be weighed with care, and never rejected but upon very mature deliberation. Readers who have not formed a fyftem which they wish not to be forced to abandon, but who are defirous of discovering truth in this intricate fcience, will here find many fuggeftions that lead to conclufions extremely different from what they expected, though by thofe whofe reafoning faculties are strong, and whofe imagination is lefs lively than our Author's, the con clufions will, we doubt not, be very different, in many cafes, from those he has drawn. We cannot deny ourselves the plea fure of tranfcribing the following explanation which the ingenious Author gives of the principles of that work which is here continued, as it exhibits at least a very agreeable picture of the ftate of his own mind. • Tout le bien fe fait de lui même dans la fociété tout le mal qui produit l'ignorance fe répare naturellement ;-et de quelque point qu'on parte aujourd'hui, - avec le degré de lumière actuellement existant en Europe, le choc des interêts particuliers conduiroit feul au bien genérale par la voie la plus courte, fi les conducteurs actuels vouloient bien fe porter à écarter à chaque occafion qui s'en préfenteroit, les obfacles que leurs prédéceffeurs ont jette fur le route. -Voilà mon principe; ou plutôt, voila le résultat de tous les faits fur lesquels j'ai réfléchi, de toutes les hypothèses que mon imagination m'a fuggérées, de toutes les opérations faciales dont j'ai tenté l'analyfe.' A fyftem which trikes the mind with fo grand an idea of concord in nature, muft doubtlefs make a powerful impreffion on one of a warm imagination, and benevolent heart,-for fuch must have been the man who firft was ftruck with the idea of fuch a concord.-And can it be forprifing that he should feem folicitous to imprefs others with conviction, in regard to the fame pleafing opinions? Nor can there be a doubt that, in many cafes, our benevolent Author has fully fucceeded in proving this much more clearly than others have done. We ourfelves had lately occafion to reprehend a very ingenious author for endeavouring to establish a doctrine that had a very contrary tendency [Monthly Review, Feb. 1787, Vol. LXXVI. p. 107.]; and every man who has bestowed a moderate share of attention on the conftitution of focieties, muft have occafion to remark, that, in innumerable inftances, the evils produced in focieties, by the brutality, or ignorance, of governors, have been filently and fpeedily repaired when the fcourge of fuch oppreffors was withdrawn, by the exertion of this hidden principle, which, like the vegetative power in plants, can only be traced by its effects. We shall conclude this article in the energetic words of our Author, who, after tracing the little diforder that can be produced in fociety by a difference of ranks and riches, thus addreffes his reader: N'êtes ▾ N'étes-vous pas tenté de croire qu'un pouvoir supérieur, une main invifible, a fixé les bornes de tout dans la fociété, comme elle y a tout enchainé, tout balancé? N'êtes-vous pas même tenté de conclure que l'homme inconfidéré, ou plutôt l'audacieux, qui porteroit la main â ces bornes quand elles feront reconnues, meriteroit le fort de celui qui la pofa fur l'arche?" Can any perfon, who attentively examines the conftitution of the universe, avoid remarking the perpetual influence of this healing power? a power pervading all nature, and by whose means thofe partial diforders which feem calculated to deftroy, produce changes that are in general (or perhaps, could we obferve it, univerfally) falutary. We do not, however, mean to affert that the efforts of man can in no cafe co-operate in forwarding thefe beneficial influences; though it is an undoubted truth that in many cafes, his efforts tend to produce effects directly the reverse of thofe he wifhed or intended. An- n. ART. VI. Difcours fur le Commerce exterieur, &c. A Difcoufe on the external Commerce of European Nations. By Mr. Herrenfchwand. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Hookham. 