Sir Lake. And you have told nothing? mean? Twi. O, yes-perfectly at liberty to guefs. Sir Lake. Well, I'll be fhot if I could quefs. Twi. And again-when an impertinent pedant aiks you a queftion that you know nothing about, and it may not be convenient to say fo―you answer boldly, "Why really, Sir, my opinion is, that the Greek poethe-he-he-he-mutters]-we-we-we-we→ you fee-if his idea was-and if the Latin tranflator-mis-mis-mis-mis-{ forugs] that I fhould think-in my humble opinion-but the Doctor may know better than I." for England, and leaves the hero to his fate. The confequence is, as might naturally be expected, that he embroils himself with the Tremors, and is thut up in prifon on fufpicion of treafon, through the information of the worthy Lord Flint On his being arrested, a chef-d'œuvre of wit, ingenuity, and artifice occurs. Every one remembers how a celebrated character, at present a convert to the law of Mofes, did fome time fince refufe to plead to an indictment on the pretence of a wrong defignation, in that he was not ftyled Lord G G This Mrs. Inchbald has moft felicitoufly laid hold of. When the guards feize Twincall he infifts on feeing the warrant, and utterly denies their authority, as finding himself called plain Henry Twincall; "for if it not be he who is meant :" the guards be not the Hon. Henry Twincall, it canhowever, not being great lawyers, overrule his objection notwithstanding the mifnomer, and hurry him off to prifon; where, but that the all-benevolent Mr. other-in short-[whispers]—whis-whis- Hafwell interferes, he must have loft his Sir Luke. The Doctor must know very little elfe. Twi. Or in cafe of a duel, where one does not care to fay who was right, or who was wrong-you anfwer-" This, Sir, is the ftate of the matter-Mr. F- came firstte-te-te-te-on that-be-be-be-be-if the whis-whis." Sir Luke. What? Twi. "There, now you have it-there 'tis-but don't say a word about it-or, if yon do-don't say it came from me.”. Lady. Why, you have not told a word of the ftory! head. After all this, who will have the hardiefe to rife and fay that the Author ferver and juft delineator of Manners and of Such Things Are is not an accurate ob Character? In fhort, the whole Dramatis Perfonæ Twi. But that your auditor muft not fay fave in the vifionary brain of Mrs. Inchis fuch an affemblage as exifts no where to you-that's not the fashion-he never Lady. A very pretty method indeed to fatisfy one's curiofity Such is what we are now a-days taught to believe to be delineation of character; and yet this wretched ftuff we have feen with aftonishment fet a Theatre full of barren fpectators in a roar of laughter. Shortly after his landing he meets a friend, Mr. Meanright, who, by way of ferving him, tells him to praife Sir Luke fo his valor in battle; Lady Tremor, the daughter of a wig-maker, for the length of her pedigree; and to attack the ttle of the reigning Sultan in the prefence <f Lord Flint, whom he reprefents as difffected. This" damn'd good-natured" friend, who is introduced forcibly for the fingle purpose of misleading Twincall, having performed his function, departs bald, whofe imagination, fertile as the Nile, is fertile only in monfters. Behdes those we have mentioned, there is a certain Elvirus, a plaintive young gentleman, whofe feelings are fo acute that his eyes are never dry; and who like all the reft must have been ruined, but for Mr. Hafwell. He is married to fomebody or other, at the end of the piece, that Such Things Are may conclude, like all other Comedies, with a wedding and fo much of the plot and characters. Of the fentiments we can fay nothing favourable. They may and we hope do fuit the fpeakers; for if they fit not them, they are totally ufclefs to any one elfe. One of the brighteft is Zedan-the pickpocket's exclamation above quoted; another is ftolen, we thould fay borrowed, from Goldfmith, where the Sultan's wife at firft refufes, till matters are explained, to leave her prifon; "from lofs of all her connexions the world is but a prifon to her," or fomething to that effect. The wit is principally fhewn in Mr. Twineall's motion in arrest of judgment on the as d the mifnomer. The next best good thing is faid by Sir Luke. It feems her Ladyship's uncle was a Hair-dreffer, and on Twincall's infulting her, the endea vours to fpirit up her husband to "give him a dreffing" to which he anfwers her with infinite readinefs and humour, "Yes, my dear, if your uncle the Frifeur had been alive, he might give him a dref fing, I dare fay."-We prefume thefe famples may fuffice. In one word, whether with regard to nature, character, fentiment, wit, or diction, we do not fcruple to pronounce Such Things Are the WORST of all the wretched Comedies which have difgraced our Theatres for thefe laft ten years. A View of the English Interests in India. By William Fullarton, Efq. M. P. and late Commander of the Southern Army on the Coast of Coromandel. 8vo. 4s. 6d. Cadell. 