thor is known only to the confessor, might he refuse to give evidence? The corso, or duty paid on entering and clearing at the seaports, is an important branch of revenue: but more money is needed, and 'the exclusive privilege of pits for cock-fights is rented on account of the king.' The royal monopoly of tobacco is a recent impost, but more productive, than any other. The profit of bulls is not indeed ascertained by our author; and we may conclude, that it is diminishing. The mists of superstition are gradually dispersing, even in Spanish colonies, and we may soon throughout the world behold reliques, beads, Indulgences, dispenses, pardons, bulls, The sport of winds. MILTON. But the history of human absurdity is improving, though ever so disagreeable. The kings of Spain, at all periods favoured by the popes, obtained from them, in the time of the crusades, extraordinary dispensations for those Spaniards who devoted themselves to the extermination of the infidels. The bulls which contained these dispensations were rated and distributed by a Spanish commissary. Their proceeds were intended to contribute towards the charges of the expedition. The folly of driving people to heaven by force of arms underwent at length, the fate of all other follies, reason has caused it to disappear. The Bulls, however, have continued to arrive from Rome, and continue to be sold in Spain. The blessings they afford are considered too precious, and the revenue the exchequer draws from them, too useful, to be renounced.' p. 31. The grave relation of the author appears severe satire. All ecclesiasticks, besides the bull for the living, should purchase the bull de laitage, if they wish not to provoke the wrath of heaven by transgressing the laws of the church respecting milk and eggs.' Next in the order of mummery comes the bull for the dead. The bull for the dead is a species of ticket for admission into paradise. It enables to clear the devouring flame of purgatory, and conducts directly to the abodes of the blessed. But one of these bulls serves for only one soul.' p. 35. So that, says Depons, with piety and money it would be easy to empty purgatory.' But the most benignant of these impious mediatorial impositions between heaven and earth, these forgeries of divine authority, is the great bull of composition. The bull of composition is without doubt that whose effects are most able. It has the inconceivable virtue sensible, the nearest and most remarkof transmitting to the withholder of another's goods the absolute property in all he has been able to steal without the connuzance of the law. For its validity they require only one condition, which is, that the expectation of the bull did not induce the theft. Modesty has done well to add, that of not knowgoods belong: but, from the cases speing the person to whom the stolen cified for its application, it appears that this last condition is illusive; for, in a volume, on the virtue of bulls, printed at Toledo, in 1758, by order of the commissary-general of the holy crusade, we find that the ball of composition be friends those who hold property they ought to return to the church, or employ in works of piety, or which they have not legally acquired by the prayers of which it was the price. It aids those debtors who cannot discover their creditors, or when the conditions of the loan are oppressive; it assists the heir who retains the whole of an inheritance loaded with legacies, were it in favour of a hospital. If a demand has not been made within a year, the bull of composition decrees to its possessor a moiety of the debt; but he ought to pay the residue. It bestows the entire right on those who do not know the owner of that which they have obtained unjustly. Thus a watch, a diamond, a purse full of gold, stolen in the midst of a crowd, becomes the property of the pick-pocket who has filched it; in fine, it quiets the remorse of conscience of the merchant who has enrich ed himself by false yards, false measures, and false weights. The bull of composition assures to him the absolute property in whatever he obtains by modes that ought to have conducted him to the gallows.' p. 37. Of these bulls no person can take more than fifty in a year. A universal rule in the sale is, that 'he, who takes a bull of a price inferiour to that which his fortune or rank order him to procure, enjoys none of the advantages.' ver has either iron or coal. The car. penter never has wood, even for a table. They must have money to buy some. All have always the wants of a family, which he who orders their work must satisfy. Thus you begin by tying your. self to the workman you employ, and making yourself dependent upon him. It is no longer possible to threaten his sloth with applying to another, with whom, besides, the very same inconve nience would take place. The only resource then, is that of pressing and su perintending the work, and, in spite of all these attentions, there are always indispositions, journeys, festivals, which exhaust the patience of the most phlegmatick. One is then, very badly, or most assuredly, very slowly served.' 