were contrived to secure to this country the right and exclusive benefit of her colonial and carrying trade, as well as of her fisheries, in opposition to the efforts of other maritime states, but more particularly the Dutch, whose rivalship and success had long been regarded as a national loss and disgrace. But his conclusion of the acCount is admirable: "Such," says he, "was the scheme of navigation which the bold reformers of that day designed for increasing the naval strength and consideration of this country. It may be said to have originated in jealousy, and to have caused the decline and diminution of a neighbouring nation; but it was founded in a policy, which the necessities and the advantages of an insular situation suggested; and the nation having, from supineness or ignorance, permitted an active neighbour so long to take a share in the fisheries and foreign trade which belonged to us, thought itself justified in asserting, at length, its rights, and carrying them into full effect by this legislative act. And although this mea sure brought upon the country an obstinate and bloody war: and though the authority on which it was founded was unconstitutional and usurped; yet a plan so wise and solid was strenuously maintained by those who formed it; and it was not suffered to pass away with the transient government from which it derived its origin: the great features of it were adopted by the law ful government at the restoration of Charles the Second, when a new Act of Navigation rose out of the ashes of this, and became the basis of all those laws that have since been made for the increase of shipping and navigation."

The second part of Mr. Reeves's work opens with general remarks on this new statute, and on the additions that were made to the scope of the former act. He then enters into more particular details; and classes the several divisions of his subject under the heads into which the great charter of our navigation system is divided; namely, the Plantation trade the trade with Asia, Africa, and America-the European trade-the Cousting trade-the Fisheries-and, lastly, of British Ships. He begins each head with stating the ground-work laid by the act itself; after which he describes, in

Part I. page 52.

regular order, the changes and improvements made by subsequent laws. These details are interspersed with much information relative to the policy, that dictated the several changes, and to the opinions given by eminent lawyers on the construction of some doubtful expressions.

In the introduction to the third part of this History, beginning with the settlement made by the peace in 1783, Mr. Reeves takes notice of the revulsion which had converted a great part of our American colonies into independent states, and which made it expedient to accommodate the laws of our foreign trade to so material a change of circumstances. Some modifications of these laws, which the exigency of the moment required, were immediately adopted; but it is principally, as he observes, since the year 1785 that the chief regulations respecting the fishe ries and British shipping have been brought forward. At that time,"

46

he observes, his Majesty was pleased to appoint a Committee of Council for the consideration of all matters relat→ ing to trade and foreign plantations, and soon after to place at the head of it a noble lord, whose services to this country, in affairs of commerce and navigation, have already had effects so solid and extensive, as to promise to be remembered when praise will have no appearance of flattery. It is to the superintendance and authority of this committee, and to the great knowledge and unwearied exertions of the noble lord at the head of it, that we are indebted for the very important im provements in the law of shipping and navigation made during this short lapse of time.”+

After so just a tribute of praise to the eminent abilities and public services of Lord HAWKESBURY, the author proceeds to give an exact account of the various improvements on our commercial sys tem, which had originated from that illustrious statesman, and the committee where he presided. This account is divided into six chapters: the first contains all the new regulations of the Plantation trade, and of our intercourse with the United States as well as with our own settlements; the second, third, and fourth, are very concise, being severally confined to the few changes in the African, the European, and the

+ Introduction to Part III. page 342.

Coasting trade, which have taken place since 1783, and may be said to affect the general policy established by the Navigation Act: but the fifth and sixth chapters abound with a great variety of important matter; the former containing the laws made for extending and improving our fisheries; and the latter exhibiting a clear and comprehensive view of the alterations made in the whole concern of registering shipping, for the purpose of securing to ships of the built and construction of this country a preference and superiority which they had not enjoyed so completely before. The plan of regulations on this head which was proposed to parliament in 1786, and every part of which then underwent the severest scrutiny, "was the result," says Mr. Reeves, "of an inquiry, and deliberation of great length before the Committee of Privy Council for the affairs of trade and plantations, and that inquiry was commenced and carried on, and the measure at length decided upon, principally by the exertion and perseverance of a noble lord, to whom I have bad occasion before to allude."*

In conformity to the method which Mr. Reeves had followed in the other parts of his work, he subjoins to his account of the plan for registering ships, which was sanctioned by the Legislature, such information as he could collect from the judgments of courts, the opinions of lawyers, or other sources, respecting the sense and consequences of that law. Two cases, of which he gives a very masterly report, are equally curious and interesting. In the first of them, which was in the Court of King's Bench, he states the arguments used on both sides, and the judicial opinions of Lord Kenyon and Mr. Justice Buller, with their reasons at full length for giving judgment in favour of one of the parties. The second was an appeal from the Vice-admiralty Court at Nassau, in the Babamas. Lord Camden, in delivering the decision of the Council on this appeal, thought proper to enlarge on the principle, the policy, the spirit, and the letter of the registering law, in order to prevent any misconception or false interpretations of it. Reeves, in reporting this judgment, does ample justice to the acuteness, the perspicuity, and the eloquence of

* Part III. page 411.

