on, had fail'd:-envy, of his servant's superior wit:-distress, to ⚫ retrieve the occasion he had lost;-shame, to confess his folly ;⚫ and yet a sullen desire, to be reconciled and better advised for the future! What tragedy ever shew'd us such a tumult of passions, * rising, at once, in one bosom? or what buskin'd, heroe, standing under the load of them, could have more effectually mov'd his spectators, by the most pathetick speech, than poor miserable Nokes did, by this silent eloquence, and piteous plight of his 'features ?'

We pass reluctantly over the account of Mrs. Barry, Mrs. Betterton, and others of less note, to insert the following exquisite picture, of one who seems to have been the most exquisite of actresses.

'Mrs. Monfort, whose second marriage gave her the name of Verbruggen, was mistress of more variety of humour, than I ever 'knew in any one actress. This variety, too, was attended with an 'equal vivacity, which made her excellent in characters extremely 'different. As she was naturally a pleasant mimick, she had the 'skill to make that talent useful on the stage, a talent which may 'be surprising in a conversation, and yet be lost when brought to 'the theatre, which was the case of Estcourt already mention'd: but where the elocution is round, distinct, voluble, and various, as 'Mrs. Monfort's was, the mimick, there, is a great assistant to the actor. Nothing, tho' ever so barren, if within the bounds of nature, could be flat in her hands. She gave many heightening touches to characters but coldly written, and often made an author vain of his work, that in itself had but little merit. She was 'so fond of humour, in what low part soever to be found, that she 'would make no scruple of defacing her fair form, to come heartily ' into it; for when she was eminent in several desirable characters of wit and humour, in higher life, she would be in as much fancy, 'when descending into the antiquated Abigail of Fletcher, as when ' triumphing in all the airs, and vain graces of a fine lady; a merit, that few actresses care for. In a play of D'Urfey's, now forgotten, call'd The Western Lass, which part she acted, she trans'form'd her whole being, body, shape, voice, language, look, and features, into almost another animal; with a strong Devon'shire dialect, a broad laughing voice, a poking head, round 'shoulders, an unconceiving eye, and the most bediz'ning, dowdy 'dress, that ever cover'd the untrain❜d limbs of a Joan Trot.

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To

⚫ have seen her here, you would have thought it impossible the same creature could ever have been recover'd, to what was as easy to her, the gay, the lively, and the desirable. Nor was her humour limited to her sex; for, while her shape permitted, she was a more adroit pretty fellow, than is usually seen upon the stage: her easy air, action, mien, and gesture, quite chang'd from the quoif,

'to the cock'd hat, and cavalier in fashion. People were so fond ' of seeing her a man, that when the part of Bays in the Rehearsal, 'had, for some time, lain dormant, she was desired to take it up, 'which I have seen her act with all the true, coxcombly spirit and 'humour that the sufficiency of the character required.'

In this work, also, the reader may become acquainted, on familiar terms, with Wilkes and Dogget, and Booth-fall in love with Mrs. Bracegirdle, as half the town did in days of yore-and sit amidst applauding whigs and tories on the first representation of Cato. He may follow the actors from the gorgeous scene of their exploits to their private enjoyments, share in their jealousies, laugh with them at their own ludicrous distresses, and join in their happy social hours. Yet with all our admiration for the theatrical artists, who yet live in Cibber's Apology, we rejoice to believe that their high and joyous art is not declining. Kemble, indeed, and Mrs. Siddons, have forsaken that stateliest region of tragedy which they first opened to our gaze. But the latter could not be regarded as belonging to any age; her path was lone as it was exalted, and she appeared, not as highest of a class which existed before her, but as a being of another order destined "to leave the world no copy," but to enrich its imaginations for ever....If we have few names to boast in elegant comedy, we enjoy a crowd of the richest and most original humourists, with Munden-that actor of a myriad unforgotten faces at their head. But our theme has enticed us beyond our proper domain of the past; and we must retire. Let us hope for some Cibber, to catch the graces of our living actors before they perish, that our successors may fix on them their retrospective eyes unblamed, and enrich with a review of their merits some number of our work, which will appear, in due course, in the twentysecond century.

From the Edinburgh Review.-Jan. 1820. Extract.

ART. III. 1. Remarks on the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Poor-Laws. By J. H. MOGGRIDGE, Esq. Bristol. 1818. 2. Observations on the Circumstances which Influence the Condition of the Labouring Classes of Society. By JOHN BARTON, Esq. London. 1817. 3. Observations on the Rise and Fall of the Manufacturing System of Great Britain, &c. London. 1819.

THE industry of a great commercial country is always liable to temporary embarrassments, from changes in the ordinary channels of trade, and from the varying demand for the products of its manufactures. But we believe that Great Britain, since the return of peace affords the only instance of a regorgement being simultaneously felt in every employment in which capital had been invested. VOL. I.

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Were the distress less general, it might be supposed to be occasioned by the transition from a state of war to a state of peace. In that case, however, as soon as tranquillity had been restored, a stimulus would have been given to those employments which had been depressed during the war. But, after a lapse of five or six years, they are all nearly as much depressed as ever. Pauperism, instead of being diminished, is rapidly increasing.

