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Ways and Means in Lieu of the Property Tax, first proposed, to and approved by the late Mr. Perceval, by Capt. Fairman. A Memorial offered to her R. H. Princess Sophia, Electoress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, containing a delineation of the Constitution and Policy of England, with Anecdotes of remarkable Persons of that time, by the late Bishop Burnet. Published from the original in the Royal Library at Hanover, by permission of the Prince Regent. The remains of the late John Tweddall, M.A. Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, with a selection of his Letters written from the Continent. A selection from the Works of George Wither, by Mr. Gutch, of Bristol, in Three Octavo Volumes. A continuation of Mr. Eustace's Tour in Italy, in a Third Quarto Volume. A Geological Itinerary through the Counties of Warwick, Stafford and Derby, with coloured Plates, in an Octavo Vohume. A Republication in Folio Volumes of Sir William Dugdale's History and Antiquities of the County of Warwick, with a great accession of Materials, historical and local. Travels in Europe and Africa, by Col. Keatinge, with numerous Engravings. Memoirs of Thirty Years of the Life of the Empress Josephine. A History of the War in Spain and Portugal, from the Year 1807 to 1814, by General Sarrazin. Memoirs of the French Campaigns in Spain, of 1808, 9, 10, by M. Rocca, Officer of Hussars. A Supplement to the Memoirs of the Life, Writings, &c. of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by Mr. Northcote. A Historical Survey of the Character of Napoleon Buonaparte, drawn from his own Words and Actions, by the Author of. the "Secret Memoirs". A Grammar of the English Language, with various Illustrations, by the Rev. J. Sutcliffe. THE BRITISH CRITIC, FOR FEBRUARY, 1815. ART. I. An Essay on the Commutation of Tythes, to which was adjudged the Bedfordean Gold Medal, by the Bath and West of England Society, for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. By John Benett, Esq. of Pyt-House, Wilts. pp. 15. 6d. Crutwell, Bath; and Ridgeway, London. Letter to John Benett, Esq. on his Essay. By the Rev. William Core, Archdeacon of Wilts. pp. 32. 1s. Brodie and Dowding, Salisbury; and Wilkie, London. THE present era is illustrated by the dignities which are conferred upon our statesmen and our warriors. Our children, when they shall see the ornaments that are bestowed by the sovereign power upon the heroes of this age, will exult in our present renown The Universities give their honours, not less enviable, as the rewards of literary and scientific attainment: the directors of the schools for pauper education upon the systems of Dr. Bell and Mr. Lancaster, by similar distinctions stimulate the little children, whom they protect, to acquire the rudiments of knowledge: and now another learned body, instituted indeed for other purposes, has made itself the judge and the patron of one sort of literary merit. The Bath and West of England Society, for the encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce," offered its most honourable reward for the best Treatise on a Commutation for Tythe;" Mr. Benett, of Pyt-house, accordingly sent to them a Treatise, "the result of long reflection ou that subject, though very hastily written down." In the judgment of the Society, Mr. Benett has won the laurel. "That, their first step on the subject of Tithes having been successfully proceeded in," they adjudge to the aspiring candidate a magnificent Bedfordean gold medal: VOL. III. FEBRUARY, 1815. I "and "and that all possible light might be acquired" by that learned body on that subject, they resolve, that the same premium be continued, and appoint a committee "for promoting" the common object of themselves and Mr. Benett," the Commutation of Tithes," and "to communicate on that measure with various parts of the country." Now, though we are naturally emulous of literary distinction, yet we are not jealous of the gold medal conferred on Mr. Benett by the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society. We cannot acknowledge them as arbiters in criticism; and we suspect, that in their late distinction of Mr. Benett's Essay, which he designates as "most honourable," their object was neither to stimulate the pursuit of literature, connected with rural offices, by which country gentlemen might be better fitted for some of the duties of their peculiar calling, nor" to promote the encouragement of agriculture, arts, manufactures, or commerce." The walk of the Society is become rather devious. They are pursuing a new object, and that avowedly. They look more to the commutation of tythes than to the cultivation of the soil; and they tell us plainly and dogmatically, that it is "a measure which tends to promote public good and private happiness, the general interests of agriculture, and, above all, the advancement of morality and true religion." If it were so indeed, we should applaud their deviation from all the purposes of their Institution: and when we should meet Mr. Benett, or any other country gentleman, glittering in their decoration of honour, we should sympathise in his exultation, without much regarding the literary merit by which he acquired it. As it is, one may feel otherwise, and not be dazzled by such meretricious splendour.-' Non equidem invideo; miror magis!' We are persuaded, that the character of the country gentleman should always be treated with the utmost reverence; that it is peculiar to this happy country, and has contributed more largely than any other character to that steady dignity and that fortitude, which maintain the empire in all the vicissitudes of war and peace. We lament that any circumstance should happen in the remotest corner of the kingdom, which might tend to bring that character into question. The squiral character of a great English landholder has, during many ages, been strongly marked with zeal for all the interests of our national constitution, consisting of a very ancient union of the religious and the political powers. Church and King were the watch-words of patriotism, loyalty, and manly piety, whenever power or scdition has dared to oppose the majesty of the laws; and whenever our tolerant ecclesiastical establishment has been assaulted by rapine or innovation, by superstition or vulgar and ferocious enthusiasm, 5 these these watch-words have in every emergency been first sounded by the English gentry. Their spirit in the sacred cause of the Constitution has been always transfused into the proceedings of the legislature; and the loquacious orators of conspiring clubs have been speedily overwhelmed in the general expression of the public opinion, generated and matured by the English gentry, in favour of the Church and King. It is proposed by Mr. Benett, a great and respected land owner in the West of England, that an exchange of Tithes (the patrimony of the Church) should be made for land" in any situation within the diocese or county;" and " that it should be compulsatory (compulsory) on the tythe owners, and the patrons and incumbents of livings." This proposal, which subverts the fundamental principles of our English Church, deducible (as we humbly think) from no human ordinance; which subverts the first and most essential principle of property, by forcing proprietors to alienate in defiance of their interest and their choice; and which subjects to foreign controul the most ancient, the most venerable, and the most useful corporation subsisting in civil society, hitherto independent, and claiming its establishment from no human charter. This proposal a numerous society of English gentlemen meeting for the encouragement of agriculture and manufactures have distinguished by "their most honourable reward," and considering that "their first step on the subject of Tythes has been most successfully proceeded in," they invite other speculators to follow the example of Mr. Benett, and tempt them with the promise of similar distinction. This proposal Mr. Benett introduces by a statement," that the agriculture of this country is now on the decline." It is the text from which his theory proceeds. In the narrow limit to which the nature of our publication confines us, we have not the means of considering at much length this matter of fact, boldly asserted by Mr. Benett, and favourably received by the Society to which he addressed it. Nevertheless, we would appeal to some less partial tribunal. During the last thirty years, the table of the House of Commons has in every session been loaded with bills for enclosures, and vast tracts of waste in every district of the country have been reduced to culture; hardly a season has passed without some notable discovery being aunounced to the public in the processes of husbandry; the plough performs its function with half the power which formerly directed it! The soil, prepared by precepts of elaborate science, yields abundant crops of corn in frequent succession! Winter frowns in the heavens, but the country remains verdant and fruitful, and flocks are fed in every season of the I 2 year |