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of these wastes, great allotments will probably be given to the crown, in compenfation of its extenfive rights and royalties, and in proportion to the nature and extent of the king's rights in the feveral instances. He farther obferves, what is doubtlefs worthy of attention, that previous to the execution of this great measure, many fteps must be taken to gain infor mation on the subject, and above all things, great care should be used to render it palatable to the principal proprietors, and popular in the country.

The author of thefe Obfervations appears to be well informed with refpect to the management of the land revenue, of which he gives a particular detail, too minute and copious to be recited in our account of the subject. The great object which he has profeffedly in view, is to discover by what means the land revenue may be rendered of the greateft advantage to the king and his people; for which purpose he fuggefts a variety of measures and projects, and endeavours to remove fuch objections as he apprehends may be made to the plan. Upon the whole, he has given a distinct, and, confidering the great extent of the fubject, a not inadequate account of this interefting national concern. The improvement and proper difpofal of the land revenue merit the most mature delibera⚫tion; and towards forming a juft opinion relative to that arduous measure of policy, the observations of this author cannot fail of proving highly ufeful. On a fubject fo complicated, fuch an introductory treatife as the present seems indifpenfable.

Reflections on a late Refolution of the House of Peers, respecting the Peerage of Scotland; addrejed to the Chancellor, and C. J. of the Common Pleas. 8.vo. Is. 6d. Bell.

THES

'HESE Reflections relate to the refolution which paffed upon the motion of lord Stormont in February laft. The author combats the opinion of lord Loughborough, that the motion was not made to their lordships in their judicial capacity; and infifts that they have decided a question which affects the private rights of every fubject, both of England and Scotland, without hearing any of them, or confulting the judges, as is ufual in cafes of much less importance. obferves, the Union exprefsly ftates, that all the peers of Scotland shall be reprefented in the parliament of Great Britain, and that each peer fhall have right to elect and be elected one of the fixteen reprefentatives of that part of the peerage. That the act regulating the mode of this election likewife ftates, that fuch nobles as were peers before the union of both

He

coun

countries, shall have right to elect and be elected reprefentatives of the peerage of Scotland, the fame as if they had not a feat in the parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of their English honours.

In oppofition to thefe authorities, fays the author, comes a decifion of the houfe of lords, that though peers of England may be peers of Scotland, peers of Britain may not. An affertion which, if it had been made by any lefs authority, he should have been tempted to call a mere quibble on words; fince peers of England have all the rights, neither more nor less than the peers of Britain.

It is obferved, that the motion made by lord Stormont, and fupported by lord Loughborough, according to them, was founded on the fpirit or principle of reprefentation in general, which (their lord fhips faid) requires an almoft perfect parity of circumstances in the fituation of thofe to be reprefented. The author remarks, that this fuppofed fpirit of the law applies equally against peers of England and of Britain, and it muft require the fulleft and moft uncontrovertible proof to fatisfy men, that the words and clear meaning of an act of parliament on this important occafion of a Union, are in direcț oppofition to the spirit and principle of representation in general. This, it must be acknowledged, is a ftrong argument.

In examining lord Loughborough's remark, refpecting the neceffary and abfolute parity of circumftances in perfons to be represented, the author asks, Are the two rights of British and Scottish peerages compatible or incompatible with one another? The articles and act of Union, he obferves, are exprefs, that the two rights are compatible, and on this ground was the opinion of the twelve judges, given in the cafe of the duke of Hamilton and Brandon; and the confequent decifion of the house of lords was fuppofed to put an end to all question concerning it. But the two former decifions, on the fame fubject, went upon the ground of incompatibility.

If the principle of incompatibility be admitted, the author contends, that the king cannot beftow a British peerage on a perfon who stands actually poffeffed of a Scottish peerage. Such a perfon, he obferves, must relinquish the leffer right, before he can be in the capacity of receiving the greater; and circumstances prevent a peer of Scotland from being able to get rid of his lefs fertile honours, without an expedient almo too ridiculous to mention; which, he afterwards intimates, is by forfeiture.

To illuftrate the confequences which may refult from adhering to the principle of incompatibility, the author fates a

few

few poffible cafes, of which we fhall mention one. It is, that if the countess of Sutherland should die before the marquis of Stafford, or earl Gower, her heir must remain earl of Sutherland, without the poffibility of inheriting the British honours of his father's line, until the county of Sutherland again de fcends to a female.

The author obferves, that if the incompatibility between perfonal and reprefentative right exifts, as contended for, it must be found in other branches of the conftitution and on this fubject he makes the following remarks:

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• Can a member of the lower house vote for another perfor to represent him in the fame house as he himself fits? Yes. Does this apply to the upper houfe? As far as the nature of the two branches of legislature agree, fo far is this a cafe in point, the principle is the fame. A man may himself fit in that houfe of parliament to which he fends a reprefentative. His abfolute poffeffion of a right (abfolute from the moment he is himfelf elected) does not prohibit him from exercising his previous right of reprefentation, and delegating another. If the fame perfon is chofen to reprefent two different places in the lower house, he cannot fit for both, because the law has decided the number of perfons that the commons of Britain fhall be reprefented by, but the member has the choice for which place he will ferve. The law has not decided on the number of the houfe of peers; the ratio quare that prohibits the fame perfon from ferving in two different capacities in the lower, is wanting alfo in the upper houfe. But if the fame caufe operated on both houfes, the fame confequence must follow; a peer poffeffed of perfonal and representative right to a feat in the houfe of lords, must then have his option in which capacity he would ferve.'

