should those services be withheld from him. This is an argument ad captandum.

In advocating emancipation, and, above all, immediate emancipation, there is one clear and equitable course to recommend and to pursue-to offer to the West India colonists a fair compensation for the surrender of their property in the slave. Let an accurate estimate be made of the real amount of the capital which has been invested by the West India planters, for the purchase of their negroes: and let the time of the abolition of the slave trade be fixed upon for the estimation of the number of negro slaves then in the West Indies. Let every individual negro be considered as a debtor, to the amount which might be computed as advanced for him by the proprietor to the trader. In order to give every possible advantage to the proprietor, let five per cent. interest be allowed to be added to that capital from that time, and to accumulate at compound interest. Add to this a fair sum for the annual expenses laid out by the proprietor in clothes and medical attendance for each negro on an estate, and let the whole sum be made chargeable on the negro and his children. On the other hand, let the labour of the negroes be fairly estimated, and its amount, per diem, fixed from the same period, and computed at compound interest to his advantage. Let a certain sum of money be advanced by Parliament to the West India planter, by way of loan, to be placed to the debt of the negroes, and, being charged at the rate of compound interest, to serve for the liquidation of a part of the invested capital of the proprietor. When both the amount of the negroes' wages and the sum proposed to be advanced to the planter, together with their compound interest, shall equal the amount of the money paid by the proprietor and its compound interest, then the negroes, or their progenitors, shall be considered free as regarding the proprietor, but be made to labour for the same person, in order to repay from a part of their wages the money advanced by parliament; after the liquidation of which, they shall be entirely emancipated, and be considered in every respect as subjects of England. To a plan like this we are quite sure that the West Indian proprietors would have no objection.

Reflections upon the late Revolutions in Europe. By the Marquis de Salvo, &c. &c.-8vo. pp. 208. Booth.

THE Marquis de Salvo is a Sicilian patriot, and a practical, not a mere speculative, politician. He is the same who so intrepidly rescued Mrs. Spencer Smith some years ago, from irksome captivity, in Lombardy; and since then he has not been an idle spectator of passing events. As a traveller and resident in the nations about which he writes, he speaks of them from more intimate personal knowledge than most writers do; and his observations are, therefore, highly valuable.

In treating of revolutions in general, he judiciously observes, that "It is to political liberty, and to that idol alone, that men are impatient to render the most signal homage. But in boasting of its triumphs, no one takes the trouble to examine how far it can be defended and upheld by those nations for whom it is invoked, and in what degree it may prove beneficial to them.-In politics, as in morals or physics, we should attend to facts, and keep them constantly in view in our search after the causes and circumstances out of which they have sprung: for it is only by Crit. Gaz. Vol. 1. No.5.

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comparison that other results can be foreseen without the danger of wandering, or of falling into notions of a speculative nature. Theories, vague and systematic ideas, cannot be found to apply to men in their individual, any more than in their collective capacity a safe judgment is to be formed in no other way than by a steady consideration of the attitude and the moral progress of nations, when they assume and are to exhibit a political character."

:

"If we study and analyse the political changes that have occurred at various periods in the history of nations, it will be seen, that when existing powers have relinquished privileges incompatible with the moral attitude of society, they have never yielded but to enlightened remonstrances and calm reasoning. These changes have been effected without insurrection or revolt. Each century has obtained in this way fresh conquests on behalf of humanity; such conquests, however, were owing to the invisible operations which reason directs against abuses. No doubt that if the passions of men had been satisfied with the simple progress of universal knowledge, and had trusted for a change in obnoxious institutions to that progress, and to the advancement of wealth, which gives, as it were, a popular tide to all institutions, nations would have gained their cause, kings and governors would have continued to enjoy respect, and some degree of power would have imperceptibly flowed down to the various classes of society, without losing any of its consideration or of its august character. Thus without openingly claiming a share of power, nations would have acquired the exercise of certain rights, until then unenjoyed, as the necessary consequence of a wiser and a more moderate course."

