The causes of Mr. D's failure, in this part of his work (and that he has failed, must no longer be dissembled) are three

1st. He was probably not aware, that the kind of writing he adopted that of compilation-while it promises great facility and abundant matter, is encompassed with difficulties. Such are-the temptation it offers of saying too much; the hazard to which it exposes us of not always saying what is most proper; the nicety it enjoins of so tying together the different parts, as to give to them a character of unity; and lastly, the utter impossibility it creates of escaping that kind of patch work, (so offensive to good taste,) which an inequality of skill and intelligence in the different writers from whom we abstract, must for ever produce. Were we indeed to borrow only from those who were equal in qualifications, (a thing not very practicable,) the objection would hardly be less, since every original writer has a manner in some degree peculiar to himself. What association, for instance, would be more revolting than to bring together a page from Swift, another from Addison, a third from Johnson, and a fourth from Burke? And for this evil we know no remedy, unless perhaps one may be found in giving to such publications a dramatic form, and introducing each speaker under his own proper name.

2d. In selecting a subject, Mr. D. has taken one, concerning which nobody knows much, and with it a title, which unfortu nately holds out a promise of a great deal. To this cause is to be imputed that " inane et arcessitum" (that redundancy of matter, foreign from the subject, and that almost total want of all that really belongs to it) which characterise the whole of this division of his work. The stories of Hercules, of Theseus, and of Jason, may amuse children, and, like other fictions, may even be employed to prop a doubtful chronological theory: but have they any possible connection with a history of commerce? Do they suggest a single idea useful to a mariner, a merchant, or a statesman? Even after we arrive within the precincts of legiti mate history, does our knowledge on this subject do more than illustrate our ignorance? Of the trade of Egypt and Phenicia with the borders of the Euxine, we literally know only the name; and to the Romans, in their better days, so remote, so barbarous and so contemptible was the region in question, that they even refused to bestow upon it the dignity of a Province! To the latter Romans, the Genoese and Venetians were (as to commerce) what the Jews, Armenians and Greeks have long been, and now are to the Turks, mere navigators and factors,-but of their traffick on the Euxine, where are now to be found the details, or even the results? During the long dominion of the Turks, from the date of the fall of Constantinople to that of the treaty of

Kaidnargi, what is there known-or what is there worth knowing, of this commerce? It is admitted that Constantinople was its only mart, and an exclusion of foreign traffick and foreign traders its leading principle: Where then, if we carry our views backward from the year 1784, shall we find any instruction useful to the modern inquirer? Is it to the fragments, to be found in the orations of Demosthenes, or in the historical notices of Thucydides and Polybius, that we shall resort for such instruction? Alas! they but amount to this-that the Greeks derived a portion of the wheat and timber, employed by them, from Panticapeum and Theodosia-that they gave, in return, wines, cloths and arms that their ships kept the sea five months of the twelve,* and that the only guides, in their navigation, were the stars and the shores! And is it with such a stock of materials, that any prudent man would undertake to write a history of the commerce of the Black Sea, from the earliest ages?

After these remarks, we need hardly add, that the era of instructive history, in relation to this commerce, does not begin till the latter end of the last century; and that it consequently was with this point of time, that Mr. D. ought to have commenced his labours. And

3d. The last, but by no means the least cause of failure, is the omitting to give, in its proper place, the information the compiler actually possessed, with regard to the present condition of the commerce in question. In the chapter before us, we find only a sort of index of wars and treaties, which could not fail to affect the subject, but which, at the same time, could be only properly exhibited in their results. Even the notice of Mr. Antoine, explains rather his personal fortunes, than the suggestions and plans submitted by him to the Russian Government, and which no doubt laid the foundation of that policy which drew to a single port of the Euxine 1500 vessels in one year. It is no sufficient

* From April to August-both months included.

