honour to his genius as well as to his taste and knowledge. No one can read his Commentaries on Asiatic Poesy, without admiring and thanking the author. He published several law tracts. His politi cal opinions were strongly in favour of popular principles: (the French revolution had not then rendered the word liberty terrific, we might say odious to the ear) yet he knew the evils of party, and disdained its malignity. The works composed or superintended by Sir W. while in India, manifest a mind ardent in pursuit of science, and intent on the activities of benevolence. To him our literati owe much important information; but to him the natives of Hindoostan are indebted for that infinitely greater advantage, the adoption of a fixed code of laws, and the communication of that stability to their jurisprudence, which gives a real value to property, and dispenses innumerable blessings to generations yet unborn. His personal character is summed up very judiciously by the noble author of this volume. “heaven,” and would have disdained the character of a mere linguist. With the keys of learning in his possession, he was quali fied to unlock the literary hoards of ancient sures deposited in them, for the use, enterand modern times, and to display the trea tainment, or instruction of mankind. In the course of his labours, we find him elucidating the laws of Athens, India, and Arabia; comparing the philosophy of the Porch, the Lyceum, and Academy, with the doctrines of the Sufis and Bramins; and, by a rare combination of taste and erudition, exhibiting the mythological fictions of the Hindus cian bards. In the eleven discourses which in strains not unworthy the sublimest Grehe addressed to the Asiatic Society, on the history, civil and natural, the antiquities, arts, sciences, philosophy, and literature of Asia, and on the origin and families of nations, he has discussed the subjects which he professed to explain, with a perspicuity which delights and instructs, and in a style which never ceases to please, where his arguments may not always convince. In these disquisiprofound Oriental learning in illustrating totions, he has more particularly displayed his pics of great importance in the history of mankind; and it is much to be lamented, that he did not live to revive and improve them in England, with the advantages of accumulated knowledge and undisturbed leisure. Sir W. Jones's works were collected and published in a handsome edition, in six volumes, quarto. The early volumes we believe to be sufficiently correct: but if errors should be found in the later volumes, aud in the pages of Arabic especially, let no scholar blame Sir William, but consult his first edition, or inquire under what circumstances these sheets were passed through the press. In the short space of forty-seven years, by the exertion of rare intellectual talents, he acquired a knowledge of arts, sciences, and languages, which has seldom been equalled, and scarely, if ever, surpassed. If he did not attain the critical proficiency of a Porson or Parr in Grecian literature; yet his knowledge of it was most extensive and profound, and entitled him to a high rank in the first class of scholars; while as a philologist, he could boast un universality in which he had no rival. His skill in the idioms of India, Persia, and Arabia, has perhaps never been equalled by any European; and his compositions on Oriental subjects, display a taste which we seldom find in the writings of those Lord Teignmouth has conferred a fawho had preceded him in these tracks of li- vour on the literary world, in composing terature. The language of Constantinople these memoirs; and we are glad to see was also familiar to him; and of the Chinese them, in the present edition, placed withcharacters and tongue he had learned enough in reach of the public at large, and of to enable him to translate an ode of Confucius. students in particular. A great proporIn the modern dialects of Europe,French, of the volume is occupied with exItalian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, tracts from the correspondence of Sir W. he was thoroughly conversant, and had perused the most admired writers in those and these afford most honorable testilanguages. I might extend the list, by spemonies to his abilities, his diligence, his cifying other dialects which he understood, manners, and his morals. Several poems," but which he had less perfectly studied. &c. are added. But mere philology was never considered by Sir William Jones as the end of his studies, nor as any thing more than the medium through which knowledge was to be acquired; he knew, that words were the daugh"ters of earth, and things the sons of As it is but seldom that we can present our readers with genuine and correct imi tations of Oriental poetry, we add Sir, William Jones's version of an ode of Jami, in the Persian form and measure, AN ODE OF JAMI, IN THE PERSIAN FORM AND MEASURE. How sweet the gale of morning breathes ! Thou know'st, dear maid! when to thine ear Till this his name, and rambling lay A SERVANT of the public, unless he take some measures to enable the public intelligence to keep pace with his own official information, must often, if he would consult his personal comfort, be the slave of public prejudice, rather than the agent of his own convictions. Perhaps to some cause like this, may be ascribed the slow progress of society in actual improvement. Few men have the fortitude to oppose themselves to prevailing opinions, and those, who have the hardihood to do it, frequently find themselves overpowered by the clamours of ignorance, or the artifices of selfinterest. Hence we commonly find that the first propagators of truths, and the benefactors of mankind, receive few plaudits in their own day; and the world acknowledges its obligauons to them only in funeral trophies, and splendid mausoleums. In making this appeal, I have no wish to appear before you in the character of a Reformer. Why not, Sir Richard?