honourable birth, their power would be nugatory, their infignia ridiculous. Luxury, that bane to national profperity, by caufing the extinction of old families, incurably vitiates, to a certain degree, the conftitution of the house of lords. A new-created peer will never be refpected as much as one who derives his honours from a long line of ancestors. This evil would not, however, be very confiderable, if the vacancies were supplied as they ought to be; but of late years, instead of selecting those commoners who are most diftinguished by their family and fortune, peerages have been lavished on profeffional men, often of the most obscure birth, and who fometimes have not even attained an independence, but are compelled still to follow their profeffions, or truft to places and penfions for a maintenance. This practice partly arifes from the indolence and effeminate frivolity of those who are born to opulence, and who defert the service of the public, or at least confider it as fubordinate to their pleafures and amufements; they therefore not only have no claims to any recompence from government, but, from the degradation of their perfonal character, are of little importance in the eye of the minifier. It proceeds, however, still more from the neceffity the minifter lies under, of attaching to himself as many men of profeffional eminence as poffible, who, knowing their own importance, make their own terms; and alfo of fecuring a devoted majority in the upper as well as in the lower house. It behoves all parties at prefent to recollect themselves. Power, such as is vested in an English peer, can fafely be entrusted ont to one who is altogether indepen dent of the smiles of the prince, or the minister, as to his fortune; and if the house of lords is, as it always has been esteemed, the firmest support to royalty, and a neceffary refuge to the constitution againft the fickleness and violence of the people, it is the interest both of the people and of the crown to unite, as formerly, political power and honorary splendour to hereditary opulence and perfonal authority. Whatever may be his abilities and merits, however splendid his fervices, a new man, (novus bomo,) particularly if he has his fortune to make, is not competent to fulfil all that is required of a peer.' Then, criticifing the famous pafsage in Goldsmith, "Princes and peers may flourish or may fade, A breath can make them, as a breath has made; But a bold peafantry, their coun try's pride, When once destroy'd, can never be fupplied:" he says-The sentiment is false, for it would be still more difficult to re-establish a peerage than a peafantry; and he is certainly right, if it be true that hereditary nobles are useful inasmuch as they are venerated by the public, and that antiquity of descent is one of the causes, if not the principal one, of the veneration in which they are held by the people. He then proceeds to shew that, notwithstanding the many additions made to the lift of peers, the power of the ariftocracy is rather on the wane, and that that the influence of the democracy has long been gaining ground in our conftitution. He infifts that the monarchy, deprived as it is of the legal power necessary to its defence, cannot maintain itself with out influence: but at the same time he admits that a government of influence is baneful in its nature; and that the resources of no state whatever can for a continuance support it: he is therefore an advocate for a reform, though, as we have already said, on principles different from any yet recommended to the public. Unless (fays he a radical amelioration of legiflative policy takes place, anarchy will triumph, or despotism will crush every remnant of liberty. This horrid alternative can be prevented only by active and strenuous exertions of the advocates for order and rational freedom. Whoever values his property and his honours, must owe their preservation to himself: he can no longer enjoy them in indolence under the protection of laws, or a constitution, for which the contending parties feel no reverence, whichthe one endeavours to destroy, and the other to abuse.' A great bleffing attending our government, he observes, is, that we need not disorganize in order to regenerate, and that a complete reformation may be obtained by adhering to the spirit, without departing from the forms, of our present conftitution: -but, in order to proceed with effect, he thinks the legislature ought to begin in time. To those who have property, and to those who have hitherto poffefsed a kind of monopoly of places, he gives very wholesome advice in the following words: 'The rich would do well to imitate the fabled policy of the beaver, who is faid to bite off the part for VOL, XXXVIII. which the hunters pursue him, and submits to be maimed in order to save his life. The upper rank cannot long retain an exclufive right to the lucrative offices of the state. The greedy multitude will at first infist on having a share; they will then take the whole, and the pri vate poffeffions of the rich will foon follow. Before it is too late, all falaries and profits arising from offices of state should be infinitely reduced, and neither the populace nor their leaders will then be very keen in the pursuit of barren honour and unprofitable labour.' After the last chapter, are given 101 pages of notes, illustrating various propofitions laid down in the body of the work; to which is subjoined an Appendix of 31 pages, containing many very judicious observations on agriculture, inclosures, &c. Such is the outline of a work, which, we are convinced, cannot be read without benefit by any class or description of thinking men. It contains undoubtedly much that will be condemned, or at leaft disputed, by many, on the subjects of the army, militia, religion, garrisons, royal prerogative, commerce, and reform: but the parts which may be condemned by some, will be infinitely overbalanced by those that must be praised by all. Common Paper, 51. 55. Royal Paper, 71. 75. boards. Nichols. 