15 Duarte Nunes de Leao; curious in its different parts, but often extravagant.

16 Historia de Faria; written in the time of the

Philips, and therefore partial.

17 Discursos varios de Gaspar Severem de Faria; excellent in its parts and kind.

18 Europa, Asia, e Africa, de Med. de Faria; the same as the above, it being so as to history. 19 America Portugueza de Sebastian da Rocha; a very indifferent book.

20 Deduaço Chronologica; to be read with caution, having some false afsertions.

21 Todas as Memorias d'Academia Real da historia; some excellent, and many bad.

22 Provas da historia genealogica; good, and taken from principal archives.

23 Collecsao des Leis de D.Alfonso vo.; manuscript. 24 Collecçao de D. Manoel; the same.

25 Nobiliarchia Portugueza; a curious book. 26 Historia de Gangerie; good and well written. de Ceuta; I believe very rare.

27

28 Sistima dos regimentos reais; a necefsary book. 29 Ordenaçoens do Reina; this is the principal code of printed statute laws.

30 Viagems de Fernao Mendes Pi nto.

BOOKS OF LITERATURE.

31 Camoens; well known.

32 Poesias de Bernardes; excellent in language, and a good poet in what is not divine.

33

de Ferreira; most pure in language,

but a rough poet.

much inferior to Camoens.

36 Francisco Rodrigues Lebo; pure in and has some good verses, except in his the Constables.

37 Obras de Garçao; the best modern odes.

P

38 Palmerin d'Anglaterra,; a well wr mance in the two first parts.

39 Novo Metodo d'estudar; a good book time it was written in.

40 Metodo d'estudar a Historia Portuguez 41 Obras de Pe. Vieira; excellent, only study of the language.

42

Obras de Pedro Nunez; one of the bes maticians of his time.

43 Roteiro de D. Joao de Castro ao Mar work worthy of its author.

44 Poesias de Fernao Alr. da Orienti; es although they have only some passage ving of praise.

Sound philosophy, nor much knowledg not be hoped for in those books; as it known in what darkness the nation has alı ways lain involved; and that its best tim in the age in which light began to break fo [To be continued.]

THE INFORMER,

No. I.

For the Bee.

Give unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's. THERE is not to be found in the annals of jurisprudence, a juster sentence than that which I have adopted as the motto to this paper. To government alone, man owes all the blessings he derives from society; under its protection he can rest in peace, afsured that he can suffer no material injury. To insure to him that tranquillity, many persons must be continually employed to reprehend and to punish offenders; and all these must be paid; The labourer is worthy of his hire;" but if money be not provided to pay for that hire, where fhall he find it? Nothing, therefore, can be more just and expedient, than that the taxes imposed on the people, by an enlightened legislature, onght to be chearfully paid: Every one ought to " give unto Cæsar the things that be Cæsar's."

66

It does not however, follow, that all the demands of Cæsar ought to be implicitly acquiesced in, "The labourer is worthy of his hire" only when he is engaged in useful and beneficial employments. It were a great absurdity indeed, to insist that every sturdy fellow who fhall be employed to annoy instead of protecting me, should have a title to claim payment for this his destructive labour. Some discrimination is neccfsary before

being able to do nothing without the co and consent of his ministers, who may his guardians, it has been wisely dec they and not he should be answerable for He may be weak, and incapable of judgin he see any objects but through their eyes therefore, cruel to make him answerable that were perhaps the inevitable conseq ignorance. The same excuse cannot b for the ministers: No necefsity compels accept of that station. If they feel them. norant or ill informed, they commit a cri cepting an office that requires a degree ledge, which no one, so well as themse know, whether they possefs it or not. If required to sanction measures that th judgement disapproves of, they have it power to remonstrate against them, an fhall not do, to resign, and thus to free th from the danger they might have run by them into effect. If they neglect to do commit crimes in office that deserve pun surely they are to blame, and ought to s their own faults.

"The Parliament is said to be omnipotent a political, though not in a physical sense, perhaps be admitted. The decrees of Pa are, by the constitution of this country, on all the people. But parliament though

25 sense it be all powerfull, consists of men who are not infallible. The decrees of this afsembly, are often weak, contradictory, unjust, and destructive to the people, for whose service the members of it were created. These decrees ought therefore to be canvafsed with freedom, their tendency examined, and whenever they are plainly pernicious, their faults ought to be exposed, their baneful influence be held up to view, that the people may be enabled to unite and demand that they fhould be repealed. The minister may be impeached at the bar of the House of Lords, and punished for his crimes, the parliament may be tried by the dictates of reason, when arraigned before the tribunal of the people; and if, by their acts, they shall be convicted of ignorance or neglect of duty, they ought to be required either to correct their errors, or to give place to others who are better qualified than themselves to discharge the important functions of that office.

On these principles, I, who am a friend to government, stand up for the supremacy of reason, and lay claim to the privilege of investigating, with unlimited freedom, the tendency of decrees which have obtained the sanction of the legisla ture. In doing so I act the part of a friend to good government, to the king, and to my country.

The excise laws fhall be the subject of the present discussion. And here I wish to lay it down as a principle, that whatever law fhall be found. to be well adapted for raising a considerable revenue to the crown; or in other words for obtainVOL, vii,

D