that the executive power may be able at some future period to make use of the legislative, to serve its corrupt views and thus deprive the people of their liberties, the state of things would seem to be exactly the reverse of what you suppose, since the executive power would be more corrupt than the legislative, the seducer being generally regarded as more corrupt than the seduced.

MONTESQUIEU.

I did not intend in this phrase to apply the word corrupt to the moral character of the persons exercising these powers respectively, but to the essential principle of the powers themselves, and the remark must be taken in connexion with the theory of which it forms a part, that the healthy action of the British constitution depends upon the preservation of a steady balance between the executive and legislative powers. Now the ability of these powers to perform the functions belonging to them depends principally on the situation of the society, and not on the personal qualities of the individuals that exercise them. If by a change of circumstances the principle of the legislative power is corrupted, and it is no longer able to exercise its functions vigorously, while on the other hand the principle of the executive power has been invigorated, the supposed balance will be lost, without any regard to the moral character of the person in office or in parliament. It has long been imagined by a great part of the British statesmen, that this was the principal danger to which the liberties of England were exposed. The cry has long been a popular one, that the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. I am satisfied, however, that this supposed balance is a vain imagination, and of course that there is no danger to be apprehended of the destruction of a thing which never existed. Since the whole effective power resides in the popular body, its relative importance cannot have been diminished; and as the other co-ordinate branches of government are distinct powers rather in form than in reality, any apparent increase in their influence is in fact only an increase in the general attributions of the governinent, resulting from an increased action of the society in its political capacity.

FRANKLIN.

This, my dear President, appears to me the correct opinion. How can the influence of the crown have increased New Series, No. 6. 47

and be increasing, when it is now and always has been null? In this respect, therefore, the constitution requires no reform: nor is there much more consistency in the popular cry for reform in the house of commons. The com position of the house of commons is irregular, but it repre sents with sufficient fairness the property of the country, which is itself a pretty fair representation of all the interests affected by legislation. I have remarked before, that the forms of elections are in a great measure indifferent: and the manner in which the house is composed is well calculated to bring into it a great share of talent and instruction. The demand for reform proceeds from two descriptions of persons. With one it is merely the cry of distress for bread. With the other it means a few slight alterations in the mode of administration, which would not affect in a sensible degree the principles or the operations of the government. The principal defect of the British constitution appears to me to consist in the unjust principles upon which it provides for the distribution of property. If landed estates were placed on a level in this respect with other descriptions of property, a blow would be struck at the root of the great inequality of fortunes which would then disappear by a gentle and gradual process; and by the same means a steady and growing relief would be applied to the diseased state of the population, since the country would then be enabled to support a greater number of inhabitants. If in addition to this, the various laws now in force prohibiting and restraining industry and commerce in so many ways, were prudently and gradually repealed, so that a healthy and natural relation might grow up between the demand for labour and its supply, every thing would have been done, which is in the power of legislation, to restore the country to its former tranquillity and prosperity. It would be necessary after this that the expenses of the government or the taxes paid by the people should be in proportion to those paid by other nations, or else the capital of the country would soon be transferred to places where it would be employed to greater advantage; and in this point lies the principal difficulty of the present situation of England. Whether we attribute the political measures of the last thirty years to mal-administration or to an unfortunate necessity, it is certain that they have left Great Britain loaded with debt, as well as covered with what is called glory. The

interest at least must be paid. This is already an enormous charge on the industry of the country. As this evil is common in nearly the same extent to most of the other European nations, the effect is so far neutralised. But in addition to this, the political importance of the country must be maintained; a little island must continue to be the arbiter of the world. Extensive fleets and armies must be kept up, expensive civil and military establishments must be supported in a thousand colonies all over the globe, which return no profit to the nation. The balance of power must be regulated in Europe at the cost of long, frequent, bloody and ruinous wars. Could not the safety of the inhabitants of the British isles from foreign invasion and their happiness as far as it depends on civil institutions be secured at a cheaper rate?. Of this their wise men must judge. If not, their danger results from their unfortunate situation, from the great disproportion between their necessary expenses, and the number of people that bear the burthen of them.