1796. WE cannot fufficiently admire or applaud the extraordinary perfeverance and affiduity of research which our eftimable author must have beftowed on so dry but useful a publication as the one now before us. We have no hefitation in placing the hiftory of Leicestershire at the head of all the county hiftories which have yet appeared, for extent of information and minuteness of inveftigation, and though from its bulk and locality, its merit is not likely to be fufficiently appreciated by the present generation, yet pofterity will confider it as an invaluable legacy, and be grateful to its difinterefted author for fo complete a collection of antient records, authentic documents, and original information. The introductory volume begins with an account of Leicestershire extracted from Domesday book, with a tranflation. It is succeeded by a curious and valuable differtation on Domesday book, closed by a tabulary description of Leices tershire as it was in the time of William the conqueror. Then follows an effay on the Mint at Leicettershire, with views of coins. The names and arms of knights of the county of Leicester who served under Edward I. are next given, with other lifts of perfons who bore honours, &c. A copy of the Testa de Neville, as far as it relates to this county, a matriculus of the churches of the archdeaconry of Leicester in 1220, a rotula of the be an be a favourite character with this memorialist, who certainly displays intimate acquaintance with many nice hiftorical points; though few, we imagine, will follow him through all his narrations and difquifitions, which are however little enlivened by the beauties of compofition. An appendix of charters, deeds, and other legal papers, concludes this first part of the introductory volume. The first part of the second volume, containing an account of Framland Hundred, is a specimen of what is to conflitute the proper matter of the work. Every town. ship in the hundred is separately treated in an alphabetical order. The author's general method is to give the name, situation, and contents of the district; then to trace all the owners of the manor and the landed property of the place, from the earliest records, down to the present time: with this are introduced genealogies of all the principal families, as well as anecdotes, biographical and literary, of all extraordinary perfons connected, by birth or otherwise, with the township. Ecclefiaftical matter comes next, such as notices of all religious and charitable foundations, account of the churchliving, its nature and value, patrons, and incumbents; monumental inscriptions, extracts from the parish register, population, and bills of mortality at different periods, &c. Very few details of natural history or economical matter are to be found; and, indeed, little occurs for the amusement of a common reader, except the biographical relations, fome of which are curious. The present volume, comprifing Belvoir castle and Sta pleford, has a minute account of the noble families of Rutland and Harborough, the latter of which is peculiarly rich in genealogical illustrations, decorated with many fine engravings. Other diftinguished families, and not a few men of letters and divines of note, are recorded in the course of the work. We shall present our reader with the transcript of one article, as a neat model of topographical description, unattended with antiquities. It is an account of the natural history of the parish of Little Dalby, communicated by profeffor Martyn. This lordship is remarkably hil. ly, being thrown about in small swellings in such a manner, that in the greater part of it, it is difficult to find a piece of flat ground. The largest portion of it is an ancient enclosure; and none of the inhabitants know when it took place. I thought at first to have discovered the date of it from the age of the trees in the hedge rows; but none of them which I have had an opportunity of examining are more than about 120 years old; but if the enclosure went no further back than this, we should have learnt the date of it from tradition. I then searched the parith register, to find whether any depopulation had taken place fince the time of Elizabeth; but could find none, and therefore concluded that the enclosure was at least as early as her reign. That there has been a depopulation I conclude, not only from the natural confequence of enclosing, but from the foundations of buildings which are difcovered in the closes near the church. The whole lordship is in pasture, Mm 2 except except here and there a small piece which the landlords permit the tenants to break up occafionally, when it becomes very mossy; but then this is laid down again usually at the end of three or four years. There are no woods; but there are fome small plantations of oak, ash, and elm of no very long date, There is abundance of ash in the hedge rows, and scarcely any other tree. The foil is a strong clay; there is no wafte ground in the lordship; but it is not cultivated, in my opinion, to the best advantage. They depend chiefly on their dairies; they breed, however, very fine theep, famous for the whiteness of their fleeces, which weigh from seven to nine pounds: they breed also fine horned cattle; but the lordship, in general, is not good feeding ground. • This lordship is remarkable for having first made the best cheese perhaps in the world, commonly known by the name of Stilton cheese, from its having been originally bought up, and made known, by Cooper Thornhill, the landlord of the Bell inn at Stilton. It began to be made here by Mrs. Orton, about the year 1730, in small quantities; for at first it was supposed that it could only be made from the milk of the cows which fed in one close, now called Orton's close; but this was afterwards found to be an error. In 1756 it was made only by three perfons, and that in small quantities; but it is now made, not only from one, but from almost every close in this parish, and in many of the neighbouring ones. It is well known that this fort of cheese is made in the thape, and of the fize, of a collar of brawn. It is extremely rich, because they mix among the new milk as much cream as it will bear. It requires much care and attendance; and, being in great request, it fetches 10d. a pound on the spot, and is. in the London market. The There is no stone, gravel, or sand, in this lordship, except a little sand stone on the fide of Burrow-hills: it is mostly a strong blue clay; and in some parts of it is a good brick earth. There is only one spring, and that a chalybeate; it lies high, in a close belonging to the vicar, known by the name of the spring close; it runs over a great part of the year, and difcharges itself into the valley, where the village lies. Nobody ever attempted to fink for a well in this parish, till, in the winter of 1777 and 1778, Edward Wigley Hartop, Efq. dug and fucceeded. He penetrated through a bed of ftiff blue clay; and at the depth of 66 feet the water gushed in, when, I apprehend, the workmen were coming to the limestone rock, by their having thrown out some fragments of blue stone. To the depth of 10 feet were frequent nodules of chalk; at that depth the clay was full of small selenites. At 30 feet deep the clay was found to be full of pectens, and other shells very perfect, but extremely tender. Nodules of ludus helmontii were in. terspersed; ammonites of different species in great quantities, gryphites, and other shells; and plates of a clear foliaceous mica, resembling Muscovy glass. I am informed that the water did not prove good, and that little or no use is made of this well. 'I have not found any natural productions, either animal, vege table |