1787. (Continued from page 37.) WHETHER it be for the intereft of England, every circumftance confidered, to retain her Indian poffeffions, is a queftion of the greatest intricacy and importance; but it is an irrefragable truth, that if we are to exift at all in India, it must be in the character of a great warlike and territorial power; a power at all times able to exalt our allies and deprefs our enemies. Any fyftem fhort of this will in effe&t prove an abfolute furrender of that country. It is by the good order and efficiency of the military conftitution alone that the English dominions in the Eaft can be preferved. An army is in India neceffary, not merely for warlike purposes, but abfolutely for the ordinary bufinefs of Government, even to the collecting the revenues. The difcipline and manoeuvres of the European and Sepoy infantry, artillery, and the few cavalry in the Company's fervice, are formed on the best models in Europe; and before the late unfortunate war their appearance would have done credit to any fervice, while their gallantry and endurance form a fubject for hiftorical applaufe. The officers upon the Coast are habituated to act in emergencies with a facility that few fubordinate officers in Europe ever have a profpect of acquiring. Before an officer attains the rank of Captain, he muft unavoidably have been often charged with the command of parties on diftant marches in the conveyance of ftores, in the guard of pofts and frongholds, in the bufinefs of collection, in menacing refractory Polygars, and every other feries of duty which can occur. For thefe reafons, as the firft ftep to reform, the admiffion into the fervice should not be indifcriminate, and a fucceffion of deferving officers thould be felected for the command of all corps. As a reward for long fervices, the commiflions of the -higher orders fhould be rendered falcable; and a half pay established, by which means those who are difqualified for the zealous execution of their duty might retire with a provision for their afterdays, and give opportunities of advance ment to others more earnest in purfuit of military reputation. From the growing ftrength and discipline of our enemies, and our late disasters, the wisdom of Sir Eyre Coote's requifition of an increafe of Europeans to form the central ftrength of our armies appears: He maintained that at least 10,coo Europeans fhould be conftantly complete for fervice in the three Prefidencies. An objection has arisen from the quick mortality occafioning a burdenfome demand for new fupplies of men; but this may be in a great measure remedied, by falutary preparations for the reception of the recruits from Europe, by ftationing them in healthy quarters, enforcing regularity, and reftraining the fale of arrack and other pernicious liquors, With regard to the Sepoys, the public fhould be watchful of their difcipline, and liberal to confirm their attachment. It is by their good conduct that our fettlements have hitherto been preferved, and to therm we are to truft for after-ftability. That they are partial to our service, is evinced by recent experience. Let them receive the common justice due to every foldier; let them be regularly paid, and enabled to subfift their families;-let the wife institution of admitting the children of wounded or deferv ing Sepoys to be enrolled, and to draw pay from the battalions, be continued; and the Black officers be treated with indulgence and refpect. It is farther reqsifite that the mode any poflible imputation of fraudulent exa of iffuing pay be fo amended as to remove tions committed against the Sepoys, by uf diftrefs, by undue (toppages for articl rious advances of money in the moments of overcharged, and by other unjustifiable p*** tices. In that cafe we may venture to which either have not been furnished or a nounce, that while their expertness in manoeuvre, the interior economy of the battalions, and the conduct of their officers, continue to infpire them with a fenfe of fuperiority, no probable events can shake their adherence. As the European officers on the Coaft are not generally converfant with the country languages, it may be farther proper to direct, that every one afpiring to the command or adjutancy of a Sepoy corps, fhould first learn the Moorish or Malabar dialect, The inordinate and lavish profufion in the cavalry department, renders it chimerical to propofe any amendment, while things remain on their prefent footing; the whole must be entirely new modelled. Col. Fullarton's sketch of a proposal is, for the troopers to receive only a fmall proportion of pay more than the infantry, and the horses to be fed at a very reduced allowance, without any farther contract, contingency, or extra charge. Thus the expence of a cavalry establishment would be brought within the limits of the Coaft finances. Neither would any engagements on the part of Government be required, except that the officer charged with the execution fhould be established in one of the great northern stations, and that the Nizam, as well as other country Powers, should admit his agents to purchase horses freely throughout their territories. Lastly, that Government should order all renters and collectors of revenue in the poffeffions of the Company and of the Nabob not to charge more than eight fhillings, or one pagoda per 100 measures, for all the gram furnished to the cavalry, which, at the rate of one pagoda per month, would be an allowance to each horfe of more than three meafures per day. The corps of Pioneers fhould be enlarged, and the bullock department completely reformed. In India the artillery and baggage are all transported by bullocks; but in the late war, from the breach of faith and irregularity of payment of the Company, the Black men were very backward in furnishing this indifpenfible article, to which cause the failure in the Carnatic war has been chiefly. attributed. Another highly neceffary step to reformation is a regular stated periodical inquiry into the flores, magazines, and fortifications. To render this