On all these subjects, he exercises, without ostenta.; tien, the privilege of examining and judging for himself; and in doing so, although he expresses himself with plainness and energy,* he is never dogmatical. He observes this further dictate of a sound philosophy, to refrain as long as possible from any very general conclusions; and, although he ap pears to have disengaged his mind from the power of common and hereditary notions respecting poli tical economy, he does not, by a transition too often made, substitute dangerous or extravagant positions in their place. He is even more distinguished by the temperate use which he makes of his liberty, than by the independence which secured him from the chain.
During the same period in which he pursued these labours, Beccaria undertook another literary task of a very different description ; and commenced an In wary into the Nature of Style. t A first part of this 'Inquiry was published in 1770 ; but the author does not appear to have prosecuted his intention ; and only one detached portion of the remainder was found among his papers.$ The apology which he makes for this apparent deviation from his usual ob jects of pursuit, drawn from a consideration of the connection subsisting between the study of the fine arts, and that of moral and political science, affords a pleasing proof of the natural expansiveness of his mind. § His scientific and literary studies were now to be interrupted, however, by new and more• flattering marks of distinction from his government. By an imperial order of the 29th April 1771, he was ap pointed a member of the Supreme Economic Coun cil ; on the suppression of which, he was transferred to the Magistracy of State ; and, lastly, by a despatch of the 17th January 1791, was named one of the Board for Reform of the Judicial Code, civil and cri minal. His activity and usefulness in the discharge of these great trusts'are best proved by the circum stance,' that some of the most important matters in those different departments were committed to his direction, and regulated by his counsels. The most remarkable of his state papers were, various Ordi nances relative to the grain ; a very important Des patch transmitted to the Court in 1771, which gave rise to the reform of the public money in 1778 ; a Plan proposed in 1780, for effecting an uniformity in the weights and measures ; and certain Proposals, in 1786, founded on the tables of the population. His writings of this description are characterized by their method, perspicuity, and precision. It deserves to be noticed, respecting his scheme for the equali zation of measures, that, of the different natural bases for exact measurement, he explicitly recom mends that which may be obtained from the celes tial bodies ; and, in the application of it, proposes to employ the decimal method of division ; being the same system which was afterwards adopted by the late Government of France. II In the year 1776, Beccaria made a journey to France, in company with his friend Alessandro Verri. He remained at Paris for about three weeks, which he passed chiefly in the society of D'Alembert, and other eminent men of letters ; and, on his return, he visited Voltaire. This journey seems to have been the only considerable incident which, during a period of twenty-five years, diversified his manner of life, or interrupted his official duties. He died of apoplexy, in the year 1793. Adcording to the editor of his Eleinenti, in 1804, his death was unnoticed by his country, and his tomb remained without a name.' Beccaria was twice married. He was steadfast in his friendships ; modest, but tenacious of his opinions. He took pleasure in the society of literary men, and avoided that of the great. It is related of him, that the King of Naples, while at Milan, twice at tempted to visit him at his house; but that the Mar quis found means, on both occasions, to escape the honour intended for him by his Majesty. His exer tions in the service of the public, and, above all, his earnest endeavours to promote, by every means, the cause of science, and a liberal system of education, formed the chief feature of his life. On the latter topic, he has made many forcible and eloquent ap peals, in the course of his different writings ; and some passages of this description, which are inter spersed in his discourses of Political Economy, are not less to be admired for their intrinsic excellence, than they are interesting from the circumstances in which they were written, and the contrasts which they indirectly exhibit.
One trait of his constitutional disposition, or con firmed habit, has been recorded, as furnishing a re markable exception to the general vigour of his in tellectual character ; that, notwithstanding the force with which he combated the prejudices and unrea sonable apprehensions of other men, he was himself subject, when left alone, to an unconquerable timi dity. We are not told whether this tendency was ascribed to early habits and a faulty education, or supposed to be the consequence of some sudden and fatal impression, which remained indissolubly asso ciated with certain outward circumstances, or in what other manner it was formed and perpetuated. On. a superficial view, it seems to denote a mind radically weak. But this is not a necessary or a just inference. The fact is, indeed, singular, and deeply impressive ; but, in truth, it only series as a new example to prove how mixed is the nature of our frame ; how imperfectly the understanding acts upon the will, , and the will upon the mortal part ; how many things appear to be within the jurisdiction of our reason, which, nevertheless, are superior to its control. . This is not the place to engage in a more particu lar examination of the spirit and scope of Beccaria's writings. He is said to have expressed, at least during the early part of his life, too unqualified an approba tion of the works of Helvetius, and others belonging to the same school of philosophy. On this score, some excuse may, perhaps, be found for him in the attractions which the style of the author now men tioned possesses for a youthful and ardent mind. It is to be observed, likewise, that, when he expressed this admiration for the productions alluded to, the Systeme de la Nature had not yet made its appear ance. Nor is it to be supposed that he could be in sensible to the notice, and the applause, of such men as then held the stations of greatest eminence in the scientific world. Yet, whatever temptations he may have been exposed to from the influence of some of his literary associates, it is consolatory to reflect, that, neither in the works which he himself gave to the public, nor in those which have been brought to light since his death, are sentiments to be found - which have a tendency to subvert any one foundation of private or of public good. His labours were be neficent, and their natural fruits, the dissemination of useful knowledge, the increase of industry, and the improvement of social order. But he was not to witness the spectacle which ensued, or to be an ob server of that moral crisis, of the results of which it may be questioned, if, hitherto, they have less dis turbed the calculations of the friends of humanity, than baffled the counsels of. its foes.
Some farther information, with respect to Bec caria's publications, will be found in the Notizie, pre fixed to his Economia Pubblica Scratori Classici •Italiani, Tom. XI.); in the 4th volume of the Bio graphie Universelk, printed at Paris in 1811, and in the 4th and 5th volumes of the Correspondence par k Baron de Grimm. In the compilation first men= tioned are contained (besides his Elementi), repub lications of his Relazione della Riduzione delle Misure - di lunghezza all Uniformith, per lo stato di Milano ; of his Prolusion letta aperture della nuovo cat tedra de scienze catnerali ; and of his inquiry Del Disordine e De' Rimedi delle Monte. In the same collection is likewise to be found a paper written by .him for the periodical work called Il Calf? ; viz. Tentativo Analitico sui Contrabbandi, being an at tempt to apply the algebraical' method to certain subjects of political economy. A new edition of Morellet's French translation of the Treatise on Crimes and Punishments was published by M. Roede rer in 1797 ; and a version of the same treatise into modern Greek, by Coray, was published at Paris in 1802. (Ex•)