1787. IN N reviewing Mr. Herrenfchwand's Difcourfe on Population, we gave a general sketch of his idea of the comparative effects of internal and external commerce (Review, Febr. 1787, p. 104.). In the prefent difcourfe, he repeats the illuftration he there gave, as the foundation of all his further obfervations on the fubject, and of courfe ftrongly contends that the profperity of Britain has been greatly retarded by the attention which, for fome time paft, has been bestowed on external commerce. A nation, he argues, which undertakes to promote its profperity by means of external commerce, compared with a nation which relies upon internal commerce for promoting its prosperity, is like a man who undertakes a long journey, under the conduct of an unfaithful guide, compared to a man who (with the compafs in his hand) undertakes, by himself, to profecute his voyage. In the firft cafe, the nation and the man are continually in danger of being left alone in an unknown fituation, and to wander without advancing in their courfe, or to return to the place whence they departed. In the fecond cafe, nothing can prevent the nation and the man from arriving at the place of original deftination. For an age paft', Mr. H. fays, England has boasted of her external commerce. Her minifters in the fenate, and her authors in their writings, have never ceased to magnify the nation's grandeur, &c. &c. But what do the Britannic ifles definitively owe to this prodigious commerce? what has it added to their true profperity ?'-He then endeavours to fhew, by calculation, that our real profperity has been very little augmented. It is not, he elíewhere remarks, for want of capitals in England, and and in France, that these two nations are fo confiderably behind in their agriculture, but because, in the employment of their capitals, they have departed from the natural order in ap propriating capitals to external commerce, and he might have added external agriculture, by our cultivating Weft-Indian eftates before they were ripe for fuch enterprises; and in thus neceffarily impeding as much agriculture, as they diminished internal commerce. But, continues he, in appropriating their capitals prematurely to external commerce, the nations of Europe have not only diminished, without ceafing, their national induftry, but they have made it participate, continually, in all thofe viciffitudes to which this kind of commerce is naturally fubjected; and it is chiefly in these two circumftances that we ought to look for the reason why these nations have advanced fo flowly, with fo much deficiency, and with fuch irregularity, in their profpe rity. Hence it is, that the territory of Europe does not produce half the fubfiftence, and does not contain half the men, it was capable of producing or maintaining. In a word, this is the reason why the nations of Europe have hitherto .only been able to mount and defcend again, or to ftagnate in their degree of profperity, without ever being able to rise above mediocrity. China, he thinks, is the only nation, which, by employing their whole attention in promoting internal commerce, has cultivated every inch of land, and has augmented population, and general profperity, to the higheft poffible degree. In eftimating the profperity of Britain, he counts for nothing the money the may have accumulated by her gainful balances of trade. Seeing that thefe have done nothing toward augmenting her population (this he affumes on very doubtful data), and fo little for agriculture, they must have performed their functions very improperly; and the true profperity of England, he thinks, cannot have been thereby promoted. To that influx of money, he alleges that the owes her corruption of manners, and by the corruption of manners, her conftitution is endangered. By that fhe has been enabled to contract a monstrous debt; to pay and maintain mercenary armies; to equip formidable fleets; and to brave other nations, in all the feas of the globe. But the power to do fuch things is not profperity in its true principles, because they do not reft on the foundations of a true profperity. It is a tree, whofe roots are placed only on the furface of the ground, which crofs accidents may easily overturn. It is that kind of profperity and power which Venice once had, and poffeffes no more; it is that kind of prosperity and power which Holland once had, and no longer enjoys.And thus fhall difappear all that profperity and power, which has no other bafis than external commerce.' Our Our Readers will obferve, from these few extracts, that the Author's reasoning is not altogether fo close as could be wifhed on a fubject of fo much importance; and though we are convinced of the rectitude of the general principle he wishes to eftablish, we are by no means fatisfied with the validity of many of his arguments. He admits, however, that external trade is ufeful as contributing to the ftrength and defenfive power of the ftate, and in this view only fhould be attended to. In this difcourfe, is introduced a long differtation, very much out of its place, on the circulation of money, which contains many pertinent obfervations [fome of them are inferted in his former work], which we fhall take no farther notice of at prefent, as we chufe to referve the whole of what we mean to say on the fabject, till he has published his promised differtation on the circulation of money. We cannot