91. The eleventh and last chapter comprises a description of the lan guishing province of Spanish Gui ana, and of the great river Oronoko. On this river the writer expended many months of labour, and his information is copious. There is a natural canal from the Oronoko to the river Amazon, though this fact has been stoutly controverted. The province of Guiana would, in any other hands, be an invaluable colony; but its best parts are possessed by the fero cious Caribs, and the lands in the vicinity of the capital, which is at the enormous distance of ninety leagues from the ocean, are wholly uncultivated. Chap. 10 is wholly occupied with a description of the cities, which fills 150 pages, and may be valuable to the geographer. The catalogue of merchants at Carraccas, Porto Cavello, Cumana, and Barcelona may be worth perusal by those, who have commercial intercourse with those cities. Among the ridiculous stories of miracles and holy virgins the writer frequently intermixes a side blow at the national religion. The private of the inhabitants is no less defective, than that of their ish crown, the province of Venezuela, government. For the first century and a half after the discovery of America nothing but mines were the object of Spanish cupidity. To avenge themselves of their inhuman mas ters, the Indians invented the fie tion of that city, renowned in romance, El Dorado. to The first conquerors who undertook received from the different Indian nations they pillaged, violated and massa In this state of poverty, no kind of cred, positive and unanimous informa work can be required, but they instant- tion, that by marching for a long time south, a region would be found on the Ty demand an advance. The smith ne banks of a great lake, inhabited by Indians, of a peculiar nature, known under the name of Omegas, living under laws deliberately made by themselves, principally in a large city, the buildings of which were covered with silver. That the heads of the government and religion wore, when discharging the duties of their offices, habits of massy gold; that all their instruments, all their utensils, all their furniture, were of gold, or at least of silver.' p. 275. Numberless expeditions were undertaken in search of this new land of Ophir. The delusion was pagated in England by the marvellous falsehoods of that heroick impostor, Sir Walter Raleigh, and history has not scorned to record the result. The continuance of the fiction is almost without parallel. The fancy of Milton, which amalgamated every thing it touched, has made Adam, under the direction of Michael, from the top of the highest hill of paradise, to behold in the spirit, pro But that it should continue more than a century longer, and again become the object of an expedition in 1780, almost disgraces even Spanish credulity. Will ignorance and wonder be satisfied with the opinion of a late traveller of veracity and intelligence? Baron Humboldt, on his re-entry in 1800, from the Rio Negro into the Oronoko, wished to penetrate as far as lake Parima; but he was hindered, as I have already said,by the Guaycas, whose height does not exceed four feet two or four inches. It was from them that he learnt that the lake of Parima, or Dorado, is of small extent and little depth, and that its banks, as also some islets situated in the lake are of talc. May not the error handed down, of the great riches of this country, be owing to the brilliancy of gold and of silver, which the rays of the sun give to talc, the effect of which is still more striking, and tends far more to the illusion of the spectator, who casts his eye over a great extent covered with this fallacious stone? It is probably, not to say, infallibly, the source of all the stories that have been related.' p. 288. Without the profound speculation of the politician, or the persevering inquiry of the man of science, the author has in these volumes collected much information of value on the topicks of geography, trade, agriculture, natural curiosities, climate, religion, natural and moral diversities of the inhabitants. He passes no subject without imparting to it some new traits, though these are sometimes of litthe consequence in the picture. As he affords us more fact than argument, we learn to trust him with confidence. The natural jealousy indeed between the French and Spaniards is occasionally perceived, for though the nations are divided, the people are influenced by ancient prejudices, and separated by discordant modern habits; but the statesman, the moral philosopher, and the merchant will bestow much praise on the veracity of Depons. ART. 60. The British Treaty. 8vo. 1807. A PAMPHLET, with the above title, has lately made its appearance without the name of either author or publisher. For ourselves we are not displeased with this circumstance, as the respect which one unavoidably feels for the character and feelings of an author, always produces some degree of restraint npon the person, who undertakes to review any publication. Professing then a total ignorance of the author of this work, we shall make a few strictures upon the opinions and arguments advanced in it with a frankness, which, from the style and manner of this writer, we are sure he must approve. The pamphlet contains the leading features, or rather a synopsis of the treaty, lately concluded by our ministers at the court of G. Britain, and which Mr. Jefferson, for certain reasons not yet divulged, has been pleased to send back to the same ministers, to be new modified or rejected. This synopsis is followed by some elaborate remarks of the author, tending to convince the publick, that the treaty compromitted, in many essential points, the interests of the U. nited States; thus approving, as far as these observations descrve weight, the conduct of Mr. Jeffer son in rejecting the treaty. In examining this pamphlet, we disclaim all intention of criticising the style and manner of the work. It bears the stamp of a master, and we confess ourselves extremely diffident in opposing our opinions to those of a man, who evidently possesses so much genius and information. A keen, but chaste and delicate