Frederick, invited to Vienna, by the Emprefs Maria Therefa, and her fon Jofeph II. who appointed him director of the normal schools or feminaries in all the Auftrian dominions. His regulations have been introduced, and are acted upon, in almost all the Catholic countries of Germany.

"In Silefia they had, at first, many old prejudices to contend with. The indolence of the Catholic clergy was averfe to the new and troublefome duty impofed on them. Their zeal was alarmed at the danger arifing from this difperfion of light to the ftability of their church. They confidered alike the spirit of innovation and the spirit of inquiry as their natural enemies. Befides this, the fyftem ftill meets refiftance from the penurious parfimony and ftubborn love of darkness, prevailing in fome parts of the province. Many villages neglect the support of their schools; many individuals, upon falfe pretexts, forbear fending their children to school, for the fake of faving the tax. The compulfive measures, and the penalties prefcribed by the ordinance, are used feldom, and with reluctance, The benevolent defign has not been accomplished to the full extent of which it was fufceptible; but, as far as it has been accomplished, its operation has been a bleffing. That its effects have been very extenfive, is not to be doubted, when we compare the number of schools throughout the province, in the year 1752, when they amounted only to one thousand five hundred and fifty-two, with that in the year 1798, when they were more than three thousand five hundred. The confequences of a more general diffufion of knowledge are attefted by many other facts equally clear. Before the feven years war, there had fcarcely ever been more than one periodical journal or gazette published in the province at one time. There are now no less than feventeen newspapers and magazines, which appear by the day, the week, the month, or the quarter, many of them upon fubjects generally useful, and containing valuable information and inftruction for the people. At the former period there were but three booksellers, and all these at Breflau. There are now fix in that capital, and feven difperfed about in the other cities. The number of printing-preffes and of book-binders has increased in the fame proportion." P. 366.

Having pointed out the route purfued by the traveller, and exhibited fpecimens of his work, we can only refer our readers to the book itself, which we have no hesitation in afferting, will be found to be the production of an enlightened and accomplished mind,

ART.

ART. X. An Efay on the Principle of Commercial Exchanges, and more particularly of the Exchange between Great Britain and Ireland; with an Enquiry into the prac tical Effects of the Bank Refrictions. By John Leslie Fofter, Efq. of Lincoln's Inn. 8vo. 209 pp. 5s. Hatchard. 1804.

MR.

R. FOSTER, in this work, undertakes to give an account of a phænomenon, fuppofed to be difcovered in the commercial world, and abfolutely new; the coexiflence of a favourable balance of the general payments of a ftate, together with an adverse exchange. He brings forward public documents to establifh the fact of this coincidence, which is in diametrical oppofition to former experience, and pre-eftablished principles, feemingly well founded upon experience; and he then proceeds to account for this anomalous circumstance, which must be on grounds very different from those that have prevailed to this time.

To enter fully into the merits of this work, it would be requifite first to confider the evidence of the coexistence of these two facts, hitherto held to be fo repugnant as abfolutely to exclude each other; then, if it must be admitted, the proofs of the principles on which it is here accounted for, which of neceffity must be new, will require to be examined, together with the legitimacy of their application. Many evils are here alfo ftated, as attending this fingular fituation of the country; and the efficacy of the remedies which he has prefcribed to these evils might become proper objects of our confideration.

We cannot give to the plan of our critique fo wide a circuit; especially as the existence of the fact itself is certainly entitled to our first attention, as being of the greatest national confequence; and this cannot be entered upon, in any manner proportioned to its importance, without an arithmetical comment on Mr. F.'s authorities, of fome length, and of a kind which the nature of a work like our's feems almoft to exclude. When this, however, is difpatched, by fuch a process as we can undertake, and which will be fufficient, we conceive, to fhow, that probably the difficulty does not exift; whereby what is of fered in folution of it may be more curforily pafled over; we fhall add to it a few remarks on certain other principles which Mr. F. adopts, and what he deduces from them; and, in conclufion, give a fummary character of his work.

Ireland has certainly been for fome time in a fate of fermentation, not very remote in degree from that which may be called exalted: great errors, at fuch a crisis, and on moment

ous points, generally entertained, cannot exist without danger, and may be fatal to that country; and this may as well be the confequence of those delufive and flattering flatements, which, throwing a veil over the caufes of its diftrefs, prevent any timely remedy being applied to them; as of thofe fictions of evils threatening the general empire which do not really exift, or the aggravations of thofe which cannot be denied; the latter of which may furnifh new arms to fedition, excite difcontent, and create defpondency, where they had not been felt before; and few errors are capable of producing worfe confequences than thofe which relate to the important fubjects here treated.

Of the two branches of the fat maintained by Mr. Fofter, that the courfe of exchange is against Ireland, but the balance of general payments in her favour, we are concerned to be obliged to admit, from the evidence in his Appendix, that nothing can be urged against the former; and equally to be compelled to exprefs a ftrong belief, that the general balance of payment is much again that country; that belief being founded on certain documents which he has produced to fhow the contrary, and which, as cited by him, carry on the face of them the appearance of fo doing.

