no rent, or produit net, is obtained from the land; and it is only after recourse has been had to poorer soils, and when, consequently, the productive powers of the labour and capital employed in cultivation begin to diminish, that rent begins to appear: so that, instead of being a consequence of the superior productiveness of agricultural industry, rent is really a consequence of its becoming less productive than others!

Our author's account of Dr Smith's immortal work, as well as of Mr Malthus's Essay on the "Principle of Population," will be read with great interest by all those who take an interest in the history of one of the most important of all sciences; particularly his brief but masterly vindication of the principles and conclusions of the latter work, from the misrepresentation and ignorant abuse with which they have been so perseveringly assailed. But we pass over all this, in order to come at once to the account of the greatest work which has yet appeared, or is likely ever to appear, on the subject of Political Economy. It is almost superfluous to add, that we mean Mr Ricardo's "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation."

The first considerable step towards the successful investigation of the laws which regulate the distribution of wealth among the various classes of society, was made in 1815, when the real nature, origin, and causes of rent were, for the first time, explained in two pamphlets of extraordinary merit, published nearly at the same moment, by "A Fellow of University College, Oxford," and Mr Malthus. But the investigations of these gentlemen, though of great importance, were comparatively limited in their object; and it was reserved for Mr Ricardo to carry his researches into every department of the science, to correct errors sanctioned by the highest authority, and to elucidate and establish many hitherto undiscovered, and most important principles. The appearance of his work on the "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" in 1817, forms a new and memorable era in the history of the science. Exclusive of many admirable correlative discussions, Mr Ricardo has here analyzed the principles which determine the exchangeable value of commodities, and has given a full view of the science of the distribution of wealth. The powers of mind display. ed in these investigations,-the dexterity with which the most abstruse and difficult questions are unravelled, the unerring sagacity with which the operation of general and fixed principles is investigated, the skill with which they are separated and disentangled from such as are of a secondary and accidental nature,—and the penetration with which their remotest consequences are perceived and estimated, have never been surpassed; and will for ever secure the name of Ricardo a high and conspicuous place in the list of those who have done most to unfold the complex mechanism of society, and to carry this science to perfection.

The fundamental principle maintained by Mr Ricardo in this great work is, that the exchangeable value, or relative worth of commodities, as compared with each other, depends exclusively on the quantities of labour necessarily required to produce them. Dr Smith was of opinion that this was the principle which determined the exchangeable value of commodities in the earliest stages of society, before land had been appropriated and capital accumulated; but he supposed, that, after land had become property and rent began to be paid, and after capital had been amassed, and workmen began to be hired by capitalists, the value of commodities would necessarily fluctuate, not only according to the variations in the quantity of labour required to produce and bring them to market, but also according to the rise and fall of rents and wages. But Mr Ricardo has shown that Dr Smith erred in making this distinction; and that the same principle which determines the value of commodities in the ear. lies and rudest stages of society, continues to determine it in those that are most cultivated and refined. In establishing this novel and most important doctrine, Mr Ricardo derived considerable assistance from the previous inquiries of Mr Malthus and Mr West on the subject of rent; but he had no precursor in the far more difficult and complicated inquiries respecting the effects of the accumulation of capital, and of fluctuations in the rate of wages on value. Inasmuch, however, as the merest outline of the analysis and reasonings of Mr Ricardo, in the prosecution of these inquiries, would far exceed my present limits, I can do no more than state their results, which may be thus summed up-1st, That rent is altogether extrinsic to the cost of production; 2d, That capital being the produce of previous labour, and having no value except what it derives from that labour, the fact of the value of the commodities produced by its agency being always determined by the quantities of capital laid out or wasted in their production, shows that it is really determined by the quantities of labour bestowed on them; and 3d, That a rise of wages occasions a fall of profils, and

not a rise in the price of commodities, and a fall of wages a rise of profits, and not a fall of prices.

These conclusions are all of the last degree of importance; and by establishing them, Mr Ricardo gave a new aspect to the whole science. But these form a part only of the truths brought to light in his work. Having ascertained that profits vary inversely as wages, Mr Ricardo applied himself to discover the circumstances which determine the rate of wages, and which consequently determine profits. These he found to depend on the cost of producing the articles required for the consumption of the labourer. However high the price of such articles may rise, the labourer, it is plain, must always receive such a supply of them as is sufficient to enable him to exist, and continue his race. And, as raw produce must ever form a principal part of the subsistence of the labourer, and as its price has a constant tendency to rise, because of the constantly increasing sterility of the soils to which recourse must be had in advancing societies, it follows, that wages must also have a constant tendencey to rise, and profits to fall, with the increase of wealth and population. That such a fall of profits invariably takes place in the progress of society, is a fact of which there neither is nor can be any doubt. It had, however, been universally supposed, that this fall was a consequence of the increase of capital, or rather of the increased competition of its possessors, or of their efforts to undersell each other. But Mr Ricardo has shown the fallacy of this opinion, and has proved that all permanent reductions in the rate of profit are a consequence of an increase in the rate of wages, caused by the greater cost of the raw produce obtained from the poorer soils sucessively brought under cultivation, as population is augmented.