Of the late disastrous Revolutions in Naples, he speaks with a precision of knowledge, which justifies our enabling him to speak for himself: "There is no necessity for me to enter into any elaborate enquiries to prove, that before the event of the fifth of July, the kingdom of Naples was in the enjoyment of a secure guarantee of property, liberty of person, and public happiness. The French code, the work of the most enlightened men of Europe, after having been introduced during the absence of King Ferdinand, was augmented by all the regulations which local interests required: the new laws had been discussed by a council of the Chancellerie, which had, in its decisions, rendered the judiciary power independent of the executive. This legal system had spread its salutary effects throughout the provinces by the distribution of the different courts of law. All classes of the people became assured of this paramount truth, that all men were equal in the eye of the law, and that the great land-holders and men who partook of public authority, could no longer, as heretofore, avail themselves of the influence of their situation or of their fortune."

"Ferdinand I. (IV.) found, on returning to his states, two great innovations; the domains sold; the remains of the feudal system entirely abolished, and along with it the entailed remainders and hereditary rights; the monastic fraternities extremely diminished, and their lands alienated for the use of the state, or by private sales."

"During the late years of military occupation, all these novelties had prepared men's minds to require a form of government that should recompense them for the sacrifices they had made; but Murat had never been willing to consent to any other form than that which should place absolute authority in his hands. As an answer to the unceasing petitions that were presented on this head, a note of the Austrian minister was constantly shown, which positively refused to consent to any proposition tending to the introduction of a constitution: nevertheless, a few days before his quitting the kingdom, Murat signed his consent to a demand made by the nobility and the principal classes, which had for its object a representative constitution; this became, at such a moment, a tardy, futile, and ridiculous expedient."

The ministers of King Ferdinand were not ignorant of this concession; but, as his Majesty owed his return to the Austrian forces, he was constrained to sign a treaty with the emperor of Austria, by which he engaged that he would make no political innovation in his states without the sanction of the Austrian government."

What a condition for a people and its government; and, however plausible the measures of the latter, benefits could not be received without suspicion, polluted as they were at the source! We shall now give our author's illustrations of the sects of the Carbonari, so obnoxious to the continental despots.

Much has been said respecting secret sects; and to that of the Carbonari, the revolutions in Naples and in Piedmont have been generally attributed.

"In Italy, the sect of the Carbonari, like so many others, had been encouraged at a certain epoch by foreign governments, and particularly by England, as an efficacious means of attacking the kings whom Napoleon had established.

"For the sake of imparting to every class that hatred in which those were held whom it was wished to overthrow, it became necessary to assert the maxims of liberty and independence, to describe the absolute power of the ruling authorities as an insupportable oppression; and these societies were resorted to for inviting the people to a political emancipation: the measure met with success.

"A short time previous to the downfal of Murat and Napoleon, these clubs entered into a correspondence with the agents of the foreign powers; but an expectation was entertained, that as soon as the present object was effected, the influence and action of the societies would cease. It was not recollected that, by accustoming the various classes of the people to meet together, and to debate respecting their independence, inen were thereby brought to reason with regard to rights, in which they would afterwards naturally wish to participate. So that the legitimate kings were no sooner seated upon their thrones, than their people, believing they had greatly assisted in their return, continued, by means of these associations, to frame projects of reform."

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Why the Neapolitans have lost every thing," is the title of one of his sections, and contains some curious information.

was

"Two occasions presented themselves, on which to repair the faults committed since the 5th of July, 1820. The first was an advance made by a foreign power, announcing that she was not disinclined to offer herself as meliatrix, as soon as she could be assured, that some important changes in the constitution adopted, would be consented to. The hope of creating this protection, which was so essential, was no sooner communicated by the B- C- than the ministers, who saw all the danger and difficulty of the actual state of things, hastened to take hold of it, as the means of exonerating the nation from whatever blame had been imputed to it. The Mcharged to communicate the intentions of the ministry to the president of the Neapolitan Cortes, and also to two other members who had the greatest influence. He flattered himself, that he was the harbinger of the most encouraging and satisfactory communication, under the difficulties of the national situation; and he was persuaded, that the situation of their affairs was thoroughly understood, and was felt by the Cortes; in the number of whom were to be reckoned men highly distinguished by their understanding. "But what was his astonishment, when he only obtained, after a protracted negociation, a determined refusal; and found it impossible for him to make the president comprehend, that the proposed mediation was the sole means of saving the kingdom from the dangers with which it was threatened, and the only reliance for safety, which it was prudent speedily to resort to, if they wished to weather an inevitable and increasing tempest. On the other hand, language and argument, worthy of the Roman senate in the epoch of its greatest power, was made use of; to support which, the Cortes spoke of the will of the nation they represented, whose mandates they could not revoke; just as if they had been elected to deliver the nation up to all the calamities of which it has become the victim."