-What is there in the character of an upright, sober, rational Reformer" at which a wise man should startle? In fact, this book is intended to effect a reformation, or it is worse than useless. It describes various evils attendant on a great city, on the imperfections of human institutions, on the execution of the best intended laws, on the negligent performance of official duties, as well as on the perverse misapplication of official power: if these can be reformed, it is the province of benevolence to effect the reformation; if they are altogether ! Sweet news of my delight he brings; the tuneful bird of night, he brings. be led, his captives, through the sky. must ardent flames excite, he brings. he pass'd, and kiss'd the fragrant hem; and jasmine's mantle white, he brings. to some base rival oft is ow'd; false tales, contriv'd in spite, he brings. since destiny my bliss forbids? to me no ray of light he brings. in vain a childish trouble gives, of heart-sick love-lorn wight, he brings. no guidance can sad JAMI find, to thine all-piercing sight he brings. desperate, we anticipate little good from the publication of this volume; and our sympathy might have been spared the pain of perusing it. The duties of the Shrievealty are, in all counties, of great importance, but in none of greater than in the metropolis and its vicinity. The sheriff of London (for though the persons chosen be two, they form but one sheriff) is annually elected by the citizens, and his jurisdiction extends over the county of Middlesex. This was granted by King John, in consideration of £300 per ann. paid by the city: a great sum in those days: what it is now equal to, the city would hardly wish should be inquired. The duty of selecting proper persons to form juries; of taking charge of culprits accused of crimes, of inflicting the sentence of the law on those who are con demned by their country; and of keeping safely individuals arrested for debt, are the principal branches of the sheriff's office, at present. Among those who are committed to his custody, the eye of discrimination will select some as objects of compassion, while Pay's self contemplates the obvious and hardened villainy of others as repulsive and even terrific. The victims of misfortune, of delusive friendship, of inadvertence, of sudden temptation, and accidental transgression, will be classed by the considerate and humane very distinctly from those who have traded in guilt, and have made it the study and delight of their lives. These ought to be separated, if possible, even in prison, as they are separated in character. Of the less vicious, hope may indulge itself in auguring something good; and from them, if from any, the commonwealth or may hereafter receive benefit: but if they be crushed by the weight of their fetters, cast down too permanently by the horrors of their situation, if they be taught, by the vicious, the refinements of vice, and their minds become absorbed in systematic profligacy, farewell all expectation of their amendment, and every chance of benefit accruing to the commonwealth from their future conduct! The proportion of those who suffer under misfortune, and are brought by a prison into contact with guilt, can only be known to the public officers of justice; nor to them, when, as is customary, from a variety of causes, the duties of office are discharged by deputy. The public, of course, remain entirely ignorant of what passes within the walls of a prison and except when attention is called to these abodes of misery by the indefatigable exertions of a Howard, dead is the silence that reigns on the subject. It is, nevertheless, an interesting subject to humanity: and books like the present should be published from time to time, for the information of those who delight in works of mercy, and for the instruction of those who may possess the power to apply a remedy to abuses, when the principles of remedy shall be presented in a favourable shape. Sir Richard arranges his inquiries in the same order as the objects they refer to presented themselves to his attention, in the execution of his office.