Mr.

the learned President. He adds some queries and doubts that have arisen on certain parts of the act, which may become subjects of future discussion: but he very properly observes, that these little difficulties vanish from the mind, when we consider the many advantages resulting from the policy of the act: such as the prevention of frauds either to the underwriters or to the revenue; the securing in future to this country the building and equipping of all the ships that are to carry on its foreign and domestic trade; and the discovery of a great number of facts of the utmost political and commercial importance, which were never brought forward and authenticated before the general register of shipping was made under this act.

The summary with which Mr. Reeves concludes his work deserves particular notice. A just idea of its utility may be formed from his own words. Hav.

ing," he says, "traced the history of the changes in laws and opinious that took place in different periods, we will now look back; and separating such matter as is repealed, or become obsolete, we will endeavour to extract as much as constitutes the law of the present day; not, indeed, the whole of it, for that would be an unwarrantable repetition, but the outline, and leading features, which may easily be filled up by a reference to what has been before delivered. To assist in bringing the reader's mind home to the present state of the law of shipping and navigation, I will condense its governing princi ples into certain Rules, and the Excep tions to them, following the distribution that has all along been made of the subject and to each Rule and Exception shall be subjoined the grounds and reasons on which it is founded."+

All those principles and exceptions are reduced to twenty-nine rules; by which means, the entire system is simplified, and brought into one view, to serve as an infallible guide to the most ignorant, and a satisfactory remem brancer to the best informed. Mr. Reeves then closes the whole with a few remarks, which may be justly called the finishing touches of a great master. "Such," says he, "is the present state of the laws which the Legislature has seen fit to provide for the encouragement and increase of British shipping

+ Conclusion, page 515.

and navigation. It is a series of restrictions and prohibitions, and it tends to the establishing of monopoly ; but it is a plan of regulation which our ancestors, who were more versed in the practical philosophy of life than the speculative one of the closet, thought necessary for the welfare and safety of the kingdom. Reasoning from the self preservation of an individual to the self-preservation of a people, they considered the defence of this island from foreign invasion as the first law in the national policy; and judging that the dominion of the land could not be preserved without possessing that of the sea, they made every effort to procure to the nation a maritime power of its own. They wished that the merchants should own as many ships, and employ as many mariners, as possible. To induce, and sometimes to force them to this application of their capital, restrictions and prohibitions were devised."

narrative, in order to examine them, may not be deemed irrelevant to our main design.

Some modern pretenders to liberality and political reasoning have taken a great deal of pains to remove what they call vulgar prejudices in favour of the Navigation Act. They have represented it as a monopoly equally unjust and unproductive; alike incompatible with the real interests of the colonies and of the parent state. It checks, they say, the spirit of improvement in the plantatious, by subjecting the proprietors to the arbitrary terms of our merchants, and at the same time deprives the mother-country of numberless advantages, which would arise from the unrestrained competition of foreign carriers. Repeal this obnoxious act, they cry, and your trade will flourish; the price of freight, of labour, of provisions, and of merchandize, will be brought to its just standard; and Great Britain will profit more by encouraging the rivalship of other nations, than by the narrow reserve of any exclusive privileges.

We

But it requires something more than vague declamation to make us acquiesce in such extraordinary doctrines. have long been in the habit of ascribing the increase of our shipping, our seamen, and our commerce, to the necessary influence of the NavigationAct; and till other independent causes are clearly pointed out to us, we must adhere to an opinion which we think confirmed by experience. Were the colonial and carrying trade confined by the legislature to particular ports, or to any particular set of men, it might then be regarded as a pernicious monopoly; but the beneficial provisions of the act are extended to the whole British nation: it only precludes foreigners from ingrossing the produce and supply of our plantations, and from interfering in the most essential parts of our maritime traffic.

If those states, that have different settlements, were to throw open their trade to the whole world, Great Britain might then risk her territorial advantages in a common adventure with other nations: but when the spirit of exclu

would it not be an act of the most inconsiderate generosity, not to say madness, to grant them free access to our colonies, without enjoying the like liberty to trade to their's; and while

we feel the pressure of a heavy load of debt, to run, as it were, a mercantile race with every less incumbered competitor ?