"The second occasion that offered to the Cortes, was when his Majesty, before he set out to meet the sovereigns, according to their invitation, after having assembled the diplomatic corps, in the presence of the ministers of the different powers, dictated to his royal son, the Duke of Calabria, the preliminary articles of a charter, which he had resolved to give to his people of his free accord. This was the only mode of giving a plausible colour to the events which had previously caused him to sign what of his free will he would always have rejected. This voluntary act of King Ferdinand must have been the more solemn, as it had for its witnesses the representatives of the foreign potentates, who, although they appeared at it, neither by way of approbation or of disapprobation, could not fail, however, thence to evidence to Europe the free manifestation of the king's own wish; and they could never refuse to furnish their attestation of it." "But the Cortes rejected also this salutary boon, offered by a monarch, who at that moment proved himself to be truly the father of his subjects, in preserving them from the evils which awaited them: they refused to admit of any change in that ill-fated constitution, which was so soon to resemble Pandora's box, divested of the flattery of hope. They thus missed, once more, the only means of realising the expectation and wishes of the nation, and, after having revolted against good order, they ended by revolting against good sense.

The Marquis writes like one of the privileged orders, but like one of the most enlightened of his class; and concludes some interesting

chapters on the Revolutions of Piedmont, Spain, and France, in the following paragraphs:

"The revolutions of Spain, of Italy, and of Portugal, rent the veil which had concealed the want of union of those nations, that had been represented as like the head of Medusa, and took away from the people all those advantages which they had hitherto enjoyed.

"The only thing that has been really changed in Europe is the object of the policy of the different cabinets. Therefore, this change, the most remarkable of our era, will fix the new diplomatic code to the ninet enth century.

"The groundwork of European diplomacy, in former times, consisted in a mutual distrust of aggrandising projects, in a jealousy of the power or prosperity of a neighbouring state; European policy was called into action by the conquest of a province, the erection of a harbour, of a fortress, or of a line of frontiers; the rights of preeminence due for the relationship of royal families; the due consideration for embassadors for family connexions; protection of smaller estates: these, and many other objects, created for each court a distinct and separate interest.

"The people were then considered in no other light than that of a passive mass, serving to give splendour to the crown, at the same time in the uninterrupted enjoyment of public happiness, so long as it fulfilled its duties to the throne and to the state. Every thing now bears another aspect; the eyes of governments are chiefly directed at present to the conduct of the people. The cabinets are no longer disturbed by a spirit of mutual jealousy, hostility, or mistrust; the views of governments and of sovereins are wholly directed to the permanent preservation of hereditary power, to its security against insurrections or democratical influence, to the protection and guarantee of existing rights."

The revolutions of Italy, of Spain, and of Portugal, have retarded the happiness of nations, and removed to a very indefinite period, that state of confidence and mutual harmony which ought to prevail in the relations between subjects and their sovereigns. What has been the result of those fruitless convulsions which have only tended to provoke the severity and the anger of governments? They have given a false attitude to society, whether in regard to its political state, or to the condition of the finances. As respects the one, we need only point out the necessity of maintaining a foreign army for the guarantee of public safety; governments are thus compelled to resort to foreign aid, in order to rule their own states, a course which affords no indication of independence. By that position, apprehensions have been created of arrests and proscriptions on the one side, or disorder and a fatal anarchy on the other.”