Notwithstanding the zeal with which this author combats the principle of incompatibility above mentioned, he is far from being an advocate for political obfequioufnefs among the peers. On the contrary, he cenfures, in fevere terms, the complaifance fupposed to be fhewn at the election of Scottish peers, to the inclination of a minifter; and he fuggefts a plan for the gradual abolition of the reprefentative peerage. The contradictory refolutions which have repeatedly paffed in the houfe of lords during almoft a century, afford proof that the ideas of the peers, on the fubject of their own privileges, have hitherto remained vague and fluctuating. How long their laft refolution will continue to operate, time alone muft determinę.

FOREIGN

FOREIGN LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. (Continued from p. 387.)

WE

E have formerly mentioned the travels of the mineralogifts in France, for the purpose of ascertaining the different ftrata, and the riches which the earth promiles from the appearances at its furface. Our neighbours have lately undertaken to delineate the changes in thefe refpects, on maps; and to point out, from infpection alone, not only the different mountains, but in foine measure the fubitances of which they are compofed. To explain thefe defigns, which are as yet almoft in their infancy, is wholly within the object of this part of our work; and we engage in it more willingly, fince we hope to infpire our countrymen with fimilar views.

The only fpecimen of this kind, which we have yet feen, is published by M. de la Metherie, in the Journal de Phyfique. This is a very flight one, and perhaps would not have been noticed by us, if we were not able to add to it the defign of P. Chryfologue, in a fcientific memoir, addressed, very lately, to the academy of Befançon.

1

The map published by M. de la Metherie may be properly ftyled the ikeleton of France, if we fuppofe the mountains to be, as they have been often ftyled, the bones of a country, or rather those parts which give strength and folidity to the loofer foil. He diftinguishes only the primeval and the fecondary mountains, or those of granite and calcareous matter; and traces the rivers from their fource, in the one or the other of these mountains, through their devious wanderings, either to the Channel, or the Atlantic. The principal granitic mountains are traced from the Cevennes, which is properly confidered as the central point, and fix chains of mountains feem to be derived from it. The first branch is that which paffes through a part of Forez, by St. Etienne, Beujeu, Autun, and ceafes at Avalon. In this whole chain the author defcribes all the variations, and particularly mentions that it abounds with coal. In fome places, a flaty grit communicates with the granite; and in the flate are very numerous vegetable impreffions, furnished by plants, which are now only found in India. All these appearances feem to fhow, that coals exift in thefe mountains; but the ftrata are not, in fome places, large enough to allow of their being worked with advantage. In others, coals are actually dug; and the apprehenfions of thofe gentlemen, who were afraid, that the manufactures of England would be ruined by the additional exportation of coals, in confequence of a commercial treaty, if they had been acquainted with the mineralogical history of France, would have had their fears converted to a very different object. The fecond chain is feparated by the Loire from the first, and seems to re-join it at Roanne; the calcareous plain of Montbrison, appears to have been a lake which was fed from the streams of those mountains, and has been ultimately drained by the freight,

through

through which the Loire now runs. The third chain feparatesfrom the former above Billon, and Iffoire; and paffing St. Flour, Autillac, &c. leaving the plain of Auvergne at the north-" weft, goes on by the fide of Limoufin and de la Marche. The fourth chain extends from the fide of Touloufe, traverses the Pais de Foix, and feparates the rivers that flow either into the Ocean or Mediterranean. It then communicates with the Pyrenees, which may be regarded as another centre of granitic mountains. The fifth chain feparates from the fide of Vivier, and is loft near Alais. The fixth divides from the great mass above Tournon, traverses a part of Vienne, and joins the Alps on the fide of Briançon. This chain is very rich in metallic veins, as the fifth is in coal, Thefe are the principal branches which we trace from the map; but it is impoffible to purfue the calcareous ftrata. In the plains are often found fhells, and they are found alfo in the neighbourhood of volcanos, particularly near thofe of Puy de Dome, which feem to fhew, that all the land in that neighbourhood has been gained from the fea. It is worth remarking, that the country, through the whole courfe of the Soane, is calcareous, except where it paffes through a small part of the first chain of mountains in Burgundy. The mountains Suzon, Jura, and Sa-* leves are all calcareous till we even reach the feet of Mont Blanc, which is of granite, and the centre of the granites in the higher Alps. The manner in which the granite changes to lime-ftone is curious. We might fuppofe that they are divided by ftreights, by brooks, or by fchifti. This fometimes happens; but it is not the most common mode. The granite becomes a little fofter, as if it was decompofed, and forms a kind of clay or soft flate, which foon degenerates, without any divifion into lime-ftone. In England we believe the change from granite to lime-ftone feldom occurs without the intervention of fchiftus. Sometimes in France, the fchiftus is obferved to extend to a greater diftance, and fometimes the kneifs or foliated granites are interpofed.

The calcareous mountains frequently accompany the granitic, and are equally elevated: fome are fo high as to be covered with fnow. This elevation is probably owing to volcanic explosion, for the ftrata in the high calcareous mountains are not parallel : befides, great blocks of granite are fometimes met with in these mountains, originally perhaps feparated from the granitic mountains, and elevated with the lime-stone. These are some of the reflections which occur to M. de la Metherie, from the examination of the country delineated in his map.

The chart, projected by P. Chryfologue de Gy, is defigned to be more particular, as it includes a country of lefs extent. It is to be a map of the Franche-Compté and its frontiers; to comprehend a great part of the mountains of Burgundy, and of Champagne; the Voges fo far as St. Marie aux Mines, the Sundgam, the principality of Portentrui, a part of Switzerland, from the Soleure to the Rhone, where it is loft in the lakes of Bienne, Neufchatel, and Geneva. Something is to be added relating to the canton of

Fribourg,

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