Several well-informed cotemporary authors state, that, at the commencement of the last century, the Poor-rates were supposed to amount to about a million. In 1776, it was ascertained, from the returns made under the act of that year, that the whole sum raised by assessment, and expended on the poor, amounted to 1,720,3167.: And, from similar returns, it was ascertained, that the average expenditure, on account of the poor, for 1783, '84, and '85, being the years immediately subsequent to the American war, amounted to 2,167,7487. It is to be regretted that there is no account of the amount of the Poor-rates previous to the commencement of the late war in 1793; but, from the very great extension of commerce, and the universal improvement which had taken place in the interim, we should be warranted in supposing, that it had diminished subsequently to 1785. Provided the estimate of the amount of the rates in 1700 be not incorrect, it may be concluded, that they had doubled in the first 93 years of the last century. But, during the last twenty-seven years, the former rate of increase has been entirely changed. In 1803, the total sum raised on account of the poor amounted to 5,348,2047., or to two and a half times the sum raised for the same purpose at the close of the American war: And, according to the late Reports on the Poor-Laws, the average expenditure of 1813, 1814 and 1815, amounted to no less than 8,164,4967.,- -a sum which the Committee states must since have been very greatly increased; and which, we believe, would now be underrated at TEN millions [sterling!]

It is clear, therefore, that this extraordinary increase of pauperism has been owing infinitely more to the privations occasioned by the war, than to any revulsion which may have attended its close.→ Voluntary contributions have increased still more rapidly than the rates. Notwithstanding the heavy burdens to which they have been subjected, individuals of every rank and station have been equally forward to assist in alleviating the wants of the poor. But, notwithstanding this unprecedented extension of the rates, and notwithstanding every assistance which the higher classes have been able to bestow, the condition of the great bulk of the people-of all who must depend on the wages of labour for support is at this moment decidedly worse than at any former period. The palliatives by which it has been attempted to check the progress of pauperism, seem only to have added to the violence of the evil. And,

in the words of the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, there is every reason to think that the amount of the as'sessment will continue, as it has done, to increase; till, at a pe⚫riod more or less remote, it shall have absorbed the profits of the property on which the rate may have been assessed; producing thereby the neglect and ruin of the land, and the waste or re'moval of other property, to the utter subversion of that happy or'der of society so long upheld in these kingdoms.'

The causes of this alarming increase of pauperism are not to be found in the transition from a state of war to a state of peace. Neither are we disposed to agree with the Committee of the House of Commons, and those who contend that it is chiefly, if not entirely, owing to the pernicious operation of the Poor-Laws. Not that we mean to deny that the holding out a certain resource to those who have been reduced to a state of poverty, whether occasioned by misfortune, or by the folly and ill conduct of the individual, must have a powerful tendency to weaken the motives stimulating to industry and economy. But, however pernicious the PoorLaws may be supposed to be-and we believe them to have been most pernicious-there is no ground for supposing that they have operated more injuriously during the last twenty-seven years, than in a former period. It is not, therefore, to any decline in the industry-in the spirit of deliberate and considerate forethought-or in the love of personal independence by which the people of Britain have been distinguished, that the enormity of the assessments for the support of the poor is to be ascribed. The very impatience of suffering which they have evinced, to whatever excesses it may have led, is honourable to the national character; inasmuch as it shows, that dependant poverty is esteemed a degradation by the great body of the people.

The compulsory provision for the support of the poor, was established in the latter part of the 16th century; and, for the last hundred years, can be considered as a constantly operating principle, of which the effect, in different periods, must have been nearly the same. It may go far to account for the gradual and regular increase of pauperism, from the reign of Elizabeth down to the commencement of the late war; but it will afford no explanation of its late irregular and enormous increase. Although the variations in the value of money since the restriction of cash payments, must have had some effect in causing an increase in the nominal amount of the rates, yet neither these variations, nor the influence of the laws themselves, could possibly have occasioned such a degradation in the condition of the lower classes, as has been lately witnessed. Other causes have conspired to produce this effect; and of these, it will be found, that Taxation, and the restrictions on the trade in Corn, have been the most powerful.

In the present improved state of the science of political economy, it is unnecessary to set about proving that a heavy taxation on the principal necessaries of life, must be extremely prejudicial to the great body of the people-to all who either depend for subsistence on the wages of labour, or the profits of stock. This is admitted on all hands; but it has been strenuously denied, that these effects can be justly ascribed to the system of taxation adopted in this country: And as it is of the utmost importance, in every inquiry into the causes of the public distresses, that we should have correct opinions on this fundamental point, we shall premise a few observations on the effects which must in general result from the imposition of heavy taxes on necessaries, before examining the nature and operation of our system of taxation.

In countries, such as the United States, where there is a boundless extent of fertile and unappropriated land, and where no feudal privileges or impolitic restraints fetter the employment of industry, or retard the accumulation of capital, the imposition of a tax on a commodity necessary for the subsistence of the labourer, would not be attended with any very injurious effects. In such countries, both the profits of stock and the real wages of labour are high; and a considerable revenue might be collected without occasioning any great inconvenience either to the workman or his employer: a little economy would enable the former to save the amount of the tax out of his wages; and these might be advanced without the rate of profit and the power to accumulate capital being thereby materially impaired. But in all old settled and fully peopled countries, taxation is infinitely more injurious. The supply of labour being in this case almost always greater than the demand, the real wages of labour are comparatively low; while, from the necessity of cultivating inferior soils, the profits of stock are comparatively limited: There is obviously little room for increased economy; nor can a rise in the price of necessaries, that is, of those commodities "which the custom of a country renders it indecent for creditable people even of the lowest order, to be without," be compensated by a corresponding rise of wages.-The labourer is unable to raise this wages in proportion to the increased price of the commodities he consumes: and for this obvious reason, that, while the competition for employment, or the number of labourers continues undiminished, the demand for their services, however much it may be lessened, cannot be increased by the imposition of the tax. principle which has been laid down by Dr. Smith, and other political economists, that every direct tax on the commodities necessary for the subsistence of the labourer, falls entirely on his employer, must be received with very great modification: except in the rare

a Wealth of Nations, iii. 331.

The