by the universal voice of the people: it is not to be modified, and it can never be submitted to; an inquisitorial investigation into every man's affairs must be instituted before any tax upon income can take effect. The plan which Mr. Bell suggests, in degree obvites is insuperable objection. "To oblige men to set forth their incomes, for the purpose of being assessed, is not only imposing a disagreeable task on all who may be liable to the operation of the scheme, but, by appointing every man to act the part of an assessor on himself, while powers are given to others to contradict what he may assert, as is the case in collecting our present assessment of income, individuals may be placed in very unpleasant situations, which, on a different plan, might easily be avoided This might, with certainty, be guarded against, and, perhaps, all the advantages of the scheme retained, were this part of it to be reversed, by appointing assessors to affix the sums which incomes ought to pay, in stead of obliging those who are assessed to mention their amount, if it be not for the purpose of adducing evidence of their being overcharged, when this should be the case; and as this would seldom happen, and never but as a voluntary act on the part of the individual, few complaints would be made against it." What is meant by appointing assessors to affix the sums which incomes ought to pay? The sum which certain incomes ought to pay, in other words, the rate of assessment, must be established by par liament. Mr. Bell means, that these assessors should decide upon the amount of incomes, not upon the burden which those incomes are to bear; but it is ob vious that he leaves the evil exactly where he found it: according to the manner in which the old income tax was levied, each man assessed himself: according to Mr. B's scheme, each man is to be assessed by his neighbours. Where is the difference? a disclosure of circumstances is the ground work of both, and must indispensably be the ground work of every income tax which imagination can devise. But, says he, "Were this even to be the general effect of it, there is reason to think that no public harm would result from it: nay, it might eventually answer a good purpose, by serving to detect the wild speculations of those, who, without funds of their own, enter rashly on extensive schemes of trade and manufactures, altogether on credit, thereby giving rise to many calamitous bankruptcies which otherwise would not happen. In this manner it would afford the most essential support to fair traders, whilst those only would suffer by its operation who might do harm to others by continuing to do business longer." The good which society would reap from the timely detection of a few mad speculators, would be absolutely nothing in comparison of the evil which, in a commercial country, would result from this panopticon system of investigation; Confidence, unbounded confidence, is the soul of commerce; it is at once the effect and cause of its activity. Without confidence there can be no credit; without credit, arts and manufactures, and consequently commerce, must languish and soon wither away. In some few instances, this vivifying sap may be distributed with a rash and injurious profusion: the leaf-buds may be numerous, and the flower-buds fail; the branches and the foliage may be too proud, too wide-spread and luxuriant to bear fruit, but withdraw the sap, and the tree itself dies at once, down to the very ground. It is the fault of the second essay, that a great deal of it is founded upon the first. Mr. Bell is anxious to liqui date the national debt: his remarks on its injurious operation are perfectly just, and he repels the fallacious arguments which were once held to prove, that this national burden is a national benefit, with spirit and success. His animadversions on the funding system, and his observations on the price of stocks as indicative of national prosperity or depression, are quite correct. would have been very difficult to believe, that the nation has not only continued to thrive under the greatest depression of her funds which ever before happened, but in a degree, both with respect to her manufactures and trade, of which we have no example. It has even been found, during this depressed state of our funds, when the three per cents have fluctuated from forty-seven to sixty, that not a single complaint has been heard of its proving hurtful, while few will, probably, doubt of there being now more wealth in the nation than we ever possessed even at that period when the same stock sold at ninety-six. Nay, there is reason to hope, that the time will at last arrive, when all will perceive, that our national wealth and prosperity have so little dependance on the high price of the funds, that, cæteris paribus, we shall thrive in proportion as they become low; the causes of which, all who have con "We now find, what not many years ago sidered the subject will understand; and, being one of the leading objects of these essays to explain, it will be found in different parts of them." As in all other markets, the commodity at the Stock Exchange rises in proportion to the demand for it: it is a proof of confidence in the solvency and stability of Government when that demand is great, but it is at the same time a proof that there is a great deal of money in the kingdom which cannot find a more profitable employment. It is true, indeed, that the Stock Exchange is a gaming house, and that the hope of taking advantage of sudden changes brings much more money to it than it could possibly expect to draw in a fair marketable way. So much the worse: the greater the sums which are locked up in the funds, and the greater those which are held in reserve for the purpose of taking advantage of any alteration