IV. In the next division of his Discourse, our author points out, and illustrates with great clearness and precision, the distinction between the science of Political Economy and those of Politics and Statistics. And, first, with regard to Politics and Political Economy, it is no doubt true that they are intimately connected, and that it is frequently impossible to treat the questions which strictly belong to the one, without referring more or less to the principles and conclusions of the other: but in their leading features, they are nevertheless sufficiently distinct. "The politician examines the principles on which government is founded; he endeavours to determine in whose hands the supreme authority may be most advantageously placed; and unfolds the reciprocal duties and obligations of the governing and governed portions of society. The Political Economist does not take so high a flight. It is not of the Constitution of the Government, but of its ACTS only that he is called to judge. Whatever measures affect the production or distribution of wealth, necessarily come within the scope of his observation, and are freely canvassed by him. He examines whether they are in unison with the just principles of economical science. If they are, he pronounces them to be advantageous, and shows the nature and extent of the benefits of which they will be productive; if they are not, he shows in what respects they are defective, and to what extent their operation will be injurious. But he does this without inquiring into the Constitution of the Government by which these measures have been adopted."

But, secondly, besides being confounded with Politics, Political Economy has sometimes been confounded with Statistics, though the distinction between them is still more easily traced and defined. The object of the Statistician is to observe and record the facts which determine the condition of the country at a particular period; that of the Political Economist to discover the causes which have brought it into that condition, and the means by which its wealth and riches may be indefinitely increased. The business of the former is to multiply facts; that of the latter, to trace the relations subsisting between these facts, and to ascertain how far they serve to modify or confirm established principles in short, the one supplies the data, the other the reasoning and the conclusion. Hence, to use our author's happy illustration, the Political Economist "is to the Statistician what the physical astronomer is to the mere observer. He takes the facts furnished by the Statistician, and after comparing them with those furnished by historians and travellers, he applies himself to discover their relation. By a patient induction-by carefully observing the circumstances attending the operation of particular principles, he discovers the effects of which they are really pro

ductive, and how far they are liable to be modified by the operation of other principles. It is thus that the relation between rent and profit, between profit and wages, and the various general laws which regulate and connect the apparently conflicting, but really harmonious interests of every different order in society, have been discovered and established with all the certainty of demonstrative evidence."

V. In the succeeding division of the Discourse, the author shows how indispensable it is to the ends of government, that legislators should be well instructed in the principles of this science, and, also, its great utility and importance to all classes of society. "How often," says he, in a striking passage, which will serve to convey a pretty clear conception of his views on this branch of his subject, "how often have all the evils of scarcity been aggravated by the groundless prejudices of the public against corn-dealers! How often have restrictions and prohibitions been solicited by those to whom they proved productive only of ruin! How often have the labouring classes endeavoured to prevent the introduction and improvement of machines and processes for abridging labour, and reducing the cost of production, though it is certain that they are uniformly the greatest gainers by them! How much has the rate of wages been reduced, and the condition of the lower classes deteriorated, by the prevalence of mistaken opinions respecting the principle of population, and the mistaken application of public charities! The object of the famous excise scheme, proposed by Sir Robert Walpole in 1733, was not to raise the duties on any commodity whatever, but to introduce the warehousing and bonding system- To make London a free port, and by consequence the market of the world. And yet the mere proposal of this scheme had well nigh lighted up the flames of rebellion in the country, and its abandonment by the minister was hailed with the most earnest and enthusiastic demonstrations of popular rejoicing and such is the strength of vulgar prejudice, that it was not until 1803 that the warehousing system-the greatest improvement that has perhaps ever been made in the financial and commercial policy of the country-was adopted."