effective, the military Commandant must be vetted with power to enforce his orders, independent of the civil Refident, in whatever fortrefs he may be pofted. Such a regulation is indifpenfible for the honor of the officers who may have fuch commands; for if the military ftore-keepers and civil managers be fuffered to difregard all orders of the Commandant, in the direction of the magazines and preparations for defence, affuredly the responsibility in moments of attack fhould likewife be tranfferred to them, that there might be fome reftraint at least on their negligence and indifcretion. Having thus gone through the detail, Colonel Fullarton propofes, that the great body of the army, after fecuring the inferior forts, be diftributed into three frontier cantonments; the main or central one in the Carnatic, fomewhere between Arcot and Vellore; the fecond or fouthern one near Tritchinopoly; and the third at Ellore, or in fome other northern pofition. The laft might be exerted with energy in defence of the Circars, in conjunction with the Nizam, or againft Tippoo Sultan's northern poffeffions of Cudapah and Kanoul, as circumftances might require. By this diftribution of the forces in a connected range on the enemy's frontiers, the movements of the Carnatic army would no longer continue circumfcribed and inefficient as they have been, nor would Tippoo dare to penetrate into the British poffeffions, as dreading a retaliation with fuperior facility against his own. (To be continued.} The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, or a Commentary upon Littleton. By Sir Edward Coke. A new Edition, with Notes and References, by Francis Hargrave and Charles Butler, of Lincoln's-Inn, Liquites. Folio. 31. 35. Brooke. 1788. THE HE very high reputation of Sir Ed ward Coke, as a lawyer, has been fo long and fo univerfally admitted, that any eulogium on his work at this day must be impertinent.-It is at the fame time the VOL. XIII. grammar of the ftudent, the guide of the A kind of pulfe on which horfes are fed in India, ard and receive his dicta with refpect and admiration. Under thefe circumftances it can be little avondered at if this great work of the Venerable Father of the Common Law has paffed through twelve large editions before the prefent. For a considerable time paft the work has become icarce in proportion to the demand for it ; a reafon in itfelf fufficiently weighty to render a new edition neceffary: but a reafon much weightier is, the very many and important alterations which fince the days of Sir Edward Coke have been made in the laws of England. This is a circumftance which by creating embarraffment to the young ftudent, renders a fubject in itfelf fufficiently intricate, ftill more difficult and obfcure.-The obligations therefore of the legal world, and more particularly of the juniors of the profeffion, are very great indeed to the prefent editors, who from the avocations of very extenfive bufinefs, confequent on abilities of a superior order, joined to profound and accurate knowledge of the fcience they profefs, have yet devoted a great portion of time, much deep erudition, and infinite Jabour, to fincoth in fome degree the rugged paths of the common law, and open to the ftudent a thorter, an easier, and a pleafanter path through this great wilderness of legal information. Independent of this removal of diffi culties in the older branches which fill remain part of our law, the prefent editors have been careful to point out and diligent to explain what innovations and improvements have been made by the itatutes which have been paffed fince the days of Sir Edward Coke; and while in the text the ftudent may perufe the old law, in the annotations he will find a copious, clear, and accurate account of many highly important points of the law, as fettled by the lateft authoriti.s.-Indeed, the extenfive reading, depth of thought, and strength of reafoning which appear in the notes, are conclufive teftimonies to the abilities and learning of the editors; and prove, if their general reputation were fuch as to tolerate a doubt on the fubject, how very adequate they are to the painful, long, and laborious, tho' honourable task of commenting upon Coke upon Littleton. It appears that the work has been fo divided that the first part, confifting of nearly one-half, has been executed by Mr. Hargrave, in a manner fo highly creditable to himself, that his motives for reigning the undertaking, we fuppofe, must have been cogent indeed to induce in to forego the glory of having fingly accomplished fo arduous an attempt.As it is, however, he is the only perfon who has to regret his dereliction.-The legal world has felt no failure of fpirit, learning or ability, "Unoque avulfo non deficit aureus alter.” His fucceffor, Mr. Butler, has the honour of finishing the work in a manner of which it is enough for both to fay, that the eye of the moit acute criticifm cannot perceive the juncture. We shall de ay our readers no longer from the Preface, which speaks for itilf infinitely better than any thing we could advance in its praife. The reputation of Littleton's treatife on Tenures is too well established, to require any mention of the praifes which the most refpectable writers of our country have beftowed on it. No work on our laws has been more warmly or generally applauded by them. But fome foreign writers have fpoken of it in very different terms. At the head of thefe is Hottoman, who, in his Treatife "De Verbis feudalibus," thus expreffes