ane belton belt." The firft of thefe needs no explanation; but the laft was used for two different purposes: in the first place, to keep the body firm; and, in the fecond place, to hang the fide piftols upon.

A lockfinith's cffay," with confent of the blacksmith's, two kift locks." From this circumstance, we may infer, that either there was not a quorum of the locksmiths at this time, or more probably, that the locksmiths were anciently a branch of the blacksmith trade.

At this period the lorimer effay was "ane pair of small ribbit fword gairds, and ane bridle bit, ane pair stirrip irons, and ane pair of fpurs; all of the French fashion ;" and at this time a fadler's effay was a man's and a woman's faddle of the Scottish fathion.'

Mr. Riddel's Remarks on the Offices of Thane and Abthane, p. 185, have already appeared in the Archæologia, and certainly did not deferve republication.

Mr. Cummyng, in his difquifition on the arrangement of fome filver coins of the James', attempts, from the authority of a genealogical tree of the time of William and Mary, &c. to align the groat with an arched crown to James IV. Any English medallift would have informed him, from the reverfe of that coin, that it belongs to James III. who was flain in 1488. Henry VII. who afcended the throne in 1485, is the first English monarch who appears with an arched crown. The reverfe of this coinage of James III. is the fame with his earlier groats, and thofe of James II.; the motto is Dominus Protector, &c. while James IV. gives Salvum fac, &c.

The Account of the Province of Bifcay, p. 205, is another extraneous but a pleafing paper. The Scozia of the tenth century, p 206, is doubtlefs Ireland, which then exclusively held that name, and from which the voyage to Bifcay is easy. Bifcay was united to Caftille in the fourteenth century.

But the Biscayans on that occafion were not inattentive to their liberties. They did not admit of a lord of a foreign family, but with the exprefs condition, that all and every one of their former laws, cuftoms, and privileges, fhould be inviolably preferved. This was agreed to, and, in as far as I could learn, has been pretty punctually obferved to this day; fo that there is not perhaps any part of Europe, where more true and genuine liberty, without licentioufnefs, is enjoyed, than in the lordship of Bifcay, the province of Guypuzcoa, and the county of Alava, which all three are united together, and go under the general name of Bifcay.

This people have a very ancient cuftom of holding their general

neral meetings for treating of their public affairs in the open fields, under a large tree near to the town of Guernica. Thefe meetings confift of the corregidor, or prefident named by the king, who is always a gentleman bred to the law; of the two deputies of Bifcay, of the knights, fquires, gentlemen, and the procura dores or reprefentatives of the towns, and of their small diftricts, which they call republicas, or ante-iglefias. This laft word means church-porch (porch of the church), and all the villages of the diftrict come under that name, because they are wont to meet and confult about what concerns their common intereft and tranquillity, in the porch of the parish church, where there are feats of ftone for that purpose.

In one of these meetings, which was held in the month of July, 1476, Ferdinand of Arragon, who had some years before married Ifabel or Elizabeth (for the Spaniards, inftead of the name Elizabeth, always ufe that of Ifabel) of Caftile, confirmed to the Biscayans all their laws and privileges, in the church of St. Mary of Guernica, and fwore in the most folemn manner be fore the altar, to observe them, and make them be observed; and immediately after this, going to the famous tree, and being feated on a chair of ftone under it, he received the homage of the chiefs and reprefentatives of the nation, who acknowledged him for their lord, and in teftimony of it kiffed his hand; as fully related in the 225th page, and in the feven following pages of this book which I send you. The fame laws were also confirmed by his daughter, queen Jean, at Burgos, in the year 1512, as may be seen, page 233 of the fame book.

But, in the following reign, the Bifcayans obferving, that the body of their laws had fome imperfections; that feveral of their written laws had fallen into disuse, and that many of their cuf toms generally received, had not been committed to writing; in their meeting under the tree of Guernica, on the 5th of April, 1526, at which there were prefent about fixty reprefentatives of their little republics, befides many other refpectable persons, it was unanimously refolved, that their laws fhould be revifed; and power for fo doing was given to fourteen perfons, the most esteemed they had for knowledge, experience, and integrity, who promifed on oath to reform the laws, in the manner that should feem to them, before God, the moft conducive to the good government of the country, and to the peace and profperity of its inhabitants. For this end they were allowed only twenty days; and the corre gidor, or chief judge, was joined with them in the commiffion. It was alfo ordered by the meeting, that the code of laws, thus reformed, fhould be read and examined by the ordinary deputies, and regidores of Bifcay, and that a clean copy of it should be made out, and two procuradores, or commiffioners, should be Ff fent C. R. N. AR. (V). August, 1792.

fent with it to court, in order to obtain the confirmation of it from the emperor Charles V. who was at that time their lord.

All this was executed with great punctuality. The emperor approved and confirmed these laws at Valladolid, on the 27th of June of the following year 1527, and they were promulgated, received, and ordered to be obeyed in the national meeting held under the tree of Guernica, on the 3d of July of that fame year. It is a copy of these laws, in a small folio, that I have the honour of prefenting to the Society; and at the end of them are fubjoined the confirmations of the five following kings of Spain, including that of Philip V. in 1702, in which year this copy was printed.' (To be continued.)

Political Effays on the Nature and Operation of Money, Public Finances, and other Subjects: Published during the American War, and continued up to the prefent Year, 1791. By P. Webster, A. M. 8vo. 5s. Boards. Dilly. 1791.

