the principle of a maximum, on lach an occafion as the prefent, was reprobated by the lord chancellor in the strongest terms. It was dangerous, he faid, in the extreme, to hold forth fuch doctrines, or to inculcate that even the smalleft proportion, of relief was to be expected from their application. This fubject of the dearth of provifions, and the mode of relief by a compulsory reduction in the price of wheat, was refumed by the earl of Warwick, in the house of lords, on the 5th of December. That by the laws of England, all property was fecure, as had been juftly fet forth by the lord chancellor, when the prefent queftion was under their lordships confideration, he admitted: and also that the security of property was a maxim not to be loft fight of in any government. But he obferved, at the fame time, that the laws of England did not protect property acquired by fraudulent and nefarious means. They did not protect the acquifitions of highway men. And he defied any one to fhew, on the ftatute books, the recognition of any such profeffion as that of corn-factor. On the contrary, the law spoke of perfons employed in agriculture, as labourers or farmers: but the name of corn-factor was not to be met with. He did not deny the utility of middle-men to tranfport grain from one part of the Kingdom to the other, in fach proportion as it might be wanted: but he was of opinion, that they fhould be licenced, and be obliged to deal only on commiffion, and not permitted to trade on their own account. He appealed to the reverend bench, whether there was any palage in holy writ, which, any more than the law of the land, re cognised or fanctioned the business of a corn-factor! On the contrary, Providence had given the productions of the earth for the use of its inhabitants: the grower and confumer had a joint property in the produce of the field; and it was never intended that ten or twenty men fitting together, fhould be enabled to buy up the greatest part of the grain neceffary for the fubfiftence of the people, and regulate the price of provifions as faited their own interest. With regard to the particular maximum he had propofed, it was very different from that French maximum which fome of their lordships had fo jufily reprobated. The French maximum went to all kinds of articles for the fultenance of man, which were to he paid for in a paper of no value, and therefore ftruck at the very root of property. His fuggeftion, on the contrary, tended to lecure to the farmer a fair and liberal profit, at the fame time that it would fecure the public from thofe impofitions, which, in his confcience, he believed to be the fource of all the prefent diftrefles of the country. As a proof that the fearcity was artificial, lord Warwick mentioned a fplendid inftance of difinterestednefs and generofity in a tenant of his, whofe name thall go down with his noble landlord's, as far as the Annual Regifler may penetrate into the recelles of future times. Mr. John Radford, of Warwick, during the whole of the fearcity, fold his corn at half the market price. Lord Warwick had alfo converted with feveral other farmers, who all declared that the prices were exorbitant, but that they had a right to the fame prices as their neighbours, In proof that [C 3] the the fcarcity was artificial, lord War wick adverted to another circumftance. Within these few months, there had been no less than 400 convictions throughout the country for foreftalling, regrating, and monopolizing. What was the effect of this? A man of the name of Ruby was convicted. The price of oats, from fifty thillings per quarter, fell from day to day, till it came down fo low as feventeen fhillings and fixpence. It had fince rifen no doubt, as the impreffion made by that verdict had gradually worn off. On the general fubject of dearth and diftrefs, lord Warwick observed, that it was the duty of every good government to find employment, it poffible, for thofe who were wil ling to labour. There were numerous waste and uncultivated lands in the country, which the legiflature, in its wifdom and difcretion, might portion out to the poor, who he was fure would be willing and defirous to cultivate them. The enclosure and cultivation of the wafte lands was alfo warmly recommended by the earl of Moira, and other fpeakers in both houfes. The earl of Warwick faid, that neither he, nor any of their lordships, could have any other inducement than the public good, and the wifh to alleviate the fufferings under which the people now laboured: These alone were the motives which induced him to move the following refolution: "That from the 10th of this inftant, December, to the 10th of June, 1801, the magiftrates of every county in the kingdom fhall be authorized, upon fuch evidence as may be given before them, to affix a certain determinate price, not only on corn, but on agricultural labour." Lord Grenville moft readily affented to the truth of what had been declared by lord Warwick, refpecting the motives that had induced him to move the refolution: but he reminded him that the fubject of it had already been twice difcuffed in that houfe, and almoft unanimously condemned. Lord Grenville proceeded to condemn it a third time, on the old ground of protection of property, and the dangers to be apprehended from any violation of that principle.