the comparative dryness of the subject. Nothing, she adds, could have induced her to make the experiment but a conviction that political economy is immediately connected with the happiness of mankind; and that Dr. Smith, M. Say, and others to whom the science is most indebted in point of research, have not by any means succeeded in giving their writings a character of popularity. We are also told that, after much hesitation concerning the form of her work, she determined to follow the plan of dialogues, as giving her an opportunity of introducing objections, and placing questions and answers, in various points of view, as they had actually occurred to her own mind: but the colloquial form is not confined in this, as in school-books, to a mere prosecution of an argument by question and answer; it is made the vehicle of various collateral remarks, contributing both to engage the attention and to illustrate the subject. The Conversations are pursued in a lively, entertaining strain, diversified by many allusions to amusing topics; and exhibiting, on the whole, a very satisfactory proof of the degree of interest which it is practicable to give even to so uninviting a study as political economy. We must, however, refrain from laying extracts before our readers; and, as to the contents of the book, it is sufficient to observe that they embrace most of the great divisions of the science, such as the Nature of Capital, Money, and Revenue;' the Nature of Commerce, Foreign and Inland;' the Division of Labour;' with observations on Wages and Population, and on the Condition of the Poor, and even a disquisition on the abstruse topic of the Principles of Money. Those who wish to see a short specimen of this lady's mode of reasoning may turn to the passage, p. 260., which recommends the adoption of a measure recently brought before parliament, we mean the abolition of the existing restriction on the rate of interest; where they will see a summary of the arguments in favour of the proposed change, followed up by a few justifiable sarcasms on the ordinary prodigality of governments, those borrowers who contract debts without any view of profiting by the use of the loan, and in general without any prospect of repaying it.'

On the whole, this work deserves to be regarded as an useful and instructive performance on a very difficult subject. The author has evidently been aware of the obstacles with which she had to contend, and has spared no effort to give perspicuity to her reasonings both by the general style of the book and by the arrangement of its contents; which are stated in the outset in a brief form, more fully at the beginning of each conversation, and finally, in a collected shape, in the index at the end.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 43. An Essay on Average, and on other Subjects connected with the Contract of Marine Insurance. Dedicated by Permission to the Committee for managing the Affairs of Lloyd's. Second Edition. By Robert Stevens, of Lloyd's. Royal 8vo. PP. 322. Richardson. 1816.

The

The present is a new edition, on a much enlarged scale, of the Tract on Average which we noticed in our Ixxiiid vol. p. 443-; and we are induced to present it again to the attention of our readers, because the various augmentations in the present impression supply, in a great measure, all that was wanting in the former, and afford the public a complete disquisition on a very intricate department of insurance-business. Although the topics discussed in it possess so little interest for our readers at large, that we should ill consult their gratification by extracts or by an analysis of the book, yet the high importance of its contents to the particular branch of the community which it regards induces us to point it out as a specimen of what may be accomplished by other writers, in different departments of mercantile business. It is in fact much to be regretted that printed information has been given with so scanty a hand to our young merchants, almost all of whom have to acquire their knowlege by the slow progress of actual experience. We are by no means inclined to think that any treatise, however clear or accurate, can supersede the necessity of long practice: but we should propose to combine the two, and enable the man of business to make the perusal of disquisitions on the principles of trade an accompaniment to his actual transactions, and an object of reference in many of the cases in which he finds himself at a loss, or obliged to resort to the advice of his seniors in trade, than whom no class of men are more apt to entertain discordant opinions.

Art. 44. A Sketch of a new universal Division of Time, accompanied with a few Articles connected with it. To which is added, by Way of Appendix, a brief Sketch of a new universal System of Measures, Weights, and Coins. 8vo. PP. 72. 38.

Rowe. 1816.

The object of this tract, as announced in a whimsical kind of preface, is to introduce greater simplicity into our tables of time, measures, weights, and coins; which the writer is desirous of accomplishing by giving the decimal form to our subdivisions of time, measures, and weights, in the following manner:

This plan is pursued, with certain modifications, throughout other tables, viz. of length; of square measure; of cubic measure; of weights; and finally of coins. Most persons are agreed that it would be very desirous to equalize the weights and measures throughout the kingdom, and perhaps even to put them on a level with those of our neighbours. It is well known that the French have completely new-modelled their weights and measures since the Revolution, and have certainly, by means of the decimal method,

6

thod, introduced great simplicity into their calculations: but they have not gone so far as this writer in making seconds, minutes, and hours decimal parts of their respective integrals; nor can we pay him the compliment of supposing that the hints conveyed in the present pamphlet will fix the attention of the grave legislators of either country.

Art. 45. Remarks, &c. &c. on the safe Conveyance and Preserv ation of Gunpowder. By James Walker., 12mo. pp. 197. Printed by Darling, Leadenhall-street.

