labourer to the same quantity of corn as at present, at the same price as in the rest of Europe, the condition of the lower classes of people in this country would be deteriorated. And if they should not be so reduced, it is quite clear that the encouragement to the growth of corn will not be fully restored, even after the lapse of so long a period."

Mr Malthus sums up the evils attending restrictions on the corn trade as follows:

I. "A certain waste of the national resources, by the employment of a greater quantity of capital than is necessary for procuring the quantity of corn required.

II. "A relative disadvantage in all foreign commercial transactions, occasioned by the high comparative price of corn and labour, and the low value of silver, as far as they affect exportable commodities.

III. "Some check to population, occasioned by a check to that abundance of corn, and demand for manufac. turing labour, which would be the result of a perfect freedom of importation.

IV." The necessity of constant revision and interference, which belongs to almost every artificial system."

The first of these disadvantages has already been admitted; and as to the third and fourth, it is obvious that they can be of little importance. It is surprising that Mr Malthus, who has already so well illustrated the subject of population, should hazard the opinion, that a check to it must, in any circumstances, be a serious evil. The necessity of frequent revision and interference, which Mr Malthus justly says belongs to every artificial system, cannot be an object of great dread, when the constitution of our government is duly considered, under which

the security of the people against capricious or arbitrary regulations is ample and undoubted.

The second in order, therefore, of the evils which he enumerates, is that which chiefly deserves attention, viz. the disadvantage to which we shall be exposed in all foreign commercial transactions, by the high comparative prices of corn and labour, and the low value of silver in this island, so far as these circumstances affect the price of exportable commodities. But our decided superiority in capital, industry, and machinery must be more than sufficient to compensate inconveniences of this kind at least for many years, after which the encouragement given to our agriculture may be expected to restore the price of British corn to an equality with that of other nations. As the question seems to be, which of the two is to be sacrificed to a certain extent→ our manufactures and commerce, which have already attained to such a height of prosperity--or our agriculture, which must for ever be the basis of our national greatness, there can be little room for hesitation.

The difficulties arising out of the present state of our currency cannot be considered as of much importance. The depreciation is already well ascertained; and when the currency shall again be raised to its proper value, an ordinary operation of figures will be sufficient to fix with accuracy the price at which importation is to be permitted.

Mr Malthus seems much afraid of the evils of a glut which the state of the European market may not enable the British grower to relieve by expor tation. But the inconvenience which he apprehends can never be entirely removed by any system of regulations; and must under any circumstances affect the state of the British market in

common with the general market of Europe. In seasons of unusual fertility, no particular nation can relieve itself by exporting.-There can be no objection, however, to the proposal of this author to continue the old bounty, with the view of affording partial relief in such circumstances, although the efficacy of such an expedient, seems extremely questionable. Neither does the proposal of Mr Malthus, to give to the restrictions the form of a constant duty upon foreign grain ("not to act as a prohibition but as a protecting, and at the same time profitable tax,") appear to be unreasonable. But as the tax must necessarily be such as, when added to the original price of foreign grain, to raise the whole to the limit. ing price to be fixed by the proposed law, and as it will probably be found expedient when the price of British corn rises so high, to remove the duty altogether, there seems to be but little prospect of making the regulation in any way subservient to the in

But

terests of the public revenue. if the expedient can do little good, neither can it do any harm; the great object of any law on the subject be. ing protection to the British farmer, which will be equally secured by either plan.

The inferences deducible from the preceding reflections seem to be,

1st, That the expediency of a bounty on the exportation of corn, in circumstances which may be expected to recur at no very distant period, is apparent from general principles, and has been proved by experi ence. And,

2ndly, That in the relative circumstances of this country, and of Europe, unless some efficient restraint be immediately imposed on the importation of foreign grain, the agriculture of Great Britain must experience a rapid and alarming decay, which it may be impossible to counteract by any future interference of legislative wisdom.

ALTHOUGH the life of a modest and retiring man of letters affords, in general, scanty materials for the pen of a biographer, yet a record of the principal facts and events which constitute the chain of his history often forms a useful and curious commentary on his writings, and enables us to enter into those associations that guide his mind in the choice and embellishment of the subjects to which his attention is directed. It is an improving exercise to study the connection, in so far as its fugitive traces may be conjectured or ascertained, between the external situation and the intellectual and moral qualities which distinguish an individual, conspicuous for his talents and attainments, from the rest of his species. While such a study sometimes affords an explanation of, or an apology for, opinions and habits by which he is characterized, it enables us also to learn, from the experience of another, those lessons of practical wisdom from which we are but too apt to turn with indifference or aversion, when

they are presented to us under the stern aspect of precept or command.