in the market price of them, the less capital is left to be employed in agriculture, manufactures, and so on. When the funds are high, the interest upon any specific sum of money in them is low: and when we take low interest, it is only because we cannot obtain a higher elsewhere. If the national debt were paid off-an extravagant postulatum-can there be any doubt but that the money which is now locked up in stock, would infuse life and vigour into commerce and manufactures, and would improve to an incalculable degree the agriculture of the country? By the temptation which speculation in the funds holds forth, a large proportion of the national wealth will, probably, continue to be attracted towards them; and Mr. Bell justly observes, that this money is employed to the most seless and baneful purposes, that of giving encouragement to a national spirit for gambling and dissipation. A plan, therefore, he concludes, should instantly be adopted, as well for putting a stop to this spirit of speculating in the funds, as for the ultimate extinction of our public debt. What is this plan for the extinction of the public debt? an income-tax! "The sum which at present is applied to the sinking fund, is upwards of four millions per annum. By a well-regulated tax on the national income, there is reason to think that twenty-six millions may be obtained yearly." We cannot enter " into particulars; but in order that this, or any other scheme, for the reduction of the debt "may proceed without interruption, a price should be fixed," says Mr. Bell, by act of parliament, at which all quantities of stock shall hereafter be sold which government may be enabled to purchase, otherwise, as the quantity of stock would yearly lessen, by the very operation of the scheme itself, the value of the remainder might rise to more than the public ought to give for it." The difficulty then is to fix what this price should be: Mr. Bell proposes to enable government to purchase every variety of stock either at par, or the price at which it was origi nally sold by government: making some allowance to those purchasers who bought in when stocks were high. stocks would never rise much above par, therefore, but on the contrary would commonly sell at less, this measure would have a tendency to put a stop to that spirit of gambling, which the fluctuation of the funds excites. Some good observations on the impolicy of proprietors purchasing their land-tax conclude this essay. As Essay 3. On the Improvement of Agriculture. "In the preceding essay I had occasion to remark, that landholders, instead of being desired to purchase their land-tax, ought at once to be relieved from it, and be put on the same footing with others, whose wealth arises from money or other property, producing income. In equity this ought certainly to be done; and there is reason to hope, that at no very distant period it will happen." How humiliating is the reflection, that men who have devoted their honest and unprejudiced attention to the science of political economy, should have come to conclusions on the subjects of taxation and the improvement of agricul ture, diametrically different from each other! Those celebrated French writers who are called bonoris causa, political economists, have contended, that the essential cause of the wealth of any nation is the skill and labour bestowed upon the soil by its inhabitants, for the purpose of increasing its fecundity. The encouragement of agriculture, then, and its improvement progressively till it reaches a state of perfection, is with them a matter of the highest consideration. They contend, that manufac tures, however beneficial to a state, ang they do not hesitate to acknowledge them beneficial in the highest degree, produce no positive augmentation of wealth: they contend, that the only income of a nation, is that which is produced by its land. The political economists do not shrink from the obvious and legitimate inference: if the produce of the soil is the only source of wealth, it ought to be the only source of revenue: in other words, there should be no other tax but a land-tax. This must be an alarming doctrine to Mr. Bell: if he wishes to see its difficulties obviated, we refer him to a man who is as warm and able an advocate for the encouragement of agriculture as himself: to Dr. Gray, who, in his pamphlet on the essential principles of the wealth of nations, has clearly and briefly discussed the subject. This doc trine, he observes, “to the superficial has been a matter of drollery, to the serious a stumbling block, and to the half-knowing an inexplicable riddle. In France, Germany, and Holland, it has had a great variety of opposers as well as of approvers. The witty Voltaire attacked it in one of his most flimsy productions, "L'Homme â quarante ecus," The serious Necker expresses his doubts of it, and argues upon its impracticability: but his arguments are such as clearly prove, that the subject had not been justly conceived by him. In Britain, Dr. Adam Smith views it askance, and cautiously shoves off the discussion of its merits:" Mr. Arthur Young has opposed it warmly, and Dr. Gray has refuted his arguments. : But this incidental passage of Mr. Bell has already led us too far astray we must return to his plan for the inprovement of agriculture. This plan is, that the sum of two millions, five hundred thousand pounds should be annually placed by government under the charge of the Board of Agriculture in London, and of provincial agricultural 'boards, which that board should direct, five hundred thousand pounds, or thereabouts to be distributed in premiums for various improvements, and the remaining two millions, "To be lent without interest, for a period of ten years, to proprietors and farmers who might apply for