypothesis to support, his conclusions are such as are every where justified by the premises, and such as may occur to any fair reasoner who has access to the same authorities. In investigating the character of Gloucester and of Richard II. Mr. G. has made much use of Froissart's chronicle, an author "who omitted no opportunity of satisfying his curiosity, and whose impartiality has been proved beyond contradiction." In this view large extracts have been made from his history, which our author observes has been so disfigured in all the editions hitherto printed, that it was necessary to have recourse to a beautiful MS. copy of it in the Royal Library now in the British Museum in six volumes folio, which were probably part of the ancient library of the king of France in the Louvre tower, collected and augmented by John, Charles V. and VI. and in 1425, when the English made themselves masters of Paris, purchased for 1200 francs by the duke of Bedford, regent, to be carried into England.-These circumstances will naturally create an impatience for the appearance of the promised translation of Froissart by Mr. Johnes of Hafod, whose late publication of St. Palaye's Memoirs is respectfully noticed by Mr. Gough. The Appendix to this interesting work consists of thirty articles of reference, copies of grants, statutes &c. &c. The graphic illustrations are a portrait of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, engraved from a manuscript in the Cottonian Library; several views of Pleshy castle and church, the bridge, &c. The arrest of the Duke of Gloucester by Richard II. and his murder at Calais, both from illuminations in Froissart: the monuments of the duke and duchess of Gloucester in Westminster-abbey; a curious view of the Tower of London, and bridge, &c. All these are accurate and some beautiful.-Upon the whole, this work must be considered as an important acquisition not only to the antiquary but to the historian, as it throws much light on a portion of our regal annals which has been greatly obscured by the negligence or partiality of former writers. It is only a matter of regret that we are obliged to dismiss works of this kind in terms of general commendation, but it would be impossible to offer any specimen that would not far exceed the limits of our Journal, or prove too short to give an idea of the contents of a work, which must be read in connection and with an attention to its numerous references and authorities. R. John Gottlieb Walter's Plates of the Thoracic and Abdominal Nerves, reduced from the Original, as published by order of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin; accompanied by Coloured Explanations, and a Description of the Par Vagum, Great Sympathetic and Phrenic Nerves. The vast advantages which must result both to the physician and surgeon from an accurate knowledge of anatomy, do not require to be enumerated. Every really learned and skilful practitioner in medicine will VOL. III. readily own that without a complete acquaintance with the situation, the arrangement, and the peculiar functions of the various component parts of the human body, the instrument of the surgeon is not only in danger of doing irreparable mischief, but the physician cannot prescribe, with any certainty of success, for complaints of which he does not understand the seat and origin. There is no part of the human system to which more immediate danger of fatal consequences arises from ignorance, than the nerves, These tender chords, which are conveyed through every part of the body, extending on every side their infinitely minute ramifications, till they vanish altogether from the human eye, seem to be designed by nature as the organs of sensation, and the channel by which life is diffused through animated beings. A wound in an essential nerve is often fatal not only to the particular member which it animates, but to the existence of the animal. To this very important subject of the nerves, the attention of anatomists has of late years been most usefully directed. The labours of John Gottlieb Walter are already known and esteemed by the learned in this science. The results of his enquiries into the distribution of the Thoracic and Abdominal Nerves have been given to the world in a magnificent form by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin. The splendour of the plates however, has rendered the work too expensive to be fitted for general circulation. To remedy this inconvenience the present work is undertaken; the plates are reduced in size, and brought within the ability of ordinary purchasers. The merit of the original author of these plates deserves every commendation. The situation of the nerves described in the human body, their origins, plexuses, ganglia, and other connections, are pointed out with a minuteness and accuracy hitherto unequalled. The extreme intricacy and difficulty of the subject heighten the merit of the execution; and when we consider the importance of the particular nerves here treated of to the human constitution, we shall feel ourselves called upon to acknowledge with gratitude the utility of his labours. The reduced copy which is here presented to us deserves praise for the fidelity and neatness with which it is executed. The Par Vagum, the Great Sympathetic nerve, and the Phrenic nerve, not having been described by Walter, a description of them is added in the present work; and it is but justice to say that for precision and perspicuity this addition does no discredit to the descriptions which it accompanies. C. The Salutary Effects of Vigour: exemplified in the Operation of the Nottingham Act, passed in the last Session of Parliament: Being a Sequel to Thoughts on the late General Election, as demonstrative of the progress of Jacobinism. By John Bowles, Esq. 14 pp. Rivington. We have no doubt that Mr. Bowles means well; though the well-meaning of a man intoxicated with party principles we do not think of much value. But we differ from that hot gentleman most widely, in