himself: Stephanus Pafquerius ex"cellenti vir ingenio, et inter Parifienfes "caufidicos dicendi facultate præftans, li"bellum mihi Anglicanum Littletonium de"dit, quo Feudorum Anglicorum Jura ex ponuntur, ita inconditè, abfurdè et in concinnè fcriptum, ut facilè appareat ve. "riffimum effe, quod Polydorus Virgilius, "in Anglicâ Hiftoriâ, de Jure Anglicano "teftatus eft, ftultitiam in eo libro, cum ma"litia, et calumniandi ftudio, certare." This paffage from Hottoman is cited without any difapprobation in the 6th edition of Struvius's Bibliotheca Juris Selecta; but in the 8th edition of that work [Jenæ 1756] it is qualified by the words " fingularia fed 66 parum apta funt, quæ Francifcus Hotto"manus profert, &c." Gatzert, in his "Commentatio Juris exotici Hiftorico-Li"teraria de Jure Communi Angliæ,") Gottingen 1765) gives the following account of Littleton's and his works: "Equalis huic, tempore, aft doctrinâ, famâ et meritis longe "fuperior fuit, immortalitatem nominis "apud pofteros, fi quis unquam merito "confecutus, Thomas Littleton; a quo juris "ftudium inchoant hodie Angli, plane ut "fuum olim, ab edicto Prætoris et XII Ta"bulis, Romani. The English reader will probably be furprised at thefe accounts of Littleton. Hottoman has the reputation of great learning, and elegant writing; but he has been blamed very generally for the contemptuous language with which he fpeaks even of the writers of his own civil law. Gravina, But Hottoman's general difpofition to abufe, is not the only circumftance by which his virulent cenfure of Littleton may be accounted for. Full of the doctrines of the feudal laws of his own country, he might expect to find doctrines of a similar nature in Littleton, without adverting that the greatest part of Littleton's work treats of the fubordinate and practical part of the laws of England, which, like that of every other country, is in a great degree peculiar to itfelf, and bears but a remote analogy to thofe of other countries. It is allowed, that the feudal polity of the different countries of Europe is derived from the fame origin; that there is a marked fim litude in their principal inftitutions; and a fingular uniformity in the hiftory of their rife, perfection, decline, and fall. But the more we go from a general view of their conftitutions and governments, to their particular laws and cuftoms, the less this fimilitude and uniformity are difcoverable. The hiftory of every country, where the feudal laws have prevailed, while it prefents us, on the one hand, with an account of the many restraints imposed by them upon alienation, and of the many methods which have been taken to make property unalienable, prefents us, on the other, with an account of the different arts which have been used to elude those restraints, and to make property free. This is as obfervable in the law of England, as it is in the law of any other country. perty has obtained ground in England are very different. In England an unlimited freedom of aliening focage and military land was foon allowed, the practice of fub-infeudation was foon abolifbed the alienation of lands was reftrained by the introduction of conditional fees, and afterwards by the introduction of eftates tail; entails from their fuft eftablishment were greatly discountenanced by the courts of justice, and they were eluded by the doctrines of difcontinuance and warranty. In the courfe of time, a fine was made a bar to the claims of the iffue in tail, and a common recovery to the claims both of the iffue and of thofe in remainder and reverfion. Moft of thefe circumftances are peculiar to the History of England: hence an English reader, who opens the writings of the foreign feudifts, with an expectation of finding there fomething applicable to the practical parts of the law of his own country, respecting the alienation of landed property, will be greatly disappointed. He will find the most pofitive prohibition of aliening the fee without the confent of the lord: he will find very nice and fubtle difquifitions of what amounts to an alienation: he will find that, in fome countries, the lord's confent ftill continues a favour, that in others it is a right, which the tenant may claim on rendering a certain fine. In short, he will find the works of foreign feudifts filled with accounts of the "jus retractus," or "droit "de rachat," the "retraite lignager," and the "droit des lods et des ventes!' but he will hardly find the words, or any thing equivalent to the words, conditional fee, eftate tail, difcontinuance, warranty, fine, or recovery, in the fenfe in which we use them. The fame may be obferved on the doctrine of conditions. According to the strict principles of the feudal law, no conditions could be annexed to a fief, except the im plied conditions to which every fief was fubject, from the obligation of fervice on the part of the tenant, and the obligation of protection on the part of the lord. Every fief to which any exprefs or conventionary condition was annexed, was, from that very circumstance, ranked among improper fiefs. But fiefs in England were at all times fufceptible of every kind of condition. It would be cafy to pursue these obferva tions through the fubfequent chapters of Littleton's Treat fe. Even if we confider the fubject on a more extensive fcale, we shall find fome circumftances peculiar to the Eng ifh law, which must neceffarily occafion a very effential and marked difference between the conftitution and forms of the government of Englar N 2 |