-The Freeholders' Book-the House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields-Discharge of persons against whom the bill of Indictment has been thrown out-the Prisons-Newgate, the Poultry Compter-Giltspur Street Compter-Ludgate Juries-Special Juries-Lock-up Houses, &c. On these, respectively, our author makes many striking remarks and we give him ample credit for his intentions on the behalf of suffering humanity. | of Freeholders and Esquires of this opulent county, Middlesex, returned as qualified to serve on special juries, in 1805, was only 128: so that the same persons were too frequently called to discharge the duties of this character. The number of esquires Sir Richard estimates at 2,000; of esquires and freeholders at 800. The number of special juries is about 200 annually. They are struck by the officers of the courts, not by the sheriff. The average number of prisoners confined in Newgate is about 500. When the number exceeds 600, fever begins to shew itself among them; and when it amounts to 700 or 800, this fever becomes contagious, and carries off five or six persons per day. The health of the metropolis itself, therefore, is hazarded when this prison is in a too crowded state. Sir Richard's description of the women's ward, will, we hope, on some future occasion, serve to prove what was the want of accommodation, in contrast to much better arrangements then established. To convey a just idea of the yards, and of the wards in which the prisoners live and lodge, the most apt comparison will be the engraved representation of a slave ship, which, a few years ago, was circulated through England with so much effect. When the prisoners lie down on their floors by night, there must necessarily, at least in the women's wards, be the same bodily contact, and the same cconomical disposition of heads and legs, as were represented in that drawing of the deck of a slave ship. When I entered into office, and for a considerable time afterwards, there were in the women-felons' yard, in Newgate, from one hundred to one hundred and thirty women; at the commencement of a Sessions there are generally the latter number, and there have been instances of the numbers being from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy! The wards being thirteen feet wide, admit, by night, of two rows to lie down at once in a length of thirty-seven feet; that is to say, twenty-five or thirty women, as it may be, If, sober-blooded critics as we are, we could have desired a little more of theirches by her length! They have told me, in a row, having each a breadth of eighteen suaviter in modo, on some occasions, yet others we feel call loudly for the fortiter in re. We cannot follow the sheriff into the particulars of his volume, but we earnestly recommend the contents of it, to whoever desires the superiority of his country in the administration of its legal, municipal, and juridical institutions. This volume informs us that the number that at times when the place is much crowded, all the interstices of the floor are covered, and two or three lie in breadth in the space afforded by the difference between the thirteen feet, the breadth of the room, and the length of two women. The number of writs in the county of Middlesex is about 24,000 yearly, The payment of fees by those who ought to be freely discharged, is a disgrace which the city of London would do well to remove : they are pecuniary oppressions inflicted on the pennyless. "A person summoned before the Lord Mayor, and bailing the charge, has 14s. 8d. to pay as gaol fees, though he has not been in custody; also 3s. 4d, for the bail bond!" A prisoner for debt-hateful power of incarceration, in a land of liberty!-after he has exhausted his mean's during imprisonment, in supporting his family, is driven to extreme distress to raise his fees; and parts with his last shilling, that should procure him a meal, to obtain his release. Not unfrequently, also, are the sufferings of a prison abused to the vilest of purposes. Would it be believed, that there are constantly a number of foreign sailors imprisoned in Newgate on sham debts, till their merciless kidnappers can obtain a bounty for them? Is not this a most inhuman mode of making a property of fellow-men? Happy the man who devises means of preventing this gross perversion of our laws of arrest! Sir R. complained to several public officers on the state of matters committed to his charge; and the letters on both sides will be read with interest. In fact, they form not the least important part of the volume. We should even like to be acquainted with the opinions of those who have a thorough knowledge of proceedings in the offices, as to the inconveniences that might attend the remedies pointed out by Sir R. for these evils. We are not aware that the characters of the present officers are implicated: the truth is, that the immense increase of the metropolis has rendered nugatory those provisions for its government, which were well adapted to that end, and considered as amply sufficient, in the times when they were devised and established. From an incidental expression, p. 236, which describes the city of London as conferring the honours of sepulture" on the meritorious Howard, some might think he was buried in St. Paul's, whereas he is interred at Cherson, where he died. From the omission of a counter statement to that by which the sheriff was misled on the subject of the prison in Cold Bath Fields, (for which vide Panorama, Vol. III. p. 1307) it might be inferred that his facts had not been questioned... We hope that in other instances also, Sir R. has seen things in the least favourable light.