When knights and war he sings and war's alarms, But when Angelica's soft charms he sings, An angel's pinions sweep his trembling strings.' P. 20. We certainly could pick out many very weak lines to set overagainst these. But we will not enter on this invidious task, when the great majority of good ones evince that the author may safely be referred to his own ear for the proscription of the bad. A few miscellaneous pieces of unequal merit conclude this little volume. A midnight hymn, and a picture of morning, shew that Mr. Linn, like many other good rhymers, fails in the modulation of blank verse. In the last piece, which is entitled 'an Epistle to a Friend with the Poem of the Powers of Genius,' occurs an execrable rhyme: deride-describe.' Though we have already swelled this article to a very disproportionate length, we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of transcribingan Address to my Taper,' which is simple and not inelegant. The third line of the second stanza wants a syllable, as it is printed. We presume that loud is an error of the press for loudly, and have corrected our copy accordingly. My taper lend thy glimmering ray, And o'er the city falls the night. 1 The bustle of the passing throng, Now gathering storms the sky o'erspread, • Protected from the angry sky, "On such a night old legends tell, (While lowering clouds the sky o'ercast,) Aerial beings pour their yell, And spread their pinions to the blast. On such a night did Shakespeare hear O then, on this enchanting page, O let me catch that matchless song, How fast thy slender form decays! How like thy dim and dying flame, The sons of genius and of lore! Whose souls too ardent for their frame, Burn till their pulse can beat no more.' P. 135. ART. VI.-The Principles of Currency and Exchange, illustrated by Observations upon the State of the Currency of Ireland, the bigh Rates of Exchange between Dublin and London, and the Remittances of Rent to Irish Absentees. By Henry Parnell, Esq. 8vo. 43. Budd. 1805. ART. VII.-Thoughts on the alarming State of the Circulation, and of the Means of redressing the pecuniary Grievances, of Ireland. By the Earl of Lauderdale. 8vo. 4s.. Longman. 1805. THE state of Ireland as to its circulating paper, its specie, and current coin, and the exchange between that part of the united kingdom and Great Britain, having lately become the subject of minute investigation, particularly before a committee of the house of commons, much curious and interesting information has been collected, leading in a commercial and political point of view to most important consequences. The "Thoughts' of lord Lauderdale appear to be suggested entirely by the report of the committee. Mr. Parnell has the merit of having offered his sentiments to the public in a former edition, previous to the production of the report. The present edition, in its improved and enlarged state, is well calculated to elucidate this intricate subject, and both from its manner and matter must be more generally useful than the 'Thoughts' of his lordship. The facts upon which different opinions have been founded, are thus generally stated by the noble lord. 4 That, since the restriction of payments in cash in the year 1797, the circulation of the bank of Ireland has increased from six hundred thousand pounds to three millions: 'That a difference has existed and continues to exist, between the value of gold and bank paper: That the nominal exchange between London and Dublin has risen from 1061. 75. Id. the average of three months, ending in December 1797, to 1161. 3s. 7d. the average of three months, ending March 1804: That gold has disappeared from circulation, except in the northern parts of Ireland; and that the silver coin has gradually been displaced by small paper notes (technically termed silver notes), or by a base coinage, the best shillings of which may be worth about sixpence, and the sixpence worth about three-pence.' P. 8. These facts, with their calamitous consequences, are further illustrated by Mr. Parnell : We see in the short period of six years and eleven months, that currency depreciated in its value 10 per cent ;-the rate of exchange between Dublin and London, during exactly the same period, advanced from an average below par to even 19 per cent. against Dublin in its trade with England, and to 24 per cent. in its trade with foreign countries;-the issues of bank paper during the same precise period increased from 621,9171. to 2,911,6281.— the landed property of the kingdom diminished in its annual value 10 per cent.;-the property of the widow, the annuitant, of every person deriving their means of living from fixed stipends, reduced in the same degree;-a violation, in fact, effected, of all pecuniary contracts made previous to the restriction, and a further violation unavoidable of all that have been made since that period, whenever the restriction is removed ;-the prices of labour increased without making the poor man richer;-the prices of the foreign materials of manufacture, and of foreign articles of prime necessity, greatly augmented; the exertions of industry incumbered by heavy charges; and the profits of trade, the property of the landlord, the speculations of the farmer, sometimes benefited, sometimes injured, at all times depending upon the free will and uncontroled authority of the bank directors. We see them at their pleasure fixing the assize of property; and, though a body unknown to the constitution, exhausting that property to a greater degree than the king, lords, and commons, to whom alone the constitution grants a power of interfering with the property of the subject, could exhaust it by the most oppressive taxes.' P. 63. The object of lord Lauderdale's observations is to shew: 1, That the difference existing between the value of gold and the paper of the bank of Ireland, arises from the depreciation of the latter: 2, That the increase of bank paper is the sole cause of