whole merit of this elegant investigation. The truth however is, that it is taken, word for word, from Venturi, as translated in Nicholson's Journal, vol. III. 4to. p. 13. The investigation of the proposition is so elegant, and the result to which it leads so simple, that there was great demerit in concealing the name of the author, and great weakness in supposing that it could be concealed. None but a mathematician of the first order could reasonably hope to pass for the author. Another instance in which you have appropriated the works of a learned foreigner, relates to the same subject, (the issuing of water from a hole in the bottom or side of a vessel), and extends from about the middle of page 412. to page 419. of your first volume, which is translated with very little variation from the Architecture Hydraulique of Prony, vol. I. p. 358. to p. 365. You have not, however, mentioned the name of Prony, but have referred to Bossut, and the select Exercises at the end of Dr Hutton's Conics. The student who turns to these last, will find the subject of effluent water treated of in a manner different from yours, and less elegant; but if he look at Prony, he will find the same investigation which he admired in your book, the very same figure, and nearly the same denominations. In your second volume, you have given an account of Coulomb's Experiments on Friction, and the Stiffness of Cords; and you will please to remember, that you were very much. offended with us for supposing (which indeed we did not do) that you had borrowed this from Dr Brewster, We have, however, a charge to bring against you as heavy as that would have been, and one, of which we should perhaps at this moment have been ignorant, if your heat and intemperance had not forced us to make a stricter examination. The greater part of the account just mentioned is so far from being drawn up by yourself, from the study of Coulomb's Memoir, that it is literally translated from the abridgement of that memoir given by Prony, in the first volume of his Architecture Hydraulique. From 33. page $2. of your second volume, to the end of page 43, the whole, with the exception of a sentence here and there, is translated from the work just mentioned, page 504 to page 513; of which, however, you have made no mention. You may allege, perhaps, in your defence, that there is no great harm in all this, because both Prony and yourself were professedly giving an account of the experiments and reasonings of another person; and indeed we will most readily acknowledge, that your readers have no reason to complain that you have given them Prony's Digest of these important experiments, instead of your own. You certainly could do nothing so good as to give that " had that which is actually contained in your book, provided you acknowledged from whence you had taken it, and had not left your reader to give you the credit of a work which you had not performed. But enough on a subject, in itself disagreeable, and on which nothing but the necessity of repelling your violent and abusive attack could have induced us to enter. Knowing, as you did, how vulnerable you were, not only at the points to which our inquiry has happened to be directed, but, in all human probability, at many more, we cannot commend the prudence that ventured to provoke the present investigation; but must certainly admire the boldness that, in such circumstances, could request of the editor of the Edinburgh Review, that his love of truth and justice would ⚫ induce him to state, in No. xxvii., that the note of which you ⚫ complained was erroneous throughout.' With this request we have now so far complied, that we have corrected the errors of that note, to the best of our ability: we have put the public in possession of the facts on which the judgment given in it was founded; and willingly take leave of a subject which no consideration shall induce us to resume. ་ We have the honour to be, Sir, your very obedient Servants, THE EDINBUrgh ReviewERS, Edinburgh, 1st November, 1809. No. XXX. will be published in January 1810. D. WILLISON, PRINTER, EDINBURGH. ART. I. An Inquiry into the Practical Merits of the System for of the Board of Controul. By the Earl of Lauder- P. 255 II. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Victor Alfieri. III. Advice to Young Ladies on the Improvement of the IV. Eschyli Tragœdiæ, ex Editione Thoma Stanleii. Ac- 8vo. V. Pamphlets on Vaccination VI. Les Trois Regnes de la Nature. Par Jacques Delille Barthelemy, Missionaire VIII. A Second Journey in Spain, in 1809, from Lisbon, through the Western Skirts of the Sierra Morena, to Sevilla, Cordoba, &c. &c. and thence to Tetuan and Tangiers. By R. Semple, Author of "Observa-· tions on a Journey through Spain and Italy to Naples, &c. &c. in 1805." 274 299 315 322 363 384 IX. The System of the World. By P. S. Laplace 396 XI. Travels in America, performed for the Purpose of ex- XII. Greek Marbles brought from the Shores of the Euxine, XIII. Correspondance inedite de Mad. du Deffand, avec D' Lettres de Maddle. De Lespinasse, écrites depuis l'An- XIV. Three Reports of the Directors of the African Institu- 418 442 453 458 485 XV. Short Remarks on the State of Parties at the Close of the Year 1809. 50% Quarterly List of New Publications 522 Index 533 ERRATA IN THIS AND PRECEDING NUMBER P. 93. 1. 28. for KINGS, read THINGS. 122. 1. 3. for tabular, read tubular. 126. 1. 29. for Geralde, read Gerarde. 129. 1. 4. from bottom, for animalculæ, read animalculo. 131. 1. 25. for comes, read come. 1. 44. for calls, read call. 135. note, for μετρος, read μερος. 138. 1. 33. for Angiscarpi, read Angiocarpi. 155. 1. 21. leg. Ocd. Cot.-p. 156. 23. MSS. Regü.—ib. ult. zzilov.-p. 157. antepenult. Reizii Excerpt.-p. 158. 26. arteτές.—ib. 42. & 43. εὐηλίοισι. p. 159. 34. πρῶτον.—ib. penult. Γάπεδα. p. 161. 42. στάσις. ib. 43. ἵστημι. p. 162. 20. παρηγορών -ib. 28. xgaтouvṛr.—p. 163. 26. utut.-ib. 31. veniant. 198. 1. 22. from bottom, for battles, read battle. 218. 1. 6. from bottom, for measures, read means. 228. note, 1. 10. from bottom, for Senalvia, read Senabriz. 236. I. 6. for indisputable, read indispensable. 325. 1. 7. for King, read Ring. 521. 1. 5. for prelection, read protections THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, JANUARY 1810. No. XXX. ART. I. An Inquiry into the practical Merits of the System for the Government of India, under the Superintendance of the Board of Controul. By the Earl of Lauderdale. 8vo. Edinburgh, Constable & Co. pp. 260. 1809. IT T must be admitted, we conceive, upon all hands, that the state of our Indian empire has uniformly disappointed the hopes and expectations of the country. The golden prospects of national revenue to be derived from our vast territorial possessions in the East, have hitherto flitted before us like the scenes of an enchanted landscape; and, when they appeared just on the point of being realized, have suddenly receded to a greater distance than ever. As the periodical renovation of the charter of the East India Company drew near, matters have usually assumed a very alluring aspect; but, as the day advanced, clouds have collected, and the whole atmosphere suddenly been enveloped in gloom and obscurity. To what cause, we may ask, is this melancholy result to be ascribed? Has the public formed expectations in themselves unreasonable, and which, in the nature of things, could not be gra tified? Does the disappointment originate in unforeseen and uncontroulable circumstances, by which the best exertions of human prudence, vigour and sagacity, have been unavoidably frustrated? Should it be imputed to the pernicious ambition, the incapacity, or the incorrigible supineness, of those selected by the proprietors of East India stock for the management of their concerns? Or, lastly, is it to be ascribed to the same errors or deficiencies in those to whom his Majesty has entrusted the controul of Indian policy? To one or other of these causes, we conceive that the public disappointment must necessarily be ascribed. For we cannot admit a fifth supposition, that the governors appointed to conduct the affairs of India, equally negligent of the orders of the Directors, and of the injunctions of his Majesty's ministers, have VOL. XV. NO. 30. R presumed |