constitutionally timid, and had been betrayed by that timidity into conduct which, when they reflected upon it, they severely con

demned.

If there be any man who sees no difficulty in admitting all this, in reconciling it with human nature, he must be allowed to believe that the apostles were impostors, and that the resurrection of Christ was devised by them for the purpose of deceiving the world, or rather for no purpose whatever; but I cannot persuade myself that any one who looks into his own bosom, who endeavours from consciousness, or from experience, to investigate those radical principles, which must, while we are men, influence and determine our conduct, will hesitate to admit, that if, under all the circumstances which have been stated, the disciples of Jesus gave a false testimony respecting the resurrection, they acted in a manner subversive of every law of the mind; that the supposition of their giving such a testimony overthrows every ground of belief, and involves us in inextricable perplexity.'

Though the fourth part contains many pertinent observations, we shall not draw the attention of our readers to it; because, as we have already said, the success which attended the apostles belongs more to the evidence for the credibility of the Gospel in general, than to that of the Resurrection in particular.

For a conclusion, the author illustrates the harmony which subsists between the different parts of the evidence, and declares his persuasion that the future progress of Christianity will be promoted by an examination of the solid grounds on which its divinity is established.

Some words not in common use in the southern parts of the island occur in this tract, as expiry for expiration; stumbled them, for caused them to stumble; profanity for profaneness, &c. but, on the whole, the language is correct; and the exhibition of the arguments, in support of the reality of the important point which is discussed, is of such a nature, that a perusal of the volume must afford comfort to the Christian, while on the mind of the ingenuous infidel it cannot fail of making an impression,

ART. V. A concise View of the Constitution of England. By George Custance. Dedicated, by Permission, to William Wilberforce, Esq. M.P. for the County of York. 12mo. PP. 474. 6s. Boards. Printed at Kidderminster for the Author; and sold in London by Longman and Co. 1808.

IT

T would really have given us great pleasure to have been able to recommend this work, which is written on a very useful plan, to the attention of young persons pursuing their

studies

studies in the ordinary course of education: but such a recommendation would be inconsistent with our duty as reviewers, not merely on account of the errors which we have. detected in perusing the volume, (since some errors were natu→ rally to be expected,) nor on account of its deficiency in clearness of language and in lucid arrangement of particulars, but because we have been shocked with a prevailing strain of sycophancy, and a fashionable acquiescence in corruption, of which we should above all things deprecate the reception among the rising generation of our countrymen.-We must protest against the assertion that the privilege of parliament does not extend to the case of writing and publishing seditious libels,' (p. 80.), since the proceedings in the case of Wilkes, on which alone the above doctrine is founded, were ordered to be expunged from the journals of the House of Commons. as subversive of the rights of all the electors of Great Britain, by a vote of that assembly passed on the 3d of May 1783. Moreover, we cannot deem it right and useful that our sons: should be instructed to believe that the King has the same title to the crown, that a private man has to his hereditary estate' (p. 117.); though indeed, in refutation of this false and danger ous position, it will not be necessary to travel out of the very chapter which contains it, in which it appears that the crown was taken from the hands of its actual possessor, and confided to those of the Prince of Orange, who had no pretence of hereditary right; that it was afterward settled by Act of Parliament in a particular line, to the exclusion of two elder branches; that the kingdoms of England and Ireland, when forming a legislative union, agreed in the year 1800, (a period not very favourable to wild political theories,) that "the crown should continue settled" on the terms prescribed by a previous Act of Parliament; and that to maintain that parliament is "not able to make laws to bind the crown, and the descent thereof," is high treason by an unrepealed law of the realm. We did not, however, expect to see that grave absurdity repeated in an elemental book on the laws of England, that it is very surprising that any sensible person can infer the doctrine of "a right to choose our own governors," from the conduct of our ancestors at the revolution in 1688; since if we had possessed it before, it is clear that the English nation did at that time most solemnly renounce and abdicate it, for themselves and for all their posterity for ever.'

In speaking of the Royal Prerogative, Mr. Custance takes occasion to discuss the judicial power, and the King's right to appoint judges,-who, we may remark, are never once mentioned in the chapter "Of the Magistracy." It is here that

the

the author breaks out into the most extravagant raptures on the act passed in the early part of the present reign, in consequence of the suggestion from the throne, by which it was provided that judges should retain their office, notwithstanding a demise of the crown. An Act was passed, (says he) by which the judges are now continued in office, notwithstanding a demise of the crown; and cannot be removed but by a joint address of both Houses of Parliament to the King.' Who could doubt, on reading this sentence, that both these important objects were for the first time secured by the Act in question? Yet it is bare justice to the calumniated memory of William the Third, to state that he first altered the tenure of the judges from durante bene placito, to quamdiu se bene gesserint, and made the address of both Houses of Parliament the only criterion of their good behaviour. The Act passed in the first year of the present reign merely tied up the hands of His Majesty's successors, introducing no alteration whatever while that reign should last.