But if long-cherished affection, mingled with recent emotions of unfeigned regret, blind not our eyes to the cold and accurate estimate of the merits of him, a sketch of whose life we now propose to offer to the public, we are inclined to think that he has a peculiar claim to be remembered and honoured; and that the public have a right to expect even a larger and fuller memorial of his mind and manners, than the limits prescribed for such compositions in a work like this permit us to attempt. In an age when the multitude of candidates for poetic fame renders originality, without eccentricity or affectation, an almost hopeless effort, he has had the merit of having discovered and pursued an untrodden path, and of having adorned it with the simplest graces of nature and fancy, which formerly lay in a great measure unobserved or neglected. To him also belongs the higher praise of having rendered these graces subser

vient to the noblest purposes, by connecting them with the charms of devotional and moral sentiment, and with the kindest sympathies of a feeling and benevolent heart.

We do not think it possible to peruse the works of Grahame without becoming wiser and better; and as he voluntarily devoted the choicest fruits of his genius to the service of the public, the readers and admirers of the author may reasonably expect to be favoured with some account of the man. Sincerely and deeply do we condemn the immoral and inhuman practice, which has of late years found too many abettors, of ransacking with unhallowed hand the sacred repositaries of the departed, and exposing to vulgar gaze many private and confidential communications and transactions, which ought to remain for ever in oblivion. Such a practice tends to destroy the charm of private friendship and unreserved confidence, and to make men hypocrites and actors in the most retired intercourse of social life. We merely propose to give such an account of the life of this respected and lamented character as may introduce his readers to some acquaintance with himself, and with out seeking either too minutely to disclose his individual merits, or "draw his frailties from their dread abode," to exhibit a faithful portrait to those who knew little or nothing of the original. To render this delineation the more interesting, we shail, in the course of the narrative, offer a general criticism on his works, in the order of their publication, and reserve to the close some reflections which could not elsewhere be so properly introduced. In laying our strictures before the tribunal of the public, it shall be our study to divest ourselves of all partial feeling, and to offer our

VOL. V. PART II.

opinions with as much freedom and candour as if the author were known to us by his works alone.

James Grahame was a native of the city of Glasgow, and was born on the 22d day of April, 1765. His father, Mr Thomas Grahame, who was a writer (or attorney) in that place, enjoyed the fullest confidence of those who committed the manage. ment of their affairs to his skill and integrity; while the gentleness of his manuers, and the excellence of his character as a man, and a member of society, secured to him the affection and esteem of all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. His mother was well qualified to be the partner of this worthy man, and was peculi. arly fitted to cultivate in the minds of a numerous offspring those good dispositions and affections which flourish the most under the fostering hand of maternal care. A rare concurrence of circumstances calculated to form the temper, refine the taste, and expand the faculties of their son James, attended his early years His nurserywoman, long a faithful domestic in the family, and regarded as one of its members, was endowed with so much good sense, united to so much gentleness and integrity, as to render her a most valuable guide of his infancy, It is to her grotesque appearance that he is supposed to allude in the amusing picture of the Harvest Home, or Kirn Feast, in his "British Georgics,' when he describes a matron arrayed in

Several of his near relations were persons of cultivated minds and literary habits. Of these we shall only presume to particularize a female relative of the most fascinating manners, agreeable temper, and lively humour; and also his elder brother, Robert, who afterwards succeeded to the business of his father in Glasgow, where he still resides. He was seve. ral years older than James, who cherished for him the most tender affec. tion, and who received from him perhaps his earliest relish for the charms of poetry. The two brothers used frequently to accompany each other along the romantic banks of the Cart, in the vicinity of which their father had a summer residence. To this retirement Robert used frequently to repair, at the close of the week, from Glasgow, where he was pursuing his academical studies, bringing along with him his favourite poetical authors, for the purpose of perusing them amid scenes peculiarly congenial to the sentiments which their works were fitted to inspire. James, who was at that time a boy of nine or ten years of age, felt himself honoured in being his confidant and associate on such occasions, and the youthful enthusiast would listen with delight to the finest passages of Milton, Thomson, Beattie, or Cowper. The language and sentiments of poetry thus became early familiar to him; and that habit of nice observation of nature was imperceptibly formed, which his writings so remarkably evince.

To his residence near the banks of the Cart, in his boyish years, he alludes in an interesting passage of the Birds of Scotland, which, as it marks also the early sympathy of his heart with the joys and sufferings of the feathered race, we shall gratify our