"It is alleged that the progress of civilization has made it imperative upon men to better their condition; and that this improvement chiefly consists in giving to the people a national representation, which will afford to them a share of power, by the expression of their free consent to the taxes they are called upon to pay, and a protection to their interests, their rights, and their liberties. Does the necessity, however, of a representative government exist in reality for all nations? Are they even calculated to understand the importance of the state to which it is attempted to raise them? And, moreover, are they capable of exercising the functions which are reserved for

them?"

"All nations do not exhibit these indispensable conditions. In some, the ancient laws, statutes, customs, and political order have experienced no alteration. They consequently present indications of the same feelings, the same habits, and the same ideas. In others, composed of several provinces, are to be found elements which are directly at variance with a concentration of power; unity of will, and unity of action are therefore beyond their reach. As to that species of civilization which applies to the display of intellectual faculties, and to the knowledge derived from reading, &c. it is well known that the mass of the people in some of the southern nations, in a part of Germany, and of the Russian empire, as well as in many other countries, are still living in a state of absolute ignorance. Deprived of the many resources of a general instruction which has been rendered so easy of attainment for all classes, they neither feel the want nor the ambition of acquiring knowledge."

"Societies and nations are the same as individuals, who, by their different structure, the disparity in their resources, the greater or less expansion of intellect, are compelled to keep at a considerable distance from one another; and if the natural disposition can in a great measure be subdued or directed by education, the active progress of this public education can alone produce the change which might be effected in favor of a diferent political organization of any state."

The Marquis has thus arrived at the conclusion,-that education is the only means of enabling mankind to emancipate themselves; but as Governments are jealous of all change, so this instrument will be denied; and, therefore, there is little to hope for nations which are ignorant, and can be kept in ignorance, by the craft of those who dread the light of knowledge.

The Book of Fallacies, from unfinished Papers of Jeremy Bentham. By a Friend. 8vo. pp. 411. 12s.

THE detection of the innumerable fallacies which prejudice and custom have allowed to pass muster as truth, is a consummation devoutly to be wished," and no man is more able effectually to cut away the sprouting heads of the hydra, than Mr. Bentham. The specific mischief of a fallacy consists in the tendency which it has to prevent or obstruct the introduction of this or that useful measure in particular. The general mischief consists in that moral and intellectual depravation, which produces habits of false reasoning and insincerity.

The substance of this work, drawn up from the most unfinished of Mr. Bentham's MS. has been already published in French, by Mr. Dumont; who may be justly said to have done more for his friend, the author, by arranging the rich materials, scattered in his portfolio, into a compact and commodious form, than most editors have done for the illustrious dead; and much more for the cause of truth; for no man has paid more unwearied homage to that cause than Mr. Bentham, attacked her enemies with less ceremony, and rendered more active service to her friends. Whatever be the subject of Mr. B.'s speculations, whether light or profound, exclusive or general, no person can rise from the perusal of any of them without information, and even when the lights they elicit be rather collateral than direct, they furnish useful exercise for the faculties ; where their province is argument, and means of pleasing relaxation; where touching a lighter nerve they exchange illustration for precept, and example for disquisition.

The following instance of that grave drollery of style and ironical humour, which none, since Swift, have handled with the same irresistible effect, we cannot refuse ourselves the indulgence of extracting:

"THE HOBGOBLIN ARGUMENT; OR, NO INNOVATION!

Ad metum.

EXPOSITION." The hobgoblin; the eventual appearance of which is denounced by this argument, is anarchy; which tremendous spectre has for its forerunner, the monster, innovation. The forms in which this monster may be denounced, are as numerous and various, as the sentences in which the word innovation can be placed.

"Here it comes, exclaims the barbarous or unthinking servant, in the hearing of the affrighted child; when to rid herself of the burden of attendance, such servant scruples not to employ an instrument of terror, the effects of which may continue during life. "Of a similar nature, and productive of similar effects, is the political device here exposed to view. As an instrument of deception, the device is generally accompanied by personalities of the vituperative kind. Imputation of bad motives, bad designs, bad conduct and character, &c. are ordinarily cast on the authors and advocates of the obnoxious measure; while the term employed is such as to beg the question in dispute. Thus, in the present instance, innovation means a bad change, presenting to