-The motion was then put, and negatived. * In As this is not a question of party or politics, but of great and univerfal importance, and even anxious concern, the few obfervations we take an opportunity to make on this interesting fubject will not be imputed as an indication of any improper bias in our narrative. Though the idea of fixing a maximum for corn was justly difapproved, as tending to aggravate, in the long run, instead of alleviating the public diftrefs, yet, if there really was no scarcity, a matter which appears to us to be doubtful, there was fomething monftrous in idie capitalifts, whether in the character of gent.emen farmers, corn factors, contractors for government, or other denominations, muzzling the ox that treads out the corn, and rolling in luxury, while the actual cultivator of the foil, with his family, wanted bread. The laws that fupport fuch a ftate of fociety are not to be violated, but they may be gradually modified and changed. Though the fuggeftion of a reftriction on the price of grain be rejected, might not the idea of licenfing corn-brokers, and reftraining them from dealing on their account, be adopted and improved? In all civilized nations, in proportion as they are induftrious and commercial, there is a progreffive disjunction and divorce between accumulated capital, and perfonal labour. Every one who has got money becomes unwilling to work, and fpeculates on the labour of others. There is a multiplication of master farmers, master carpenters, mafter tailors, master In the reports of both houses of parliament, there are many ufeful hints of means both for enlarging the refources, and economizing fubfiftence. In both houfes there appeared a fincere and anxious co-operation, both for the relief of the prefent preffure, and preventing the recurrence of a fimilar calamity in future. A measure, intimately connected with the prevention of fuch recurrence, was introduced into parlament by Mr. Abbot, on the 19th of November, 1800. This was a bill for afcertaining the population of Great Britain. To Mr. Abbot it had long been a matter of furprife and aftonifhment, that a great, powerful, and enlightened nation, like this, fhould have remained hitherto unacquainted with the ftate of its popu lation: the knowledge of which must be ferviceable for fo many important purposes of wife legislation and good government, and without mafter shoemakers, mafter chimney-fweepers, and mafter artificers of all forts. It was this difunion between capit 1 and labour, and this grow.ng difpofi ion to fpeculation, that, by fapping the industry, formed one of the leading caufes of the d cline and fall of the feven united provinces. The most healthy, happy, virtuous, and profper us ftate of fociety, is that in which the union between perfonal incuftry, and api al acquired by perfonal induftry, is the longeft and the most effectually preferved. What has been the main cause of the wretchedness of the Irish and the Highlandes of Scotland? The minimen of the former; and the tacksmen of the latter: the letti. g and fubletting of land withcut end. In order to ftrike at the root of the great caufe of the dearth of provisions, difcourage monopolization of land, and combination, which is monopolization, in circulating its produce. All idle fpeculation on the productive labour of others, bey and what is neceffary for the transference of various articles from one place to another, is an intereption of the bounty of heaven falling on the earth in dews and rains, and fruitful fea. funs, intended by Providence to fill the heartsf men with food and gladness. To fuch fpeculation there is indeed, as just obs rved, a natural tendency in the progreffion of fociety: which cannot, with impunity, be altogether quafhed, or even rudely checked. It is the duty of legiflatures to provide fome palliative, and counterpoife to an evil, which grows out of what is, to a certain extent, good. The id a propofed by lord Warwick of licencing, and regulating the conduct of corn dealers, appears to us to be highly worth of all approbation. This measure, adopted and executed with due confideration, might, in the natural progrefs of ideas, be found to have a connexion with other meafures of wife and falutary improvement: among which, one of the first would probably be, to difcourage and reftrain the exceffive monopolization of land, and on the other hand to encourage and enable, by all practicable, fate, easy, and gentle means, the actual cultivators of the ground, to become cultivators on their own account, and venders too, of grain, directly, in markets to the people. This last measur has been explained and recommended to legislatures more than 20 years ago, ith gread learning, ability, wisdom, and prudence, by the author of "An Efay on the Right of Property in Land," who is now well enough known to be profeffor Ogilvie, of the unive fity of A' erdeen; and fince alfo, by Mr. Newte, of Tiverton, in his "Tour in Engrand and Scotland," who afte acknow ledging the great merit of the ingenious profeffor, confims his doctrine, and fhews its practicability and advantage by various new illustrations Their doctrine, we are happy to find, appears to gain, ground. It has been efp:used and ably maintained by other writers. Let a As to the enclosure, divifion, and cultivation of wafte-lands, recommended by lord Warwick and other friends to their country, the g eat difficulty here, is, that poor labourers have not a capital, which is neceffary for that purpose. To thi a complete r medy is propofed by general Fullarton, in a pamphit, aad effed to lord Ca ringion. bank be eftablished for lending money to the cultivators of and on registered mortgages, what, in the northern part of this island, is called heritable fecurity. [C 4] which which no country could avail itself of the full extent of its refources, or effectually and permanently provide for its wants. "But, fir," Mr. Abbot continued, "in times like these, when the fubfiftence of the people is in queftion, this knowledge becomes of the highest importance. It is furely important to know the extent of the demand, for which we are to provide a fupply; and we fhould fet about obtaining it immediately, not only for the ufes of the current year (for which it must neceffarily come late), but alfo for the year that is to follow; a confideration infeparably connected