VI. Our author next gives a detail of the means which have been adopted in different countries for promoting the study of Political Economy, and shows, that though England may be considered the native country of the science, she cannot boast of being the first to perceive the advantage of rendering it a branch of popular instruction; that this praise is due to Italy, or at least an Italian citizen, Bartolomeo Intieri, a Florentine; that even in Russia, Political Economy has met with considerable encouragement; and that to the patronage of the Emperor Alexander we are indebted for the Cours d'Economie Politique of M. Henri Storch-a work of great general value, and particularly remarkable for admirable accounts of the slave systems of ancient Rome and modern Russia, and of the paper-money of the different continental states. He then narrates the circumstances which led to the foundation of the RICARDO LECTURE, and modestly states, that so long as he has the honour to be connected with it, bis most anxious efforts will be directed to render it effectual to the dissemination of a knowledge of the just principles of the science. The success with which his first course of Lectures was delivered in the metropolis affords gratifying evidence of the general desire to become acquainted with the principles of the science, and shows that the unquestioned ability, skill, and learning, of the Lecturer were duly appreciated. In the concluding part of this Discourse, he developes the order in which he unfolds the principles of the science, and the method he follows in order to initiate his pupils thoroughly in its elements, and particularly to familiarize them with the process of analysis, which is no less necessary in economical than in geometrical science. Both are admirable; we had almost said perfect: but as this portion of the Discourse is chiefly meant for the benefit of those who may attend the author's public and private classes, we shall content ourselves with recommending it to their most attentive perusal, as we beg leave to recommend the whole Discourse to the study of all those who feel any interest in the rise, progress, and improvement, of one of the most importaut of the sciences.

CAPTAIN MEDWIN'S CONVERSATIONS OF BYRON *.

THE interest which now attaches to the slightest memorial connected with the greatest name in modern poetry, the peculiar retirement in which the years of his exile have been spent, and the ignorance of the public with regard to every part of his character, which could not be gathered from his printed works, have given to these sketches a popularity almost unexampled, and yet not undeserved; for, independently of the interest of the subject, the work has a dramatic force and liveliness, which at once impress the reader with a favourable notion of the talent of the Editor, and with a conviction of the general fidelity of the conversations of which he has the good fortune to be the reporter. And now that the probability of the auto-biography of the noble poet making its appearance has become infinitely small, (resting only on the hope that some reader of the manuscript could not resist the temp tation of making a stolen copy,) we feel not a little indebted to the Captain, whose portrait, if not a complete one, is at least extremely vivid and striking, as far as it goes. to the general impression of Byron's character, which it is likely to produce, the public, we suspect, are likely to be much divided. It will undoubtedly be an easy matter for those who come to the task with a predisposition to aggravate the defects of that character, to find in these sketches much that will support or confirm these views, for Byron never spared himself, and Captain Medwin, unlike most biographers, has adhered literally to the resolution of neither extenuating nor setting down aught in malice. To those, on the contrary, who have indulged the belief that these blemishes were but as the alloy with which the purest and brightest of metals are allied, the mortal weaknesses which, like the slave of Philip, constantly whisper in the ear of the greatest and the most glorious, "Remember thou

As

art man," who have reflected how few could stand the test, were their actions watched and proclaimed upon the house-tops, or poured out with that noble and yet dangerous confidence which characterized the openhearted Byron,-to those, the many traits of kindness, delicacy, and generosity, which are commemorated in these conversations-the constant openness and sincerity-the boundless contempt of hypocrisy and pretension-the candid admission of many follies and many faults-the noble and indignant vindication of his character from the other imputations with which it had been loaded, will afford, as they have done to us, a deep and genuine delight.

The work has been already so bequoted, that it is no easy matter to pitch upon any passages that possess the merit of novelty; but we shall just ramble through the book, extracting such as are least likely to be familiar to our readers.

Captain Medwin went to Italy in the autumn of 1821, for the benefit of his health, and arrived at Pisa a few days after Lord Byron. Though an intimate friend of Shelley's, he was aware of Lord Byron's dislike to the visits of strangers, and did not request an introduction to him. The proposal, however, came from his Lordship, who had heard Shelley speak of him, and on the 20th of November he was introduced to him at the Lanfranchi Palace, which he then occupied.

When we were announced, we found his Lordship writing. His reception was frank and kind; he took me cordially by the hand, and said,

"You are a relation and schoolfellow of Shelley's-we do not meet as strangers -you must allow me to continue my letter on account of the post. Here's something for you to read, Shelley, (giv ing him part of his MS. of Heaven and Earth,') tell me what you think of it."

During the few minutes that Lord Byron was finishing his letter, I took an opportunity of narrowly observing him, and

Conversations of Lord Byron: noted during a Residence with his Lordship at Pisa, in the years 1821 and 1822. By Thomas Medwin, Esq. of the 24th Light Dragoons. London :-Henry Colburn.

1824.

For this purpose he used tobacco when he first went into the open air; and he told me he was in the habit of grinding his teeth in his sleep, to prevent which he was forced to put a napkin between them.