R. Pelatiah Webster, from his own account, appears to MR. have been at extraordinary pains to acquire political knowledge. He informs us, that the first thirty years of his life were generally employed in a close attention to fome ípeculative fubject; after which, by a turn in his affairs, he betook himfelf, from neceffity more than inclination, to mercantile bufinefs. His old habits of reading and thinking could not eafily be fhaken off, and he was fcarcely ever without either a book, or fome fubject of difcuffion ready prepared, to which he could refort, as foon as he found himfelf at leifure from other avocations.

His ufual method of difcuffing any fubject which he refolved to examine, was, as far as pollible, to afcertain the original, natural principles of it; and to follow, without bias or any incidental prejudice, to fuch conclufions as those principles clearly pointed out to his understanding. Having by thefe means acquired a large fund of political knowledge, an opportunity foon offered of calling forth his abilities in the fervice of his country, by the unfortunate war between Great Britain and America, of the latter of which Mr. Webster is a native, and feems to have been a zealous partizan. The subjects which then chiefly engaged his attention, as being of the greatest importance, were thole which refpected the American refources, and efpecially the ftate of the continental money, at that time the fole fupply of the public treafury. He accordingly published fome reafonings and conclufions on this fubject in 1776; and thefe conftitute the first Effay in the prefent collection.

In this Effay, the author treats of the danger of too much circulating cafh in a ftate, the ill confequences thence arifing, and the neceffary remedies. It seems a little ftrange, that Mr." Webfter fhould begin with treating, from any other motive than that of inspiring national confolation, of the danger of too much circulating cash,' at a time when America was avowedly in the oppofite predicament. An extract from this Effay will give our readers an idea of Mr. Webster's abilities, both as a reafoner and a writer.

The computations of the value of the free ftates of America by conti-and doria, in the Evening Poft of Sept. 21, rather prove that value to be immense than reduce it to a certainty. Perhaps another method of computation might be admitted, viz. from the quantity of land within the prefent inhabited part of thofe ftates, which is at least two hundred millions of acres, and worth a dollar per acre I should think at least, fome fay two or three dollars, and perhaps the perfonal eftate may be computed at as much more, which I do not think is reckoning high, and will make the amount four hundred millions of dollars. All thefe computations prove with certainty enough that the funds, on which the continental money depends, are fuficiently great to fupport a very much larger quantity than is already emitted. I would farther obferve that the American ftates owe nothing to any body but themselves, and employ no fhips, foldiers, &c. but their own, fo that they contract no foreign debt; and I take it to be a clear maxim, that no ftate can be ruined, bankrupted, or indeed much endangered, by any debt due to itself only; nor can it ever be much impoverished by any war, if the war and other cafualties do not destroy mankind faster than the women produce them, and the people that are left at home can furnifh provifions, clothing, &c. neceilary for themfelves and the foldiery, together with all other neceffary ftores and implements of the war.

There requires no more to preferve such a state in a war of any length of time than good economy in bringing the burden equally on all, in proportion to their abilities; but then I think it very neceffary that they should pay as they go, as near as may be. The foldier renders his perional fervices down on the fpot, the farmer his provifions, the tradefman his fabrics, and why should Why should the not the monied man pay his money down too? foldier, trade man, farmer, &c. be paid in promifes, which are not fo good as money, if the fulfilment is at a distance?

Payment in promifs or bills of credit is a temporary expedient, and will always be dangerous, where the quantity increafes too much, at least it will always have the confequences of a medium increafed beyond the neceffities of trade; and whenever that happens, a speedy remedy is neceffary, or the ill effects will F f.2

foon

foon be alarming, and, if long neglected, will not be easily reme died. The remedy or rather prevention of this evil I take to be very easy at present.

If the quantity of continental curreney is greater than is neceffary for a medium of trade, it will appear by a number of very perceptible effects, each of which point out and facilitate the remedy. One effect will be, that people will choose to have their eftates vested in any goods of intrinsic value rather than in money, and of course there will be a quick demand for every kind of goods, and confequently a high price for them; another effect will be difcouragement of industry, for people will not work hard to procure goods for fale, while the medium for which they must fell them is fuppofed to be worfe than the goods; and of course, another effect will be a difcouragement of trade, for nobody will import goods, and fell them, when imported, for a medium that is worfe than the goods themselves; for in that cafe, though the profits may be nominal, the lofs will be real.

Thefe effects all point out their only remedy, viz. leffening the quantity of the circulating medium, and this can be done by but three ways that I know of: first, the deftruction of it by fome cafualty, as fire, fhipwreck, &c. or fecondly, exportation of it, which cannot happen in cur cafe, because our medium has no cur-. rency abroad, and I think it very well for us that it has not; for in that cafe our debt would foon become due to people without ourfelves, and of courfe lefs fenfible, more difficult to be paid, and more dangerous; the third, and, in my opinion, the only practicable way of leffening the quantity is by a tax, which never can be paid fo eafy as when money is more plenty than goods, and of courfe, the very caufe which makes a tax neceffary, facilitates the payment of it.

The tax ought to be equal to the excefs of the currency, so as to leffen the currency down to that quantity which is necessary for a medium of trade, and this, in my opinion, ought to be done by every state, whether money is immediately wanted in the public treafury or not, for it is better for any flate to have their excefs of money, though it were all gold and filver, hoarded in a public treafury or bank, than circulated among the people, for nothing can have worse effects on any state than an excess of money. The poverty of the fates of Holland, where nobody can have money who does not firit earn it, has produced induftry, frugality, economy, good habits of body and mind, and durable and well-eftablished riches, whilft the excefs of money has produced the contrary in Spain, i. e. has ruined their, industry and economy, and filled them with pride and poverty.'

This author's imagination appears to be continually haunted with the apprehenfion of an excefs of money, while, accord