with the former, and to which we are bound to look forward with all its poffible circumftances. It is important alfo to obtain this information, for the purpofe of knowing whether one of the chief caufes, which for the last thirty years has made this country ceafe to export, and obliged it to depend for fuccour on its neighbours, is not an increased and increafing population; becaufe this may fix our opinions not only upon the neceffity of extending our fcale of agriculture, but may ferve allo to fhew us the degree and point to which that extenfion muft neceffarily be carried; and if it be true that we have three millions of acres in this ifland fit for the plough, and hitherto uncultivated, we may fee in what proportion we are called, upon to render them moft profitable for the public fubfiftence; and whatever the plan and arrangement to be devifed for preventing the recurrence of this evil, which his majefty in his fpeech has fo earneftly exhorted us to provide againft, the extent and nature of the population of Great Britain muft form a pri mary object in all fuch confiderations. 66 Affuming, therefore, that the measure which I am propofing is right in itfelf, and that the prefent times call upon us to carry it into effect, I will take the liberty of ftating to the house what lights we have derived from the tranfactions of former times to guide us in the fubject before us, and what fort of refults we have hitherto obtained, before I proceed to fubmit to the confideration of the houfe what appears to me to be the most advisable courfe for our own conduct at prefent. "Some numerations of the people of England appear to have been made in former times by public authority, but certainly with particular views, and for limited purposes. In the reign of Edward III. we have a fubfidy roll for England, county by county, from whence the population of that period is eftis mated at 2,353,000 fouls. "In the reign of queen Eliza、 beth, the privy council called upon all the bishops for certificates of the number of families in their refpective diocefos; and the population of that period is estimated at about 5,000,000. In the reign of James I. the bishops, in like manner, certified the number of communicants and recufants; and the people are estimated to have amounted at the refloration to 6,500,000. From thefe and other documents, fuch as the military mufiers, afleffiments, and parish regifters, many private perfons of fkill and learning have eftimated the people of England to have amounted, at the revolution, to about 7,000,000. Some defponding men have afferted, that the population afterwards decreafed by a million million and a half, between the repolution and the peace of Paris in 1763, although there is now good reafon for believing that it has real. ly increased in that interval by 2,000,000. And, ftrange as it may appear, even the beft opinions of modern times, and each of them highly refpectable, eftimate our prefent numbers, according to one statement, at 8,000.000; and, according to other statements, formed on more extenfive inveftigation, and (as it appears to me) a more correct train of reafoning, fhewing an increase of one-third in the last forty years, the total number now cannot be less than 11,000,000. "As to Scotland, that country. was eftimated, I ought rather to fay numbered, very accurately in 1755; but it was done by private inquiry; and that process has been fince repeated with great induftry, fhewing alfo a confiderable fubfequen' increase, in that country, of about one-fourth within the fame period of time. But, in Ireland,, where the means of calculation for this purpose have been more ferviceable even than in England, the public opinion on the question, as applied to that country, is, neverthelefs, ftill flucteating to a very confiderable extent. It is plain, therefore, that all thefe inquiries and eftimates proceeding without authority, upon fuch imperfect data, have terminated (as might be expected) in nothing but unfatisfactory conjecture; and different perfons reafoning even upon the fame data, continue to give us very contradictory refulis. "This being fo, it remains for us to decide what should be done by us. Unquestionably, in my opi nion, we are called upon, by every motive of general policy, and ftill more by the urgent preflure of our prefent circumftances, to do as other great nations have done, and subftitute certainty for conjecture, and, inftead of approximation, have the fact. "It was the policy of the famous De Witt, in his day, to reduce all thefe fundamental points to a certainty; and the merits of his adminiftration, at least for the internal politics of his country, have been allowed by all men, In Holland, this meafure has been again recently executed. In Sweden, a regulation to the fame effect was eftablifhed fo long ago as the year 1749, and is fill in force. In Spain, a complete cenfus has been twice taken during the prefent reign; viz. in the years 1768 and 1787. In America, it was taken in the year 1791; and the united states have again directed the fame process to be carried into execution upon a ftill more extenfive plan. And why fhould this great and powerful coun try choose to remain in ignorance of its most important concerns, when, by an inftantaneous measure, it can at once diflipate every doubt? "The nieans and the modes by which we may accomplith this object, appear to be obvious and easy; and I fhould propofe to follow the courfe taken by this houfe in the year 1756, for obtaining information upon a point not foreign to this inquiry, I mean the poor rates. All that will be neceffary, will be to pafs a fhort act, requiring the refident clergy and parifi officers in every parith and township to answer fome few plain queftions, perhaps four or five, cafy to be underflood, and caly to be executed, which fhould |