it, possessed of grounds which the board of agriculture for the county would judge to be capable of improvement; ANN. REV. VOL. I. the money to be entirely at the disposal of the county boards, who should be directed to see it properly applied, and to take sufficient security for the repayment of the prin cipal sums and as it should not be given in a greater proportion than ten pounds sterling for every acre to be improved; a sum which all improvers would most thankfully on these terms accept; two hundred thousand acres of land, which at present are nearly unproductive, would, by this expedient alone, be yearly brought to a state of cultivation, the very important advantages of here be enumerated which are so obvious, that they need not "As two millions of this money, would, at the end of ten years, become due annually, were it then to be lent on the same terms to other improvers, two millions might be thus employed for this very essential purpose, yearly, without levying more on the nation. But how is this sum of two millions five hundred, thousand pounds to be procured? The easiest and best method perhaps, says Mr. Bell, would be from the general assessment of income. All these and models of new instruments, which boards are to correspond with each other, have proved useful in agriculture, are meeting of the provincial society. to be exhibited at the annual public The fourth and last essay, is on the subjects of scarcity and dearth. It was written during the alarming scarcity which prevailed two years ago, and had it been published at that time, might have been serviceable to farmers, as it vindicates them in an able manner from the foolish, but dangerous charge which the ignorant brought against them, of having been instrumental to called, forestallers, and regraters, are the evil. Monopolizers, as they are also ably defended from the heavy charges which are brought against them. Mr. Bell is for repealing every statute which is continued against dealers in corn and other provisions. Let them be protected, let them be permitted to Purchase and sell in all situations, and all circumstances, and whenever they may think proper. A perfect freedom of trade, he conceives, would ensure regularity to our markets, and thus be eventually of incalculable benefit to the public. We are not disposed to conbeen brought forward,and merits a most tend against this doctrine: it has recently impartial and scrutinizing investigation. We are inclined to believe, that it is founded on sound principles of policy, 3 C and shall at all times be happy to see it discussed, in all its branches, with freedom and with temper. A great many collateral subjects fall under discussion in the course of this essay, as reputedly connected with scarcity or abundance: the corn laws, bounties on importation and exportation, large and small farms, paper credit, enclosure of wastes, &c. These subjects have been so repeatedly and minutely discussed of late, that it is not necessary for us to enter upon them on the present occasion. Mr. Bell is an ART. II. Essays on miscellaneous Subjects, Essay I. "Observations on the nature and advantages of statistical enquiries; with a sketch of an introduction to the proposed analysis of the statistical account of Scotland.” We are sorry to learn, that the intention of the laborious compiler of the statistical account of Scotland, to have draw up an analysis of the whole work, has been hitherto frustrated by his own indifferent state of health, and by occu pations which interfered with his plan. As it seems to be uncertain whether Sir John Sinclair will ever have it in his power even to begin, far less to complete a work which is so loudly called for; he has explained the nature of the plan which he intended to pursue, and has thus facilitated the task to any one who shall engage in it. In the preliminary observations are considered, 1st. The nature of those blessings, to the enjoyment of which, every individual member of a political society seems to be justly entitled; and, 2dly. What are the most likely means of rendering them as generally attainable as possible. The objects of human life are comprehended under the heads of, 1. Animal; 2. Social; and 3. Mental Enjoyments. The first consist of food, cloathing, and shelter; the second arise from family connexions or personal friendship; from marriage or the union of the sexes; from the enjoyment of property; from useful occupations; and, lastly, from political institutions. The third, mental enjoyments, the highest of which man is susceptible, result from religious and moral exertions, and from the exercise of his mental faculties in general. advocate for large farms, an unlimited extension of country banks and paper credit: his reasoning on this subject is far from being satisfactory to us, and as to the enclosure of commons, he thinks, that an immediate reduction in the price of provisions would not fol low such a system; and that the lands at present under tillage are amply sufficient, if properly cultivated, to supply the population of the kingdom. Mr. B. has it in contemplation to publish a second volume of essays. by Sir JOHN SINCLAIR. 