K our opinion of the tendency of many things which he says and does; of their tendency, not only with regard to the interest of society in general, but with regard to the interest of that cause for which he is so very zealous. Whenever a partizan surpasses the bounds of discretion, decency, and common-sense, he more injures the side he defends, than that which he attacks. The object of this sequel, which begins with page 137, to make it, in respect of pages at least, a continuation of the pamphlet mentioned in the titlepage, is very simple and obvious. The author had represented the last general elections for the county of Middlesex and the town of Nottingham as very disorderly and disgraceful to the police of a civilized people; and further as affording evidence of a jacobinical spirit still existing in great strength in the country. An act was passed with regard to Nottingham on account of these disorders, a vigorous act, according to Mr. Bowles, which has been productive of salutary effects. The Middlesex election is about to be brought before parliament. He recommends earnestly an adoption of some similar measure on this occasion. Thus far we have no objection whatever to the pamphlet. If the police of the county of Middlesex be imperfect, let it be amended by all means. It stands much in need of amendment in other parts of the empire, besides Nottingham and Middlesex. Let the author then think of the state of it in Ireland; and apply to that country his own maxim, which he says "should be engraven on the heart of every one who exercises the important functions either of legislation or magistracy-That law, without the aid of a vigorous and efficient system of police, is a dead letter, incapable of affording protection and of repressing disorder; but that, with such assistance, this otherwise lifeless form becomes at once the guardian of peace and order-the powerful ally of religion and virtue, of loyalty and freedom-the great Protectress and Benefactress of mankind. "We desire 'too, with every man who wishes well to freedom, and to the order of society, that effectual means could be adopted for preventing the infamous and disgusting scenes which are too often exhibited at elections; and which are much more frequently turned to the prejudice of freedom, than to its advancement. Had Mr. Bowles pressed these objects upon the attention of the legislature, preparing to pass a new law, we should have thought him entitled to praise; had he even pressed the objects of which we did not approve, we should have only said that we differed from him in opinion; and coarse language is a thing become too common to be greatly regarded. Great freedoms are often taken, in talking of the propriety or impropriety of a proposed law. But there is one point with regard to which the most mercenary and unprincipled of our daily prints have hitherto thought themselves bound to observe some kind of delicacy, we mean the administration of justice in the country; and to amicipate the sentence of a court of law, to prejudge a decision, about to be legally awarded, to attempt by violent declamation and injurious imputations, to influence the minds of the judges in a case involving the life, fortune, or reputation of an individual, or individuals, is a violation of all justice and decorum which the grossest and meanest of our news-papers disclaim. 66 'The circumstances attending the Middlesex elec◄ tion," says Mr. Bowles, applying to it epithets which we shall at present forbear to repeat, are about to be developed in a judicial manner." The dispute between Mr. Mainwaring and Sir Francis Burdett, a dispute of very great consequence to these two gentlemen, and to several others connected with them is to be examined, and decided by the only court of justice competent to the decision. It is surely of equal importance in this case, as in any other, that the judges should come with minds perfectly pure, perfectly exempt from all previous bias, and ready to take their whole impression from the evidence legally set before them on the trial. What in the mean time is done by Mr. Bowles? He comes before these judges, and before all the world, and with all the vehemence of language, pronounces condemnation on one of the parties; and as far as his influence goes makes the judges come to the examination of this cause with minds prejudiced in the highest possible degree: 'It is impossible for any mind that is not absolutely callous, as well as depraved, to reflect, without horror, on the flagrant, accumulated, and systematic perjury, which, in the case of the Mill Voters, stamped the last Middlesex election, and, if not punished, will stamp the British nation with indelible infamy. Perjury, however covert, however concealed from the eye of man, is a direct and daring outrage on the Majesty of Heaven. But in this instance it of the immense multitude who were present at the horrid was open and notorious; it was manifest to every individual profanation; it was too gross to admit even of any pretext of colour. It was denounced and protested against in the most solemn manner. It involved no fewer than 372 persons, who were suborned, and, in spite of the reluctance which some of them manifested, encouraged and prevailed upon to attest the Almighty to the truth of a most palpable lie. It was, under all these circumstances, permitted and accepted by the returning officers; and, as it constituted the whole majority of Sir F. B's, it was finally and publicly sanctioned by those officers, when they declared that candidate upon their oaths, to have, to the best of their judgement, the majority of legal votes!!! Whether a country which permits so gross, so daring an insult on the Sovereign Ruler of Heaven and Earth, to go unpunished, can, without the utmost presumption, hope for the Divine aid and protection in the hour of peril, is a question well deserving the consideration of those before whom this shocking scene of impiety is about to be developed, in a judicial manner." |