We have so much dislike to quackery, whether it be employed in extolling Japan Blacking, Russian Oil, or Patent Powder-barrels, and so much puffing appears in the pamphlet before us and its accompanying memorials, &c. that we have some fear that we may write this article under a degree of prejudice. We will, however, endeavour to counteract it, and proceed to state that Mr. Walker commences with an address to the public, which is followed by various remarks, pointing out the great importance of the invention of the patent barrels, and the immense saving that would accrue from the general adoption of them. In order to exhibit these advantages in their strongest light, the quantity of powder that has at different periods been returned from ships of war unserviceable, and to be re-made, is thus stated: Totally unserviceable, the enormous quantity' of 137,993 barrels: to be re-made, the equally amazing quantity' of 189,757 barrels; making the 'astonishing quantity of 327,750 barrels. After this astonishing statement, we are furnished with seventeen remarks, or sufficient reasons, to prove that these patent barrels should be immediately and generally adopted by the navy. Among other reasons, it appears that all our losses with the Americans might have been prevented by a timely use of Walker's powder-barrels; and, which is of nearly equal importance, the adoption of them will be a great means of curing that disease so fatal to his Majesty's navy, the dry rot! In fact, scarcely any limit can be put to the important consequences which are likely to result from the general introduction of these powder-barrels into the British navy and the East-India Company's service.

Dismissing, however, all ideas of quackery, let us now attend seriously to the value of Mr. Walker's invention; which, according to the testimonials received from different naval officers, must not be deemed inconsiderable. In the barrels commonly employed, from the wood of which they are composed not being perfectly dry, or from its quality of absorbing and transmitting moisture to their contents, the powder becomes lumpy, and frequently unserviceable. This evil is prevented by the materials and the means employed in forming the copper-barrels; which, as we learn from the certificates, &c. will preserve the powder placed in them for some years in nearly as perfect a state as when it was first put up; while that which is placed in the usual wooden barrels is deteriorated in a few months.

The following abstract from a letter written by Rear Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell, when Captain of his Majesty's ship Malta,

is the most conclusive, the results being drawn from actual experiments; and the only defect in the evidence being that it states no particulars as to the time and original quality of the powder in the wooden barrel. If both powders were from one sample, and kept in store under similar circumstances, no other proof of the superior claims of the copper-barrel would be requisite; and the general adoption of the latter would certainly be justified, notwithstanding the great difference in the first expence.

To J. W. CROKER, Esq. &c. &c. &c.

Mr.

His Majesty's Ship Malta, In Tarragona Bay, Feb. 1. 1814. . Sir, - I have deferred offering any report upon Walker's powder, brought out in the Malta, until it should have been long enough on board to admit of its real qualities and merit being ascertained. Having made several experiments last month at Tarragona, I beg to state the results for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

The first experiment from a 43-inch howitzer, at an elevation of 45° with one ounce of powder, gave the following

To render it a fair trial, the same shell was made use of in every discharge.

The powder taken from Mr. Walker's barrel was packed in July 1811, in paper cartridges, and had not been opened previous to this experiment.

A second experiment was made from the same Barrel, with a 24-pounder long gun; the results were as follow:

1164

do. 1692

1612

do. 1610

lost.

1st Discharge, 1° Elev. 8lb. Powder 1640
2d do. 5° do. 7lb.
3d do. 6° do. 6lb.

Another barrel was opened a few days after, which came from England in the Marlborough, and had been filled in September 1812. The following are the results of an experiment made from a 12-pounder carronade, with one pound of powder:

From this statement, it appears that the strength of powder, preserved in the patent barrels, is to that which is kept in the usual manner in the ratio of about 4 to 3 on a medium; which is certainly a very important consideration: but some other experiments, reported by Captain Cleavland of the Royal Artillery, reduce that ratio to about 43 to 41; and others, again, by W. Patterson, Esq. of the East-India service, give the proportion of about 8 to 7. On the whole, it appears indubitable that the powder is preserved in a much more perfect state in these barrels than in those of the common construction; and that the invention is creditable to Mr. Walker, and deserves the consideration of the government.

The memorial to which we have before alluded, as accompanying this pamphlet, relates to the extreme danger attending the present mode of packing and conveying gun-powder through the metropolis, particularly in its being unloaded from carts and put on board boats, barges, &c.; which, it appears, is frequently done while men are smoaking their pipes, or while fires are burning for the purposes of pitching and repairing boats, &c. The facts stated in several of the letters contained in this memorial are intitled to the most serious attention of the legislature; and we shall be happy to learn that a practice, so alarming to the neighbourhood in which it almost daily occurs, has been prohibited by the interference of parliament, so that other modes of packing the powder may be enforced, in order to render less dangerous its transmission from place to place.

Art. 46. An Account of the Origin, Principles, Proceedings, and Results of an Institution for teaching Adults to read, established in the contiguous Parts of Bucks and Berks in 1814. Dedicated to H. R. H. the Prince Regent, Patron of the Institution. 8vo. pp. 140. 4s. 6d. Boards. Hatchard. 1816.

A benevolent wish, said to have been expressed by our venerable King, that he might not have a subject who was unable to read the Scriptures, seems likely to be realized; for not only are Sundayschools and others every where established for the purpose of instructing the young, but institutions have been formed in many parts of the kingdom, the object of which is to extend the benefit of instruction to the ignorant adult. The book before us contains the history of one of the latter, which has been founded in Bucks and Berks; and its success appears to have been as extensive as the exertions of the committee have been wise and liberal. The question which, in recent times, was raised as to the policy of giving to the poor the benefit of education, is now no longer argued; and the affirmative being once generally allowed, the system of teaching the adult has this farther recommendation, that the expence with which it is attended can only be temporary, since in a few years the necessity will no longer exist: the wide diffusion of education among the younger poor having, by that time, so completely expelled total ignorance, that an adult institution will not know where to seek for pupils.

Adult instruction appears to have been encouraged in America; and there is room for hoping, from a correspondence with the French

committee