The policy, alluded to in the text, was that of inducing the Poles (while they had a national existence) to give to their surplus produce a new route, and instead of sending it by the Niemer and the Vistula to the Baltic, to carry it down the Dneiper, the Bog and the Dneister to the Black Sea. By the adoption of this route, the produce got much sooner to market, found a much better one, and avoided the vexatious exactions of the Prussian government. The suggestion was that of M. Antoine, a sensible French merchant, who had lived long at Constantinople, and made himself much acquainted with the geography and products of the countries watered by rivers discharging themselves into the Black Sea. He had the patronage of his own court, and scon obtained as much of that of Russia as was necessary to his object. A Polish writer (M. Malekeusky,) in 1804, endeavoured to draw the attention of the French government and nation to this subject, and to their special interest in it, by showing that from the proximity of their Mediterranean ports, and the kind and quality of their products, they were the people, of all others, most likely to carry on this commerce to advantage.

apology for such omissions, that this or other similar information is given in the topographical division of the work-first, because it does not regularly belong to that division; and again, because it enters essentially into the historical part, and was the more necessary there, from the deficiency already noticed.

To put the reader more completely in possession of the nature and extent of this objection, and at the same time to give another specimen of the work, we make the following extracts from the topographical description of Odessa.

The village of Kadjobey attracted the attention of the Empress, as a most eligible situation for a maritime city. It was in the former Turkish territory of Bessarabia, between the Bog and the Neister, on the south side of the bay of Kadjobey, 36 miles west of Otchakov. At that time it consisted of a small Tartar fort and a few miserable huts, but the harbour had been long resorted to by the vessels which navigated the Black Sea as a shelter in winter, and during storms and adverse winds.' In 1796 the name of Kadjobey was changed for Odessa.' vol. 1. p. 233.

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In 1803 this place contained only 8000 souls, and the surrounding country for many leagues was an uncultivated desert.' On the arrival of the Duke of Richlieu [in that year, and as Governor General] an unprecedented activity was displayed in the construction of piers, fortifications, magazines, lazarettoes, and buildings of all kinds.' There being no convenient wharves or docks where the vessels could lie secure and lade and unlade with facility, two moles were commenced, one 1290, and the other 1890 feet long.-This artificial fort comprises an area of 120,000 square yards. The entrance is 900 feet wide, so that the ships may get in with the wind at north east which before was adverse; the anchorage is good-the bottom being of fine sand and gravel. The depth of water within the port is sufficient to admit the largest ships of war, and being never frozen over, it has a great advantage over all the other Russian harbours in the Black and Azoff seas, which are generally obstructed by ice for several months, while vessels can arrive and depart from Odessa through the whole winter.' vol. 1. p. 236.

In 1805, 645 vessels arrived [at this port] and exported wheat alone, to the amount of 5,772,000 rubles; and in 1815, 1500 vessels arrived, and were laden with 6,000,000 of bushels of wheat, and the various products of Russia. The exports of 1816 amounted to upwards of 60,000,000 of rubles. During the year 1817, 3,000,000 bushels of wheat were shipped for the single port of Leghorn, the freight of which amounted to 1,350,000 dollars; 3C0 sail of vessels averaging 10,000 bushels each, were employed in this trade, and a third of that number transported 1,000,000 of bushels to Naples, Geand Marseilles. The present population of the city exceeds 40,000, while that of the surrounding country has increased in an equal ratio.' vol. 1. p. 240.

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Mr. Dearborn, seeing the necessity of accounting for this unparalleled growth, by some necessary and sufficient means, suggests the principal cause of it, as follows: "Alexander 1. beheld with peculiar solicitude, and justly appreciated the important consequences, which his territories on the borders of the Euxine would derive from this general commercial movement, Odessa being the point where the trade would principally concentrate, he encouraged it by a deduction of 25 per cent. from the duties of import and export ;* which had been extended to all the other ports, and offered great advantages to foreigners and his own subjects, as an inducement for them to establish themselves in this new city." By another order of the 5th March, 1804, all imported articles (not prohibited) may remain in Magazine, without paying duties for eighteen months, and by a farther regulation of the same date, a transito trade was established in favour of Odessa; that is, all goods not prohibited, and brought thither by sea or land, were permitted to pass for sale and consumption, to Moldavia and Wallachia, through Dubissar and Mohilef, to Austrian Germany; through Radzevill; and to Prussia, through Kraisky. "An additional order of the 26th of October, 1808, removed such remaining difficulties as experience had suggested, and permitted free of duty the importation of all foreign merchandize that was allowed transito.''