however help remarking that this defultory manner of writing, fubjects the purchasers of his works to more expence than ordinary, in buying the fame thing again and again, as it is repeated in different performances, as well as to a confiderable degree of embarraflment, by announcing a few abftrufe opinions on an intricate fubject, and then abruptly departing from it. Even in this effay, we are referred to another for the principles of internal commerce. We could with the Author would publifh his differtations in a more complete ftate; for these imperfect notices have fomewhat a questionable appearance, which may raise a prejudice againft him in the reader's mind. He takes occafion alfo, in this fmall work, ftrongly to difapprove of the treaty of commerce with France, which he imagines must be productive of very ferious bad confequences to Britain. But we must not enlarge. N. B. We have juft feen, by the fame Author, a Difcourfe on Public Credit, which we have not yet had time to review. An-m ART. VII. Hawkins's Edition of Dr. Samuel Johnson's Works, concluded. See our last, p. 56. TH HE life of this eminent writer, together with the mifcellaneous compilation of Sir John Hawkins, has already occafioned a series of articles in our Reviews for April, May, and July last. We now come to Johnfon's works. In this edition, we expected to find his tranflation of Father Lobo's Voyage to Abyffinia, from the French of Monfieur Le Grand; and we therefore promifed a review of a piece, upon which Dr. Johnfon had laid out part of his time. The work, for reasons good or bad, is with-held by the Editor. We have, however, now before us, in the Literary Magazine, or Hiftory of the Works of the Learned for March 1735, an account of the book, by which it appears to have been published by Bettefworth and Hitch, of Paternofter Row. There can be no doubt but this is Johnson's 夏 Johnfon's tranflation. The fubftance of it is as follows: Father Jerome Lobo, a Portuguese Jefuit, embarked, in 1622, in the fame fleet with the Count Vidigueira, who was then, by the King of Portugal, appointed Viceroy of the Indies. They arrived at Goa; and on January 26th, 1624, Father Lobo fet out for Abyffinia. The miffion, he knew, was extremely dangerous, two of the Fathers, appointed at the fame time with himself, having been murdered in their attempt to get into that empire. Lobo had better fuccefs; after undergoing great toils, he got with fafety into that country, fo much talked of, and fo little known. Then follows a defcription of Abyffinia: it formerly extended from the Red Sea to the kingdom of Congo, and from Egypt to the Indian Sea, containing at the time of Lobo's milfion forty provinces. The inhabitants are Moors, Pagans, Jews, and Chriftians. The laft was then the reigning and established religion. This diverfity of people and religion is the reason that the kingdom, in different parts, is under different forms of government, and that their laws and cuftoms are extremely various. Some of the people neither fow their lands nor improve them, living on milk and flesh, and encamping like the Arabs, without any fettled habitation. In fome places they practise no rites of worship, though they believe that there dwells in the regions above, a BEING who governs the world. This Deity they call Oul. The Chriftianity profeffed by the Abyffinians is fo corrupted with fuperftitious errors, and fo mingled with ceremonies borrowed from the Jews, that little befide the name of Chriftianity is to be found among them. They live in tents, or cottages made of ftraw and clay, very rarely building with ftone. Ethiopia produces very near the fame kind of provifions as Portugal, but, by the laziness of the inhabitants, in a much lefs quantity. What the ancients imagined of the torrid zone is fo far from being true, that the climate is very temperate. The blacks have better features than in other countries. They have two harvests in the year, one in winter, which begins in May, and lafts, with great rigour, through the months of July, August, and September; and the other in fpring. Lent is kept by the Abyffins with great strictness. Among the animals of the country are, the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the unicorn, horfes, and cows. Every man who has a thousand cows faves once a-year a day's milk, and makes a bath for his friends; fo that to give an idea of a man's wealth, their common expreffion is, he bathes fo many times a-year. Their males marry about ten years old, and their females younger. Their marriage tie is fo loofe, that they part whenever they find that they cannot live agreeably together. Their money is an iron coin, and falt is a general barter for other commodities, Of |