:

We cannot take the trouble of controverting this author in all his positions by which we have been disgusted but the following passages ought not to be entirely passed over, when we are calling the public attention to an elementary work 'which is destined for the moral and political instruction of youthful readers :

• Pensions and sinecures are liable to be greatly abused; yet the bestowing of them even where no service has been performed or implied, is not always improper, but may sometimes be strictly politic and wise. Every man thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think; and is more or less under the influence of vanity, pride, selfishness, and ambition. It is, indeed, very easy to raise a cry of bribery and corruption against ministers of state; but a disinterested patriot is a very rare character, at all times, in all countries, and under all forms of government. The scriptures represent every unrenewed man, as proud, and disposed to resist all authority over him. Yet most men in civilized states are so sensible of the benefits of subordination, that they are ready to defend "every ordinance of man," provided they themselves may but have a share of the ruling power. 'They will even be obedient for wrath, but none but the real christian will be so for conscience' sake If then many of those who, from their talents and rank, have great influence in the country, were not by some means gratified, and thus engaged to support the government. for their own advantage: it would soon be overthrown by the inited efforts of ambition, and avarice, and pride, and revenge. The mi nister, therefore, who has the address, seasonably to confer a favour to avoid a greater evil; ought no more to be charged with bribery, than the physician does with poisoning, when he acministers an opiate, to allay the irritation of his patient. Doubtless, it is the bounden duty of the government to adopt the strictest economy; but the total abo

lition of pensions and sinecures would not be politic, if practicable. The burdens of the state, indeed, would probably be no more lightened by such a measure, than a first-rate ship distressed in a storm would be, by the officers throwing overboard their pocket money and trinkets."

That this corrupt cant should be circulated among the middling and lower ranks is one of the most alarming symptoms in the present state of the country. Where is the reasoning to stop? Bribing in voters at an election may be preached up as a religious duty; and why may not the same or similar means be adopted for preserving the peace of corporations, parishes, mercantile partnerships, and even domestic associations? The dangers of Methodism, in various points of view, have been often and ably pointed out but we are here enabled to contemplate it in a new character,-as the avowed advocate and slave of Mammon, endeavouring to throw the cloak of evangelical christianity over the foulest and meanest abuses of worldly wisdom. Inapplicable scriptural quotations, and scraps of holy writ, are foisted on us in every page of this work with a puritanical pertinacity which some readers wil think is irreverent, and all will consider as ridiculous. Thus the best solution of the difficulty' (respecting the origin of government) is given in few words by an inspired writer, who affirms that "the powers that be are ordained of God."

-Again, this holy man (Mr. Custance, not St. Peter) treating of the revenue, after having averred that it is but reasonable that the people, who derive the benefit resulting from this ordinance of God, should contribute towards the defraying of the unavoidable public expenditure,' proceeds to remark that this should be done with chearfulness, because rulers are God's ministers attending continually on this very thing?Attending continually on the means of raising revenue from the people! A very strange reason for contentment and chearfulness on the part of the said people!

Perhaps we have dwelt too long on this publication: but we confess that, at this particular period, every treatise, however imperfect, on the constitution of England, which may by possibility bias the opinions and regulate the feelings of even the lowest classes of our countrymen, appears to us so deeply important, that we can scarcely persuade ourselves to quit the subject. That this constitution must owe its permanence to a timely reform has been long ago demonstrated by Chatham and by Fox; and the necessity of that reform has been the favourite doctrine of all honest politicians for the last thirty years, the leading principle of all the eminent members of the party now excluded from power, and the

4

great

great bond of union among all those who, fro:.. disinterested motives, have adhered to their vicissitudes of fortune. Recent detections and exposures have still more fully manifested this necessity; of which a larger and more respectable body of the people have by them been made sensible, than ever before appeared in its favour. Is it possible that, at such a moment, and contemplating the known alternative, the Whigs of England can be guilty of a dereliction of that important principle, to which their honour as individuals is thus solemnly pledged, and in which the peaceable continuance of a free constitution in England is inseparably involved?

ART. VI. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, for the Year 1808. Part II. 4to. 14s. 6d. sewed. Nicol.

NATURAL HISTORY, SURGERY, and CHEMISTRY.

A Letter on the Alterations that have taken place in the Structure

of Rocks, on the Surface of the Basaltic Country in the Counties of Down and Antrim. Addressed to Humphrey Davy, Esq. Sec. R. S. by Wm. Richardson, D. D. The Reverend writer of this letter, who is an inhabitant of the country which he describes, and who seems to have examined its peculiarities with great attention, here proposes to investigate the natural causes which have produced those singular appearances, that have so long rendered the coast of Antrim an object of curiosity to the scientific traveller. For an extent of several miles, the land is bounded by an abrupt and very lofty precipice, the front of which is composed of immense basaltic columns, of the most regular structure; occasionally interrupted by breaks, and intersected by horizontal strata of different materials. The number of horizontal strata which may be distinctly traced is ten; and Dr. Richardson informs us that each of them preserves very nearly the same thickness through its whole extent, their upper and lower surfaces being exactly parallel to each other. He also remarks that, where any change occurs in the disposition of the strata, the alteration takes place per saltum, as he expresses it, and not gradually; that the façades are formed by vertical sections of the upper stráta, while the lower part is steep, but not perpendicular; that the bases extend a considerable way into the sea; and that wherever these façades present themselves, the materials which might be supposed to have formed the continuation of the strata are entirely carried away.

Having established these positions by an accurate examina tion of the features which the basaltic region uniformly exhibits,

Dr.