The imports from different countries into Odessa, comprehend almost every article of commerce. Consuls and houses of correspondence are established in the city by the governments and subjects of such nations as have secured by treaties, with the Ottoman Porte, the right for their vessels freely to pass the Dardanelles and Bosphorus of Thrace.' vol. i. p. 241.

The exports from Odessa consist of all the articles usually obtained in the Baltic; but wheat may be considered the grand staple commodity at present. The business of the city is principally trans

"This reduction, (says Antoine) is real, on articles of exportation, since the duties which by tariff would amount to 100 rubles, now pay but 75. Though the rule be the same with respect to imported goods, still the result is different. This difference is owing to the regulation of the custom house, that. all duties be paid in rix dollars—allowing for each dollar, only 140 copecks, a price very inferior to what they cost." The object is to bring foreign coin into Russia.

Antoine thus explains this transito trade-"On the 5th March, 1804, Alexander published an order that all foreign goods, allowed to enter the port of Odessa by sea, and all those coming thither from any city of Russia, shall be suffered to pass without any transit duty”—that is-they shall not pay a se cond duty at any custom house of the interior. A work of high authority, un-. der the title of "Voyage des deux Français,” speaks of great abuses in the Russian custom houses.

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acted by twelve brokers or factors, who are recommended by the merchants, and patented by the tribunal of commerce. Each factor has one or more substitutes of his own choice. They receive half of one per cent brokerage, on the amount of all purchases and sales. All agreements are made on stamped paper, which besides the stamp duty of one tenth of one per cent, pay one per cent ad valorem to the government.' p. 246 & 256.

The tribunal of commerce is composed of a president, two members, an imperial proctor, and a secretary, nominated by the governor, and two merchants chosen by the people. This tribunal has cognizance of all cases arising out of any commercial transaction, and there is no appeal from its decisions, except directly to the senate. The manner of conducting suits before it, is simple and not expensive. A sworn translator is attached to this maritime court, who translates into the Russian language all papers that are presented for its inspection.

There is a bank of discount and deposit similar to those in the other cities in the empire, with a capital of 750,000 rubles. Bills of exchange, endorsed by two respectable merchants established in the city, are discounted for not less than nine months, at the rate of six per cent per annum. A merchant who has a large amount of goods on hand, of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the country, and is in want of funds, can obtain from a third to three quarters of their estimated value, by pledging them as collateral security to the bank.' p. 257.

6 The chamber of commerce consists of five members and a secretary, chosen by the merchants, and represents them in all transactions with the governor in relation to commerce. It is the duty of this body to petition the governor for the redress of grievances, and solicit such indulgences or alterations in the maritime regula. tions, as the interests of the merchants may occasionally require.'

The merchants are divided into four classes, as is the case all over Russia. Strangers who are not naturalized, constitute the fourth class, and are not allowed to carry on any internal commerce.' p. 258,259.

The 2d division of the work is professedly devoted to statistics and topography, and has a more definite character, both of merit and demerit, than its predecessor; for though, like that, it abounds in matter foreign from the subject, still it differs in the quantum of such matter, and is not wholly made up of episode and digression. On the other hand, the omissions and mistakes of the historical part are comparatively innoxious-they put no man's life, or limb, or property, in jeopardy-while an error in topography may strand a ship, and another in statistics, embroil a nation. That Mr. D. wrote his book with any intention of producing either of these effects, we neither