portionably rose. The historian of the revenue always attributed the perilous circumstances of the country at this crisis to the profusion and impolicy of the Government, but at the same time considered the measure actually adopted to be unavoidable. At first he was anxious that some plan should be devised for re-opening the bank. He was summoned to various meetings of merchants, bankers, and financiers, upon the question. He even wrote a tract, containing some suggestions which he supposed might be effectual in restoring public credit, independent of a restriction act. Experience led him afterwards to view the subject in a different light. He regarded the restriction act as a measure dictated by sound policy, and, throughout his whole remaining life, insisted that a discovery in finance was thus forced upon us, from which all our subsequent prosperity arose. "It was a great discovery," he often said, "when a metallic medium of exchange was substituted for barter; it was also a great discovery when paper, convertible into coin, was substituted for gold and silver; but a third discovery was reserved for the present times, namely, that with an inconvertible paper currency, agriculture, commerce, and manufactures might advance in a career of unexampled prosperity." It was the Bank Restriction Act, he affirmed, which enabled Great Britain to resist a confederacy of all Europe against her-to maintain armaments upon a scale of magnitude unknown to the greatest empires, ancient or modern-and to subdue the ablest and most successful conqueror who had ever violated the integrity of nations, or sported with the liberties of mankind.

The objection was often made, that all these symptoms of prosperity were a mere fancy and delusion, and that the ultimate effects of the paper system were, of necessity, as disastrous as its immediate consequences were magnificent and beneficial. But Sir John always contended that the terms fanciful and delusive, were utterly absurd as applied to a prosperity which not only produced millions of acres of additional cultivation, but multiplied factories of all kinds throughout the kingdom-crowded new docks and harbours with shipping— intersected the whole country with canals and roads-and brought new comforts to the cottage, while it multiplied the luxuries of the castle and the palace. He was also prepared to prove, that the calamities generally attributed to the paper system, arose from no cause inherent in the system itself, but from the inismanagement of politicians, both while it continued in operation, and at the period of its abandonment.-Pp. 288-290.

Lord Thurlow having joined the neutral section in opposing Mr. Pitt, occasionally communicated with Sir John. The biographer records the following anecdotes:

As my father, during many years, had occasional intercourse with Lord Thurlow, one or two reminiscences of that extraordinary character may be here appropriately introduced. When Mr. Pitt obtained permission from the King to deprive Lord Thurlow of the seals, the only minister who could be prevailed on to undertake the formidable task of demanding them in person was Mr. Dundas. The Secretary had recourse to the following expedient:- He sent a note to the Chancellor the night before, informing him that he proposed to have the honour of breakfasting with his lordship next day, having very particular business to settle with him. On his arrival, Lord Thurlow said to him, "I know the business you are come about; you shall have the bag and seals: there they are," he added, pointing to a side-table, "and here is your breakfast." They sat down sociably to their coffee, and Dundas declared, that he never saw the ex-Chancellor in better humour.

A Welsh curate, hearing that a chancellor's living had become vacant, hastened to London with a shrewdly devised plan for securing the nomination. He waited on Bishop Porteus, to whom he had an introduction, and requested his influence with Lord Thurlow. "You are not aware," answers the Bishop, "that Lord Thurlow and I are on bad terms, and that a word from me will do

you harm."

"But will your Lordship allow me," says the Curate, "to make use of your name, if I think that it will do me good?" Having obtained the Bishop's permission, his next step was to procure an interview with the Chanchellor. When he stated his object, Lord Thurlow received him most ungraciously. "Who," he asked, "encouraged you to make this application?"

"The Bishop of London," stammered out the Curate, " told me that I might use his name; and "

"And what right has the Bishop of London to interfere with my patronage? You shall not have the living!"

"Ah!" says the Welshman, in a tone of despondency, "the Bishop told me that if I used his name it would do me no good."

"Did he?" says the Chancellor. "Then you shall have the living." And he immediately made out the nomination.-Pp. 302-304.