As to Ireland and the West Indies, we readily admit, that nothing more effectually defeats its own end than selfish policy, when carried to excess; and that systems framed with a view of promoting the prosperity of one part of an empire at the expense of another, are no less illusory than unjust: but we are not, on that account, to divest ourselves of all regard to the exigency of our own situation and circumstances: our Jaws of commercial restraint may be occasionally relaxed, but not abolished; and the mother country, in every act of distributive benevolence to all her children, should not wholly forget the prior claims, or peculiar distresses of the elder born. But it is time to return to our biographical account of Mr. REEVES.

(To be continued.)

THE HIVE.

No. XL.

EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE.

N a German Journal, called the Mis

tions of Foreign Literature, we find the following remarkable, but not improbable, account:-A merchant not only heard the name of Buonaparte in the deserts of Tartary, but also saw a biography of this tyrant in the Arabic tongue, which contained a great many falsehoods and exaggerations, and ended with his marriage in the year 1810. This Biography was printed in Paris, and thence it was sent to Aleppo, to be circulated in the East. It may be presumed, that this was not done merely to spread the glory of the hero, but most probably to prepare the way for some great undertaking.

LORD CHATHAM.

His eloquence was of every kiad, tranquil, vehement, argumentative, or moralizing, as best suited the occasion. In 1764, he maintained the illegality of general warrants with great energy in the House of Commons. By the Bri. tish Constitution," said he, every man's house is his castle; not that it is surrounded with walls and battlements, for it may be a straw-built shed. Every wind of heaven may blow around it, all the elements of nature may enter in; but the King cannot, the King dares not."-Purliamentary Debates.

At the recent feast of the Sons of the Clergy, the son of a venerable Clergyman was passing, or endeavouring to pass, from Ludgate-street into St. Paul's Church yard, hurrying on business of consequence into the City, but was stopped for some time by carts, coaches, &c. and foiled in every attempt to thread their mazes." Pray," said he to a Mercer standing at a shop-door. "what is all this bustle and stoppage for?"-"For the benefit of the sons of the clergy," replied the Cockney."That is impossible," said the inquirer. "I am a clergyman's son, and I never it my life felt a greater inconvenience!"

AN OLD MAN'S ADVICE TO A YOUNG

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT.

Enter the House of Commons as the Temple of Liberty; do not dishonour that Temple; preserve your freedom as the pledge of your integrity. Read, inquire, hear, debate, and then deter mine. Do not without inquiry approve of, nor without good cause oppose, the measures of the Court. The true patriot will lend his assistance to enable the King to administer justice, to protect the subject, and to aggrandize the nation. Avoid bitter speeches; you meet not to revile, but to reason. The best men may err, and therefore be not ashamed to be convinced yourself, nor be ready to reproach others. Remember that your electors did not send you to Parliament to make your own for tune, but to take care of theirs. When you do speak, take especial care that it is to the purpose; and rather study to confine yourself to the subject with brevity and perspicuity, than to indulge yourself in the unnecessary display of a flowery imagination. If you feel all right within, you will scorn to look round the House for support; for be assured that God, your conscience, and your country, will support you.

employed as agent in an election, which was not only strongly contested on the spot, but the proceedings were, on the ground of some irregularity, brought by petition before the House of Commons. To the bar of the House Mr. Ellis was brought, on the part of the petitioning candidate, when he underwent a cross examination, of which the following is the substance: - "We understand, Mr. Ellis, that a very considerable sum was expended in this election, and that great part of it was directed to the purpose of corrupting the voters. Do you know of any such application of money, or of any bribes being actually accepted on the part of the electors"-" Indeed, sir, I do: as agent, 1 know that our party bribed all that we could get to accept our money.”—At this acknowledgment a pause of astonishment seemed to pervade the House; a mur mur succeeded, which only subsided on a member's saying to the witness, "Your party did not carry the election!"-"No," returned Ellis, with "we did not."great composure, "Well, but Mr. Ellis," said the first querist, "is it not extraordinary, as you say you bribed all that would take your money, that you did not retura your member!"-" Not in the least," said Ellis.—“ Nol-why how do you account for it?"-" Easily-the opposite party outbribed us.' At this there was an universal burst of laughter."I shall not ask you any more ques tions, Mr. Ellis," said the interrogator, with great indignation.

BISHOPS.

At the consecration of a Cardinal, there were a great number of Bishops sitting in an amphitheatre under the dome of the Sorbonne, where the ceremony was performed; when a lady present, astonished at the spectacle, exclaimed, "What a fine sight is this to see so many Bishops sitting in such order! Methinks I am in beaven!""In heaven!" replied a gentleman who sat next her, "why, madam, there are not in heaven half so many Bishops as. you see here."