satire; a thorough knowledge of human nature; an intimate acquaintance with the past diplomatick intercourse of the United States, observable in every part of the work, entitle the writer to great respect. But while it has almost all the beauties, it appears to us to labour under many of the defects, to which works of genius are too frequently subject. Truth is sometimes sacrificed to wit or satire; a disposition to hypercriticism is not unfrequently indulged, and propositions abstractedly true, are occasionally misap plied, or urged farther than correct reasoning would warrant. To the publick however we sub-. mit the justice of these censures, when we exhibit, as we shall do very briefly, some of our objections to this writer. We would make one introductory remark, to which all intelligent men, who sincerely desire to promote the true interests and dignity of our country, will assent. If undue and illiberal prejudices against Great-Britain have been one of the evils, which have resulted from the policy, at the same time that they are the disgrace of the party, who are now in power, it cannot be wise, nor prudent, nor patriotick, to throw any obstacles in the way of the removal of these prejudices. Mr. Jefferson, it is believed, and his political friends, would not feel sorry to find an apology for rejecting all accommodation with Great Britain, especially if they could be supported in it by the friends of the former administrations. Now, although this idea ought not to induce us to wish the acceptance of a treaty,by which any of the great and permanent interests of our country should be sacrificed, yet it ought to influence us so far as to withdraw any captious objections to minor points. The pleasure of lessening the fame of a negociator ought not to seduce us from the great interests and welfare of our country, and we hope, that on a review the writer of this pamphlet will be disposed to regret some of his remarks, which betray too strong a disposition to find fault with a political opponent or rival. The first article of the new treaty, which the author of this pamphet censures, is the third, by which the free navigation of the Mississippi is granted to Great Britain. The observations on this subject discover great readiness of mind, and a thorough acquaint ance with our former diplomatick relations; but the author has furnished one answer himself, and we think there is another, which is satisfactory. In the first place, he admits that the same provision exists among the articles of Mr.Jay's treaty, which was perpetual, and therefore the British commissioners had a full right to insist upon its remaining. It was no new stipulation, and had it not been included in the new treaty would still have been in force. No war, or other circumstances have occurred to annul that treaty, and therefore its permanent articles, not comprised in the new one, unless expressly repealed by it, would still retain their force. But, secondly, why should we not have granted to Great Britain the right to enter all our ports in the Mississippi, as well as the Atlantick? She grants to us the free right of entry in all the ports of England, Scotland, and Ireland; and is not this a full equivalent for our grant to her? The Mississippi is now a part of our territory as much as the Atlantick ports. On the other hand, she could not grant us the free use of Hudson's bay and the St. Lawrence, without violating her charters, and her colonial system. But when we talk of compensations, pray what do we give Great Britain in exchange for a stipulated right of trade to her East-India possessions? Will any man undertake to say, that we give any thing in exchange for this? Her motive for granting this is undoubtedly the interest of those territories, and the influence of the India Company, who desire an advantage by our trade. The same motives, besides the perfect reciprocity of the stipulation, possibly induced our ministers to permit the insertion of the British trade to the Mississippi. It is a greater boon to that part of our territory than to Great-Britain. On the whole, she could claim it from the treaty of peace, from the treaty of 1794, from the reciprocity of its nature, and from the grant to us of the trade to her India territories. We could not refuse it to her, while we left it open to all the rest of the world; and, surely, we are not disposed to shut the Mississippi to all nations, who shall refuse to give us a compensation by admission to their colonies. If it be said, that we before enjoyed the trade to the island of Great-Britain and the East Indies, it may be replied, that so did Great-Britain the trade to the Mississippi. Could we lawfully have excluded her against Mr. Jay's treaty, notwithstanding our new purchase from Spain? If not, we have conceded nothing, nor could any honest negociators have refused to admit this article into a new treaty. The negociator,who should talk of strict compensation, when treating with Great Britain, would not be entitled to the reputation of an adroit statesman. If such a principle were adopted as the basis, we should be excluded totally from her East-India possessions. We do deny the rule, laid down by this writer in the unqualified manner,in which he has done it, and in the application which he makes of it, That our grant extended only to things, which we possessed, and can by no fair construction embrace what we might afterwards acquire.' We say, that this rule is against common sense, publick and municipal law. If a nation, having no legal claim to the fisheries of Newfoundland, should, by express terms, cede to another nation the |