From the period of Mr. Pitt's return to office, upon the retirement of the Addington Administration, Sir John Sinclair appears to have renewed his public support and private friendship: and that his political conduct was not guided by the principles of modern liberalism, is evident from the approbation and admiration which he expressed towards Mr. Percival. But it is upon his labours in the advancement of agriculture that the renown of Sir John Sinclair was founded, and his claim to the gratitude of his country established. His attention was directed to this subject early in his life, by the inefficient method of culture which prevailed over his own large estate, and the general forlorn and back ward condition of his native county of Caithness. We cannot follow Mr. Sinclair in his very interesting account of the successful efforts made by the benevolent Baronet to ameliorate this broken and barren land. The result was, that roads were constructed, villages built, a fishing station established, which employs many thousand individuals, 11,209 acres of land improved, and in ten years, from 1811 to 1821, the population of Caithness had increased in a greater proportion than any other county of Great Britain.

But it is as the founder of the Board of Agriculture that Sir John Sinclair will be more especially remembered and honoured by Englishmen. We have already remarked, that the establishment of this Board was obtained from Mr. Pitt as the recompense to Sir John of an important public service. A grant was voted by the House of Commons, after some opposition, for the support of the Board. The Commissioners were appointed by the Crown. We recommend the perusal of a letter from the late venerable Earl of Eldon (vol. ii. p. 53), which displays the careful and constitutional jealousy of that great and good man upon the powers of commissions.

The Board being established, directed its attention first to the expediency of procuring a statistical account of England upon the same plan as that successfully arranged in Scotland. But the preliminary inquiries necessary to effect this great obiect touched upon the commutation of tithes, and this excited the apprehensions of the Clergy.

Archbishop Moore remonstrated with Mr. Pitt, and the whole design was frustrated. We regret with Mr. Sinclair, that so useful a project failed from such a cause. We should regret it more, if the Tithe Bill lately passed had been framed upon principles more favourable to the just claims of the Church, as regards her future prospects. The ill success of the Board in this undertaking was compensated by the completion of their gigantic county reports. The amount of good effected by this institution is almost incalculable. We cannot afford space even for a sketch of its labours. We select a few specimens :

On occasions of scarcity, they often interposed beneficially to prevent or to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Hardly had the institution been established, when a deficiency in the wheat crop raised to an alarming height the price of bread throughout the kingdom. As the most immediate measure of relief, the Board caused experiments to be tried in the manufacture of bread, from every species of grain that could be made to enter into its composition. No less than eighty different kinds of bread were soon exhibited, to the astonishment of the public, as the result of these inquiries. Without enumerating the multifarious materials suggested under every possible combination, I may quote the remark of an unquestionable authority on this subject, that "The Board, for having turned its attention to the great question of substitutes for wheat in the manufacture of bread, deserved the gratitude of posterity."

Another suggestion of the Board was still more beneficial. Anticipating the scarcity in 1794, they recommended an increased attention to the cultivation of potatoes. Fifty thousand additional acres were in consequence planted, and produced a supply of food sufficient for the support, during six months, of nearly a million of the population. A report was also drawn up and printed, containing all the information that could be collected, either at home or abroad, with reference to that valuable root. The most important desideratum was a cheap and easy method of preserving potatoes, so that the abundance of one crop might make amends for the deficiency of another. An experiment was tried of cutting them into thin slices, and drying them upon a hop-oast or kilo. The expense was trifling, and it was ascertained that they might then be kept for a long period. Sir John used to show his friends specimens of potato-flour, and potato slices, which, at the suggestion of the Board, had been sent to New South Wales, and, forty years afterwards, were as fit for use as on the day they were prepared.-Pp. 100, 101.