Meanwhile my countrymen in the west are prosecuting their march in the career of national existence, blessed with liberty in its purest form, unincumbered with debt, an unlimited territory at command, and with all the enterprise of character and extent of information necessary to enable them to improve these advantages to the greatest possible degree. May they long continue to seek no other glory than that of being the happiest and consequently the wisest of nations. Safe from foreign violence behind the mighty wall of waters, which the blessing of providence has interposed for their de fence between them and Europe, may they abjure forever the fatal passion of being feared and hated through the world. May their political efforts be solely intended to secure their own rights and to establish the custom of peace.

Tu, regere imperio populos, Romane, memento: Hae tibi erunt artes, PACISQUE IMPONERE morem. June 1820.

Everett

ART. XX.-Le Trône Enchanté, Conte Indien traduit du Persan, par M. le Baron Lescallier. New York, 1817.

A POEM previously unknown in Europe or America, translated from the Persian and published in one of our own cities, is a phenomenon, we presume, without a parallel among us. It

us.

is principally this, which has led us to notice the work before The merit, which our country can claim for its appearance, stops with the simple fact of its having been printed at New York. Baron Lescallier was the late consul general of the French government, in that city. It appears from the preface to the work, that he had passed some years in India in the service of his government. Having pursued the study of the Persian language while in the East on account of its usefulness to him in the functions of his office, he continued the study, on his return to Paris, for the sake of examining the oriental manuscripts in the king's library. Among others, this story attracted his attention, as interesting to the European reader, in his opinion; and he informs us in a preface of very bad English, that he employed himself many years in translating it. The work, as we have it in French, was published by subscription, in numbers at New York, and an edition in English was projected at the same time, which failed.

We certainly agree with the baron, that it is interesting in one sense to read the translation of a book of this kind. It is not interesting or attractive as a skilfully wrought fiction, as containing exalted sentiments, or fine language. But as undoubtedly authentic, it shares the importance of any other genuine acquisition from remote ages or distant countries. A coin from Marathon or an armlet from Pompeii has an interest to us far beyond its intrinsic value; and a set of tales like these, descriptive of the manners of a perfectly distinct portion of mankind, is read with a curiosity far beyond the measure of its literary execution. We do not therefore think the course adopted by M. Lescallier very Judicious. He has,' it seems, suppressed needless and unmeaning passages, and in some cases corrected, reformed and improved the text.' This would have been very well, had the whole been intended to be adapted to western taste in the manner of the Arabian tales. But as it was not the object of the translator to remodel the story, but to present a specimen of oriental manners, any alterations of the kind alluded to render our reliance on its delineations of Eastern manners less confident. Exactly in so far as this has been done, and it is not easy from the internal evidence to tell how far, the value of the whole is diminished. It is like smoothing from a cast of an antique the seams of the mould, which

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prove it not to have been tampered with; it may look neater, but has lost part of its value. There still, however, remains enough of orientalism, in the Enchanted Throne, to render it very tedious to any one accustomed to the connexion and unity of our works of fiction. It is moreover this inherent dullness in most of the oriental works of imagination, with which we have any acquaintance, which seems to us one of the true grounds why the languages in which they are written are not more studied by men of letters.

It has always appeared to us that most of the reasons given by Sir William Jones, for the neglect of the study of Asiatic literature, are quite too general, and such as would apply equally well to every other valuable pursuit, excepting of course the reason derived from the difference of religion between the great families of the East and West.

Some men,' says he, never heard of the Asiatic writings, and others will not be convinced there is any thing valuable in them; some pretend to be busy and others are really idle; some detest the Persians, because they believe in Mahomed, and others despise their language, because they do not understand it. We all love to excuse or conceal our ignorance, and are seldom willing to allow any excellence beyond our own attainments,' &c.

It is to be feared that the pride, content, and indolence produced by ignorance, which Sir William assigns as the causes of the neglect of these languages, do not confine themselves to preventing the study of the literature of the East. Nor is it a very good reason for this neglect, that some men never heard of the Asiatic writings,' more than it would be philosophical to account for the inferiority of the Roman navies to ours, by saying that we build larger ships and organize a better marine.

Not however to go into this dispute, we do not know that the curiosity of our countrymen will be much excited to the study of Persian, by the specimen we are about to set before them, or that they will think the vast labour, which M. Lescallier declares he has employed upon it for many years, very well bestowed. On y trouve,' says the baron, les maximes de la morale la plus parfaite, applicables surtout à la conduite des souverains envers leurs sujets.' Whatever may be the morality of oriental or European princes, it is to be doubted if our American presidents will profit greatly by the example