For No. 4. of the Appendix is a Table, ftated to be an account of the current value of the exports and imports of Ireland, and their differences, in feven different years; and therein we find, in the year 1803, a balance entered in favour of Ireland of 917,000l. We have not the printed report before us, from which this is extracted, but we thall give certain reafons, deduced from the Table itself, and that preceding it, which contains the correfponding feries of official values, to how that no such balance took place in that year; and the high probability that it is an error of a very fingular kind, which fhall be defcribed.

In order to this, we muft affume the following point; that the imports of Ireland, in each of the years confidered, confifted very nearly of the fame articles; and that the quantity of each bore nearly the fame proportion to the whole import of each year. The Table of official values is divided into three periods of five years each (p. 205): in that which follows it, we have the current values for the laft four years of the fe cond period only, and the firft, fecond, and fourth of the third (p. 206). At the firft formation of a national commercial ledger, every commodity is rated in at its current value; which therefore, for the first year, is the fame as the official; but the former foon comes to exceed the latter by the rife of prices of all commodities; and, after a long courfe of years,

very greatly fo to exceed it; and the difference of the two rates must be expected to be conftantly increasing. In England, in about a century, that augmentation has become nearly 70l. per cent. on each.

Let us now examine the progreffive variations of the current and official values of commodities, as fhown in the two Tables, on these principles: and, firft, of those of the imports. Their average official value for four years, ending 1799, was 4,220,000l.; the current value, 5,890,ocol.; and the difference or excess of the latter 39°561. per cent. The next pe

riod of comparison is only of two years, 1800, 1801; for, in the Table of current values, we here come to a break: taking the averages of both, that of the official value was 5,884,000l.; of the current value, 7,963,000l.*; and the difference of the two, 35'341. per cent. Here we see a fall in the current prices of 30221.† per cent. taking place in about three years and a half. The official amount for the year ending Jan. 5, 1803, was 6,087,000; the current value, 7,654,000l.; and the difference 25741. per cent. only: and here had been a further fall of the average prices, in about two years and a quarter, of the great amount of 70931. per cent. and in the whole five years and three quarters, of 9'903l. per cent. It is a circumftance which muft excite fome aftonishment, that in a term of years, in which the imports and exports of Great Britain must be taken on the average to have rifen 3'09l. per cent. the imports of Ireland, purchased either in the market of Great Britain, or others in which both countries deal, and there fore rifing and falling very nearly in current value at the same rate in both, fhould be actually found to have fallen in price 101. per cent. It must be confidered, that if thefe imports had in price remained ftationary, they are undervalued at that rate; befides, the Table holds forth a great progreffive fall in their current values, contrary to what was laid down as probable.

text.

Years ending March 25.

Not of 4221. for 139'56; 135*34; 100l. 96.9771. or fall as in

It may be taken as certain, that in thefe five years and three quarters, the values of the exports and imports of Britain increased with a celerity equal to the average rate of the century ending 1797, or 70l. per cent. in the whole term; that is, o'5321. per cent. yearly; and in five years, 2.6881.; and in five years and three quarters, 3'09l. per cent.; and the imported commodities, that at the beginning of the period were bought for 139.561. at the end thereof were rifen in price to 143 881. and at the fame time in Ireland fallen to 125.741. according to the valuation here confidered.

But

But the difficulty of admitting the valuation of the imports abfolutely vanishes, when compared with that occurring from. the valuation of the Irish exports: their average official and current values for the first term of four years were 4,651,000l. and 6,423,000l. refpectively; and the latter exceeded the former 38 081. per cent.; the excefs current value of the imports at the fame period had amounted to 39.561. fub-equal to the former; fhowing the rife of value on each, from the inftitution of the ledger of the Irish infpector to the middle of the term, a period of many years; and proving, that the increase of prices in each had a strong and eftablished tendency to equality. The averages of the two values for the next two years were 3,949,000l. and 5,581,000l.; and the excefs of the latter 41331. per cent. have rifen in three years and a half 2.0351. per cent.; but, in the year 1803, the official value of the exports having been 5,090,3ool. and their current vaJue 8,571,400, if they confifted nearly of the fame commodities, and mixed nearly in the fame proportions, the excefs of their current prices above the official values was 93 331. per cent. and in that period they had rifen 36-781. per cent. To us the valuation of the exports of the year 1803 appears totally inadmiffible*, and to contain a great latent error; and, as the pofition, that the general balance of payment is in favour of Ireland, is refted by Mr. Fofter on the valuation of the exports and imports of this year folely, it is an error of the firft public confequence.

There is, in the first of the two Tables here confidered, that of the official values and their balances, an overfight of great magnitude; and, if we fuppofe that a fecond of the fame Lind has been committed, in giving the current values of :803, we fhall, by a due correction, get rid of the groffer par of thefe inconfiftencies; for, in the firft, we find the average excefs of imports at the official values, for the laft period of five years, 1,195,000l. which is the laft article of that balance fet in the place, and declared to be the annual average of the excefs of exports of the first period, the true amount of which was 1,071,000l.; and vice verfa, the favourable balance of the first period is put in the place of the adverfe balance of the laft.

* This conclufion will appear in fomewhat a ftronger manner thus. It appears from the two Tables, that from March, 1797, to July, 1803, the current value of the Irish imports had decreafed in the ratio of 1395 to 1257, while that of the exports had increased in that of 1380 to 1933; and thus the balance contended to have been in her fa tour in 1803 was generated.