8vo. pp. 467. Such, on the whole, are the pleasures of which human nature is capable of partaking; and the investigation of them leads to the second and very important question, what are the most likely means of rendering the enjoyments of life as general as possible, Various attempts have been made, at different times, to improve the state of political society, sometimes by sovereigns themselves, sometimes by their ministers, and sometimes by philosophers, who, in their closets, have invented systems of policy which shrink from the touch of experi ment. Indeed, the systems of these several philanthropists have never been built upon that stable foundation, which is necessary for legislative purposes. "Real patriots and practical statesmen, can be no longer satisfied with impartial and defective views of the situation of a country, but must wish to know the actual state of its agriculture, its manufactures, and its commerce, and the means of improvement of which they are respectively capable; the amount of the population of a state, and the causes of its increase or decrease;-the manner in which the territory of a country is possessed and cultivated; the nature and soil;-the value of the personal wealth or amount of the various productions of the stock of the inhabitants, and how it can be augmented the diseases to which the people are subject, their causes, and their cure-the occupations of the people ;—in what cases they are entitled to encourage ment, and where they ought to be suppressed-the condition of the poor, the best mode of exciting their industry, and furnishing them with employment;-the state of schools, and other institutions founded for the purposes of public utility-the state of villages and towns, and the regulations best calculated for their police and government; and above all, the state of the manners, the morals, and the religious principles of the people; and the means by which their temporal and eternal interests can be promoted." In one word, statistics should be the ground-work of legislation; that is the science which will point out to us the most likely means of rendering the enjoyments of life as general as possible. The plan of the proposed analysis follows: it is arranged with judgment, and we sincerely hope, that Sir John Sinclair will enjoy sufficient health and leisure to execute it himself. Essay II. "Observations on the means of enabling a cottager to keep a cow by the produce of a small portion of arable land." Sir John estimates the extent of land necessary for this purpose, at three acres and a quarter; all which, with the exception of the orchard, may be cultivated with the plough and the hoe without interfering with the usual labour of the cottager. The sacrifice required on the part of landlords is absolutely nothing: the advantages which the cottager must reap from such a little farm, in his own occupation, as to the independence he will feel, as to the sobriety and general respectability which will probably attach to his character, and as to the abundant comforts which his family will derive, are scarcely to be estimated. Sincerely is it to be hoped, that a class of the community so numerous, so peaceable, so respectable, and whose exertions are so immediately and eminently useful to society, may be recompensed by their landlords with that important accommodation, which is here so powerfully recommended. Essay III. "Hints as to the advantages of old pastures, and on the conversion of grass-lands into tillage." This essay consists of mere hints, which how ever may be consulted with advantage. The subject has of late undergone so much discussion, that it is unnecessary to enlarge on it here. Essay IV. "Hints regarding cattle." Without enumerating the various breeds of cattle which prevail in different parts of the kingdom, Sir John engages at once upon the great question to be resolved, namely, what particulars are essential to form a perfect breed: if these are once pointed out, there is no sort that may not be improved by attentive breeders, either by crossing with other stock, or by selecting the best specimens of the breed itself, so as to acquire the qualities that may be wished for. The result of the enquiry is, that cattle ought to be, 1. of a moderate size, unless where the food is of a nature peculiarly forcing; 2. of a shape, the most likely to yield profit to the farmer, that is to say, that the form ought to be compact, so that no part of the animal is disproportioned to the other; that the carcase should be deep, broad, and that the head, the bones, and other parts of little value should be as small as possible; 3. Of a docile disposition without be ing deficient in spirit. 4. Hardy, and not liable to disease. 5. Easily maintained, and on food not of a costly nature. 6. Arriving soon at maturity. 7. Produ cing considerable quantities of milk. 8. Having flesh of an excellent quality. 9. Having a tendency to fatten. 10. Having a valuable hide. And lastly, calcu lated for working. At the conclusion of an appendix on the different kinds of cattle farms, Sir John laments the little attention which is paid to the distes of animals. It has often occurred to us, that the institution of a society similar to the Veterinary, and which might be called a society for the improvement of comparative pathology, would be at tended with very important benefits. The wretches, who disgace the country under the name of cow-leeches, are, of all ignorant and unfeeling creatures, the most ignorant and the most unfeeling. Society suffers an incredible loss in the confidence which farmers in general repose in the skill and knowledge and experience of these stupid, assuming, contemptible fellows. It is to be regretted, that it is considered infra dignitatem, on the part of surgeons resident in the country, to employ their skill in curing the diseases to which cattle are subject. Village surgeons are in the habit of slaving very hard for a very insufficient emolument: many a farmer would pay as liberally for attendance on his stock, as for attendance on his children. Would gentlemen of scientific education, thus situated, agree to the condescension; or rather, would they agree,that it is not derogatory from their professional dignity, to bring their knowledge of comparative anatomy and nosology into ac tion, and apply it to the relief of wounded and diseased animals, the public would be greatly indebted to them, and |