-The institution of the Sheriff's Fund is truly honourable to the benevolence of the projector: may it be continued and augmented! The distribution of it is equally laudable. It produced full £500. Disbursements to March, 1808. To sixty-five persons, for temporary subsistence, on their being discharged from confinement, some of whom were sent back to their native places For immediate relief to the distressed wives and children of numer ous prisoners For seven tons of potatoes, distributed at the rate of a pound, or half a pound per day among the prisoners, according to their necessities For oatmeal, onions, and leeks, £. s. d. for a daily supply of oatmeal For coals and candles, for a modeporridge to the female convicts.. 7 15 9 rate supply to all the poor wards 13 14 6 For soap and other articles calculated to promote cleanliness 6 10 0 For legal assistance, by means of which twenty-nine poor debtors have been liberated from Newgate after long imprisonment (the number of whose wives and children exceeded 120 souls), and many of them were sailors arrested by crimps on sham actions, or persons imprisoned on false pretences For advice, assistance, and proceedings in regard to numerous other debtors. For sundry articles of clothing as shoes, stockings, shirts, jackets, petticoats, &c. For porter allowed to mothers who had children at the breast, and 23 10 0 10 10 0 46 12 Q 6 14 0 We conclude this article by stating the expences attached to the office of sheriff: that these should fall on a party who discharges an office of high honour and great responsibility, is not, in our opinion, any addition to the dignity of the Metropolis of the British empire. As it may be an object of curiosity to many persons, and of useful information to others, country, made known to us by that event, must be acceptable to every mind desirous of information. The subject, however is extensive; and the original documents are dispersed among many volumes now rare, and some scarcely to be obtained. Few writers, therefore, can have access to the primary sources of information, and not every one will take the necessary labour to explore bulky tomes, in search 270 0 0 of collateral confirmation by dates, and of means for converting hints of facts into certainties. to know the expences of serving the office of 145 dozen of wine consumed at Other public dinners, breakfasts, &c. Fee farin rents, City officers, &c. &c. 665 0 0 100 0 0 Chronology is the surest test of history: it detects the errors of those who have not well considered the due course of things; and it discriminates where in a narrative full confidence may be placed, and where, the facts, or the order in which they are arranged, requires confirmation. Chronological history embraces also the 450 0 0 advantage of conciseness: but it is apt to degenerate into a mere list of dates, and to attach itself exclusively to events without explaining their causes, or examining the motives of the agents concerned in them. This too often subjects it to a dry ness of manner, which is unfriendly to the graces of composition, and far from seductive to the general reader. Such however, is not a necessary consequence. Judicious enlargement on occasions, and a happy selection of interesting incidents, combine entertainment with accuracy. 180 0 0 Meat at the prisons, &c. &c. .... 200 0 &c. &c. 550 0 0 0 £2745 0 0 From which may be deducted about £500 of various allowances from the city, leaving the net expence to the person serving the office, of upwards of two thousano guineas! I should, however, observe, that the quantity of wine is not always so great, many late sheriff's having consumed only from 100 to 120 dozen, and my colleague this year but 134 dozen. Sometimes the Old Bailey dinners are not so numerous, but the present year may be taken as an average. American Annals, or a Chronological History of America, from its Discovery in MCCCCXCH to MDCCCVI by Abiel Holines, D. D. with Additions and Corrections by the Author. 8vo. 2 Vols. PP with a Map. Price 18s. Cambridge, (N. A.) printed. London, reprinted for Taylor, 1808. THE discovery and settlement of America has produced such an entire change in the condition and relative power of Europe, compared with other parts of the old world, and of the European states compared with each other, that a clear view of the history and character of the They Dr. Holmes appears to have been fully sensible of the arduous nature of his ondertaking. It was often difhcult for him to discover the truth, to his satisfaction, because those who composed the first accounts, by which he was to be guided, were them selves either remiss or inaccurate. did not subject their narratives to any scrutiny deserving the name: and they little thought of the pains it would cost succeeding historians to harmonize their the Dr. to introduce amusement into his negligences. It was no less difficult for work. But, he has obviated both these causes of apprehension with great dexterity and judgment. He has diligently sought after all attainable correctness; and where he has subsequently obtained satisfaction on a doubtful question, he has candidly cor rected his original error. He has, also, by means of copious and constantly occurring notes, included more information than most authors who have adopted this |