its depreciation: and 3, That the reduction of the quantity of bank paper is the only remedy for the existing evil. It appears most extraordinary, and can no otherwise be accounted for than by an extreme unwillingness to acknowledge the truth, that so many gentlemen of respectability before the committee should refuse their assent to the proposition that the paper of the bank of Ireland has been depreciated. The arguments drawn from its comparative value with bullion and other commodities, and from the rates of exchange, place the fact beyond the possibility of doubt. The same gentlemen of course were under the necessity of accounting for the high rate of exchange by taking it for granted that the balance of debt, including all commercial and pecuniary transactions, was against Ireland, and against her in a sufficient degree to produce the existing unfavourable effects; whereas it appears, upon the clearest evidence, that such a supposition is not only altogether erroneous, but that from a statement of the balance of debt the exchange ought to have been in favour of that country.. In fact, the depreciation of the Irish paper currency, however unpleasant to the feelings of the Irish bank directors, whose conduct has been justly called in question, accounts in the most satisfactory manner for the fluctuations and rise in the rate of exchange. The nature of exchange, and the effects produced upon it by variations in the value of currency, are explained by Mr. Parnell with much conciseness and perspicuity: < The par of exchange between different countries, is the comparison of the value of their respective currencies; when these currencies are of permanent value, a permanent per-centage will express the par of their mutual exchange of currency. Thus, whilst guineas were the standard of the value of English and Irish currencies, the fixed and acknowledged par of exchange was 8 per cent. being the exact difference between the number of pounds, shillings, and pence, contained in a guinea, in the regulated currency of Ireland and in that of England. According to this definition, if after any fixed par of exchange has been fixed between two countries, the currency of either country shall have become of greater or less value, the variations in the rates of exchange above or below par will necessarily depend upon, and be in proportion to, the variation in the value of the currency; and therefore it may be inferred, in perfect consistency with the strictest rules of logic, that any circumstances which alter the value of currency must, ex vi termini, alter the par and rates of exchange. Thus, if a practice of debasing coin had at any time become so general, as to diminish the value of all the coin in circulation in Ireland, 10 per cent. whilst at the same time no such practice existed in England, it would be evident that 8 per cent. would not express the par of exchange between England and Ireland; the par, under the new circumstances of the Irish currency, would be exactly 18 per cent. But if, instead of the coin having been debased, it had dis appeared, and a currency of paper been introduced in its place, of a value less than that of the currency of specie by 10 per cent. it is equally evident the par of exchange with England would become 183 per cent. As specic has actually disappeared, and as a currency of paper supplies its place, of an inferior value by 10 per cent. it is clearly erroneous now to say, if the exchange of Dublin on London is 16 per cent. that it is 8 per cent. above par; the fact is, it is 2 per cent. below par, and it is therefore a fact, that under the existing circumstances of the currency of Ireland, an exchange of 16 per cent. is a proof of a balance of trade and remittances in favour of Ireland. The state and variations therefore of currencies are in this case, and oftentimes, the principal agents in producing variations in exchange; and where the variations are very great, unusual, and after some time cease, leaving exchange very different to what it generally had been, it is then certain, that some great alteration in currency has happened.' P. 13. Lord Lauderdale, not taking so general a view of the subject, touches but incidentally upon the principles of currency and exchange. Both authors, however, being convinced of the depreciation of the Irish paper, agree also in opinion that the increase or excessive issue of bank paper is the true cause of that depreciation. Lord Lauderdale has laboured to prove this beyond what appears to be necessary, and some of his historical details prove more than is applicable to the present state of Ireland. The causes which in any country are likely to depreciate paper currency, exclusive of its excessive issue, are, doubts of the solvency of the bank by which it is circulated, or want of confidence from political considerations. Now, the solvency of the bank of Ireland has never been doubted; and if political considerations had operated upon the minds of the public, we should have seen the effect at periods when Ireland was far more exposed to invasion and rebellion than during the time when the depreciation took place. In the absence of these causes, therefore, can we have a simpler or more satisfactory account of the matter than what is to be found in Mr. Parnell's short explanation of it? The value which the paper has lost in comparison with the value of specie into which it was formerly convertible, can only be attributed to the same cause which lessens the value of every article of sale, barter, or exchange, namely, more of it being brought to market than the demand requires. The surplus above that quantity which is requisite for carrying on the various operations of trade, receipts, and payments, necessarily contributes to diminish the value of the whole in circulation, and to enhance, in a proportionate degree, the prices of all things.' P. 3. It is agreed on all hands, that as the evil originated with the |