Although the Board was never able to carry through a general enclosure act, yet they caused a great increase in the number of private enclosure bills, both by facilitating their enactment and by awakening a spirit of improvement throughout the kingdom. During twenty years previous to the establishment of the Board, the number of enclosure bills was only 749; during twenty years after its establishment, the number amounted to 1883, giving an increase of 1134 bills, and, according to the best estimates, producing 2,268,000 acres of additional cultivation.

Another important subject to which the Board directed its attention, was that of bringing all the weights and measures throughout the kingdom under the summary jurisdiction of the magistrates. The poor, especially in rural districts, had formerly been subjected to the grossest frauds by petty dealers. At the request of the Board, Mr. Powys introduced a bill to remedy the evil. Thousands of those humble sufferers from imposition had reason to thank the Board of Agriculture for suggesting this statute.

Various measures also were carried by the influence of this public-spirited body for removing taxes, which, though of little benefit to the Exchequer, were injurious to agriculture, by raising the price of articles important to the culti vation of the soil, or to the improvement of stock. The tax on draining tiles,

amounting almost to a prohibition, was removed; and lintseed and rape cake, imported in British vessels, were exempted from the payment of duty. "This exemption," says Arthur Young, "had its origin with the Board; and it now appears almost incredible, that, in a country such as this, suffering under a scarcity of provisions, so preposterous a duty should have been suffered to remain on the statute-books-a duty calculated to prevent the importation of that food which fattens the oxen, and manures the fields of the kingdom."

Nor did this Agricultural Corporation, amidst objects of a loftier and more imposing character, overlook the domestic comfort of the poor. The President, having ascertained, in conversation with the Earl of Winchelsea, that much benefit had arisen to labourers from annexing to their cottages small portions of land on his lordship's estates in Rutlandshire, prevailed upon the noble Earl, in 1796, to write a paper on the subject as a communication to the Board. A well-informed agent was afterwards employed to visit certain parts of England, where a similar practice had been introduced, and the result of his mission was so favourable, that the Board recommended the system generally, and it was accordingly adopted in various counties. They devised at the same time measures for improving the construction of cottages, so as to diminish the consumption of fuel, and for encouraging friendly societies, "those most fortunate of all institutions," as the President emphatically terms them, "for the benefit of the poor, and the most likely means that could possibly be devised for rendering their situation comfortable."-Pp. 118–120.

The usefulness of this great central institution radiated to the remotest dependencies of the British crown. In Bengal, the chief agricultural deficiency had always been the scanty support for cattle and horses. On the suggestion of the Board, Lucerne and Guinea grass were tried with success. I find the Court of Directors, in a dispatch to Marquess Wellesley, the Governor-General, expressing their satisfaction at the prospect of these productions becoming "an invaluable acquisition to the Bengal provinces." I have not hitherto been able to ascertain how far this expectation has been realized. An eminent botanist, however, informs me that he received, some time ago, good specimens of Lucerne from Calcutta, though he was not aware, till I informed him, how the plant had been introduced. The Board likewise caused experiments to be made in the cultivation of potatoes and of hemp in the East Indies. For the improvement also of the West Indies, they transmitted a collection of seeds from Sumatra to Jamaica and St. Vincent. This collection proved so acceptable, that the House of Assembly in the former island passed a vote of thanks to the donors. The Board was also the means of introducing into those islands that important article of shipbuilding, the teak tree. I have much satisfaction in adding, that the West India body, both collectively and individually, took every opportunity to express their gratitude to Sir John for his various exertions to promote colonial agriculture.-Pp. 126-128.

To be continued.

LITERARY REPORT.

Harmonia Paulina: being an Arrangement, in the words of the Apostle, of the Complete Scheme of Christian Faith and Practice contained in the several Epistles of St. Paul. By the Rev. HENRY LATHAM, M.A. Vicar of Selmeston und Alciston,

Sussex. London: Rivingtons. 1837. 8vo. Pp. xii. 448.

ALTHOUGH the Epistles of St. Paul were addressed to particular communities, or individuals, the doctrines and precepts contained in them belong to